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Cheers,
Alan
You will be much missed in Blackpool. Like piles.
"other" SPT Dates? I know not of what you speak.......;)
Soon, Solly, soon, along with some other stuff. There really is a lot happening here. Sky Poker really is buzzing now, no other site is doing so much, in every respect, & yet I end up spending Sunday morning fighting forum fires, marv.
And you know what I should be doing right now? No? Well I'm gonna tell you.
Sunday morning is Archers Omnibus morning.
Here's a catch up on Thursday's Edition.....
Meanwhile, busy Roy needs someone to watch Phoebe. Adam reminds him that Peggy’s keen to see her great-granddaughter. Ian pops round to ask Peggy, who’s finding out all about Kate’s university course.
Peggy takes Phoebe to see the ducks, and tells stories of what Kate got up to as a youngster, with cousins Helen and Brenda. Peggy recalls when Kate wrote to an American soldier Peggy knew from the war, pretending to be her. Kate’s letters resulted in the GI showing up in Ambridge – but Peggy was married by then. Phoebe tells Peggy about Kate taking her out of school last week. Peggy promptly goes to see Kate, suggesting she apologises to Roy and Hayley. Kate’s stunned when Peggy accuses her of being a part-time mother.
Radio 4, NOW. Miss it at your peril.
And this.....
I think I can answer a lot of the questions in one Post, but if I miss anything particular, nudge me please. I will reply later, specifically, to Stein, Candi, & Alan.
I have already detailed, earlier in this thread, the criteria by which the Players were selected. Nothing has changed, I don't really see the point in repeating it all again.
I will add this, though.
The original "short-list" was not very, err, short. Eventually, it was narrowed down to about 15 players. Many of the players within that 15 were worthy of selection, & it was very difficult to make the right decision. Of those who narrowly failed, several have been mentioned in this Thread by others as "obvious choices". Some of those who just missed out have even Posted on this Thread, totally supportive of the Founding Five.
There were 5 spots, &, based upon the criteria, Sky Poker selected, with great difficulty, those who they thought best ticked most boxes. Those who missed out did nothing wrong, but even Sky Poker can't make 15 fit into 5.
If we asked 1,000 Community Members to pick their Favoured Five, every single answer would contain a different five players.
We have the Founding Five now, we are going to have some fun, & I'm 100% happy with what I've been given to work with.
Coulda-woulda-shoulda is all well & good, but everything has been done with good intent, & I see no need to apologise for anything.
A player has been selected who has not played much on here recently? We do loyalty here, and just because a player happens to take a break does not mean all bets are off.
I'm sad for those who missed out, but I'm 100% happy with what we've got, & I'll give them total support. We knew when we announced that there would be a few moans & groans, (anyone remember "Total Player" Sunday mornings, sigh?) that's what poker players do, but most support the selections, & we're gonna have some fun.
The whole idea is that people qualify for it, & from Jan 1st, the Qualifiers will be in the Team. It was just thought it'd be a good idea, appreciated by most, to get the Team up & running now, to test out a few things, see how it works, how much noise it makes, how Sky Poker are perceived out there in the big wide world of poker. No more, no less. Don't read anything more into it than that.
My Team Flopwit Flaphead will include.
TRIP5
Dylan
Maxally
Hoggers
Dylan
Name YOUR Team Flapwit Flophead, please.
this is a DISGRACE and i DEMAND a full explanation:)
fwiw i think your flopwit flaphead team would do rather well (even with 2 Dylans), no one would want us on their table for fear of the verbal diarrhoea, rather like table of 5 Mike Matusows... can you possibly imagine?
Q1. If we restricted it to Tourney players only, can you imagine the hue & cry, the hoohah, the outrage from the Cash players?
The Live Poker Circuit is a Tourney Circuit, there is no cash game equivelant. ALL the big Cash Pros go & take a break by playing a few Live Tourneys on the Circuit, thats just how it works. (Note Tom Dwan, Ivey, Channing, etc).
Also, do you know the traffic split between Cash, Tourneys, & SNG's on Sky Poker? In fact, Tourneys contribute a minority, but there's no other way to have a "Team Sky Poker" than to go do the Live Tourney Circuit. We have no intention, ever, of discriminating against Cash Players just because the Pro Circuit is Tourney-Based.
As luck (?) would have it, many of the best Cash Players on Sky Poker are extremely adept at Tourneys. I doubt if any UK based Online Poker Room has more Tourney talent within it's ranks than Sky Poker. The Databases tell the story.
Of course, Sky Poker could have gone the other route. A top, (& I do mean "top"), UK based Pro was in negotiations with Sky Poker, & the deal was do-able. Sky Poker decided to go the other way, recruit from it's loyal player-base, & I think they should be wholly applauded for that, not hauled over the coals.
