WSOP Europe / Dave Allan / 17 September 2009 / Leave a comment

God Zammit, he's back!! Our Vegas Virgin returns by popular demand.. A new job, a new city and a new World Series of Poker - this time Europe.

Days 1, 2 & 3

Just two months after my Vegas adventure, WSOP Europe has finally arrived and I am once again recording the events! Early Monday morning, 4am to be exact, the alarm went off - meaning that my journey to London and the WSOPE was about to start. This time, the adventure would be longer, harder and a bit more exciting since my job role at Betfair has changed, making me much more involved in the Events.

The day had to obviously start with a bad cappuccino from the airport which really did a number on my stomach; but the plane ride itself was so smooth I could barely tell we were flying at just over 38,000 feet! The landing was equally impressive and at exactly 10:30 local time, flight KM100 touched ground at Heathrow and the Vegas Virgin had arrived in the UK!

Me being me, I obviously was waiting at the wrong aisle for the luggage to arrive and an airport employee told me that I had to go to gate 1 - that's 15 minutes of my life wasted then.. The ride on the tube was funny with a fat, old man snore his nose off next to me - managed to even take a picture without anyone noticing and thinking I am a weirdo J

I stopped at the Leicester Square station and made my way to the Radisson, an amazing hotel that I will be staying at up until the 7th of October. After unpacking, I met with Annette to sort out her dinner plans since the Queen of Europe turns 21 on Friday the 18th J (Planning an awesome night out so hopefully we all will be fine for the next day as John, Sorel and Annette herself start Event 1 on Day 1B)

Next stop was Hammersmith and into the Betfair office to start answering the million emails going around the moment. The workload is huuuge but it will be worth it come start day of the World Series! At about 19:00 I left the office and back to the hotel to rest and have some dinner at a dodgy Chinese restaurant and that was the end of my first day in London.

Tuesday 15th September

Managed to wake up at 08:00 without any alarm (wow) and got myself back in the office around 09:15 to continue responding to emails, etc. Also attended a PR meeting that really got me excited about the things to come! Also had a chat with John regarding a Masterclass he will be giving tomorrow as well as a friendly game of tutorial poker.

The day really went by fast and the workload kept us busy the entire time but at least most of the pending emails were answered! Of course, it was pouring down when the shift was over and my colleagues and I got soaked as we walked to Hammersmith station. Thankfully, the tube was fast and efficient as usual and we got to his flat in just under an hour.

Man United were playing Besiktas for the first game of the new Champions League campaign and of course, his satellite decided to die on us! A call to customer services and we got to watch the game after thirty minutes had gone by, but I was still happy as Mr Scholes powered a header into the net, winning the game for my beloved United J

Another good thing was that I tried Dominos Pizza for the first time ever and it was gooood! Shame we don't have it in Malta but probably a good thing as well as I would be fat by now. After taking a cab back to the hotel, I called it a day and went to sleep...

Wednesday 16th September

Today was a good day as I went to the Empire Casino for the first time with Richard to have a walkthrough and also a look on how the planning is coming along. I have never seen so many cables and stacks of equipment in my life and it is crazy to imagine that all this will be done by tomorrow, in time for the Free Million Dollar game!

After meeting some people from a PR company and also having a look at an amazing structure, the Queen's profile made entirely out of poker chips, I then headed off to the hotel to prepare for lunch with Mr Tabatabai as well as going with him to a Masterclass he was invited to teach J After a good meal, we were picked up in a Prius (oh god) and were taken to the offices of Esquire Magazine were John gave a proper interview and serious poker lesson to the lucky journalist!

After the Masterclass was over and done with, John and I headed to the Millennium Gloucester to pay a surprise visit to Sorel, who had just hurt his back reaching into the fridge for a bottle of water (LOL) John of course could not contain himself laughing which I do admit, made me chuckle as well at poor Sorel's expense..

Both then offered to kindly take me out to dinner and we left the hotel and went our separate ways to get ready. Come 21:30, John picked me up in a taxi and off we went to Nobu, a place I had never even heard of and I was so glad to be there! I had never seen so many models in one place and after having a vodka cocktail with Mr Taba, Sorel and two girls joined us and we finally sat at our table.

Sorel did the honours of ordering the food and sake and I have never had such good sushi in my life!! I felt very retarded not knowing how to sue chopsticks and John was kind enough to feed me... Yes - people stared but it was funny! Desert was also a classic comedy as John and Sorel fought to grab the chocolate cake and ice cream whilst me and the girls just sat there laughing.

It is also worth mentioning that dinner with those two involved some of the craziest gambling I have seen and Sorel ended up losing to John and also having to pay for the meal (which was extraordinarily expensive) After dinner we headed towards Leicester Square to try and find some alcohol and John managed to get us in a pub for the last round of drinks, so he chose tequila shots - yummy!

We then were kicked out and headed towards familiar territory, the Empire Casino and had a few more drinks there. At around 03:00 I said bye to all the gang and headed to bed as the enxt day marked the start of the WSOPE adventure, with the Free Million Dollar Game and WSOPE launch party scheduled!

This is the first roundup and look out for the next episode were I will cover the FMDG, Annette's birthday party and a whole lot more, including Day 1A of the WSOPE Event 1 £1,075 NL Hold'em!

Simon

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