Trett’s Genting Tournament #2 Announcement

Contrary to my last FTP post I decided to organize my next tournament a lot earlier than expected. There was a number of reasons behind this decision but it was predominantly down to the positive feedback, customer demand and my view that success follows solid preparation. So my thoughts were the earlier I get working hard gives me the best opportunity to accomplish another fantastic event locally here in Newcastle for North East based players.

The details of the tournament are below;

Date: Saturday 29^th August

Buy-In: £150 (+£15)

Time: 12:00 *unlimited re-entries and late registrations until 17:00

Venue: Genting Casino

Fully Dealer Dealt

Complimentary Buffet

£10,000 Unrestricted Guarantee

Some notable changes include five additional levels, bringing it forward two hours to a 12:00 noon start, keeping late registration open an extra hour until the eighth level, making tables nine handed, longer clock on final table and guaranteeing the prize pool.

1) Bringing in an additional five levels was the upshot of player feedback and suggested by my champion, Jack Ellwood. He’s played more WSOP and EPT events than anybody else in the field, so I naturally took on board his thoughts regarding the structure. So with the initial structure suggested to me by Dave Collins along with Jack’s small input, I’m perfectly happy where I’m at now.

2) Again down to player demand I’ve brought the start time forward to 12:00 noon. I asked my players if they preferred a 12:00, 13:00 or 14:00 start time and it was voted 62% (12:00), 24% (13:00) and 14% (14:00). I’ve listened to my players and went with the majority. If you don’t like the change and didn't cast a vote then you only have yourself to blame, but I’m sure it’ll be popular with the majority.

3) I’m keeping registration open an hour longer, this is an up shot of starting at noon and the additional levels. So now the itinerary will involve a 12:00 noon start, four half an hour levels, ten minute break, another four half an hour levels and then a fifty minute buffet break. The end of the buffet break will be 5:00pm and this will be the last available time for late and re-entrants. Once level nine commences players will be locked out.

4) I’ve decided to make my next tournament nine handed rather than full ring. This again was down to player comfort and I’m inclined to agree with the majority, whilst I don’t care too much either way I definitely feel more space gives you more comfort.

5) I will be increasing the clock from thirty minutes to forty minutes for the final table. Everybody agrees it’s impossible to prevent well attended one day tournaments from becoming a crap shoot towards the later stages. But the extra ten minutes added to the clock for the final table coupled with the other small tweaks above will go some way to ensuring it’s the best possible one day structure.

6) I’ve included a safe £10,000 guarantee on the prize pool for this event. Anybody that attended the first event will know this has no real value with the last event generating £14,400 and with much less preparation time. However the purpose of it is to increase participation from a little further afield like Teesside and Edinburgh. Understandably guys didn’t want to travel one to two hours to arrive in Newcastle and see it was poorly attended, this safe guarantee should dispel any doubters and encourage them to make the trip.

So yeah that’s all the small changes that I hope will be beneficial, of course it’s trial and error so if things don’t work out then I won’t be ashamed to admit it and change things back for my #3 tournament. But I think we all agreed it was a fantastic event and as such many of the things will be staying the same including my amazing team. I’m hoping and optimistic to bring them all back including Scotty, Chris, Phil, Louis and Janine. I’m sure so long as they’re not busy they’ll happily join me on this second venture and help provide exceptional dealing, service, updates and photos.

Other possible inclusions which I’m flirting with the idea of include a live stream, will speak to my technical guy Scotty Hocking regarding this closer to the time. Hiring an external masseuse company to freelance a couple of massage girls for the day and looking into hiring a professional interviewer who will catch up with some of the players during the breaks and either me or Janine will post the clips onto the Facebook updates page. Whilst beginning preparation for this event this quote below immediately came to mind;

Which I think perfectly sums up how important it is to me to make this event absolutely perfect. But for now, guys, that’s the date. Put it in your diary, put holidays in at work, start saving now, book your flights to Newcastle but whatever you do don’t miss out on this as it’s going to be another amazing event which all local players deserve. Thanks for reading everybody, any further questions and/or queries don’t hesitate to contact me directly on 07463-243-783 or Facebook private message, I’ll pick both up pretty promptly.

