And behind door number
12 is............................
Ever wondered who does the real leg work at APAT live events? Who actually counts the two million chips in play several times over the weekend, to facilitate the popular live updates you follow here over tournament weekends.
I give you,
Leigh "Chipaccrual" Wiltshire; the creator of this APAT Advent Calendar thread, Moderator, Regional Controller and captain of the APAT team for the upcoming UK Team Championship.
Leigh's a suave sort of guy who can turn his hand to anything, so I got to thinking, maybe there is more to the life of a live updater than immediately meets the eye.....
APAT PUBLISHING PRESENTS:LEIGH WILTSHIRE IS 008 - LICENSED TO COUNT
in the Amateur Poker Association & Tour"s
G CASINO ROYALE
008 takes up the story...
Liverpool, January 2010Working at the European Amateur Championship had been an intense operation from the outset but it was still with a heavy heart that I left Luton, bound for Southampton and some much needed rest. As with all APAT missions, no expense was spared on the details and I was excited to find a large wooden crate in my hotel room, which housed a "titanium enhanced projectile human transport unit with indicators".
As I travelled through the English country side, I though back to the previous evening where; on celebrating the success of my mission with several Vodka Martini"s, I was lucky enough to meet and gain favour with a beautiful Hungarian updater, Natasha Feckovyou.
As the morning sunlight bathed my penthouse suite at the Days Inn, I awoke to find
the beautiful Natasha sleeping peacefully beside me. Nursing a Duke sized hangover, I packed my bags and left the room bill by her mobility device.
Just as I was about to leave the room, I noticed the flashing red light on the room"s answerphone machine. I"ll leave that I thought.....
.....on picking up the receiver, I heard "T"s" dulcet tones redirecting me to a meeting in Liverpool, where details of my next mission would be conveyed.
Oh **** I thought. Now what?
Despite the high-tech nature of the "titanium enhanced projectile human transport unit with indicators", I was looking forward to getting it off. It was also quite a relief to have gotten to the port area of Liverpool; where I was to meet "T", without attracting too much attention from the locals.
Off in the distance, I could see "T" enjoying a paddle in the North Atlantic, and I wondered what treats he had in store for me on this occasion.
"008, we want you to go to Manchester and lead a
crap crack APAT unit in the UK Team Championship. Second best is no good in this one.... we want you to bring the the big old jug eared mug home." Striking the image of Natasha from my mind, I accepted the challenge willingly.
"Bantam"s been busy in the lab" "T" said, "you"ll be needing this".
"Jesus wept! "T"" I said, what do I need a gun for?
"Forget the gun 008" he said, "take the straight flush cards, you"re up against the Black Country Poker Club and even with Redfern in the APAT team, you"ll need them."
A little over two weeks later I found myself waiting at an agreed rendezvous point but despite a cryptic text saying "soon", my contact never showed...
Despite the disappointment, some hours later I was staring my chief adversaries down, in a winner takes all final table.
First to go was Oddjob McKinlay, when my sevens cracked his pair of woops.
I continued to use charm and good wit to entice Pearly Gates Yates to put his chips into the middle...my straight flush cleverly concealed.
Now there are a number of ways we could conclude this tale, but the most appropriate would have old Pearly tabling the Royal Flush to take the chips and the glory, leaving 008 to contemplate the trip south in "that suit".
Although Leigh was a focus of this post (such an easy target lol), he along with fellow Regional Controllers Neil and Ian and our other volunteer helpers like Mary, Jon, Daniel and others have contributed a huge amount to the development of APAT over the last year. As in our story above, they don"t do it for the "chips", but this organisation just wouldn"t be what it is without them.
Tighty, Tikay and I are extremely grateful for each of your contributions, as I"m sure thousands of APAT members are also.
A big thank you to the APAT volunteers!