Q2. That's slightly more awkward to answer, as it's outwith my remit, so these are my personal views.
I have seen the Players "Contracts". I have not really read them, to be honest, & I don't really care what they say. My view is quite simple. We want players who want to be with us, & we don't want players who don't. If they get lured elsewhere, they go, & they go with our best wishes. Unlike many on this thread, I don't do churlish.
Think of Kara Scott (but not too hard....) or Michelle Orpe. They were "ours", they moved onwards & upwards, to bigger & better things. We wished them both well, & all of us here at Sky Poker, as a business, & personally, remain on good terms with Kara & Michelle.
If any of TSP get head-hunted by another Site, good luck to them, & we'll settle for the reflected glory.
As to Contracts generally - & remember, this is my personal view - I don't believe in them. I never had a Contract throughout my working life, because I did something called trust, & a handshake with my Boss.
Now, Sky is a BIG business, & HR insist everyone has a Contract. So I was issued with one, it runs to 15 pages, & says nonsense like......
Geographical area covered by this agreement - The World.
And, under reasons for Termination of Contract, it said, Clause 15 I think.....
15c) Death.
I mean, what nonsense, who needs Contracts? I shook hands with certain suits here, & that'll do me. If they shaft me, they'll only do so once. But they won't, because we do "trust". Same with TSP. They wanna be onside, or they don't. Trying to retain unhappy Staff/Team Members is a recipe for disaster.
Anyway, I saw Orpey at the EPT last week, one morning, before she had chance to do her hair, it would appear. Even so, looking good, eh?
Having not played a huge amount on Sky since Vegas, due to a period of indifferent form and work commitments I am only now reading this thread.
I can understand that some people may criticise the concept of players being initially selected by an anonymous panel, but surely it is obvious that this is only a starting point to kick things off. The structure is already there so anybody who is good enough and committed enough can make their way on to the team.
The players have been picked on poker ability and it is difficult to argue with any of the selections on that basis. All are top class. And to be critical of any of them because of isolated incidents of questionable behaviour is churlish. I have met and played with all of these people and all are good guys too.
Thinking back to Total Player, it did have some fairly obvious flaws, but when the input from the forum was constructive it was listened to, and the concept evolved and was successful.
So lets applaud Sky for another positive move, and see where it goes.
Personally I have many other names I would like to see in the shake up, including my own !
And I wont be working much now the weather is getting colder, and there are signs my game is coming together again. So I will be popping up in a lot of tournaments here and playing live much more too.
See you at the tables guys
Tony
Thank you for your reply Tikay. I take it you will 'expand' your answers when you have a bit more time....
One thing I have noticed that is wrong in your post though is.......where was the picture of Kara??.....fairs fair and all that!
Mr Stein.
I'm really saddened by the acidity & tone of your attack on Dan & Wayne, on a public Forum where "personal attacks" are against the Rules, & to be honest, I'm surprised the Mods think they are acceptable. But it's been said now, & left up, so I need to respond.
Wayne.
Few players are more deserving of their place in TSP than Wayne, he was a "first pick". Since when was it wrong to be a grinder? He's a fine, fine, player, Live & Online, & when we all met up earlier this week (blog & photos to follow) he emerged as a natural Leader & captain. He is my Rio Ferdinand. (Rooney would have worked better - "Wayne" works both ways - but you see the problems there.....)
There are great depths to Wayne, probably the unluckiest player not to make the Total Player Top Three, which he accepted with enormous dignity & good grace, despite being bitterly disappointed. He is a proper man, a man's man, & he does not do moany-whinge. I'll be extremely surprised if he is not with TSP for a very long time.
Dan.
The SPT Grand Final marked the end of Dan's tenure as our Total Player, which we all deemed to be a great success. We could not have asked for more from him - the Sky Poker players voted for him & got what they deserved - a top all-round bloke. We shared experiences from Luton to Las Vegas, & he was an absolute dream, to work with.
A feature of ALL SPT's are the "lads" knockabout SNG's. In fact, to many of us, they are the enduring memory of SPT's. All the "boyz" play them, and they are loud, beery, & laddish. And why not? Without those SNG's, the SPT would be only half the attraction.
The SNG to which you refer included, IIRC, James Hartigan & Dave Bland, & everyone just stuck it in each others eyes & had a good - & loud - laugh.
I happen to be a pretty strong opponent of alcohol abuse - as of today, I've been teetotal exactly 42 years & 1 month - but these were lads, letting their hair down, after "work" was done, & the whole thing was in the true spirit of SPT's. Long may that spirit last, & I'll buy the first round at the Blackpool Knockabout SNG's. Which will be spiced up by the Fish named LML, too.
I think your comments were, & I choose my word with care, "regrettable".
