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Super roller started good and got up to 36k and briefly snagged the chiplead. Unfortunately that was as good as it got, a couple of hours of being card dead and losing almost all pots I did play ensured I went no further. Such is life
Will hopefully play a little session tonight and some more the rest of the week too.
At least Scotland got the job done versus Malta
Might go for an artificial one before next spring.
Had the front lawn similar for a while and usually works out okay and not much settles on the pebbles.
Failing that I guess I will have to buy a blower lol
Ended up not playing last night as I got too involved with a rather tasty bottle of spiced rum...
I guess the poker adventure continues tonight barring unexpected meetings with bottles of rum.
Always found it interesting how different the two cities - Glasgow & Edinburgh - can be, considering they are only around 50 miles apart.
One of them is well posh & refined.
Hendo as a stand in for Ross Poldark, perish the thought. I might need a sick bucket.
Not seen anything of you for a fortnight or more, hope all is well with you & yours Mr B.
PS - If all is well & you were thinking of coming back, don't bother. GO AWAY
All is well(ish), just other events in life taking over as can happen from time to time.
Hope all is well with you and yours too!
Will do a little update after this post. I know nobody is sitting with baited breathe wondering what I am up to but it will give me an excuse to procrastinate for a little while
^^^^
You would never believe this, Mark, but I keep a little A5 Notebook for my Daily "To Do List". It generally has 18 or 20 little things I need or want to do each day.
On yesterday's list, I wrote "drop Mark B a line to see how he is". I ran out of time though, so it got carried forward to today. And I've still not got to it, been a pretty hectic & not awfully pleasant few days here.
As you may have heard, Dave Colclough passed away yesterday, & it's knocked me back a bit. We were good mates for years, & started blonde together, then our lives went in different directions & he moved to The Philippines.
Back in the day, he was a big, big, star & I was in awe of him, so when he invited me to be his Business Partner & Content Writer I was proper made up.
We shared some tough times in Business, which tested our friendship, but on a personal level we got along great, & I loved & idolised him.
He was just 52. It's just so sad & depressing. He was not an angel, far from it, but he was a good man, & taught me a lot & helped me in so many ways.
Did you ever meet him, or know of him?
The shenanigans of Vegas seems such a distant memory at the moment although I did manage to convince the people at American Airlines that it would be fair to give me $800 in flight discounts for my series of delays in the summer. I am going to keep these funds to the side for flights out to the WSOP next summer. It did take a bit of convincing! I recieved a rather short and abrupt reply from the generic customer care department but a quick email to the VP seemed to bare rather more fruitful results
It has been frustrating finding the time to play poker lately! Uni is well and truely kicked back in and I have 5 major assessments and an exam in the next 6 or 7 weeks. On top of that I have been helping my daughter find a flat and will be helping her move next week. Then there has been commitments from a cleaning business I dabble in and another small sideline selling DVDs online. All the usual type of distractions people have to deal with and 2 dogs and 2 cats on top for good measure!
There have been some additional distractions to do with a neighbour though involving being called to court as a witness once already and an additional upcoming case to go to and some other unpleasant stuff to deal with also.
Have been watching the WSOP main event episodes from ESPN on Youtube and really enjoying them! Has me itching to play again. I do know though how stressful it can be playing full time worrying about bills and bankroll etc so am happy to stick with my plan to study for 5 years (18 months to go) and then try and smash it up with a much more solid footing behind me. Even at the end of the conventional study period I hope to spend about 12 months very seriously studying poker.
On the WSOP note I think Will Kassouf's behaviour raises a lot of interesting questions! Should clocks be brought into live play for everyone? Just how much table chat is acceptable (especially when you have acted and an opponent is trying to ponder their decision)? I was surprised at how well many of his opponents handled him (with a few exceptions). He seems a total %^&* but a divisive character who probably makes the game more entertaining to the average onlooker. Jack Effel did seem quite adept at dealing with him! I guess that is why he is the big cheese.
Really hope that Bax does the business in the 'November 9'. He is a decent bloke and would make a great ambassador for poker as a Main Event winner. I also learned so much when I started out in poker from his PXF videos!
