Repost: Living in the World of TBC: A Short Response to Tony Bigcharles
.JPG)
I have received several requests to put back up the post I wrote last night that responded to Tony's most recent epistle. I actually took it down right after I posted it for several reasons. It was not going to satisfy the blood lust of the anti-Tony crowd and, upon review, seemed to me to be even more boring than my usual posts. Ha!
However, I did want people to get a feel for how demanding Tony can be and why he wears out some people -- me included. I have included part of an e mail that I wrote Tony shortly before I left because I had a pretty good idea of how things would eventually come down.
I also understand why Tony sometimes feels the way he does. So yes, if he says that I can sometimes be insensitive to other people's feelings, I will not disagree. The part Tony doesn't get is the way he wears on people and wears them down. I have met many people because of Tony (Koala, PPP, s i, Alysia Chang, Nick, CoolDave, etc), and the thing most have in common is that they are great people who have tried to help Tony but have found that helping him exacts a price.
People who follow Tony also know that the ways Tony perceives the world and posts about it are, shall we say, unique. Little wonder that the most recent version of his blog has almost 1.5 million views.
So, here goes. If you received the impression that I did not spend any time with Tony while in Las Vegas or constantly blew him off, you would be wrong.
Have a great day!
In the near future I will be posting a series of blog posts about my recent trip to Las Vegas. However, since Tony has chosen to make an issue of several things, I present to you this quickie lesson in understanding the wonderful world of Tony Bigcharles.
1) About five days before going to Las Vegas, I sent Tony an email that contained the following:
Hi Tony:
I just wanted to make sure you heard this up front to minimize any confusion. I will have lots of friends in town this trip and already have some things planned. For example, I will be playing in the annual blogger tournament Saturday morning/afternoon, will be going to a bar/restaurant with Rob, Alysia, Michelle, Kristi, Nick and maybe others Monday night, and will need to get in at least ten hours of cash game play at Bally's from Thursday at 5pm until noon on Sunday to qualify for Sunday's freeroll. There are a few other blogger gatherings going on that I might or might not attend and other people I might be seeing. I am deciding on going to a concert, too.
So, I am just warning you ahead of time -- you might not plan out things in your life, but I do. I am going to be in Las Vegas for six nights and have lots of things I plan to do. We will have some time to play poker and to talk, but just don't be expecting that I will be dropping everything to be taking you around from poker room to poker room, especially since you don't play in the rooms in which I plan to spend time, like Bally's and Luxor.
2) I was waking up, getting dressed and doing final packing before my 6:30 a.m. flight to Chicago departed when a text message from Tony arrived, asking me when I will get into Las Vegas. And so it began..
2) I got into Las Vegas early Thursday afternoon. That evening, I picked up Tony at Wynn and took him downtown so that he could get to a slot club by midnight to get a promotion. Ate at El Cortez (via Tony's comps) and hung around while he played Dealer's Angel. Eventually drove him back to his apartment to end the night.
3) Friday night - Tony played mixed games at my table at Planet Hollywood. I left for a bit, then stayed to play $1/2 NL with him for several hours. Finally left and dropped Tony off at Venetian.
4) Sunday night -- Was playing poker at Bally's with Rob and Nick. Left to go to Venetian solely to play poker with Tony. Alysia Chang met us there. No Tony there as he had been 86ed. Of course, he wanted us to then leave to go to Wynn. We just got to the V so we declined. I got tired, took a nasty beat and just decided to go back to the hotel to sleep immediately.
5) Monday night -- outing at 6:00 p.m. arranged by Alysia Chang. Tony didn't wake up and text me until almost 6:30. He wanted me to leave to pick him up. I declined for several reasons. Later that night he claimed I was selfish because I was playing at MGM, one of the 1001 places he can't play due to his behavior.
6) Tuesday -- Tony woke up just before 5:30 p.m. and was told that Nick and I just started playing poker at Mandalay Bay. We were obviously not just going to pick up and leave since the King now commanded us. I was told that I am not reliable, I am a hypocrite, I don't keep promises, on and on. I told him that I was sick of his shit and would not come now. I was told I never intended to, I don't know how to treat someone as a friend, etc.
