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Like Tommy i wasn,t feeling to optimistic about these games before the start and normally don,tt start watching until the atheltics start, but have been hooked all the way through. I,m also beginning to think i wish i,d got a ticket to see some of it. I,ve never seen crowds like it at an Olympics before, even for the minority sports and have been inspired myself ( doing a few miles on my cycle, pretending to be on a time trial)
Its already been mentioned on here but a spectator summed it up well yesterday when she said she,d rather have her kids look up to these athletes as role models rather than the latest winner of a reality show which is now starting to happen.
On another note. I think LOTR is my favourite trilogy, with the Darren Shan trilogy as 2nd (it's not a kids book!!!) but the first film was terrible and completely wrecked it.
Favourite book by a country mile... Shogun by James Clavell
Totally agree that The Hobbit is not just a kids book and the line up looks excellent. Ed Norton is great in American History X, in fact there are plenty of strong performances in that movie. I love it right up to the ending, it just left me feeling a little hollow. Maybe that was the point of it and the aim. Still a great movie though.
I've been avoiding answering your cash question TBH. The actual question is easy. I have improved at cash by:
1) Loads of HH review. Fin a leak, search for HH examples (tons of them) where I see it happening and work out how to plug it.
2) I read tons of forums and read a load of hand analysis. The important thing is to always read the OP and make your reply before reading anyone else's reply. Then you review the lot and see where you are as well as seeing where the OP is. I use those forums as group sessions, generally no one is ever completely right or completely wrong, but it's important to learn everyone's position and think to yourself 'Should I and how do I apply this to my game?'
3) Constantly review and rework my own game.
4) I rarely rail players these days but if I'm playing I pay all the attention I can to other players, good and bad at the table. That is how to get better as you play, I'm constantly trying to learn when I'm at the table.
A lot of people play without evolving, they just don't put in the effort. It's hard and can be a grind but I feel it's worth it.
So why did I delay answering this? Well you said 'so good at cash' to me and it made me think 'Am I that good?' 'Am I any good?' I'm not sure to be honest. From reading various places and the responses I get in Hand Clinics I think if you asked about me you'd get a ton of mixed reviews. I feel some of the players i play against would be complimentary towards me and I also think there are plenty that think I am anything between rank average and absolutely awful. Only I know the true profit or loss I make at cash and I have no inclination of ever bragging/moaning about the numbers. I know every penny won or lost at each level for the past two years or so. Personally I don't think I'm that good, but I'm getting better. With hard work, hopefully this will continue.
Anyway, I digress. All the best players are always modest Tommy
I was talking to someone about this yesterday, my problem is, I seem to be unable to spot leaks in my game (that by no means says I don't think I have any! lol), as I'm maybe less experienced and just not as knowledgable as others, I struggle to know in some cases whether a particular play is correct or not longterm and so it just goes unnoticed. At the moment, I'm a jack of all trades, master of none, I do pretty ok SnGs, MTTs and Cash, but not particularly great at any, so my ultimate goal really is to get ALOT better at cash.
While writing this reply, I have just had a lightbulb moment though of something I'm going to try out which will hopefully help me to remember the bits of advice people have given me. Like someone said to me about generally not 3betting value hands which you'd fold to a 4bet, so fine to 3bet 78s or J9s cos you're decisions pre and post are generally easier, and fine to 3bet QQ+ for value to get it in, but not 3bet hands like AJo where you're gonna cause all better hands to call/raise and cause all worse hands to fold. But these things I sometimes forget in-game, but I think I have an idea of how to make sure I remember them in-game.
LOTR is also one of my fav books of all time (mine was 1 big book), another one is HGTTG.
Maybe we should have a book club/thread?
Wacko- read the Assassins one.thought it was good,got the 2nd one but not read it yet. took a bit to get into it though. i'll revisit them then after the next couple of books i'm reading
Cheers for the recommendation
And the diary is back, I always intended to periodically rest this for a bit before it and what I posted got stale. So to kick start it we're going to play a game (I went to Thorpe Park yesterday and have been seeing Roller Coasters in my dreams, particularly the Saw Ride which is the absolute nuts). You're probably going to get a coaster review very soon, but let's start with poker. I've done this before but I think people enjoyed it. I've just searched my HH for my biggest win and biggest loss on the cash tables from the last week on SkyPoker. Guess the hands and guess which hand made me a happy Tommy and which hand made me a grizzly Tommy. The usual hand critique is also welcome for every stage of the hands.
Hand 1
Villain is not a reg I have seen. Seems to be a recreational player and probably the softest spot at the table aside from myself. In a very limited sample (the previous 40 hands or so) I have seen him barrel heavy with big aces which have missed. I've only been at the table for those 40 hands and have not built a dynamic up with him, I have also been playing a little snug for me.
Villian is a reg. They are usually on the tight side but can put together big bluffs on occasion (sometimes in clearly the right spot and cometimes clearly in the wrong spot). Versus me they have a decent sized 3bet range pre. Villain is a decent player without being spetaculor IMO.
You win an 'awwww' from me.
Enjoy.