I noticed a Twitter update about the upcoming UKOPS tourneys. Even with the lack of time I am tempted! I may (time allowing) have to throw a few £'s online and see if I can cream a couple of days buy ins from the DYM's and give it a shot. Time will tell!
Anyways I hope you are all doing well on and off the tables and if not at least having some fun
Thanks for reading to anyone who wasted 5 minutes of their life reading my musings and maybe see you on the tables soon!
Also RIP to David Colclough! I didn't know him personally in any way but he always seemed a decent chap on TV and it is sad to lose someone from the poker community!
I wasn't sure if he was something to do with the Blonde forum as I am a total newb there. I never crossed paths with him but did know of him and he did seem a decent bloke. Condolences to you Tikay! Such a yound age
My frequency of visits to the tables has been about the same as Tikay's cold 4 bet rate ;-) so I guess this will be mostly real life ramblings. I guess 'diary' was an apt choice for a title.
Studying has really taken over in the last few months although is now drawing to a close for the festive period, thankfully. One exam to get out the way on Thursday and then I might actually get the time to play a little poker! Has been a real struggle to get motivated this trimester and if I had a half decent reason I would leave uni. It's been 3 and a half years now and continually jumping through academic hoops has become very tedious. My marks are good which is why I feel so oblidged to 'just get on with it'.
This week has been particularly testing. Firstly we had to do a group presentation on 'Personality' which was video recorded and involved a Doctor and a Professor grilling us for 20 minutes on the research we had done, trying to trip us up. I may not have helped myself any when the professor asked me a question and I eagerly offered a very thorough answer... Firstly, upon reflection, the answer was a load of waffle. Secondly I don't think it was recieved too well, judging by his response, which was... 'I haven't finished asking the question yet!'. I guess I will find out when the marks are released on Monday just how much I managed to p!ss him off.
The week was also filled with the terribly exciting task of making a 18 minute video with statistical analysis of 3 psychology data sets. I hit levels of boredom worse than listening to a shipping forecast when I had the joy of watching it back. Actually doing the analysis and putting the video together allowed me to chart new depths of tedium and boredom which I was thoroughly unaware even existed. If anyone has trouble sleeping, I have just the remedy (yes, I mean apart from reading this diary).
I have also been feeling particularly old this month. Firstly tearing my calf muscle 2 weeks ago while playing football which I hear is more likely the older we get... Then just to make sure I got the message, one of my dad's neighbours asked if I was his brother! I mean come on that is below the belt...
I had also planned to move house over the last couple of months due to issues with 'the neighbours'. Things have been slightly quieter lately though and they have refrained from fighting with one another for the time being. Have to go to court as a witness against their daughter in January so the situation remains 'fluid'. I want to move home anyway but with around 16 months of studying left to do, now just isn't the ideal time if it can be at all avoided.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, poker...
I actually got to play a mini session tonight on the OH8 DYM tables and wind up a little in profit! I may well put the £11 proceeds towards the new home
I did enjoy playing and it was great to see the regulars on here again. I would play on here an awful lot more if real life would just stop getting in the way! All in good time I guess and I will hopefully get to play more over the holidays. Not setting any targets over the festive period other than having a little fun at the tables. Will set a few grander targets come the spring when the WSOP qualifiers start to surface.
Thanks for reading, hope you are all doing well on the tables and that you all have an enjoyable holiday period.
I think mine is somewhere in the middle, I couldn't walk at all for a day and a half, the limp lasted 2 weeks. I think it will take 3-4 months for mine to heal, if I try to break walking pace I can feel it ready to go again and there is still quite a bit of swelling.
@Chilling, regarding the neighbours, sadly you are probably correct!
1) I have cold 4 bet twice already this year, & it's only December.
2) What's boring about the Shipping Forecast? I've even got a book about it. Never miss the 0048 transmission, it's the best thing on the wireless at that time of night.
Here's the book - go buy it, you won't regret it. Fascinating stuff.
I will be sure to add the book suggestion to my 'to do' list, at least a few places above shoving cocktail sticks in my eyes :-D
^^^^
Excellent link.
Was good to see you for a few games on Saturday, livened up the action a treat.
