Pimpology

No poker action to report in the last few days.

I've crocked myself in multiple places (bad back/neck, and a dodgy knee ligament) and have been too busy steeping in Radox, being slathered in Ralgex and ingesting Ibuprofen to actually play any poker.

In lieu of poker musings, I thought I'd pimp a few worthy institutions.

It's one of the paradoxes of writing a well ranked, but lightly read, blog that my pimping is probably more effective through the indirect effect of boosting the Google page rank, than through my words directly influencing people to click through to other sites.

Regardless of that, let's start with what should be one of the biggest European poker stories of 2007...


Dusk Till Dawn is the chosen name for a new dedicated poker venue to be opened near Nottingham by Rob Yong.

The plan is ambitious to say the least. A huge tournament area, dedicated TV studio, Bellagio standard decor, high rollers room, and a cash free system which will be linked into the club's own online poker room.

The online poker room will also be offering an innovative reward scheme, as described on their website.

There is a fantastic diary thread on Blonde Poker where Rob is charting his progress (and setbacks) setting up the club.

I've very briefly met Rob Yong - though I doubt he'd even remember me - and he seems like a thoroughly genuine guy. A real livewire, an entrepreneur, and an obsessive poker enthusiast.

He also seems to have a real commitment to quality, not just in terms of decor and equipment, but service and staff training. I imagine he'd be a demanding boss, but a rewarding one to work for.

It's a huge risk setting up a venture on this scale, and I'd love to see him succeed.

If the club lives up to his ambitions, Nottingham East Midlands airport could be seeing a lot more inbound traffic not just from other UK cities, but Europe and beyond.

Dusk Till Dawn could easily become the best poker venue in Europe.


Some more pimping now. I've mentioned my rakeback provider before, but I want to reiterate, Rake The Rake give fantastic service.

Whenever I contact them, I get swift, detailed responses, which actually answer my query directly, rather than being a cut-and-paste of some corporate template.

As a low limit amateur, I get service which I believe equals, if not exceeds, that which the big sites give to their VIP members.

Their website is distinctly low-tech, but as an IT professional I long ago learned to value substance over style, and the rakeback payments hit my account on time each month.

Throw in monthly freerolls and other promotions, and you really can't go wrong with Rake The Rake for poker rakeback.

Of course, if you do decide to sign up with them, I'd appreciate if you mention my name. There will be a little something in it for me too.


Finally for now, there's yet another Blogger freeroll this Thursday on Virgin Poker.

I think it's limited to UK players only, so the field should be pretty small.

First prize is entry to a $1500 NLH WSOP event with travel included. The rest of the prizepool comprizes one quarter of a million V-points, which I think can be used as Virgin air miles.

A share of that would make a trip to Vegas very affordable, though I don't think they are valid on Virgin Galactic.

Cheers Richard!