Mr Brightside

[Laxie]

Video HAS to be got!  And posted here obv.  

[Paulie_D]

Video HAS to be got!  And posted here obv.  

Dawn...you should be careful about requesting videos...you never know what"s out there.

Oh yes!  

[Laxie]

Video HAS to be got!  And posted here obv.  

Dawn...you should be careful about requesting videos...you never know what"s out there.

Oh yes!  

Half the forum"s already seen the damn thing anyway.  lol

[PHIL_TC]

Have bought the video of the Great North.. waiting for the download link to be sent

So this weekend is my first ever Chezger, hoping to get there Friday night, but with Friday being one of the nights I always have Anna it may be that the Stockton Cock and I blast over on Saturday. Really can"t wait. The word epic is over used. But this weekend WILL BE EPIC.

Makes me think back to my first APAT in 2008.. Vienna / Wiener Neustadt. From not knowing anyone on the Forum, and posting my first ever tentative post on here enquiring on how I could get a seat.. there followed a fantastic adventure and the start of falling in love with APAT and especially APAT trips abroad.

Started off putting my name on a list for a coach trip from UK to Vienna, but ended up arranging over the forum to meet a guy I"d never met before, John Steele at Manchester Airport.. agreeing to fly with John to Bratislava to save costs and then jump in a hire car there to Wiener Neustadt   John was great.. and the trip was a great laugh, the trip was smooth.. and then we ended up at the Orange Wings hotel at Wiener Neustadt  

Firstly on hearing the APAT was Vienna I had visions of a beautiful city, culture.. a certain "tune" which means nothing to me.. with a weekend of poker thrown in. What turned out was Wiener Neustadt.. around 50mins drive south of Vienna and the Orange wings. Situated in an industrial estate. Next to a go-carting track.



The "hotel" has been compared to a prison and to be fair I"ve never stayed anywhere like it before or since. All caged off and with a computerised booking in system at the front door which if I remember rightly one of the APAT crowd took exception to and one morning we woke to find in more pieces than it was the night before.

The room itself was fine though.. but the Vienna I"d pictured in my mind.. this certainly wasnt.

[PHIL_TC]

The tournament went well and I cannot describe how chuffed I was at around 3am at the end of day 1 to have made it through to day 2. I"d met loads of APAT legends, shared and survived a table with the loudest person I"d ever met (at that point haha) which turned out to be Matt Mckinley.. Only problem was I had a bowl and if I remember rightly we were bang on the bubble. I was short stack with a really nice local guy trying to avoid the nice watch they were giving away as the bubble prize.

I managed a double up from a certain friendly Don which I remember was a little bit of a suckout (love you mate) and then somehow managed to get onto the final two tables and opposite mr APAT himself a certain Leigh Wiltshire. I ended up falling just short of a final table in 12th.. knocked out by this guy from Germany...



Kudos to his claim to fame?.. obviously apart from knocking me out of an APAT  

[Paulie_D]

Ahhh...Wiener Neustadt.

Fond memories. My first overseas trip with APAT. Away with a couple or three lads from the London Poker Meetup.

I"d sensibly done my research as a fledgling Travel Guru should and had booked into the Hotel Zentral in the main square. [Apparently previously known as Hitler Platz...I wonder why they changed it?]

Cheap as chips, taxi rank bang outside etc., etc. and the Poker Royale Casino...the one with flyers for the knocking shop in the gents.

Happy Days.

[duke3016]

Ahhh...Wiener Neustadt.

Fond memories. My first overseas trip with APAT. Away with a couple or three lads from the London Poker Meetup.

I"d sensibly done my research as a fledgling Travel Guru should and had booked into the Hotel Zentral in the main square. [Apparently previously known as Hitler Platz...I wonder why they changed it?]

Cheap as chips, taxi rank bang outside etc., etc. and the Poker Royale Casino...the one with flyers for the knocking shop in the gents.

Happy Days.

Yep I stayed there as well as did Jack & Petch, we had already learned to follow Paulie"s advice.

GG Phil in Stalag Orange wings

[Paulie_D]

Yep I stayed there as well as did Jack & Petch, we had already learned to follow Paulie"s advice.

Must have been psychic then...I don"t remember doing a Travel Tips thing but I may have mentioned it in"t Forums.

I wonder if I can find it.....?

