I've lived in London for about 23 years now and have only been to a couple of matches. Yesterday I headed up to north London to The Emirates to watch Arsenal v Sunderland courtesy of an invite from PKR who have six season tickets and who invite VIP members to the games.
Jake O'Leary, the guy in charge of it all, met us outside the South Entrance which leads to the area for box and club members. A short ride up the escalator led us to the plush, carpeted area and after a swift pint we took our place for the match. First off - the view and and whole atmosphere was pretty stunning to say the least. The pitch seemed really close and the whole structure of the stadium was fantastic. It actually seemed really compact and I was surprised to see that the attendance was over 60000!
At half-time it was time to take advantage of the free beer - these are left on the table and are free to take as you wish - so I grabbed a couple and chatted away, mainly to a player who goes by the name of kanapes. She was here with her daughter and there was also another PKR member of staff along with a player called UwillLose (or something like that). As the area cleared for the second half, I stayed for about 5 or 10 minutes and continued to chat away with kanapes. Then, as I returned to my seat I saw the PKR guys coming back out for more drinks! Well, not to pass up on the opportunity, I joined them for another pint - and there we were, the four of us propping up the bar and chatting away while the game played on!
I have to say, Jake O'Leary was a fine host and, "invigorated" by the drinks and with the UwillLose fella chatting away like a good'un, we took our place for the final 25 minutes or so. Much excitement ensued and the guys were going crazy with a few near misses but it all ended 0-0.
A quick walk to the waiting taxi later, and a story from Jake about his "exploits" (which I won't go into), we arrived at his local in Camden and it was more beers and chat. Again, Jake talked of the night that Scott Shelley (a PKR member of staff) won his bracelet at the WSOPE; just a few pennies were won and spent that night shall we say.
As 6 o'clock approached I had to take my leave. It was a really enjoyable afternoon - the facilities at the ground for the box and club members are superb and the convenience of the easy access to free drinks, the taxi ride to Camden - and more free beers on the PKR tab at the pub afterwards meant a great time was had by all.
Anyway, after this it was a case of jumping on the tube for a visit to The Fox and The Empire which I will twaddle on about in my next post...
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Live Session #9: Nothing Doing At The Fox
Last night it was a late trip to The Fox and a session on their £1/£1 tables. I arrived there at 10PM, put £200 down at the table and stayed till about 1:45AM. It was one of those painfully slow tables where players would take ages to make decisions, would have to be constantly reminded that it was their turn and regularly reminded what the bet was - even though it was obvious if they just LOOKED AT THE FUCKING CHIPS THE PLAYER JUST PUT IN!
Still, the pain was compounded by going card-dead for the entire session ( I got AKs once, a 77, 66 and a 55 - where only the AK won me any money - but apart from that zilch else to speak of) and getting zero opportunities to get involved in any action with the table maniac who arrived later at the table. I got up from the table £50 down (my 2nd losing live session of the year) and then headed to The Empire which was full and bustling as usual. Unfortunately, after putting my name down on the list and a 15 minute wait, I started getting tired and decided to get the bus back home.
This afternoon, it's a trip to The Emirates, courtesy of PKR, where I'll be enjoying the Arsenal v Sunderland match and then heading for another poker session at either The Fox or The Empire. Let the games begin! A trip report will follow.
Still, the pain was compounded by going card-dead for the entire session ( I got AKs once, a 77, 66 and a 55 - where only the AK won me any money - but apart from that zilch else to speak of) and getting zero opportunities to get involved in any action with the table maniac who arrived later at the table. I got up from the table £50 down (my 2nd losing live session of the year) and then headed to The Empire which was full and bustling as usual. Unfortunately, after putting my name down on the list and a 15 minute wait, I started getting tired and decided to get the bus back home.
This afternoon, it's a trip to The Emirates, courtesy of PKR, where I'll be enjoying the Arsenal v Sunderland match and then heading for another poker session at either The Fox or The Empire. Let the games begin! A trip report will follow.