Cheers,

Dan Trett

Trett’s Genting Tournament

Welcome back to FTP, team. It’s been seven months since my last update and to be honest I had no intention of updating this place anytime soon. But I wanted to write up and summarise my inaugural tournament. I’m very vocal at the tables (and online during the NPF days) about the state of poker locally, especially lately with all three casinos scrapping £100+ buy-in’s and the best monthly game being a £50 self-dealt crap shoot at Genting. I’ve been playing poker since early 2001, so almost 15 years and I can say confidently poker in Newcastle is at an all-time low. I decided to turn my persistent whinging and complaining into something more proactive and attempt to organise a tournament myself.

Fast forward to the beginning of January 2015 and I approached the Genting CRM Craig Cavanagh about running my own tournament in their card room. After consulting with the casino deputy manager Jim Brown, I suggested a £150 (+£15) buy-in on Saturday 31^st January. After ironing out the finer details I was given the go ahead. I was determined to make it a success and with no real need to do any market research (I already know the local scene as well as anybody), I began advertising immediately.

Whilst at first I just wanted to spread a decent tournament, play in it myself and prove a point to the three Newcastle based casino’s that with the right advertising and marketing it can be done. It very quickly become more important to me than that, it consumed all my thoughts every day from the moment it got the green light until my champion was crowned and the dust had settled. I decided not to play and just oversee things on the day to ensure the smooth running of the tournament and the day itself.

To head my marketing campaign I first took to Facebook and promoted the game on my status and in the Geordie Poker Forum page. I posted on several UK forums including NEPF, Blonde, AWOP and Blue Blood Facebook page. I printed off some flyers and structure sheets which I displayed around Genting card room and posted online. Then I took to getting in touch with all my poker associates individually including text message, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, phone calls and speaking to people in person. I created an event’s page where people could select ‘Going, Maybe or Decline’ to help give me an idea on numbers to expect on the day. I encouraged all my friends to share the event and invite there poker friends too. My friend Simon Pham also ran a satellite and several daily super satellites on PokerStars to give the guys with a slightly smaller bankroll the opportunity to get in cheap. I felt I left no stone unturned and in the event it failed, it certainly would not be down to lack of advertising, promoting or marketing.

I billed my tournament as a £150 (+£15) buy-in with a 12,000 starting stack and 30 minute clock. Starting at 2:00pm with late registration until 5:40pm (after the buffet break). A few newer players questioned that 12,000 chips wasn’t enough for such a big buy-in, but I explained it was an exceptional one day structure with all levels including 75/150 and 150/300 which are commonly skipped on one day structures. Thanks to Dave Collins for suggesting the structure, which worked perfectly for the day. I had it fully dealer dealt with a complimentary high standard hot and cold buffet. I was going to run live in-running updates including player photos and interviews on my events page, for people not playing to follow the action. Finally the winner was going to receive a commemorative trophy as well as celebratory champagne and chocolates.

So the day finally arrived and I felt a combination of excitement and nerves, but really pumped full of adrenaline and whatever the turnout I was just going to put on a smile and make the most of what I had worked so hard to put on. I arrived for 1:00pm to get things set up and meet/greet all my players as they filtered through the doors. We started maybe 10/15 minutes late but when the cards we’re finally in the air I had 49 people take their seat and with late registration until after the buffet break it finished with almost double that on 96 to generate a £14,400 prize pool.

1^st) £5,000

2^nd) £3,000

3^rd) £2,000

4^th) £1,500

5^th) £1,000

6^th) £700

7^th) £500

8^th) £400

9^th) £300

The field was packed with talented local players on every table particularly table 1 which by all accounts would have been my feature table if I was to do a live stream it included Jamie Rutherford, both Ellwoods, Ben Dixon and Ben Russell. Featuring on table 2 was Sean McGuigan, John Devlin, Dave Collins and Ben Jenkins. Over table 3 had Robert Richardson, Dan Patterson and Craig Simpson. The 4 table had Darren Knaggs, Jonathan Prested and Dominic Mahoney. Table 5 hosted Abbie Louthan, Alex Jobling and James Howard and finally table 6 had seated Marc Foggin, Neil Pickering and Craig McDowell.

Everything went as smooth as I could have hoped for and I had so many people coming up to me and thanking me for my efforts. As scheduled the dinner buffet break was after the sixth level, this was a delicious spread of hot and cold food followed by strawberries dipped in chocolate for desert. It included delicious margarita pizza, tasty chicken dippers, crispy fried chips and yummy chicken curry with rice on the hot counter. Then a selection of sandwiches, delectable hog roast pate and creamy tuna pasta mayonnaise in the cold banquet. The photos below don’t really do the buffet justice, but I had a lot of good feedback from everybody.

