WCOAP 2014 Discussion Thread

[Joker161]

I have to agree with the positive feedback above from Mark, I thought the festival was excellent, and hopefully anyone put off from coming, by the scaremongering with regards to personal security in the area, will now attend, should the tour visit here again in the future. I trust I am not speaking out of turn, but I don"t know of anyone who came to any harm.

Congratulations to all at Apat for their sterling work during the season, and best of luck to all Apaters competing at other events taking place between seasons.

^^^^This

I was staying at the IBIS, and I was slightly apprehensive about the walk back each night. Nothing to worry about in the end. All good, and never felt unsafe.

Great venue. Such a lot of room, and the staff were great (and started at 12 noon!).

Excellent work from JP, by the way. Very well deserved!

[Chris_Austin]

I actually (almost) did have my first bit of trouble in London in all the times i"ve been and spent there (lived there for a year) but that was my own fault for not sticking to the buses and doing a bit of walking between stops. I was on a mainish road but it was well away from the casino and quiet (1.30am) and I was lucky not have gotten done in and mugged for my shootout winnings!

[MCTachyon]

Will there be a pictures thread for the championships?

I finished 3rd in the 6-max and had my picture taken with medal and also noticed the camera man take a few of my tables in the Main Event 1a and the PLO championships.

Ta,

[Mattiek1]

Hi,

Had a great time at Aspers! I won the 6max and was wondering when the 150Eur Sunday Seat will be credited to my Coral account - in time for this Sunday?

Also, the mislaid 6max bracelet, any idea when this will be sent to me in the post?

Big fan of APAT, been to the last 3 in Notts DTD, Cardiff and now Stratford - looking forward to the next one!

Cheers,
Matt

[MCTachyon]

Hi,

Had a great time at Aspers! I won the 6max and was wondering when the 150Eur Sunday Seat will be credited to my Coral account - in time for this Sunday?

Also, the mislaid 6max bracelet, any idea when this will be sent to me in the post?

Big fan of APAT, been to the last 3 in Notts DTD, Cardiff and now Stratford - looking forward to the next one!

Cheers,
Matt

Mate, its Ryan who finished 3rd in the 6 max.

Congrats again on the win, hope to see you again at the next APAT event.

All the best mate.

[LombBomb]

Will there be a pictures thread for the championships?

I finished 3rd in the 6-max and had my picture taken with medal and also noticed the camera man take a few of my tables in the Main Event 1a and the PLO championships.

Ta,

Well done Ryan.  You should be able to find most of the pictures here;

https://picasaweb.google.com/www.apat.com

[Chris_Austin]

Well done Ryan.  You should be able to find most of the pictures here;

https://picasaweb.google.com/www.apat.com

Sweet. I"m sure I saw some Shootout FT pics somewhere on the forums but don"t see them in that gallery.

[suzanne]

I have to agree with the positive feedback above from Mark, I thought the festival was excellent, and hopefully anyone put off from coming, by the scaremongering with regards to personal security in the area, will now attend, should the tour visit here again in the future. I trust I am not speaking out of turn, but I don"t know of anyone who came to any harm.

Congratulations to all at Apat for their sterling work during the season, and best of luck to all Apaters competing at other events taking place between seasons.

^^^^This

I was staying at the IBIS, and I was slightly apprehensive about the walk back each night. Nothing to worry about in the end. All good, and never felt unsafe.

Great venue. Such a lot of room, and the staff were great (and started at 12 noon!).

Excellent work from JP, by the way. Very well deserved!

I was staying at the Premier Inn and although I choose this hotel for proximity and safeness I somehow lost my way after being shown out through a side door at 3am...it took me over an hour to find my destination and not a mugger in sight to ask directions

[suzanne]

BTW was I the only one to notice Mo from Eastenders was there that night? We also bumped into each other (literally) in the lift the following morning but she didnt look like she was in the mood for a selfie.

[Matt D]

BTW was I the only one to notice Mo from Eastenders was there that night? We also bumped into each other (literally) in the lift the following morning but she didnt look like she was in the mood for a selfie.

I didn"t see her, but I did see Tom Daley and friends sat outside the casino drinking coffee (just before 11am Monday). Did anyone else spot him?

[MintTrav]

All these people posting about how safe it is around there are deluding themselves. I took a bus one night and a group of about five came on who were being pursued by another group of about ten. The second group were like a pack of animals outside. They managed to get the middle door open and made a series of runs onto the bus to attack the first lot. One or two of the first group also made occasional ill-advised attempts to get outside. This went on for at least ten minutes, which seemed much longer at the time. I have no idea why the driver didn"t drive off, as some people were shouting for him to do, but he didn"t, perhaps because there had been some damage to the bus, so the attacks just continued until the police arrived.

You may have been okay on your particular journey, and you will be most times, but it is an extremely dangerous area.

[Jon MW]

All these people posting about how safe it is around there are deluding themselves. I took a bus one night and a group of about five came on who were being pursued by another group of about ten. The second group were like a pack of animals outside. They managed to get the middle door open and made a series of runs onto the bus to attack the first lot. One or two of the first group also made occasional ill-advised attempts to get outside. This went on for at least ten minutes, which seemed much longer at the time. I have no idea why the driver didn"t drive off, as some people were shouting for him to do, but he didn"t, perhaps because there had been some damage to the bus, so the attacks just continued until the police arrived.

You may have been okay on your particular journey, and you will be most times, but it is an extremely dangerous area.

Actually that kind of demonstrates why the crime figures for the area are skewed at a higher average than other areas.

A significant proportion of the violent crime in Stratford is gang on gang - when I was there, I saw in the Standard about court proceedings regarding a massive fight in Westfield; but it involved one group against another - like this instance. If you"re not local, you"re not particularly likely to get caught up in it (unless you"re particularly unlucky).

The fact that Chris Austin said he "almost" had trouble, and that the incident you saw was trouble - but ultimately was dealt with successfully by the police (and that not much else was observed by a couple of hundred people at the WCOAP) could be an illustration of why the perception of how dangerous the area is doesn"t really match up to the reality of how likely it is that something could actually happen to you there.

Like I said before - it is comparatively more dangerous in Stratford than a lot of other areas, but the objective level of risk is still low there.

[cashman]

BTW was I the only one to notice Mo from Eastenders was there that night? We also bumped into each other (literally) in the lift the following morning but she didnt look like she was in the mood for a selfie.

I was wondering if that was her i thought it was someone who looked like her.

[Chris_Austin]

I was wondering if that was her i thought it was someone who looked like her.

When they"re in casual clothes and not wearing their usual make-up, they do just have the appearance of a look-a-likey! I"ve had that problem before but if you hear them speak it often gives it away. That happened when I was walking around South Kensington once and I started hearing Steve Wright"s voice coming towards me! I think Mo puts on the London accent though.

[Chris_Austin]

Did we ever find out how the mysterious extra found it"s way into the deck or what the reaon was behind the unscheduled break after the chip-up on day 2 of the main?

I"m just curious though, as I can"t really fault the tournament and dealing staff at Aspers. I thought they did a great job. Some of them might need a little extra training here and there or to speak a little more loudly but that"s all. Our HORSE dealer was brilliant and followed the games very well. I think he was one of John the TD"s disciples - he mentioned something about an assessment for dealing on the EPT.