Life stuff time, as I said above I went to Thorpe Park with some friends yesterday. I remember when it was mainly a 'For Kids' place without the huge multi million pound rides. In some ways I miss those days but I was a kid then and I don't think watching a grown man dressed as a rabbit dancing around and making balloon animals would have the same appeal for me now. Then again I could be wrong.
I'm not going to lie to you, I LOVE rollercoasters, they are just amazing for me. Thorpe Park has a decent selection for a UK Theme Park, but which are worth the hours in a queue behind someone with personal hygiene issues? Well here's what I thought:
The Swarm
The latest 'Big Thing' at Thorpe Park, this coaster is a 'gull wing' coaster, the main train is in the middle and you sit on either side head poking out of the top and legs dangling below. Make sure your laces are tight, do not wear flip flops for this ride.
There was a huge queue first thing for this ride as the park had pumped a load into building and marketing it. The coaster has its own apocalyptic storyline and a band recorded an official song for it. It's sold on having 'near misses' on the track (in other words you're meant to think it'll crash or your head will be plucked from your neck at several points) and some serious Gs on the inversions. The queue had some decent entertainment in it with a rolling news story on several screens continuing the storyline and some seriously cool wrecked vehicles dotted about. Sadly I felt let down by the actual ride. The near misses might really ramp up the excitement for the lucky four at the front but for the five or six rows behind it really isn't that fear including. Plus they don't seem that near TBH. The first dip under the plane wing is great but after that there is no real big moments. Decent coaster, but no where near as exciting as the hype will lead you to believe.
Flying Fish
The kiddie coaster. This used to be the big ride at the Park back when it was just for kids. They called it 'Space Station Zero' and put it a blacked out room. You zoomed around in pitch black darkness and it was great. To be honest, it's still fun. The group of us were split between some who would do all the rides and a few (including the GF) who would avoid all the scary/good ones. We were all on this one and had a whale of a time, good fun, good times. A quick queuer you know it won't get a buzz but if you're with some mates it will put a smile on your face.
X:/No Way Out
My first time on this ride, it is one of the former 'New Big Things.' It's based inside in the mostly dark and is a backwards coaster. You're knocked around quite a bit because it's trying to give you the impression it's broken (hence the rolling backwards) and keeps stopping and starting with the odd light show from the glooming dark. It was a decent ride but you feel Thorpe Park have let it slide somewhat, all the bells and whistles of a light show inside and the features in the queue to get your blood pumping have decayed or just stopped. It's different and fun but you feel it used to be so much better.
Stealth
My favourite coaster on my last visit quite a few years ago. It's a one trick pony but what a trick it is. Zero to 80mph in 2 seconds, straight up into a vertical and then straight down into a vertical. You know that scene in Pulp Fiction where Uma Thurman gets a syringe full of adrenaline into the heart. I imagine that was the same sensation as this ride. In the queue a popular soft drink had two DJs playing music direct to headphones we wer given. Very new and fresh, really entertaining. For the first half hour. The for the next hour it got very old but that was mainly due to the ride breaking down and our waiting time increased. It seems a little unreliable as it broke down a couple of times yesterday. After a prolonged wait I was finally in my seat. I still love this ride, any seat is great IMO. The buzz is better than flopping top set in a fourway pot. If you go I challenge you to do the 'arms in the air' from the very start until the finish. It is so much harder than you think and even I nearly grabbed at one stage. So so good.
Saw: The Ride
So from my favourite ride at the park we ventured onto a ride I have never been on before. And my heart was broken. I have to face facts, Saw is a better ride than Stealth. Both are so good but Saw offers so much. I won't give any spoilers but it is much more than it seems. Plus the storyline actually works on this ride, it didn't work or add anything to Swarm. You've probably seen the advert with the beyond vertical drop towards the spinning blades? So much fun that I had to screamed, plus the clack clack climb before it fills you full of dread. A great coaster.
Nemesis Inferno
The most famous coaster at the park. A dangling coaster you fly around a through a volcano, steam effect fly up everywhere and the high light is the inverted loop about halfway through the ride. Still a great ride, still a lot of fun, still seems really fast but the ride is smooth on the shoulders and hips unlike Colossus which we didn't manage to make it to on this trip.
We did a load of other rides as well but those were the coasters. If any of you plan to go:
Always get there early for opening and unlike what I did this time head towards the back of the park first to hit those rides with short queues quickly.
Saw isn't suitable for under 12s but is a must for anyone else. Stealth has the nut scariest moment of all of the rides and gives you the biggest buzz but it is a very long queue normally for a very short ride (IMO make it your first or your last ride of the day).
Queues seem to start to disappear for the final 90 minutes of the day, that and the first hour of the day is your time to squeeze in as many rides as you can.
Happy rollering Coaster Freaks!
I hadn't seen the thread before, I just took a look. Frank Skinner?!?!? FML (which means nice spot, that picture does make me look a bit Frankie, never had that one before).
Good films? No. I went to see Ted though. It was the GF's choice and presented interesting reviews after. I had gone in thinking it would be abhorrently bad and came out thinking 'that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.' Still not good but it had the odd funny moment although they were surrounded by long gaps of rubbish. The GF went in on the back of reviews saying 'best comedy of the Summer' and came out looking horrified at how bad it was.
