blonde poker forum

For over a month, I've been trying to find time - I'm the world's WORST time manager - to tell you this, so here at last it is.

Many of you have commented upon Tony G's presence on blonde for the last month or more, & wondered what it's all about. We have always been completely "open" about how we do things, & there is no reason to make an exception in Tony's case. We made the case to you for badging the blonde Forum the "Poker 425 blonde Forum", & everyone understood why we did it, & nobody could suggest any malprictice, because we explained it all in advance.

Let's first set the scene. blonde went on air 7th January, with no money, but high hopes of providing a Poker Site that majored in putting the smile back in poker, being a force for good in poker, &, well, maybe we could make a bob or two as well. As we saw it at the time, money would come in from folks clicking affliate links. Well, in 9 months, we've yet to earn much from affiliates. That's for several reasons. 1), We don't know what we are doling. 2). We have a policy of not ramming affiliate links down peeps throats. So when we have, say, a Crypto Tourney, you don't get acres of "and sign up HERE" sorta stuff. So we took someone on board to develop the affiliate side, but it did not work out.

Meanwhile, the site traffic was growing, month after month. Some would say the site was successful because it had a lot of traffic (relative to how long we've been going), others would say if it's not earning much money - certainly not enough to even pay the bills - it's a failure. We do earn some money. We selll content from time to time, we get income from Poker 425 for "badging" the Forum, & from Blue Square who have a Betting Section on blonde, etc etc. And there is some affiliate income.

Clearly, then, if we were to realise oir dreams of making blonde into a real force in Poker, we needed a rethink.

Enter Tony G. My only prior knowledge of Tony was from the infamous Paris WPT makarky, & so I had him down as "not our type". I have always railed against poor table behaviour, & so he was never gonna sit comfy with me. But he does run what is reputed to be one of the world's most successful (measured by income) Poker Sites - i think it's called Poker News, and it's an Australia based site. Tony, at the time, spent his time between Australia & Lithuania.

Tony first approached blonde in April or May of this year - it was when we were in Jesolo, as I recall. We negotiated on & off for weeks, but it never came to fruition. The discussions surprised me greatly, as I found Tony to be the complete opposite of the impression I had formed from Paris. more than that, he is a genius - and I do mean genuis - at understanding how the web works, how you can optimise & maximise, & increase "Visits" da de da de da. But he had another string to his bow - affiliates. This man is the King of Affiliates market, he is THE bizz. He can do Affiliate deals that makes peoples toes curl, truly. To watch him negotiate is awesome - don't EVER be the other side of the negotiating table with this geezer, trust me, he'll EAT you. OK, he upsets a few folks along the way, but so be it, he gets the job done.

OK, now lets fast forward to the Luton Festival in August. We get together again with Tony, he has new proposals, at a time when we had a new problem - how to finance the upgrade of blonde we urgently need to do. blonde kept falling over, the software architectiure was not sturdy enough for the ever-increasing traffic, & we need to do a zillion things to get it right. And we need the money to do it with. Me & Dave are in for a fortune by now, we don't regret it or begrudge it, because we believe in blonde, but we've spent rather more on blonde than was sensible. And we need to pay people - to attract writers & Updaters, we gotta be able to pay wages.

So, Tony has a new proposition. He'll invest a sum in blonde - a substantial sum, way into 5 figures, to be used for upgrading the site - and ONLY for that. He has the know-how & the peeps to do it, we don't. What does Tony get in return? Nothing, bizarrely. Except....... Tony felt he coud earn us plenty of affiliate income, utilising his experience from Poker News, which, by the way, he retains majority ownership of. So we cut another deal with him. If he achieves affiliate income of $x,000 per month, he has the right to buy 5% of blonde, at a pre-agreed price. If he achieves $x0,000 of Affiliate Income per month, he gets the right to buy a bit more of blonde, & so on, up to a maximum holding of, I think, 25%. For existing blonde shareholders (the largest stakes are equal amounts held by Dave, Rhow & myself, ) it's a win-win deal. If Tony achieves his targets, we earn some money, & we sell a bit of blonde for cash. (But only up to 25%).  And we have all agreed, that for the first two years, ALL the income we generate will go towards improving & upgrading the site, & bringing sexy new innovations on board - you should see the ideas we have for Live Updates, they are just stunning! And we need to be able to pay the peeps that help out on blonde - if we start making money, then the days of asking for free help are over. So Dave & I will not be taking a wage out of blonde for the foreseeable future. But we would like to be able to get back what we've invested in blonde, expenses for Live Updates, Webmasters, Salaries, Bounties, Software tools & gizmos, etc etc.

So, the Tony G deal looked a great fit for blonde. By now, i'd changed my view on Tony as a person. He'd been a perfect gent towards me, and when he's been on blonde, either Posting or Railbiirding, well, you can judge that for yourself. And i urge you to watch next week's Poker 425, where Tony gives us an In-Depth Interview, warts & all.

So, we done the deal.

Since coming on board, Tony has already struck several good deals for us, & many more are in the pipeline. And the Site Upgrade is well advanced, we will have our new look, & new software, within the next 2 weeks.

