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Ramblings of an old man
Post more Sir!
That is a "real life" Post if ever I saw one.
I'll need a few more clues before I suss who you are, sorry.
"bag of b******s"? - Lol, his name is Ali. I still see him regularly, I've been playing poker with him for more than a decade. Quite a character. He carries a heavy burden in life with great fortitude, he has, (or had.....) a very sick child. Ali's catchphrase was "I bet the POT". (It was all Pot-Limit those days).
The grotty old casino where we met? In order of likelihood, would that be......
Stanleys in Derby, in the smoky old upstairs room, frequented by Davilfish, Taffy (70 years old with a 23 year old floosey on his arm), Ash & the like? Oh, & "x", who later went down for 12 years. Don't think it was for shoplifting.
Napoleons in Sheffield? Smokiest cardroom on earth, 12 players to a table, the chips were so filthy you could not riffle them, as they all stuck together. In Tourneys, which started at 25-50, they had a 200 denom chip. What?!
Gala Nottingham. Full of dodgy cash games (at the time.....), the Tourneys were self-deal, half the players were "same village", & the Dealers regularly dealt off the bottom of the pack to their mates. One guy had just finished an 8 year sentence for fraud, then got banned his first night back for dealing off the bottom of the pack. His name? Iffy. No, really, "Iffy". He's straight now, runs a 'phone shop or somesuch.
Somehow I doubt you lost any sleep over the lad at DTD who dissed you because you had the temerity to win a pot. What is it with some folks who can't take a beat with a bit of dignity & grace?
Yeah, I get some odd mail, but I get a whole bunch of lovely stuff too. Goes with the territory I guess.
Poker Night Live, yikes, what memories of that Show. I left there to take the job here - 6 years ago! - then they invited me back. I did one Show after returning then they closed the Channel down. Lot of untold stories there. One day, maybe.
Very sorry to hear about your wife, but you seem very proud of her courage, quite right too. Some peeps are such life heroes. Fingers crossed for her. I have several pals with MS, it's hard to know what to say really.....those of us with decent health are so blessed.
Did we ever golf together? I used to play a lot in those days, I was Captain & everything, but I burned myself out, tried to spin too many plates, & not enough hours in the day. Nothing's changed there!
More ramblings please, I love to read stuff like that, & I'm sure most of our Community do, too. A bit of non-poker here & there is a good thing, balance & all that.
Take care bud, have a grand weekend.
Comments
I didn't think i was old but i must be.
I was watching a match the other day and a player my age was descibed as being a veteran. The same night i went to Dtd and after winning a pot it was explained by the loser in the hand that i had called because i was old and didn't understand poker.
It's coming up to year now since i started playing on Sky and i have read the forums with interest and contributed occasionally.
I mainly play Dym's ranging mostly from £3 to £10 games. I have done reasonably well but am playing terribly at the moment
Unlike many of the players here i begun playing poker as a live player.
It was a pretty grotty casino and it was difficult to see your cards through the fog of smoke.
However, i loved it!
Everyone there seemed to have a nickname. There was 'bag of b******s' 'the terminator' and the wonderfully imaginative 'barn owl', surname Barnett.
I met Tikay at the bar there one night and after complimenting him on his rather colourful wardrobe when presenting Poker Night Live he bought me a drink.
I remember thinking what a nice guy and it surprised me to hear on another forum that he receives an amount of unpleasant mail. Guessing they've never met the man.
I really enjoy playing online but there is still a thrill in going to play live.
The variety of people you meet from different walks of life means you should never get bored. On one side of you may be a doctor, on the other maybe a guy who it's probably best you don't kmow what they do for a living.
Something i find interesting is that plenty of players dismiss Dym's as not real poker and boring.
I disagree. Multitabling them means you, hopefully, get to 'win' a tournament on a fairly regular basis and what's not tolike about a tourney ending and then your account being credited?
Today has been a good day!
My wife has MS we have been to see her consultant. No futher advancement in her condition.
She has relapsing remitting MS and we are always anxious when we go that she hasn't moved on to secondary progressive MS which is where deteriation in her condition moves with much greater speed.