TBH I belong to the very tiny demographic which will connect with central parts of the movie, that being the people who have seen the 80's film Flash Gordon and loved it for its so bad it's great quality. Geeky males in their 30s and early 40s is not a huge market for a film to succeed in.
Bad point - Vernon Kay is in it
Good Point - A 71 year old woman rides Stealth.
So much win
The PC v Mac debate was a tricky one, I must have flip flopped twenty odd times between the two. I finally plummed for PC. This was in no small part due to my visit to the Apple Store being halted when I saw the entire iMac section was roped off for the 'Apple Summer School.' Dozens of pre-teens and young teenagers all learning the Apple way. I guess you have to plant that brand loyalty young. Santa's going to have a lot of iPods in the sleigh in a few months time.
So I went PC, managed to get one I absolutely love. It growls like a stalking wolf just before the kill, a Cylon Red light buzzes on the face of a jet black case. It's also really powerful and all that techie stuff on top of looking sweet.
Managed to get a decent sized screen with it so I can finally up the number of tables I play. The old lappy could only handle 6 tables (slightly more on some other sites) at one time, and that was with some clear slowdown. Now I had this leviathan of a machine so why don't I just fill the screen and get going eh? Yeah that wasn't a great idea.
I now fit 12 with minimal overlap, I haven't tinkered with the resolution yet to fit more because there's just no point. My eyes still hurt from trying to keep up, sorry for the timeouts people. After regrouping it now looks like I am still playing poker (if you can call what I do playing poker) at 8-9 tables. As soon as we hit double figures I'm just clicking buttons without being mentally connected to the game and so easy to exploit. I'm going to practise eight tabling for a while and slowly add as I feel comfortable. We'll see what happens.
I don't know how you kids manage the amount you do, kudos. Never has it been more apparent I'm not 19 anymore. It will be some time before a second screen is purchased.
I'm currently on 28877 points. It's doable but I need to get the grinding form from April going.
As far as profit goes it's been a turbulent month, I've been up for most of it but several times I have been in substantial profit to only downswing/donk off a large portion of it. I just can't get it stable and variance has been treating me like a Lib Dem MP in Soho. A ton of leaks have crept into my game which I need to plug. I'm making for too many stationy calls, far too many fancy plays and folding in the wrong spots as well. Suffice to say I'm not happy with how I'm playing despite being decently up on the month. Must try harder, must do better, must think more.
So I need just over 11k points by months end, do you think I can make it?
Grinding to the much maligned gem in the Blur back catalogue, 'Modern Life Is Rubbish.' That album gets better and better IMO.
In the old flat one of our neighbours was called Julian. He's a train driver and used to come back up the hill at all kinds of different hours. Often he'd look quite down, the missus would look out of the window and say 'Julian looks like he's had a rough day.' Then I'd sing about two verses of 'Pressure on Julian.' Never got old, for me at least. She never got the reference. I am yet to have the guts to do this at a SPT to SkyPoker's own Mr Thew.
Great coaster review Tommy, might be going in Sept/Oct - my favourite ride was Rush the last time I went.
Was in run bad city yesterday & dropped near enough my whole month's bonus, so it's back to the lower league grind for me - was fun playing with u while it lasted, sigh.
Yeah I saw you on those tables mate, while I'm having a DYM mare this month and can't really offer any advice, if you look me up at DTD in a couple of weeks I'll tell you a few of the observations I had. I thought you had good fundamentals, you just need a couple of tweeks. Above £22 the blind levels often go to 200/400 and 300/600. It's a lot tougher as, with a couple of exceptions, you can't count on people playing it like actual poker and knocking each other out rather than play it like a DYM and have an affair with the fold button.
Well one of them was a duel type thing from Gladiators. Instead of the podiums you had an inflatable bridge eight feet in the air above a huge plastic inflatable crash mat. I'm just wandering by and I noticed a crowd drawn to this thing. I glance up and there was a middle aged Muslim couple getting ready to take to the field of combat. Well I just had to stop and watch. They smacked seven bells out of each other and were both laughing all the way through.
Shortly after I wondered why I stopped to watch the contest. Was it that seeing a very happy Muslim couple enjoying beating each other with inflated rubber was a very pleasant contrast to being told constantly by the Daily Mail end of the media that all Muslims are dour, humourless and hate Western culture? Was it the rub against the liberal argument that all Muslim women have their religious clothing forced upon them and are always subservient, third class citizens to the men in their family? Or was it the fact that a woman in a Burka flying through the air is just not something you see that often? I suspect a little of all three. On my first two points, I guess everyone has to always remind themselves that the truth is generally something in the middle between the ends of the press we hear on an hourly basis now and that every case, every family, is different. There are plenty of extreme examples and still much to be done for equality across all cultures and countries obviously, but things might just be headed in the right direction. I thought that and became hopefully, well that and if you get the chance to read the Daily Mail, don't.
Poker update, let myself down a little today and lost ground on the mini points race. Currently on 33.7k. Playing catch up now. Sort it out Tom.