After the buffet break it meant the players were now locked out if they bust with no option to re-enter. The play was fast and extremely skilled across the entire card room for five hours until Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassador and Red Pro Ben Jenkins bust in 11^th to reach our final table around 11:00pm.

Back Row - Left to right: Ranger Muhammad, Ben Russell, Xenophon Constantinou, Dan Trett, Dave Collins, Dan Patterson & Neil Pickering

Front Row – Left to right: Jack Ellwood, Dominic Mahoney, Aryan Virabi, Jason Williams & Nick Ramsay

See final table seating plan and chip counts below;

1) Jason Williams 80,000
2) Nick Ramsay 70,000
3) Neil Pickering 100,000

4) Dave Collins 109,000

5) Daniel Patterson 106,000

6) Xenophon Constantinou 288,000

7) Ben Russell 114,500

8) Mohammed Ranger 143,000

9) Jack Ellwood 135,000

10) Dominic Mahoney 64,500

The blinds began at 3,000/6,000/500 so it meant every pot was important and valuable to our players. A bubble prize was briefly discussed but dismissed and the unfortunate bubble boy was Jason Williams when his AT failed to improve vs. Neil Pickering’s KK. I’ll not go into detail of the hands on the final table, these can all be found over my Facebook event’s page where I reported every exit hand as and when they happened. The final table lasted around two and half hours before wrapping up around 1:30am. See the results;

1^st) Jack Ellwood £4,000 *

2^nd) Xenophon Constantinou £3,000 *

3^rd) Mohammed Ranger £2,250 *

4^th) Daniel Patterson £2,250 *

5^th) Dave Collins £1,000

6^th) Neil Pickering £700

7^th) Ben Russell £500

8^th) Nick Ramsay £400

9^th) Dominic Mahoney £300

*denotes a 4 way deal

Hendob Mob: Trett’s Genting Tournament

It was quite fitting that Jack Ellwood was crowned champion as along with Brett Angell he was the most decorated and accomplished player in the field. I’ve known Jack for a number of years and he’s always worked hard on his game, discussing strategy with a number of top UK players and despite his success has no grounds for complacency. For those interested I actually had Jack as a guest here on FTP in March 2010 for an interview during my ‘In The Tank With…’ series, check it out linked below;

Interview w/Jack Ellwood

Looking forward and I’ve had a number of people message me and ask in person when I’ll be doing the next one. I’ve been saying quarterly or seasonally as a standard response but the truth is I’m not interested in being Newcastle’s next poker promoter. I spread the game for the benefit of the North East community, to prove to all three local casinos with the right advertising that there is a market for £100+ buy-in events and to get some self-satisfaction in seeing everybody having a great day. I would like to have been playing and if I was to do a future event I would never play in any of my own tournaments, I would just oversee the smooth running of the event and day. My perfect outcome from this event is it will lay the groundwork for an overhaul of poker in Newcastle and the three CRM’s will all look at spreading some similar games in the future. 

If a few month down the line after the 25/25 Series, GPS Newcastle, WPT Aspers and when everybody is home from the WSOP out in Las Vegas. I’ll reassess and if there is still no sign of an improvement in poker locally to the North East I’ll start preparation for another tournament. I do have idea’s to improve any future tournaments I have by employing a poker commentator/interviewer, setting up a live stream for my feature table and subcontracting a masseuse to work the floor. But there all just thoughts/ideas and as I mentioned earlier in a perfect world the local CRM’s will take the reign now and I can just participate as a player rather than a tournament director.

On that note I guess I just have one final thing to say and that’s a huge thank you to everybody involved. All the staff at Genting we’re amazing including the management, dealers, valets and catering team. My personal team Phil Cannell, Louis Armstrong, Scotty Hocking, Chris Leckie and Janine Hocking were all first class. Thanks to Simon Pham and Dave Collins for their help in designing and helping promote the game. But most of all the guys that made it all happen, thank you to each and every one of my players for their support and making it all happen. Without you guys all my efforts would have been in vain and amounted to nothing. I’ve received so many kind and heart-warming messages congratulating me on a great tournament but everybody should all be proud of themselves. 

Thanks all for reading, guys.