Very proud of her. She still works in a very responsible job and although sometimes she can come home have tea and then go to bed till the following morning she takes very little time off and remains very positive.
She does just about everything that she used to do before being diagnosed, just at a slightly slower pace.
As you can probably tell i am very proud but for any golfers who are maybe reading this and considering marriage i must warn you that i was a 5handicapper when we met, now up to 9.
If i get to double figures divorce will certainly be on the cards!
More ramblings to follow
My mother-in-law has MS so have an idea what you're going through.
She was diagnosed when she was in her early 30's and the doctors gave her 15 years max , she now 71 and as fiesty as ever!
had the pleasure of playing you many times mate,on the DYM tables.
also agree with you re DYM's,i've always enjoyed playing them,well almost always.
and like you say ,what's not to like about seeing your account being credited with a win.
your wife is obviously a very special lady,and i wish you both every happiness.
i used to play golf got to single figure (8.6) which was always my dream.
my clain to fame;playing at Nigel Mansells' golf course at Woodbury Park,met him and Greg Norman,back in the day when he and Faldo ruled the game.
also stood on the 5th green with a put to go '5 under'.
(1st birdie,2nd birdie,3rd hole in 1,4th par(lipped birdie put) 5th par(same),6th par.7thbogie,8th d.bogie(3 off tee,9th birdie.)front 9 ...2 under.bad light stopped play.
best wishes mate
dev
Thanks for the kind words
No, you wouldn't know me, i was chatting to a friend of yours at the time, Maria.
It was Gala Notts.
Derby was actually even worse although the new Genting is good and Rich is doing a great job in the cardroom.
I see Ali in there quite a lot and he is just the same although probably better off now there are less rebuy comps!
It used to make me smile when he used to need to get at least 2nd to cover his rebuys. Invariably he would do it though
Sounds like they are quite similar Vespa.
4 under through 3, very nice
I had a hole in one a few years ago at Seahouses which is a lovely little course in Northumberland.
Clifftop links and it was on a short par 3 over the cliff edge.
To say was i was excited would be an understatement!
Warning more ramblings
Northumberland is up there with highlands as my favourite area of the Uk.
I first went there golfing, theres a really nice course at Bamburgh too.
I've since been there with my wife and we went to the castles at Bamburgh and at Alnwick.
Alnwick is a great place, i believe they filmed some of the Harry Potter films there. Never seen one, not really my thing
There is a wonderful 2nd hand bookshop at the old railway station called Barters.
They must have just about every book ever written there and have converted the old waiting rooms into seating areas for their restaurant. A really lovely place.
Horrific parking though, unreasonably steep slope up to the station. Great fun pushing as wheelchair up there.
Nearly let her go on the way back down!
In Response to Re: Ramblings of an 'old' man:
Ahh Maria Demetriou!
She is still one of my closest friends to this very day. I suppose most of those I began playing poker with still are, which is rather lovely, though poker being what it is, a few have gone busto along the way.
Galas Notts was where I first met Maria, maybe 2001 or 2, ditto Thewy, & so many others.
Maria & Thewy remain two of my closest personal friends - real friends, we've done all sorts as a trio, travelled the circuit, bought action in each other, everything.
She still does some work for me, as a sort of PA, because I can't really cope with some stuff myself.
One of my proudest moments was when Maria - Sky Poker alias "RedHotChili" or similar - won the first ever SPT at DTD, 4 or 5 years ago. Can't tell you how proud I was to present the Trophy to her. She played the recent SPT 6-Max, too.
She runs a chippie in Grantham, her whole family are in the chippie business. Very pretty lass, lives with a smashing lad, Glenn, they have a nice house just outside the Town.
Her Uncle used to play at Gala Notts, too, his name is Peter Costa, at the time he was the most successful Tournament player in the whole world - look him up, he was nigh unbeatable in 2002/3/4. I saw Peter recently, he's lost a bunch of weight, & lives in Vegas now, married a Dealer out there. He was back in the UK a few weeks back, but has returned to Vegas now. He is regularly staked by Phil Hellmuth.
