THE EVOLUTION OF BEAGLE

DAY 1...

Have arrived in Vegas after a worryingly bumpy ride, which stopped me from going to sleep because my head kept bobbing against my seat. Traveled direct with Virgin, which makes a refreshing change from having to connect in some random city and receive the now customary grilling from custom officers who have barely even heard of poker.

The other end I ran into Pete Costa, who confessed to hating the Rio yet reluctantly continuing to play there, and Surinder Sunar, now donning recently acquired moustache. Throw in a Graham Souness perm and he'll be the spit of a Columbian drug baron. Also spotted was Ludovic Lacay and Nicolas Levi, the two Frenchman hungry for bracelets.

Been a lack-lustre opening day. A few drinks, couple of slots and a trip to the cinema to watch Speed Racer was about as exciting as it got. I am donning a new hair-do after an entire year away from the claws of the hairdresser. My barnet was short and blonde this time last year, and now it's short and brown, but I did experience a spurt of growth in between, of which is documented below in my 'Evolution of Beagle' series.

Don't worry though, I'm not a vain person, these pictures were taken for my girlfriend on various occasions throughout the year. I was going to link them together for a youtube clip like those dudes who take a daily photograph of themselves for five years straight, but I didn't think it was worth it for three seconds of footage.

So, here you go, a twelve month cycle of my hair, including, for your amusement, a quickly disposed of gay pirate look. It was sad to see the chops go, but I concluded that John McCririck's looked like old man pubes, so he can keep his 'biggest chops in poker' title, and I think I would have frightened small children if I'd stayed choppy but cut the rest of my hair.

The question is, was the final chop the correct one? A simple yay or nay will suffice, but preferably the former as I am very sensitive. Dana's likes it long, rather than short, but I say it's what I do with it that counts.