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I don't comment on the mardy stuff in the chatbox, I just sit there quietly & try to avoid chatting unless spoken to, but it does raise an eyebrow....
Saw this yesterday.....
TWO players with a full house, typical sky
I mean, what can you say? This is Omaha, it happens all the time. FIVE players had limped in (so they can't complain, imo), & the board came double paired, A-A-K-K-2. The guy with 2-2 in his hand went to war, & obviously done his entire stack. Quite why he was still in the pot by the time the river came I've no idea, but he got lucky - or thought he did, only to find the over-house had beat him. quelle surprise
And that was the fault of Sky Poker, it seems.
Sort it out Sky.
OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In truth, I'd rather be there right now than anywhere else on earth.
A pair of binoculars for the wildlife & scenery, no internet, & solitary peace & quiet. Can't think of anything better, tell the truth.
You have a great Christmas too, Mr Rock.
This is the cottage I rent when in the Highlands, it is in Ratagan, right on the shore of Loch Duich, & only a few miles from the Isle of Skye.
No internet, no phone signal, only one TV channel, no Tesco, no nothing.
It used to be a church. Heaven on earth.
Australia in 2014? I really don't know. It sounds like a cliche, but so many things to do, & so little time.
Australia, the Scottish Highlands, Las Vegas, & loads more besides. Fingers crossed, health & continued employment permitting, I guess I might get to a few SPT's, & deffo the UKPC in February. Guess it all sort of depends on the UKPC, that is my focus for now, & it means a great deal to me. If I survive that, who knows what will happen then.
Not sure if you noticed, but we shared a table yesterday, in one of THE most bizarre PLO8 DYM's I've played.
One chap would not fold ANYTHING, & I stupidly got it in my head that it was my ambition to gret him to fold at least once.
Proper fail that, think he called me AIPF with 8-6-4-4, bust my aces, scooped, & later busted me. You just have to shrug the shoulders & move on, & hope he plays a lot more of them!
I'll get him. I will. 100% certain. Probably.
My remaining ambition is to outlast him here at Sky Poker. It might be a close run thing.
I can barely believe he won that £2.20 the other day, spoiled my year that.
All the best to you, too.
I do enjoy it actually, but not the way others do.
I won't see a soul today, or speak to anyone, & that's just fine, I'm perrfectly happy in my own company.
I try & write to all my friends (privately, via PM or e-Mail) here & elsewhere over Christmas, to thank them for everything, I don't usually get the time. I'm blessed to have so many lovely friends. And a few not so friendly acquaintances, too, I suppose. (Merry Xmas to them too, by the way, & I mean that).
I'm at the office right now, blissfully empty, & I'll maybe have a turkey dinner then go home. The Sky Canteen is "free" today, so that's rather nice.
Once I get home, & assuming no DYM traffic, I'll watch wildlife programmes all day & evening, in fact I have them on even when playing poker, I adore them.
Yesterday was "Wild" day on TV - Wild Russia, Wild Nordic, Wild China, Wild Danube, these are spectacularly good, maybe even better than Attenborough stuff, & there will be "Life on Earth" programmes during the holiday, too. I love them to bits.
There was a show recently about an orphaned baby elephant, desperately in need of companionship (elephants are social animals), & so unhappy that he would not eat, & was dying. So they found him a friend........a sheep of all things......& after some initial hostility, they became inseperable friends. The elephant was named Themba, & the sheep was Albert.
Anyway, they lived happily together, went for walks together every day, snuggled up at night, it was just lovely.
Then, suddenly, & with no warning......the elephant died of colic, or a twisted gut, it happened just like that, within a few hours.
Well, I piped my eye like you would not believe, I was sat there in the front room absolutely sobbing!
We folks are strange things, eh?
Anyway, this one.....
I just picked the game up suddenly, I was betting a lot at the time - & losing plenty, lol - & I never had a bet from the day I started poker, 15 years or so ago, until 22 months ago. Since then, believe it or not, I've placed no less than 2,597 bets, & earned a profit of 4.87% on punting. Who'd have thought?
Anyway, I began on Planet Poker, the first Online site, in about 1999. Then, a few years later, 'Stars started up, & I won a lot of money there playing SNG's, $27,000 I think. Then, just as quickly, I lost it all again.....
More follows.....
Next, I started playing Live poker, at Stanleys in Derby (now Genting?), & Gala in Notts. I played live every night for many years at those two venues.
I played my first £100 tourney at Gala Notts after building a little bankroll. £100 to enter a poker tourney, it blew me away, so much money, & I was scared of what my Dad would have thought.
The structure - by modern terms - was woeful, 2,000 chips, blinds began at 50-100, lol. Antes? Don't be silly, no such thing at the time, or not at the recreational level, anyway. But it was fun, we enjoyed it muchly, & anyway, antes or no antes means naff all, because we all play on the same terms.
To balance Tables at Gala Notts, initially, they moved the short stack!
