Victoria Coren Mitchell - Writer, Broadcaster & Poker Player


Day by day; Jour après jour

Tuesday, 8 July 2008

Day One of the main event went well - I finished with 60,000 in chips when the average is 40,000. But there’s such a long way to go, it doesn’t mean anything yet. Four thousand people might have been knocked out of the world championship, but 2500-odd still remain. The money is distant, distant.
  At the end of Day One, they handed out invitations to a “survivors party” at The Palms.
  ‘Look at this’, I smiled to the guy next to me. ‘They want us to go to a party just because we got through the first day.’
  He responded by yelling ‘We got through the first day!’ and giving me a high five.
  Oh well. I just hope he hasn’t spent the $9 million yet.
  In the long gap waiting for Day Two, I have been losing at blackjack (I think I now have to finish 7th to be ahead on the trip) and reading Belle de Jour in the 105 degree heat. This is not a good idea for anyone who’s just started writing a blog and is worried it’s not interesting enough. Belle writes about going to orgies and having sex while pretending to be a horse. I was thinking of writing about the fact that I was on a poker table with nine Americans, none of whom had heard of Christmas pudding.
  In one chapter, Belle de Jour (the pseudonym, so it is claimed, of a working hooker) writes: ‘As I am paid in cash, I find myself at the bank rather often. Cashiers are naturally curious people who would have to be brain-dead not to wonder why I come in with rolls of notes several times a week and deposit in two accounts, one of which is not mine.’
  This reminds me of a magazine article I once read about how to tell if your girlfriend is a high-class call girl. There was a list of ten signs.

1. She stays out very late at night
2. She goes shopping with wads of £50 notes, not a credit card
3. Her mobile is rarely on before noon
4. You get replies to your emails at 4am
5. She refers in passing to dozens of people that you have never met
6. She goes away on ‘trips’ not ‘holidays’, travelling alone
7. She always seems able to take a day off work at short notice
8. Even if she arrives home at dawn, she’s never been drinking
9. She buys lavish presents, and you don’t know how she can afford them
10. She has travelled all over the world, but never seen any of the sights.

At the time, I hoped none of my friends would read that article. I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly reassure them (and the nice people at Lloyds TSB on Finchley Road) that I really do play poker.

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Comments

Rob at 4:36 pm on July 8th, 2008

Not to mention the people you play scrabulous against


Mark at 10:35 pm on July 9th, 2008

Ha!

Thanks for making me laugh.:-)


Andy W at 10:50 am on July 11th, 2008

I remember going to the Civic Centre to pay may Council Tax in full, in cash, in £50 notes and thinking “I look like a total drug dealer.  Cool”.

It never occurred to me that I might actually look like a rent boy :-(


Ryan at 10:32 pm on July 11th, 2008

Hookers pretending to be horses in orgies?  You like your filth!  I’ve just finished reading Once More, With Feeling and it was an excellent read!

I’ve been following your progress in the main event on the excellent Hendon Mob site so know how you’ve been getting on but I wont say anything in case it ruins it for anyone else.

Hope your Blackjack luck changes, I like the Blackjack Switch at Casino Royale but I doubt you would slum it there!

All the best


Heinrich at 1:53 pm on July 30th, 2008

Main Event, Belle de Jour (I’ve seen the book, but never read the movie ;-)), Oedipus, Diet tips for Vegas ... this is a pokerblog none of the American bloggers ever could write ... I like it!
(btw: I just ordered the book as well ...)


Victoria Coren

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