Was happy to sit & watch whilst you & lumkming09 locked horns, lol. I do like him on my table actually, especially if I have position. "Play for stacks" seems to be the rule.
blankcheck, who has been AWOL from the scene for several years, is very good too. For the first week or two after he returned, I struggled with him a bit, but as you have often said in the past, we have to adjust to certain players, & once I did that, I'm ok with him now. Not saying I am a better player, not at all, but I know how to play him now.
Can't believe I am being lectured on "boring" by a Scot.
How's your Dad these days?
It had been a while since we last played so it will be fun trying to work out what shenanigans you are trying to pull on my BB's over the festive period.
My dad is doing okay cheers, he is still playing every night with the micro mixed game crew on stars, $2 rebuy HORSE MTT's and such. Certainly get a few interesting 'players' in those games.
Hope things have been trundling along nicely for you in the last few months both on and off the tables
I know many people couldn't give a flying ... what I may or may not be up to but I don't mind keeping a little record of my own musings, even if just to organise my thoughts a little if nothing else.
Non poker related:
Well I have made some personally monumental decisions today that I have been wrestling with for about 12-18 months. As mentioned I went a few years ago as mature student who had been out of education for 20+ years and done an HNC. I didn't know what to expect and whether I would stay more than a week and had little expectations or pressure going in. It went well though, extremely well, I absolutely loved it and my work got some very high praise from lecturers, and SQA assessors and I managed to donk my way to a student of the year award and a little cash prize.
That was all great but there was now expectations and pressure attached regarding what I would do in relation to education... So I signed up for a psychology BA at uni. The first year was a breeze and relatively enjoyable although not as much fun as college (mainly due to larger classes and less time for small group discussion). There also seemed to be a degree of snobbery which if you knew me IRL you would realise just doesn't sit well with me. I like to take people as I find them and treat everyone with respect until they show me I should be doing otherwise. To have certain groups within uni feeling they can talk down to you because you are a piddly little first year and therefore must know close to zilch was rather infuriating to put it mildly.
I know things can be like that though and 'you just have to get on with it', so I did. My grades were on pace for 1st class honours and apart from any snobbery all was well. Then, as 2nd year started, and as I have mentioned before, my mother, gran and grandfather all died within the space of months. Somehow jumping through academic hoops now seemed trivial. I did still however go through the motions and saw 2nd year out, still maintaining my high grades. By the time the current 3rd year started, any novelty and enjoyment out of studying had long gone! I am bored with the studying and not enjoying the experience anymore but with my marks still high it seemed like such a waste to leave...
I have decided today however to find a happy medium and rather than do the full 4 years to gain the honours classification, I am just going to see 3rd year out and get the basic degree completed (which ends in April). So I will get the BA degree but not the honours classification. I am fine with this and it works for where I want to go from here in real life. I am now faced with the realisation that 4 years of studying will be done in just a couple of months!
To say it is a weight off wouldn't even come close to explaining the relief!
Poker related:
Really enjoying playing a bit more these days! Still do not have the time to play anywhere near the volume I would want but managing to squeeze some games in
One hand that really bothered me from the 1st night of the £11 PLO8 BH where I got heads up was the following...
I had KK97 in the BB. Blinds were high and stacks relatively shallow. My opponent limps in the SB (he had been raising most decent or 2 way hands). I miniraised and he flat called and we saw a rainbow flop of AQQ. He checks to me and I minibet again and once more he flat calls me. Now my read here is that he doesn't have an ace as I think he raises preflop HU with this, I also do not think probabilistically that he has a Q as there are only 2 in the deck and he 'may' have reraised the flop with the Q. He could have a Q but I think it is odds against and assume he is simply floating to pressure me on the turn/river. I therefore bet again on the turn and he shoves all in, this is for the game as I have him covered but I elect not to go with my gut as I am only beating a bluff and I fold. He shows the bluff with total air which I had him on all along.
Well played to my opponent though, sincerely! He went on and won the HU from there.
Thoughts now turning towards WSOP and if I will be able to play any events this year and if so how many. Hoping to get any early start on any qualifiers running online and see what I can do and also looking forward to the leagues starting for the new PLO8 BH's!
Anyways I will stop rambling about my trivial 1st world problems now, sorry for the book but if you have read through my posts you will know I have severe issues with being succinct
Hope you are all running well in life and on the tables and thanks for reading!