I don't want to get wrong side of you Mr Stein, but I get the impression you had a bad day at SPT Grand Final, judging by your comments HERE
To enjoy an SPT, we all need to enter nto the spirit of the day, & that's what Dan, & many others, did. He does not deserve to be pilloried in public for anything, imo.
I hope you will re-consider your views, & I wish you well at Sky Poker.
For those that don't know Tony very well, the very last thing he could be accused of is sychophancy - he says it as he sees it, & he & I have had some robust discussions. Robust, but civil, note.
Jeez, I'm afraid my intolerance to un-necessary rudeness shows up in this thread, but I'll never change, soz boys.
Anyway, to cheer everyone up, here's what Tony drives for a living. Tell me it's not the coolest coach you ever saw.
Finally, to Candi.
There is no more loyal Sky Poker Community Member than Candi, & I'm more than sad she is unhappy with what we have done. Candi is furniture here, the bedrock of the Site, & it's a shame she is upset at the decisions. They were made in good heart, Candi, with no bias, & to the best of everyone's ability.
Knowing Candi as I do, once we are up & running, she'll accept the decision, & be the TSP Cheerleader. Not sure she'd want the Coleen role, though?
Tell me you've seen a more cool Train Indicator than this, pure 1930's, & still as useful today as it was 80 years ago. Go on, I dare you.
Whoops, wrong thread. Where is the London Underground thread, please?
Sidenote. Incoming Text from Mick Jenn.
Good afternoon. I wish all the team well, m8, and if I was choosing the Team I would have included every one.
I had to, err, edit out the sentence after that! It goes on.....
The SPT SNG's are awesome, we just have a laff. Oh. by the way, the first round in Blackpool is on me, after I luckboxed two big cashes last week.*
* = Some artistic licence may have been added.
Tikay,
I can not see the personal attacks you claim on both Dan and GB. Firstly let me point out that the Sit & Go I am referring to was not the Sky players only table with JH, I am referring to a game that took place after this one with Maxally, Diggerman, Nutter, Dan and Sky Dave with at least four people who were either not sky players or who were not recognised as Sky players at the table of whom I was one. With this in mind a more prudent approach would have been to behave in the best way to represent Sky, as TP Dan is representing Sky at the event is he not. Every other player behaved appropriately including Nutter who claims to have had a few.
Tikay you made the statement that Dan has been a quite magnificent Ambassador for Sky Poker and he conducts himself with dignity, I have no doubt he represents Sky very well and I have said he fully deserves his place on TSP but on this occasion he let himself and the site down. I repeat the dealer asked him to remove his drink from the table, a common request in many live games as drinks too often end up spilt across the table, he ignored this request and continued with the drink in his hand for the entirety of the game. This was disrespectful to the dealer and the other players, are you condoning this?
Re his pre SPT final interview are you honestly saying that drinking until 5.30am prior to an event is a professional strategy the sky team will be adopting en mass? To quote Annie Duke, poker and alcohol don't mix, who knows how far Dan may have gone in the SPT final had he not been handicapped by his overindulgence hours before the event began. Sky chose to broadcast this interview, I have only commented on it.
With regards to GB I have played literally thousands of hands with him, I have my opinion, you and others may have a different one, but is this not a forum for people to post their opinions. This was not a personal attack, but it is obvious GB is a little tighter than durrr, lolufold and ljamesl if you get my drift Philuk. Chirpy Chip posted his opinion of my play, he is welcome to express it, it's his opinion after all.
If my post on here caused you to read my comments on the SPT final I feel vindicated, I posted this review as constructive criticism to widen the appeal of this event in the future and to broaden the range of attendees, but it was only my opinion. It was a shame no member of the Sky team took the opportunity on that thread to enquire what other players thought could be done to create a better event for the benefit of a wider Sky audience.
I am disappointed that you see my comments as acid and personal, but surely this is a forum and we should all be entitled to share our opinions and experiences both good and bad.
Browndog you asked “Stien are you attending the Blackpool SPT?” Why? What is the purpose of this question? It sounds slightly menacing to me or are you desperate to buy me a pint?
CAPTAIN KNIGHT TRIPPYPLOP FLAPWIT FLOPHEAD FOR THE WIN ;O)
BET YOU CANT SAY THAT ON A FRIDAY NIGHT (HIC...)
X
My team Flopwit Flaphead would be
Jeagerbomb
Bandini
Oynutter
Aussie09
TommyD
There you go... what a crazy team!