Friday, 4 March 2011
A Fun Weekend Awaits
It's now Friday morning and I'm in the school library while I have a free lesson. Work is getting a bit stressful (well, everyday is stressful) and I have a mountain of work to do so I thought I'd do a quick blog entry for therapeutic reasons.
Even though the weather remains bloody freezing, I think I might take myself off into town tonight for a session at either The Fox or The Empire. I still haven't been to The Vic in ages but the general feeling is that the games are tougher there and I reckon my edge at The Empire, these days, is far too big to ignore. It depends how I feel but at the moment I'd say there's about a 60% chance that I'll be heading into town.
Being a VIP member at PKR (diamond or platinum membership) does have its perks and the good people at PKR have invited me to watch the Arsenal v. Sunderland game at The Emirates on Saturday afternoon. Now I'm not the huge football nut that I used to be and I don't particularly have a big interest in the result but I think it'll be an interesting experience. Afterwards, again, as the journey home will involve travelling through the heart of London, I think I may just pop into either The Fox or The Empire again for an evening session. Again, though, this will depend on my mood.
Finally, on Sunday (and I will need to check this when I get home today) PKR are holding a $35 MTT with a mega-slow structure. It's actually the slowest structure I have ever seen in an online tourney and certainly for that buy-in. As far as I recall, you get 10000 chips, 30 minutes for each level on the clock and it runs over two days!! i.e. an evening session on Sunday night followed by an evening session on the Monday.
Anyway, roll on 3 o'clock for chrissake, for chrissake roll on 3 o'clock!!
Even though the weather remains bloody freezing, I think I might take myself off into town tonight for a session at either The Fox or The Empire. I still haven't been to The Vic in ages but the general feeling is that the games are tougher there and I reckon my edge at The Empire, these days, is far too big to ignore. It depends how I feel but at the moment I'd say there's about a 60% chance that I'll be heading into town.
Being a VIP member at PKR (diamond or platinum membership) does have its perks and the good people at PKR have invited me to watch the Arsenal v. Sunderland game at The Emirates on Saturday afternoon. Now I'm not the huge football nut that I used to be and I don't particularly have a big interest in the result but I think it'll be an interesting experience. Afterwards, again, as the journey home will involve travelling through the heart of London, I think I may just pop into either The Fox or The Empire again for an evening session. Again, though, this will depend on my mood.
Finally, on Sunday (and I will need to check this when I get home today) PKR are holding a $35 MTT with a mega-slow structure. It's actually the slowest structure I have ever seen in an online tourney and certainly for that buy-in. As far as I recall, you get 10000 chips, 30 minutes for each level on the clock and it runs over two days!! i.e. an evening session on Sunday night followed by an evening session on the Monday.
Anyway, roll on 3 o'clock for chrissake, for chrissake roll on 3 o'clock!!
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Bubbling The PKR Social Satellite
Bubble bubble toil and trouble:
This satellite was for the PKR Social event which is to be held at The Fox Poker Club on the 26th March. I was quite far behind chip-wise but felt good taking this opponent on heads-up. I got it all-in on the flop with a set and got called with two-pair. Funny, he hit runner runner flush. Funny...
This satellite was for the PKR Social event which is to be held at The Fox Poker Club on the 26th March. I was quite far behind chip-wise but felt good taking this opponent on heads-up. I got it all-in on the flop with a set and got called with two-pair. Funny, he hit runner runner flush. Funny...
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Cold Cold Cold
11:30PM and really not much to report about this first day of the month apart from the fact that it's still so god damn cold! I may have mentioned it before but the British winter can be so bleedin' depressing and waking up to a cold, gloomy morning, day in/day out, just before going to work, over 4 months can be a real drag. It's like December is happening all over again. Just one warm, sunny day. Please.
Oh, and to add more insult to injury - I got a parents' evening to do on Thursday night as well. That's another day tied to work until 7PM where I won't get home till eight in the evening.
Woe is me!
Oh, and to add more insult to injury - I got a parents' evening to do on Thursday night as well. That's another day tied to work until 7PM where I won't get home till eight in the evening.
Woe is me!
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