Trett Digest Volume 23

This update will be relatively short and sweet, mainly because although I haven’t done a huge amount in May it’s still been pleasant. When I last left you guys the WPT was visiting Newcastle and was around the corner, this although was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and see some familiar faces didn’t work out too well as I bricked out early into day two. #worldpokertour

That along with maybe one or two monthly tournaments was pretty much the extent of my time spent on the felt this last month or so. That’ll all change next week when I fly out to Las Vegas for a month and I have my foot on the gas with quite a big schedule of events to look forward too. Speaking of Las Vegas I’m pretty stoked for this now with so many of my good friends (easily 20+) out at some point during my stay and I have so many sick nights out and excursions planned. So be sure to check out my Las Vegas 2014 Trip Report “Summer” to enjoy the ride with me. #summerinlasvegas

I would describe May 2014 for me personally as my darkest month in poker with the closure of the NPF, it had and still does have a special place in my heart. I said time and time again how fortunate we were here in Newcastle to have such a good platform for players to make friends, find out relevant information and countless other things it purposed. Despite several failed buy-outs all of which I agreed to support and back financially, on the 9^th May Scott Collins decided to close the doors. Looking forward and Dan McSkelly agreed to help out and create the NEPF which hopefully will be better than the failed attempt by Gaz Walker. For now it’s not too user friendly and although I’m signed up, I personally still haven’t quite warmed to the place yet. I will persevere with it though and give it a chance.

Away from poker I’ve been trying my upmost to be the best Uncle possible to Mark’s kids Lauryn and Zach, that’s what’s important to me right now and I want to make sure they grow up knowing I think the world of them. They’re amazing kids and deserve to be showered with love and gifts in my opinion, I have to be careful not to spoil them too much though and they end up taking things for granted.

That just about wraps things up for now, my next update will be reporting my Summer antics out in Las Vegas, this will be visit #19 and I’m showing no signs of letting up or taking my foot off the gas.

#livelife #lovelife

Trett Digest Volume 22

I’ve been back in the UK now over half a year after returning from my eighteen month trip traveling Australia and the USA. Since being back I’ve moved to Dunston with poker friends Mark Mealyeah, Scotty Hocking and now Chris Leckie and our house is affectionately known as ‘HHH Ranch’ by our NPF friends. Being back in the UK has been a lot of fun and I’ve benefited from having this bunch of friends along for the ride, and although we’ve had our differences I think we’ll all agree we have a hell of a good time and all enjoy our living arrangements. I’m also fortunate to have family and all my childhood boys just twenty minutes up the A1 in Cramlington, I love traveling and all the adventures that come with travel but I’m finding this home time and the opportunity to hang out with lifelong friends every weekend so much fun. I love getting together with these boys and heading out to Newcastle, I feel so comfortable with them all. I guess the morale to this story is there is “no place like home”.

Looking forward to June and I’m heading back to Las Vegas for my nineteenth visit in nine years since 2005. If I didn’t blog all my visit’s on FTP it’s at a point now where I genuinely would have lost count about the amount of times I’ve been. I’m staying a month this summer from June 8^th through to July 6^th staying with Chris Leckie the first fortnight over at Aria Resort & Casino and then the final fortnight with Mark Nicholas at Palms Resort & Casino. Despite being fortunate to have been so often this shit just doesn’t get old, I love the city especially the people I go with and meet there. The experiences are embedded in my memory and will last a lifetime. This will feel like two different trips as the first fortnight will be spent with the NPF guys and then the second when I move hotels I’ll be spending time with Dave Maudlin and the sports trading boys.

I plan on playing and selling a rather large poker package (with a small 1.1425 mark-up) while out there throughout the summer. I'll add that the first quarter of 2014 was profitable, although very little volume I won the Aspers monthly for £2,370. Then in February unforgettably, I made a deep run in a Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza event, narrowly missing out on victory finishing 3^rd of 130 entrants for $5,525. So with that in mind, and there being absolutely no feeling I’ve experienced in my life like being deep in a major poker tournament. Take a look below at my Vegas schedule;

Wednesday 11^th June $1,100 VDSE #30

Friday 13^th June $600 Wynn Summer Classic

Wednesday 18^th June $1,000 Binions Championship

Saturday 21^st June $300 PHamous Poker Series

Thursday 26^th June $1,500 WSOP #51

Saturday 28^th June $400 VDSE #49

Tuesday 1^st July $565 WPT500 Aria

Wednesday 2^nd July $1,100 Golden Nugget

Total: $6,565 at 1.1425 $7,500

I’ll be so focused physically and mentally for the summer and I’m enjoying competing more so now than ever. #letsplay #spin