Hi Tikay and Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to explain things, it is very much appreciated. xx
The reason I have been so vocal in this thread is not because I am against the decisions that have been taken with regards TSP, rather that I get the feeling to some degree, that the community in general would like to have been involved in the process of forming the Sky team from the off. and why not? Lets face it, the community have been involved in most of everything else that I can remember since I`ve been part of this community ,which is right from the start . As a result of not being involved, they had unanswered questions and a need to query decisions which is understandable. Although hopefully have now been answered. Many Thanks Tikay hun.
I agree some of the questions posted or more so the way they have been posted have to some degree been abit tactless and one in particular downright insulting to Dan (drinking night b4 big game post etc posted publicly on here was bang out of order and nothing to do with Dan`s playing ability or reputation as a sound Skypoker Player in the slightest).
That said, I feel that one of the players chosen for TSP has been abit tactless in his post towards a commuity member and spoke about the community as if they count for nothing imo. (This is the point I became involved as vocally as I did)
He aired his point of view with regards what the community member had posted and he is entitled to that but what he needs to recognise, is that this community is a very big part of Skypoker even if he has been playing on here longer than community members have been here . The reason Skypoker are getting there is in part due to the success of the great community we have here who are united as a general rule and I have no doubt will continue to support developments in the future as they have supported projects / tournies/events in the past ,such as TP and WSOP vegas amongst others. Skypoker players in Vegas and other tournament events have said that it made a big difference to them to see all the posts of good wishes on the forum by community members. This is well documented on this forum.
You must have all expected questions/queries etc by a community that is normally so involved or `in the know` with developments ,when something is formed and THEN the community is included. Maybe some community members feel a little `hard done by` or just have felt a little in the dark with regards the selections. When I say this, I am talking about community members that have questioned certain matters. But they are entitled to that when they have been involved with so many other things here both as Skypoker players and Skypoker forum posters.
Lastly, I think the 4 that have been chosen are brilliant in they`re playing ability and I wish each one of you every success in your Skypoker venture. It`s an exciting time for you guys and I am 100% behind you all. At the same time I feel it would have been nice to have seen the initial places in the team gained in the very same way that they are going to be gained in the future but thats just my opinion.
Not been about much over the last couple of weeks, mainly due to bad form and other bits going on..
Just spent an hour reading through the posts, what a great idea and well done Sky for introducing it.
The idea of being a sponsored player I'm sure is what 99% of us on here dream about and the fact that Sky
have given that chance to every player on the site is awesome IMO.
Very well done and best of luck to James, Dan, Wayne, Redmond and of course LM. You've been selected for your great play and your commitment to the site and I wish you all the best.
Team Sky Poker FTW
I didnt even no owt bout this, but today I have been asked to comment on the situation. I started reading this thread but I couldnt be bothered its too long. Just want to say the rare time I do post on here I tell the truth even if it doesnt sount the best. e.g. I tell people they have a rubbish computer cos they have, I say weareontv is a bumhunter and he aint that good cos its true. etc etc etc. Am not here to make friends I am just totally honest about things. Also I know what I am on about poker is my only income and I crush 1/2 on here and I have played thousands of hands against the team.
Right have I got this right Sky are putting some players into some live donkaments sometime, do they get owt else.(Am not that bothered bout donkaments but if there getting 100% rakeback like full tilt am interested.) So there are concerns about people being picked, I will put my thoughts forward. But end of day sky will do what they want.
ljamesl- First of all let me say this is the only player out of the group that I feel is better than me. So as for talent he deserves to be in, However, most of his poker is played on other sites (until recently but I now realise that is because of this) so some people may think that disqualifies him but then again he is the best on team. However, the real reason he is on is because he is mates with tikay. (really dont want to offend tikay or james I like chatting to james he is a great player and on talent he deserves the place and like watching tikay and he is probably one of sky biggest assets).Tikay tries to mention and promote james as he is trying to raise his profile as I believe james wants to be a famous pro who gets sponsorship deals. That doesnt bother me its just someone who is trying to help a friend out most people would do it. However, I can see why some people think he is abusing his position.
Gliterbabe- Hes always been here prob played more on site than anyone, he beats 1/2, hes a good poker player and most prob earns loads of money doing it. He deserves his place more than anyone if sky are wanting to pick there own players, although out of the team he is the least talented.
dantb10- Hes in cos he won total player, he hardly play on site but he is a good poker player.
lolufold - great player second in lot to james, plays most of poker on other sites on sky he likes to sit at 5/10 Hu and dabbles with a bit of 1/2. Hes in because he finished 21st in wsop. I dont rate him as a player cos of that i rate him because i play against him regular. btw any donk who knows the rules and has a starting hand chart can finish 21st in wsop main event.
Overall, I really hope not to offend anyone like I said tikay is a great asset to sky and all of these players are excellent poker players who make a ton of money from the game and I hope they do really well in donakments they are paid into. Like I said I have posted cos I have been asked to and I have given my honest opinion about the picks.