[duke3016]

Yep I stayed there as well as did Jack & Petch, we had already learned to follow Paulie"s advice.

Must have been psychic then...I don"t remember doing a Travel Tips thing but I may have mentioned it in"t Forums.

I wonder if I can find it.....?

Someone must have - I wouldn"t have chosen it at random FFS

[duke3016]

Rich,

Jim (Spursman) Lynott, Terry (Zerocool) Aylward and I are all on that flight.

We"re all in the Hotel Zentral and we were planning on taking the train into Wiener Neustatdt, perhaps after a meal in Vienna.

from 2008

[PHIL_TC]

I"d sensibly done my research as a fledgling Travel Guru should and had booked into the Hotel Zentral in the main square.

Sigh... that looks flipping gorgeous.

GG Phil in Stalag Orange wings

Indeed! Obviously I"d missed the forum post from the guru and decided on going with the masses. WP.. kind of added to the experience though. When I say"kind of".. its engraved into my brain somewhere in an area marked "FML"  :"(

After busting John and I decided that another night in the Orange Wings was not for the win. Not at all. So John booked us into a hotel in Bratislava so we could get a flyer on the morning. This resulted in another 2 massive errors.

Error 1. Me suggesting that all we"d seen of "Vienna" was an industrial estate. Why don"t we drive back through Vienna. Possibly the worst idea ever. I mean who would say.. I know why don"t we detour and drive through London for a giggle on the way home? Then try London where all the signs were in a different language. No. No. No. We ended up in Bratislava very late. I remember us just driving up onto the pavement in Vienna at one point trying to work out what the hell the signs meant. And resorting to try and explain to a man in a caravan thingy selling spicy sausages that we just wanted to get out.. when he asked where I think "anywhere but fecking here" translated quite well.

Error 2. The hotel in Bratislava.. and view from my room..

 

The hotel booked by John turned out to be only a slight improvement from the Orange Wings. And after having a beer in the hotel lounge and offered a "menu" from the hotel reception of girls.. it turned out to be some kind of hotel / knocking shop.

Not wanting to return back home with any bonus diseases we went back to our rooms. I remember jamming every available loose piece of furniture (including the kettle) against the door and definitely sleep with my clothes on just in case an swift exit was required  

A trip never to be forgotten. And my first meeting of many an APAT legend. The love affair had started x

[Chipaccrual]

Hotel Zentral was lovely.

That weekend was the first and last time Jen has ever been to an APAT event.

"A weekend in Vienna" I said

"It will be lovely" I said

"I"ll be knocked out on the first day" I said

"We can spend the rest of the weekend in Vienna"  I said

Oooooooops

"I"ll make it up to you" I said

"We can do whatever you like on the Monday before we fly back" I said

"See Vienna, I"ve cashed, spend it how you like" I said


Easter Monday, all of Vienna is pretty much shut.  FML.

Very frosty journey home.  

[Logie66]

I managed a double up from a certain friendly Don which I remember was a little bit of a suckout (love you mate) and then somehow managed to get onto the final two tables and opposite mr APAT himself a certain Leigh Wiltshire. I ended up falling just short of a final table in 12th.. knocked out by this guy from Germany...

Was also my first APAT, booked the Orange Wings and went out very late on Day 1, I remember us sitting next to each other for a couple of hours, after the first you also asked whether I was going to play hand !!

The start of a good friendship and the subsequent trips into Europe have been even more entertaining !

[PHIL_TC]

Hotel Zentral was lovely.

So basically everyone in the "know" stayed there? great!

Was also my first APAT, booked the Orange Wings and went out very late on Day 1, I remember us sitting next to each other for a couple of hours, after the first you also asked whether I was going to play hand !!

The start of a good friendship and the subsequent trips into Europe have been even more entertaining !

I remember mate.. think we managed to sit next to each a few times at different tournaments back in those days. Pleased you"re coming upto Glasgow fella. Been too long x

Kudos to his claim to fame?.. obviously apart from knocking me out of an APAT  

Noone? Could he be the only APAT player to then win a WSOP bracelet?

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=101142

[Chipaccrual]

Noone? Could he be the only APAT player to then win a WSOP bracelet?

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=101142

The only others I could think that would ever be in contention for that accolade would be :-

Roberto Romanello
Liv Boeree
Toby Lewis
Stu Ward