Away from the poker tables and I mentioned in my last digest that I was going to undertake an Insanity program for the duration of April. This was ran by my main man Gaz and was Monday-Saturday (6:45-7:30) for four weeks straight. This was perhaps the toughest physical challenge I’ve ever taken on, but I’m delighted to report that I finished the course without missing a single session and with a very positive outcome. #focus #beastmode #garysidneyfitness

Date: 31^st March 2014 (Pre Insanity)

Results

Weight: 14.11st

Waist: 41”

Hip: 42”

Fit Test

Switch Kicks: 35

Power Jacks: 21

Power Knees (left): 25

Power Knees (right): 30

Squat Tuck Jumps: 15

Around The World Jumps: 5

Burpees: 6

Push Up Jacks: 7.5

Oblique Plank: 10

Date: 14^th April 2014 (Midway Insanity)

Results

Weight: 14.2st

Waist: 38”

Hip: 43”

Fit Test

Switch Kicks: 116

Power Jacks: 39

Power Knees (left): 35

Power Knees (right): 44

Squat Tuck Jumps: 28

Around The World Jumps: 6

Burpees: 13

Push Up Jacks: 14

Oblique Plank: 23

Date: 26^th April 2014 (Post Insanity)

Results

Weight: 14.3st

Waist: 38”

Hip: 42”

Fit Test

Switch Kicks: 120

Power Jacks: 41

Power Knees (left): 49

Power Knees (right): 55

Squat Tuck Jumps: 37

Around The World Jumps: 7

Burpees: 15

Push Up Jacks: 20

Oblique Plank: 33

I’m absolutely delighted with my progress and to go from 14.11st to 14.3st in a month is just fantastic. Like everybody I would like to lose a few pounds but in all honesty the main drive for me to sign up to this course was just as a platform to lead a more healthy and active lifestyle. Seeing my fit tests improve so dramatically is more important to me than losing weight. I’ve now signed up to a few PT sessions with Gaz during May and up to June 8^th before I fly to Las Vegas for the summer. Back in July 2012 I was up over 16st and that’s when I started to do something about it, I had some PT sessions with Gaz and then joined his boot camp. I’ve been down to 12st but the diet/exercise required to get there wasn’t sustainable in my opinion. Right now my weight is of small concern to me, I’m just pleased I’m playing football 4/5 times per a week, going to boot camp sessions 2/3 times per a week, eating reasonably healthier and just generally leading a more healthy/active lifestyle. I owe it all to Gaz and I’m so grateful, I’ve said it numerous times before but he’s such an amazing person to have in my life. #mancrush

Aside from poker, Las Vegas and Insanity perhaps the most important aspect in my life right now is being an Uncle to my gorgeous niece and nephew, Lauryn and Zach. They’re adorable kids whom I just love to spend time with, play with and shower with love and gifts. Lauryn has just turned eight and Zach is five in the summer, so they’re both at fantastic ages and are both so caring and so loving. The polar opposite to the little toerag I was during my early school years. I try to see them at least once a week usually at the weekend and during their May break from school I’m taking them to Diggerland in Durham for the day. #prouduncle #cutekid #coolkid

Looking a bit closer in the future and to next weekend I’m playing the £200 (x3) WPT event over at Aspers, this carries a £50,000 guarantee and is widely expected to exceed that guarantee. I’m really excited about it and hoping for some run good. I’ll close things out here for now, but check back in the beginning of June and I’ll let you all know how I got on in the WPT and how I’ve been in May.

#lifeofdantrett

Trett Digest Volume 21

Once again I’ve left it too long since my last update. I guess that’s partly down to nothing hugely exciting happening here in my life but more so down to a lack of motivation that all bloggers suffer with from time to time. I’m now into my sixth year running FTP though and I’m determined to keep updates going on some level and not let all the hard work just get lost in cyberspace.

When I made my last update (21^st February 2014) I was at McCarran International Airport preparing to fly back to the UK, but I made a last minute decision to reschedule my flight until Monday 24^th February and spend the weekend with Martin Amer and his mackem stag-do boys. This was a decision I’m very pleased I made as I subsequently went on to meet a number of top class boys who I now consider to be good friends. The highlight of the weekend was heading to Marquee Nightclub over at Cosmopolitan on the Friday night, getting VIP bottle service and relaxin’ in a good vibe with good people. The rest of it was made up of playing poker in Caesars Palace, eating some nice food and shopping for presents for family.