Her other Uncle - well actually she has dozens of them, like most good Greek girls! - is Kim Constantiou, one of the best Dealers Choice players I ever met, & huge fun to play with, a perfect Gent.
He used to play that big cash game in Birmingham, & one night he was £80,000 up, then managed to do the lot. "Goodnight Gentleman, been a pleasure as always" was all he said as he got up & left, totally skinto.
Proper bloke, real Gent, love him to bits.
Thewy & I once staked Maria into the GUKPT Grand Final, we took 30% each, 2007 or 8 I think, she managed to get all-in three way with 4 tables left with Q-Q & was up against K-K & A-A. She binked the Queen, lol.
She finished 5th I think, for about £25,000. Happy days for all three of us, we had a nice divvy-up that night.
"Rich" is Richard Wootton, who I have known for about 8 years.
When we first started APAT, back in 2005 or whenever, he was a big opponent of it, & we had some bruising Forum debates, the thread ran to 60 or 70 pages, I got beaten up good & proper, everyone thought APAT was too good to be true, no reg fees, good structures, added value, those things were unheard of in those days for £75 Tournaments, & APAT had no Membership Fee.
I'm incredibly proud of what APAT done, it is probably top of my Poker CV, it's good to give something back to our wonderful game.
They recently merged with an Online Poker Site, so I had no choice but to resign my Honorary Chairmanship as it was a conflict of interest with Sky Poker. It is owned by Des Duffy, who used to be Head of Poker at Sky, & he & I met through APAT, he chased me all over the UK to get me on board, then 3 years later, he turned up at Sky Poker, where I was already. Small world.
Once Rich realised APAT was kosher, he was very gracious, & we became good pals. He is (Des is Head of Poker for a European-based poker site these days).
Rich was Cardroom Manager at Stoke Circus at the time, then later moved to DTD for a few years, & now, as you say, he runs Gentings in Derby, which brings us back to where I began playing poker. Incred.
Ali & his rebuys? Unbelievable. He'd regularly have 10 or 15 Rebuys in those Tenner Rebuy jobbies. I saw him last week I think, he's not aged one bit.
I bet all the kids are tut-tutting at us old boys chewing the cud. I can't help but reminisce these days, poker has given me so many happy memories & endearing friendships which have survived the years. We have ups & downs, of course, but it's all good really.
Keep Posting!
Might see you at DTD soon, tomorrow maybe - do come & say Hi, please.
Hope I'm not hijacking your thread Jac, but you've hit so many memory triggers.
These first two photos were, I think, at Late Night Poker, which Maria finalled in. Oddly, her Uncle, Pete Costa, played it & won it, many years earlier.
I went down to Cardiff with Maria when this was filmed.
Here she is with Ram Vaswani, of The Hendon Mob.
....and Jac Arama, a big name back in the day, he played SPT Luton last year. .
This third photo is incredible, it's like a game of "Connect".
2nd from left (standing), is Bev Pace, wife of Norman Pace, who used to be on the Channel.
3rd left, seated, is Jen Mason, now an Analyst on 861, & one of my earliest poker friends, & quite the most intelligent & likeable girl you could ever wish to meet, we did Live Updates all over the world for several years. She lives in Brighton these days. We remain very close friends.
I used to stay at her place in London, where she lived with Snoopy & Dana (both of whom have been on 861), & I fell asleep on their sofa many a night. They'd stick Post-It notes on my tie & dump me on the 0500 Derby-bound train home, the Post-It notes said "wake the old fella up at Derby please".
Next to Jen is Kara Scott. We worked together at Poker Night Live, then at Sky Poker. She is with Party now, having also been with 'Stars, & she always gives me some great interviews in Vegas, & looks after me with introductions & all sorts. So proud of her & what she has achieved.
Far right is Maria.
Yikes, crash bang, what a picture......
Keep the ramblings coming Jac, you've cheered me up no end. And I've sent everyone to sleep no doubt.
great reads from both tikay and jac
and the reminiscing by yourself and TK
with you on the enjoyment side, never felt the need to move up though i have the roll to, and i'm in profit.
been there done that with your example on the bubble - too many times!!
that's the way the game goes isn't it - it's enjoyable and very annoying/frustrating altogether.
got to take the rough with the smooth, no point getting all het up about it
good luck at the tables
That was fun!
