Ok it’s a week after Monte Carlo and I’m just about recovered !
1st thing to say about Monte Carlo is OMG, How much ? !!!!
A beer in MC costs 20 Euro’s about £11 as does a sandwich, well it did in my hotel anyway. Ok it is pretty but not that pretty.
2nd thing to say about MC is it’s full of Tossers, rich ones to be sure but still Tossers of the first water.
Not being a small chap it wasn’t so easy for them to brush me aside as I saw them doing to my smaller friends and they got most upset when I didn’t fall back in awe at their designer suits and sunglasses, one of them got extremely annoyed when I “accidentally” stepped on his designer clad foot as he was trying to push me aside to get to the bar before me.
I did try to explain that being English I wasn’t at all phased by his apparent wealth or lack of manners and that if he thought I was going to move aside for euro-trash he had another think coming but I’m afraid his lack of linguistic skills and my complete indifference to his feelings meant I was forced to resort to pointing at him, pointing at a small space behind me and forcibly placing him back in the queue.
Bless him he stood where I’d put him desperately trying to look like that was exactly where the in-crowd stood while waiting to be served and I was not forced to dirty his shoes again on the way out.
3rd thing to say about MC is it’s heaven for car fanatics, after a couple of days of walking past Ferraris and Roll Royces by the dozen I was more impressed by a guy who rolled up in front of the Monaco Bay Hotel in a Triumph Herald convertible.
Anyway, what did I learn while I was there I hear you ask, sick to death of MC already, something that happened to me after they started drilling outside my hotel window at 8am on the first morning !
Well I saw 700 odd poker players vying for the top prize of 1.8 million euros, I mean playing cards for that sort of money is obscene isn’t it? Anyway they played for a week and eventually a 25year old won the top prize and we were all most relieved I can tell you.
I was there to stream the event over the web and it went swimmingly, I’m not allowed to reveal the figures but you’d be amazed at how many people tuned in to watch 8 blokes sitting around a table fiddling with bits of card.
I hadn’t known just what a huge business Poker is, the money companies were spending on it not to mention the money people who’d been knocked out were wagering on side games was immense, at one point a guy in his twenties was wondering around trying to find someone to play him head to head for 25,000 euros, which he had with him in a brown paper envelope !
My hotel was crammed full of excellent service, from the bellboys to the manager and everyone in between and as I was booking out I thought that a stint here would do a lot for customer relations at most of the hotels I’ve stayed at in the UK.
While I was there I did play some poker myself in the company sit and go tournament where I acquired a nick name “the Milkman” for my habit of milking players for their chips and cashed out twice in three games.
The next day one of the journo’s that we’d let play paid me a huge compliment, “if you go professional you should definitely keep that name” he said and I nearly fell over !
There’s no danger of me going professional or even playing for real money but it was a lovely compliment and quite made my week.
I’ve now borrowed a company book, “The Dummys book of Poker” and am reading with interest about pot odds etc. which is fascinating and mostly pretty incomprehensible but I’ll persevere and see if I can improve any.
The weather here is wonderful at the moment and people are swimming in the bay as I write, mad of course but a good indication of how lovely it is. I look out of my windows and marvel anew at just how lucky I am and hope all of you are well and prospering.
Take care,
John
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