I've now been back from Vegas for a little over a month, so I’ll give all my fans a quick rundown of what’s been happening this side of the Atlantic. A common theme I’m sure readers have picked up on is I often discuss openly that I’m trying to get in shape. In Sydney I was down to around twelve stone and felt fantastic but the exercise and diet required for that was never sustainable. I’m now a little shy of fifteen stone but still feel pretty good, I’m getting to boot camp once/twice a week and playing football two/three times a week, so I have my exercise in line but my diet needs a lot of work. I’m constantly eating Greggs or McDonalds for lunch and takeaways for dinner, no amount of exercise can counter a terrible diet. Overall I’m kind of okay with where I’m at right now fitness wise and I’ve just took on a ridiculous challenge for April. I’m doing a four week Insanity program starting Monday 31^st March with my boy Gaz, which is six mornings per week (Monday – Saturday) 6:45-7:30 of high intensity workouts. It’s going to be so tough but the fruits will be so rewarding. Love the challenge and love the pain. #garysidneyfitness

I’m also staying dry throughout all of March and April which I’m hoping will go a long way towards helping maintain my fitness and more importantly my commitment to this Insanity program. Poker will also be taking a back seat while I really concentrate on Insanity during April and my next game will be when the WPT visits Newcastle in Aspers on the 1^st May. It’s effectively a £660 buy-in as I will be playing all three start days. I’m excited about this and with a top prize expected to be around £30,000 it’s definitely enough to get the adrenaline going. #worldpokertour #letsplay #spin

Speaking of poker and I’m always surprised at how quick tournament poker is evolving in such a short time, it’s taking me a bit of time to adjust. Poker is certainly becoming less and less attractive as a means for making any money if you consider how just about everybody’s hourly rates have been undeniably affected over the last few years. I am a firm believer that with the current state of the industry, it would be a very poor decision for anybody young and unestablished to try to take poker really seriously. The variance is just so incredibly remarkable. Myself and other players from my generation were so fortunate with the timing of our entry into poker. 2002/2003 was a time when the economy was good and people were uneducated about the game. From talking with other friends and players around the world including UK, Australia and the USA recently, almost all agree that it would be a most daunting task to try to build from the ground up right now. #hardwaytomakeaneasyliving

Away from the poker table as I mentioned last October I’ve been sports trading. This is something I’m taking seriously and really enjoying. Like poker it comes with its challenges as trading conditions seem to be evolving rapidly. I struggle to motivate myself to trade alone so usually out on the road I pair up with Steve Brennan, Mark Nicholas, Dan McSkelly and on occasions Andy Blair. All of which are good crack and help the day go easier.

I’ll wrap things up with that and I’m likely to report back around the beginning of May to let you all know if I’m ultra-toned/ripped from Insanity and how I got on when the WPT visits Newcastle.

That’s all for now. #lifeofdantrett

Las Vegas 2014 Trip Report "February" II

As I write this I’m sitting relaxing in my room at The Quad, it’s around noon and I’m just about ready to check out. So following straight on from LV2014TR “February” #1. That evening we decide to have a break away from the tables and treat ourselves to see ‘Zarcana at Aria’, this is a Cirque du Soleil performance and like the rest of them very impressive. I’ve now seen 7/8 of the Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas with only ‘Beatles Love at Mirage’ left to see, I’m hoping to get over and see that sometime this summer. We also had dinner at Pampas Churrascaria in Planet Hollywood, this is a steak house and again I was suitably impressed. Overall a great and enjoyable evening.

Zarcana by Cirque du Soleil

The following morning (Monday 17^th) we checked out of The Flamingo and moved next door to The Quad for our final four nights, we booked The Quad for £12 per night (£6 per person) just so cheap. Especially considering it’s been completely renovated now, I’m guessing once the rooms are all sorted that The Quad will QUADruple its prices. We then took a walk down The Wynn to play the $140 tournament, I got stacked relatively early so jumped on the 300nl tables. Shortly after Stuey bust out so we decide to walk down to Stratosphere because he wanted to do the SkyJump. I already did it in February 2012 or would have got involved too.