When a table broke, you could all go & sit in any seat you wanted, so there would be a mad musical chairs like scramble for the best seat, on the button, lol. Big Dave Smith (now sadly passed away), you will remember him, knocked two blokes clean over one day doing that, there'd be fights & all sorts. But we enjoyed the whole scene. Now, 12 or 14 years on, we see threads where a player complains he has missed the first hand & so lost 45 chips. Err, yes......
Later, I helped found APAT, with Des Duffy & Rich Prew (Tighty, SPT Rich), & APAT literally changed the face of poker for recreationals, proper structures at affordable prices. Until then, poker had been elitist, the "big" players got good structures, & the rest of us had to make do with dreadful structures.
Sadly, I had to resign my Chairmanship of APAT recently, due to a commercial conflict of interest. I'll probably go back to them when my time is done here, if they'll have me.
When we announced APAT, we got, no exaggaration, slaughtered on the Poker Forums.
We offered.....
No Membership fees.
No Reg Fees on Tourneys. (We got the Sponsors to pay them).
Proper structures
Trophies
Free Buffets
EPT & GUKPT seats to the winners. (Again, paid for by the sponsors).
And people simply did not believe we would do this, they thought it was a scam, & we got thoroughly battered on every poker forum in the UK. Good practice for the three of us at fighting forum fires, I can tell you.
Anyway, it is in Season 9 now, I think, they've just announced their Annual Championships, & APAT is now much respected by almost everyone in poker.
I'm immensely proud of what we three did at APAT in those early days, it changed live poker forever, it truly did. Top, or near the top, of my poker CV, I think.
Anyway, I digressed somehow, more follows....
So, back to Gala Notts.
I finalled that first £100er, & 8 handed, "business" was proposed by Jez & Taffy , from Derby, you'll know them.
Taffy was about 70, with the most stunning 20 year old blonde girlfriend. Anyway, I digress again, sorry. Big Mick Jones, who later had an enforced holiday after a bit of trouble with the law, Lawrence Gosney, (who later won a WSOP bracelet) Ali Mallu & Micky Wernick also finalled.
Maria's (Chili) family usually had about 10 runners in those things, ha!, & her uncle was the near legendary Peter Costa, who ruled Live Poker the world over in those days.
Pete's brother was Kim, who died recently, & I attended his funeral in Leicester.
Anyway, I digress again, sorry.
So, when the business was proposed, I nearly got suckered by a bad deal, but a young chap came to my rescue, got me a better deal - think I got £2,300, a fortune to me - & from that moment, we became firm friends, & remain so until this day.
In fact, this year might be the first year I've not gone to his house over Christmas or New Year. His name is Julian Thew.
More....
Julian & I soon hooked up with Ian Oldershaw, aka "belly".
We were fiercely competitive, & we all thought we were better than the other two. Deluded, or what?
We had an arrangement that we swapped 10% in each other in every Tourney we played, which remained in place for years. Once Thewy joined Sky Poker, of course, that had to stop, as we need to be squeaky clean, but when he plays "off sponsorship" stuff, I still have 10% of his action.
We travelled all over Europe playing, I think I cashed in Festival Finals in NINE Countries, unbelievable looking back on it. It's all on THM if anyone cares to check. Think I had 50 odd entries last time I looked. Now, when I play NLH, as I did a few days ago in the Super Roller, I'm the value, big time, & I get thoroughly beaten up, I just lost my game somwhere, but luckily, I can still get by at PLO8.
Anyway.....
Ian Oldershaw binked £120,000 at the Master Classics in Amsterdam, which was THE biggest event outside of the WSOP at the time. By an accident more than design, instead of 10%, I had 19% of his action, so I got a lovely lump of money from Ian.
Thewy then did a job on me, & somehow persuaded me to retire from work, & take up full time poker. Enter the "lolPro" as I'm known by the Anons on 2+2......
Belly decided to quit his job & become a Pro.
Disaster, he hated the pressure, & it all ended badly, so he went back to work.
I saw him at DTD a year or two back, but he got banned after a bit of an incident, when someone "laid a hand" on him. He said to the kid "please don't touch me Sir, I don't like it". The kid did it again. Bish Bosh, & Belly got himself banned.
Rewind back to 2004 or 2005, & I was living the dream.
I made the semi final of the EPT Deauville in Season One, would have finalled but for a dreadful hand which I butchered badly. Meh.
Soon, I was put in a WSOP event by Wm Hill, who Thewy & I worked for at the time, & I cashed in that, too.
Carlo was on my opening Table in that, down in the dumps, as he'd made a WSOP Final the day before but made a bad fold with Queens, & got himself mullered on every poker forum on earth by spotty teenagers who had never played above penny stakes, poor lad. Pressure is a strange force.....
