1. If we do not get our licence there is no "grey area" left to operate a poker club outside of the existing casino network
2. In my view, this verdict makes it actually more unlikey that there will be a separate licence for poker clubs in the near future
My legal guys are very very condident of us getting through the process successfully, both the hearing on the 25th and the following local magistrates court application, but I am getting more and more doubtful (I'm now just about 2-1 that we get it) based on the following reasoning:
1. The length of time the whole process has taken
2. The general preference of The Gaming Board to keep poker in "familiar places" ie. existing casinos
3. The limitation of licences over the next 10 years (17 is the max I have been told). ie. we could be seen as a "wasted licence" to the general casino industry
4. The fact that I know existing casino groups have lobbied aganist DTD already (surpise surprise)
Hmmm, maybe I am being a bit negative, but normally when I have a bad feeling, 9 times out of 10...........
I was due in Copenhagen today, but due to other stuff I have to sort out, it won't be possible to arrive till Friday, the day of the DTD launch party. Paul Zimbler and his partner, Tat, have organised this on DTD's behalf, and from what Paul has showed me, it looks like it will be a good night.
Stuff is happening here everyday, things going wrong, and the odd thing goes right. Yesterday we had our highest rake generation day in the online business, we are already bigger then a lot of existing sites even though we have only been in operation for 4 weeks, however, we are far away from the breakeven point I need to get to. I'm managing this business from my office in my house, its not really very professional, and I'll look forward to Nick coming and helping me when the re-fit finishes in March / April, and we'll can set up proper offices etc
Each day I learn more and more about the online business, I guess it will be the same when the live club opens. A significant number of online poker players expect to win every session, pay £0 rake and not risk any of their own money, and I still have the nagging issue of DTD being seen as a "Rob Yong Freeroll" by far too many people........I like to look after people.......but sometimes lol. These are issues that I need to deal with but not at the moment, I just need to get the gaming hearing out of the way, then everything will be a lot clearer and I can sit back and review what I have learnt over the last 18 months of this project.
I'm sorry I have not posted as frequently, I have just been doing 20 hour days, 7 days per week, and not been in the mood to write. Delegation is a key part of being successful in business, I know this, but in a start up, its sometimes not always possible, this is why start-ups can often fail. I can however see some light at the end of the tunnel, but its a little glimmer, not a flashing blaze yet....
When I write this diary, I don't really consider that other people will be reading it, I just write what comes into my head. I'd like to keep it up until the opening night of the club, and then i'll copy and paste the whole thing for my records, or maybe I'll just delete it....we'll see what the outcome is on the 25th next week