By now it was around 7:00pm and we headed back to the room to relax for a bit. We had planned on going back out for the evening but just couldn’t be arsed, so we ordered a pizza from room service and watched Runner Runner movie with Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake. The next morning (Tuesday 18^th) we headed over Caesars Palace to relax and rejuvenate at Qua Baths & Spa, this is just the nut best way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the casino floor. #sauna #jacuzzi #steamroom #iceroom

Feeling revitalised we then had lunch at PF Changs before heading to the Aria for the daily 1:00pm $125 tournament, this didn’t work out for me so I chilled at the 300nl before then entering the 7:00pm $125 tournament. Again I got stacked relatively early so went back on the cash tables until about midnight, losing more cash before deciding to head back to the room to retire for the evening. The next morning was a very early rise for what was to be the highlight of my trip, we were getting picked up at the bus depot at 6:45am for a tour of Death Valley National Park. Words can’t begin to describe how much I loved it here, it has so much history and our tour guide Jerry was so informative. I would 100% recommend and push everybody visiting Las Vegas to check this out, however the tour doesn't run during the summer months because it gets too hot in Death Valley. Its home to the officially recorded hottest temperature the planet has ever seen, check out our photo’s below. #simplysuperb #breathtaking

After a very long day at Death Valley we finally got back to our hotel around 6:30pm, this was after a short stop at the “Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. We then decided to get on it and head down to O’Sheas Casino to play some beer pong, from there we watched some karaoke at ‘The Piano Bar’ and then finally downtown to Fremont Street and Gold Diggers at Golden Nugget.

After rolling home stupidly hungover around 3:00am I woke up in the morning to hear my good friend Martin Amer had just won the $645,000 jackpot in a slot machine over at Flamingo. They had been upgraded to the penthouse suite and were giving endless amounts of complimentary food and drink. So I took a walk over to see and congratulate him for an hour in the morning. #breakingvegas

From there we headed back over Venetian to play event #48 of the deep stack extravaganza series, this was a $400 buy-in with a $65,000 guarantee which they smashed with well over 300 runners. I fired two bullets after getting my first one in with 45s vs. 99 on a 239ss flop for about a 25,000 chip pot and then got brutally unlucky with my second one as I got it in on a AxJr flop holding AK vs. AQ and he turned a queen. That was for 130,000 chip pot and all but guaranteed to make the money at that point. C’est la vie and I then camped out on the 300nl tables until around midnight before walking back to the room for the evening. #tournamentvariancesucks

That brings me to right now, we’ve been down Hash House a go go for breakfast this morning and now walking over Flamingo to catch up with the $645,000 dollar man Martin Amer and have lunch this afternoon at Treasure Island before heading to McCarran airport to fly home this evening. I’ve had an amazing trip as I always do and ticked a few more of my Vegas to do list boxes. I’m considering coming back on March 13^th for a week with the Teesside guys, I’ve visited with these lot back in November 2011 and they’re such great company. That’s still up in the air, I’ll decide about that over the next fortnight. But one thing is for sure, I’m back in the summer for the annual NPF trip and with the crowd going this year it has the potential to be the best yet. #goodtimes #goodmemories

#vivalasvegas #lifeofdantrett

Las Vegas 2014 Trip Report “February” I

As I write this entry I’m sitting in Starbucks at the newly opened Linq on Las Vegas Boulevard having just bust the Venetian $400DSE in third for $5,525. So my eighteenth visit to the bright lights started off with a cluster of errors, I was traveling with my boy Stuey Robinson and before we even left Newcastle we had problems. We were both chillin’ in the Servisair Lounge at Newcastle airport and left it a bit late to proceed to our departure gate, we then went to gate 24 when we actually should have flew from gate 3 (24 was my seat number). So after standing in a queue at gate 24 for Alicante for 20 minutes, we were told we were at the wrong gate and proceeded to gate 3. By now though the gate had closed and we had unfortunately missed our flight to Heathrow, which due to time restrictions meant there was no way we could get to Vegas today. So we did the only logical thing at this point and went to Newcastle city to get absolute mortal, this was a great night but admittedly a right mess. One good thing to come from the night was we uploaded an ARKnomination onto Facebook which picked up quite a few likes and kind comments. Check it out here;

ARKnomination

The following day (Tuesday 11^th) went a little smoother, although hungover we comfortably made our flight to Newcastle and I took the ten hour transatlantic flight relaxin’ in BA club world. I try not to take for granted how lucky I am to fly with my feet up sippin’ on champagne while everyone in economy is no doubt very uncomfortable. #lifeofdantrett