Rarely play tournaments on here but fancied a bash at a couple tonight.
Bombed out the 1st pretty early but had a lot of luck in the 8.30 £10 bh and managed to bink it!
£251.10 and £83 in heads.
Not quite ready to ditch them yet but getting a little frustrated with them.
Funny game this. Ran really badly in them all month but how lucky am i that in the tourney tonight when playing for a lot more money i ran like god.
Won every big flip and the couple i lost were against short stacks that couldn't really damage me.
Tired now but if you fancy a laugh i'm going to recount the story of when i did quite possibly the worst final table deal in history tomorrow.
About 10 years ago when i first starting playing, nearly every competition was a rebuy.
Some of these were just about unplayable, £5 / £10 buy ins with a 1000 starting stack.
As you can imagine half the table were all in every hand trying to build a stack.
Others however were great value where for a relatively low buy in you could be playing for really decent sums of money.
One such comp was at Gala Nottingham on a Thursday night.
£50 buy in with one rebuy and one addon and a good clock.
With around 100 regulary playing these and lets say on average the majority of the field taking either the rebuy or addon you were looking at a £10000 prize pool.
Starting stack was 5000 which was big in those days and so 'proper'poker was played.
I entered this comp one night a few months after starting to play and with a bit of good fortune i was going quite deep.
With around 12 left i got it all in preflop with AK and probably a little relieved to be honest i saw the other guy had AK too.
He then made the fatal mistake of immediately saying 'chop it up'.
Obviously 4 card flush hit me and i now had the chip lead going into the final.
Raj Dhiri, a good local player grabbed me as we were waiting for the final to begin.
He told me in no uncertain terms to basically pass everything and i would make the top three and lock up a good win.
I agreed and thanked him for the advice.
The final begun and Raj had his head in his hands i was all in on the first hand!
I had KK and raised and got reraised. Terrified off losing a huge hand right at the start, i just called.
Flop was K high with no danger. Remember, i was new to the game. I could hardly breathe and panicked. ALL IN!
He folded QQ face up and so i really made the most of my oppurtunity there!
However, i had increased my stack and now i did follow Raj's advice and passed and passed and passed.
Now down to three and there is a reg with a good sized chip lead and myself and Nick who like me was playing for his biggest win.
This all leads us to THE WORST DEAL EVER!!!
The payouts were roughly £3300 £2200 £1600
Nick and i begin to confer, we're both desperate not to finish 3rd.
He suggests the other guy is obviously going to win and so why don't we give him the win and split 2nd and 3rd place.
I obviously snap his hand off.
Reg has stayed very quiet during the negotiations. We look at him pleadingly, will you accept this please sir?
He thinks for a short while and says that, yes, he is prepared to do it but thinks it's only fair that myself and Nick do the decent thing and look after the waitresses with our winnings.
We readily agree and are a little surprised as he jumps out of his chair and runs off giggling.
Edit: Don't know whats happened with font size. I'm old, useless with computers
How I got my Three3333 poker name.
In the late 1960s every little town had a Night Club and every Night Club had a casino.
I for as long as I can rember played cards games of one sort or annother but the only game in town was "three card brag". I was handy with a pack of cards, Card manipiulation and slight of hand and didnt hide the fact to my friends. We played brag at every opotunity.
Being handy with the cards I worked my way into a croupiers job at our local Bingo Hall they had one Blackjack table and one Roulette table. It was great, going to work in a dinner suit, who could wish for more and I got wages and tips. I was in heaven.
I moved on from the bingo hall to our local night club in Chester-le-Street. It was called the Carousel it was jointly owned by an tripple enterprise group of Show people.
While working in the casino I became very popular showing my card skills off to anybody and everybody so I became well known to the management and the customers who were always asking me to show the how to do a particular trick. And if any personallities wanted a private table of there own, one to one with the croupier I was selected by the management as the Croupier, I was also asked to stay late to deal for the private poker games mostly seven card stud. I got some great tips too.