Of course, when Tony feels sorry for himself, he then spews crap about how people play at certain poker room just to exclude him. Well, now there are virtually no poker rooms in Las Vegas where he can play anymore. And frankly, I have little desire to play in those few places.
There are many more details to these stories that I will include in future posts, but I wanted you to get the flavor of the TBC Experience. I actually had an excellent vacation, which I rated a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 scale. Thanks to Nick, Rob, AC, Poker Prudence and a few other friends and characters who made for a great trip!
Note: Check out the excellent post by Pete P. Peters.
posted by lightning36 at 7:58 PM
8 Comments:
I know you (and several others you mentioned in your post) want very badly to help Tony get on his feet and pointed in the right direction. However, he seems to ignore good advise and keeps doing the same things over and over, expecting a different result.
Having visited with you on several occasions, I know you to be a compassionate person, a "Good Samaritan" to quote from the book Tony claims to follow. This is definitely an admirable quality, but sometimes we have to "dust off our sandals" and move on (Mt.10).
Perhaps that time is now and you need to focus that compassion in places where it is better appreciated.
LIKE DUCK SAYS plus a lil Matthew 7:6.
Excellent post.
In the future, please include sockroll updates after each mention of a Tony session.
Ty in advance,
Duggle
too tired to type much now. i got back to room 2 hrs ago and been busy typing a new blog among other comments. im ready to SLEEP. btw dont lucki duck live around md live?
anyway--this blog gives the wrong impression that i wanted u to come right away and leave Nick. when all i wanted was to be SURE that id see u sometime later that day before u (and i) left town. i wasnt entirely sure yet if i was leaving that night or not, (ended up waiting about 2-3 days) or even checking out of my monthly place. u mistook it as me wanting u to come now, when all i really wanted was either a phone call to talk, or reassurance u would see me one more time later that night. i was so worried u would simply leave without planning to see me again since u had now done as much 3 times in a row, ever since the Venetian ban, starting with not coming to the wynn, then texting me asking me how the game was at the nugget (giving the impression u might come) then going to the MGM. it just looked like Cokeboy insisted u never see me again, and u were persuaded to only hang out with HIM from then on. u got to realize how things appeared to me from my end of it.
there was never any suggestion, or implication, that u or Nick leave the mandalay bay. all i asked in the text was about ur plans for later and if u could please call as soon as u got up from the table for any purpose such as ur next bathroom break so id have an idea what to do and expect that night later on.
dammmm new name Lightning Rob. u must b tired now
"i do think lightning wouldve made much more of an effort to see me if i came to champaign that PPP did when i came to Hanover."
I totally agree. In fact, I made NO effort to come see you over the weekend, for reasons I think I adequately explained on my blog. And now it's the work week, and I'm working every day. I get up at 6:00 am and get home around 7:30 or 8:00. And I have no intention of driving another 45 minutes out to Maryland Live (and another 45 minutes back home) to briefly placate your ego . . . It is what it is . . .
P.S., On one level it's nothing personal. In fact, Poker Meister and others have tried to get me to drive up and play poker week nights, and I always decline . . . because it's just too tiring to try and play during the work week when I have to be up early and functional. But, on an entirely other level, it is definitely personal.
I was going to leave a comment, but anything worthwhile I could say has already been said over and over. Glad I'm at a distance, for sure.
"it just looked like Cokeboy insisted u never see me again, and u were persuaded to only hang out with HIM from then on. u got to realize how things appeared to me from my end of it."
What part of any of that implied that I, of all people, controlled what Lightning was going to do? I fully intended to spend time with you when he was going to see you while I was in town, and then you got all demanding and wouldn't answer the question he asked, so he decided, on his own, that he would rather continue hanging out with Rob and I and not deal with your issues.
Considering that he was on vacation, as was I, and he had already seen you and driven you around, the fact that he decided to take the easy route and not deal with your BS any longer isn't that surprising. If necessary, I can post all the DM's you sent me in October when i was in town for a weekend(really, Friday night thru Sunday at noon), showing how demanding and unreasonable you can be at times, Tony.
Post a Comment
<< Home