We arrived on schedule around 6:30pm and checked in to Flamingo Hotel & Casino, we were both delighted with the room, location and view for a bargain price of £292 for the room for the week. Our view was Caesars Palace directly in front of us and The Mirage if you looked to the right. Check out a few photos of our room and view;

Then our first night we just walked over the road to Caesars to have dinner at Munchbar and play a little 300nl where I recorded a small $200 winning session over a couple of hours. I was exhausted by this point and we were both conscious we had to be up early so headed back home to our room to bed around midnight. So the following morning we were up at 6:00am for a hot air balloon ride I had booked us on, this was a case of not third but fourth time lucky as I had on three previous occasions tried to do this hot air balloon excursion only for it to be cancelled the evening before due to weather restrictions. Well all I can say is WOW about this experience, it was an absolute pleasure to fly with “Vegas Balloon Rides”. The entire morning was just breathtaking with exceptional tour guides giving us such amazing service, I would for sure recommend this to anybody.

Then the day got a little out of control, we headed to the Wicked Vicky Tavern down at Riviera to watch the Man Utd vs. Arsenal match while having a few beers and finger food. This propelled into an all-day session where we visited Garden Bar in Flamingo, Carnaval Court, Minus5 Ice Bar over at Mandalay Bay and eventually ending up in Bellagio playing on the pit games and enjoying free drinks. Pretty sick night like, check out the snaps;

The following day I was suffering so bad, I’m twenty nine now and these hangovers aren’t getting any easier. As a result of this hangover today (Thursday 13^th) was pretty much a write off, we were both in bed pretty much all day until eventually getting up late evening for some dinner and heading over Caesars to play a little 300nl. I ran really well and ended up staying until 6:30am when the table broke and recorded a $1,000+ winning session. Then after a couple of hours sleep both Stuey and I decided to head over Venetian for the $300DSE, this was naturally full of males but even more so today because of course it was Valentine’s day. I stacked off relatively early when my AK failed to improve vs. 88, I didn’t bother re-entering instead I dived in a 500nl game. This was to be a brutal session as I lost $500 with QQ vs. KK on a 55QxK board getting it in on the flop and then lost my second $500 bullet with A9s vs. 57s when the river completed my nut flush and gave him straight flush which I couldn’t get away from. So that was enough for me to throw in the towel and head back to the room to relax for the evening. I got a pizza delivered to the room and rented a movie from the entertainment which set me up for the night.

The following day I was back over the Venetian very refreshed after an early night and good rest and ready to play the $400DSE, I both ran and played really well here and held the chip leader from like the second level right up until the final table. We eventually bagged up at 2:00am after fourteen hours of play with four remaining and I was second in chips with 547,000. At this point I had $4,133 locked but was only interested in the top prize of $12,376. I then joined my good friend Matt ‘Denver’ Manes who features in my Las Vegas 2009 Trip Report “January” where my brother Mark and I met him at a 300nl game in the Wynn. This was Mark’s first night in Las Vegas and all of us had such an amazing night drinking vodka red bull all night playing cards, so it was great to finally meet him again five years down the line. The power of social media makes this kind of stuff possible, I sometimes wonder how we all lived without it. So yeah Matt, Stuey and I all took a walk over O’Shea’s to have a beer and catch up on all times. #goodtimes #goodmemories

Then after Matt took a cab back to Tropicana where he was staying I turned in for the evening to make sure I was suitably rested for the second and final day of the $400DSE. I went back the following day feeling extremely positive and optimistic and really felt I had complete control of the final table, unfortunately a bad run of cards and I ended getting stacked in third for $5,525. I was admittedly disappointed but like I’ve said several times its first world problems when you complain about winning five grand.

Later this evening we are heading for dinner at Pampas Churrascaria in Planet Hollywood and then over at Aria to watch Zarcana. Then tomorrow morning (Monday 17^th) we check out of The Flamingo and move next door to The Quad for our final four nights, we booked The Quad for £12 per night (£6 per person) just so cheap. Especially considering it’s been completely renovated now, I’m guessing once the rooms are all sorted that The Quad will quadruple its prices. I’ll sign off here for now but stay tuned later this week where I’ll report my final few days over at The Quad.

#lifeofdantrett