One particular night the three owners and some of there guests were in the club and the Casino manager asked me to deal one to one with a guest of the owner. This guest was Dennis Stafford. One month later he was charged with the Murder of Angus Sibbit. The film Get Carter was based on that incident. I could say more but I think I should stop there regarding that.
Anyway to get back to my name three. On one of the times I was invited to deal poker for a celebity and other players they were short of a player and asked if I wanted to play. So I agreed. The rest of the croupiers chipped in with some cash and I bought into the game. To cut a long story short I hit quad threes three times during that session I won a small fortune. From that day on the celebrity would ask for three to deal and it stuck like glue. Until I moved onto bigger better times. But thats annother Story.
HOW AND WHY I BECAME A CARDSHARP
After so many requests from my fans for a continuation of (how I got my poker name) I hope you will enjoy this one too. I have to go back before my Croupier days however.
I mentioned in my last story that I could handle a pack of cards and I also mentioned that I played three card brag whenever a game was available. Most of my early experience playing cards was sitting on the grass outside in the open air when a gang of us would meet. That is and how I learnt the game. At that time I would be about twelve or thirteen years of age. When I was fourteen and ready for leaving school me and my best friend (ponty) would play the nick from school and we were allowed into the local Miners Welfare. This was a place were we could have a game of billiards or snooker, and they also had a back room for card games... In those days early sixties gambling in public was not allowed so we had a (Bobby watcher) to keep an eye out for the coppers. (Police). In the card room we mostly played brag we would also played a version of rummy called (51 out).
At the age of fifteen I left school. My birthday is in March so I left school at the beginning of the Easter holiday and started work at Harraton Colliery on the1st day after the Easter Holiday. My father and my elder brother and most of my uncles worked down the pit so it was a foregone conclusion where I was going to end up. The good thing about it was I got very good wages which were handed over to my Mother on the Friday, I got pocket Money and would go down the welfare have a game of cards and go home sometimes winning and sometimes losing. Now this went on most weekends and one thing that I did notice was that one particular person called Albert he got ( Alby ) for short, never seemed to go home losing. I started watching him closely and he had a peculiar way of shuffling a pack of card which looked genuine and was never ever questioned about it. Alby was a jack the lad type popular and friendly.
One particular night I was watching the game not playing. Now I don’t know whether you know or not but in the three card brag game that we played 333 was the best hand u could get, followed by AAA etc. and the cards are only shuffled when there had been a prile out (three of a kind) . Some one had just won a hand with a pair of tens and it was Alby,s turn to deal. Some of the cards fell on the floor and alby picked them up and put them onto the bottom of the deck and shuffled the cards. The very next hand Alby had 10 10 10. No one said anything and the game went on.
I went home and thought if he had the three tens on the bottom of the deck and shuffled the way he did, how could he manipulate them into his hand.
Now let me tell you my friends. I went home and practiced and practiced and practiced with his shuffle and very soon I was capable of doing just that. Putting three cards onto the bottom of the deck and placing them in any position in the pack to give me, or whoever I wanted, the desired hand. I bought a couple of books (The Royal Road to Card Magic) and (Skarn on Cards.) Taught myself some classic tricks and became very popular in the pubs and clubs. Show us a trick ANDY
Now this led me onto the previous part of my story HOW I GOT MY THREE333 NAME.. My next blogg will carry on from there and the Title will be. RUBBING SHOULKDERS WITH KILLERS
Only if you are still interested though. Don’t want to make a fool of myself like I do on the tables.
Wow, I LOVE stories like these! Helps give the Community better balance.
Keep them coming please.
Think I could probably write a whole book about that guy. Love him to bits, & he plays the game his own way.
"Unorthodox".
In Response to Re: Ramblings of an 'old' man : TPT stands for Team Poker Trevor/Titans. It's one of the (smaller) teams on Sky. I wouldn't concern myself TBH Jac. ;-)))))))
Posted by Glenelg
Thanks for that Pad
With regard to three's posts I hope you didn't mind me reposting them on your thread (great stories BTW) but I felt it was the ideal place for them. I've asked him about Part 3 so we wait with baited breath!
Hope it's ok to post our web address as we do link to Skypoker on it.