Soon, media work sort of got in the way of live poker for me, just as well really, as the game got harder, & I got worse. I still love it to bits, I really do, but I rarely get the time these days. The annual highlight for me is an annual Vegas trip, where I've not lost money in my last 3 trips, mainly because I've found my game (PLO8 & PLO) & my level. And I get lucky a lot, I guess.
Cashing in 2 from 3 PLO8 WSOP Events is my most enjoyable memory in live poker, by a country mile, I can't tell you how much fun I had. I ache to do it again, but I fear it's like hooking up with an ex girlfriend, it is never the same again.
Now, 15 years on, the wheel has turned full circle, & I'm back playing £5 & £10 DYM's online, exactly how it all began for me. Weird, eh?
And you know what? I've never enjoyed my poker as much as I do now, even if it is only for nickels & dimes. There is a lot to be said for playing within our means, & the bad beats don't hurt a bit, nor do I EVER get angry or tilted at the table. (Except at bad manners by & towards others).
I sit there nice & quietly, & I'm living the dream, I really am.
If my work here ended tomorrow - & it may, you never know, & its bound to end soon, because of my age - I'd try & do it full time. You know what, that candle of hope still flickers, I COULD do it full time & earn enough to get by, & there'd be no hassle. God, I hate the hassle on poker forums & social media.
Peace might be just around the corner, eh?
I'll try & reply to the rest of Paul's question later, or tomorrow, think thats enough for now, some might say too much.
Jeez, I can rattle on when I get the chance.
Any questions on concrete, anyone?
Just let the rest go to war.
Happy Days
"There's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrongggggggg clothes"
Jac's questions were really teasing me, & I had that mood on me yesterday, I just wanted to write some stuff down.
I'll probably finish answering his questions bit by bit, each day or every few days, as & when time, & the mood, takes me.
Not today though, things to dooooooooo
Hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday, & the weather is not too bad down there in the deepest West Country.
Wednesday 25th December
Played 29
Won 17
Lost 12
Split....
£2.25 - Played 4, won 1, Lost 3
£5.50 - Played 21, won 14, lost 7
£11.00 - Played 4, won 2, Lost 2
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £15.50
PROFIT/LOSS per game £0.53
PROFIT/LOSS in December, £278.41
REWARD POINTS = 157
BANKROLL at close of Play = £745.56
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 4,070 (= £61.05)
December to date....
Played 462
Won 274
Lost 188
Win-rate, November, 59.31%
Profit/Loss per game = £0.60
Fun day yesterday, but made several bad mistakes, just concentration (lack of) really.
Ran bad in the £11ers, but just variance, I've run generally well in them previously.
Lost an £11er on the very first hand, ugh, when I got the lot in pre against a "new" name to me. I had A-A-J-J (DS) - not the best Aces, but too good to let go of, or so I thought. On their backs, my man showed the improbable A-J-4-3, so I had him locked up pretty much on the high, but he was freerolling the Low, so I'll take that.
No low came, which was good, but the 4 & 3 arrived to give him 2 pairs, enough to bust me. Whoops.
A lot of people were running their mouths in the chat box, but it was Xmas Day, & many folks had enjoyed a sherry or two, so understandable I suppose.
When I totted up at the end, I was quite pleased with another £15 in the kitty, as I don't think I played too good overall.
No, or very little, play for the next few days, as I have a guest at home, & I'm working on Saturday, doing the Show with Anna.
We were graced by a Royal Visit on the PLO8 tables yesterday - goodylad21.
He earns fortunes on the NLH DYM's I gather, but decided to pay us a visit & splash around for a few games. Think he did OK, & made a profit. Inadvertently, he ruffled a feather or two, too.....
After winning 3 of 4, I think, he hit & run on us, the scoundrel, making the excuse that he wanted to rail the £5-£10 game that ran overnight. I had a quick peek at the table, plenty of money in play, & the Waiting List was SEVEN players! They must have thought I was playing.
The Daily Comedian.
Mr Grumpy Gent, always blames others for his misfortune, was in fine form last night, & chimed in with this purler.....
Sky is a disgrace, **** site, the river card always changes things
Quite so Sir, quite so, I will look out for that.
Monday, two players with a Full House, yesterday river cards which change things. Whatever next?
Yes, weather not too bad comparitively speaking down here in Cornwall. Yes. there's been plenty of rain and a few trees have come down, but nothing really compared to the seasons seen in counties further east.
Thursday 26th December
Played 16
Won 10
Lost 6
Split....
£2.25 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
£5.50 - Played 16, won 10, lost 6
£11.00 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £12.00
PROFIT/LOSS per game £0.75
REWARD POINTS = 80
BANKROLL at close of Play = £757.56
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 4,150 (= £62.25)
December to date....
Played 478
Won 284
Lost 194
Win-rate, November, 59.41%
Profit/LOSS per game = £0.61
PROFIT/LOSS in December, £290.41
Evening.
I have slightly tweaked the way I report daily, taking December Profit/Loss out of the first set of numbers into the 2nd set.
Interesting stuff, eh?