Finally, you are gonna ask about the blonde-Titan Tourney, which Tony set up. That's a separate story, & I will try & bring you the low-down on that later tonight, in a separate topic.

Tony, by the way, is in the process of moving his whole family to England - Oxford will be his new home, & he hopes to be settled in by early December.

So there you are, thats how Tony came to be in bed with the blondes.

Is he any good at poker though?

He's midway between Ariston & Ironside.

I had the same opinion of Tony G from his TV performances, especially WPT Paris part 2. I have also been pleasantly surprised by his different attitude since arriving.
One question though. If Tony G is going to be publicly known to be a partner in Blonde poker is his on table behaviour going to be that of an ambassidor for us?

Well thats another monitor drenched in coffee :)

Between a Jock and a Bald place

Neither Dave nor  I would have done business with Tony if we thought that the Tony G we saw in Paris was the real Tony G. I have satisfied myself - as I explained - that's it's not the case. And the Poker 425 Interview will help you all to judge for yourselves. And you've seen him in the 'Stars tourney, & two or 3 blonde Tourneys. Make your own judgements.

Adam i expected better of you, surely if he is an ambassador of blonde, he should GO BLONDE!!!

£15 to P4C from me.....


Tikay, i shudder to think of what lies between ariston and Ironside!

STOPPPPPPPPP   Ive wasted that brew now .... im off to make another one  ;)

Tikay, as far as I am concerned you can only be right with this, right behind you   :)up

I think Tony's ok too

It's not my judgement that I'm talking about. I like the guy since he arrived and I trust your judgement on his true character. I'm talking about his table persona and the effect it'll have on Blonde pokers reputation.

I'll be honest. I am not convinced.

In the main event at Amsterdam 2 or 3 years ago I was on Tony's table. He bluffed me out of a big pot and then showed the bluff. Then he said something utterley offensive to me. Definitely in the top 3 I have experienced.

My Mum always said "A leopard never changes his spots."

I haven't seen a leopard change yet. I hope this will be an exception.

I won't hold my breath.

Delete this post if you feel it inappropriate. I just wanted to say how I feel.

If Tony G goes blonde for blonde that will convince me (to part with another £20 for P4C)!

I personally back any decision you make, Tikay. You're the foundation of a hell of a site here, and you've done it all for free. For that, I am more grateful than you could imagine.

£35 already! Come on Tony, how much do we have to donate to charity to get you 'blonde' !!?

i never saw tonyg in paris until it was on the other night (wednesday i think) and i must admit i thought he seemed a decent and friendly guy and although his antics in paris might have been seen as slightly over the top i still think he is a good guy. it has been commented that tony had 1 or 2 too many that night i have not heard tony confirm or deny this but havent we all done silly things or said too much when we have had a few on board.

tony is willling to help blonde become bigger and better and i think thats great

good on you tonyg :)up

Dan tony has made 2 final tables in the Paris WPT (where abouts that falls between Ariston and Ironside i will never know!!) the first is the one i have seen, and he was far from a nice guy.

James,

He was worse in the second one.

You're entilted to your opinion, Camel.

I have conversed briefly with Tony once or twice via PM, and I feel that he is aware that various players hold this view. However, he doesn't have any problems replying to such concerns, which I consdier to be a comendable characteristic. The following thread is an example of this:

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=2296.0

the second he was far worse. I want to underline, I'm not against TonyG, if Tikay says he's a good guy, thats fine with me. I'm talking about FUTURE table behaviour in a metaphorical Blonde hat.

Adam,

I refer to my previous answer, but I'll expand on it.

I have seen Tony misbehave on a table ONCE. I have since shared a dozen or more Tables with him, & Live Updated on several in which he's featured, including the Euro Championships which he won, & have never seen him say boo to a goose. I don't think we should make a permanent judgement on anyone based on a single experience. We give that benefit to one & all, including the Member we were eventually forced to ban yesterday. Sometimes we are right, sometimes we are wrong. Who can tell?, but I'm in the tolerance & undestanding camp, & I am content with my judgement on this occasion, I don't wanna hang anyone based on one bad day at the office.

And THIS is what I wrote in September's Poker Europa. None of their readers, or the thousands who watched our Live Update, argued with my piece.

The headline - which I did NOT write, that's done by the sub-editor - was "Tony G wins like a gent at The Vic".


".....Tony gained notoriety in the Paris WPT in 2004 with his non-stop trash talk, & many feared a repeat showing in front of the TV Cameras at The Vic. But this was a different Tony entirely. Polite to a fault, showing genuine compassion to the finalists as they exited one by one. It was hard not to warm to this usually so extrovert man........"

I repeat. I am happy to let you guys judge as you find.

Camel says earlier, after criticising Tony G.... "delete this post if you feel it's inappropriate, it's just how I feel...."

Hell, NO.

The whole point of this Forum is that you CAN say what you want, what you feel. But it's not what you say, it's the way that you say it. Camel's views are what he believes, but he was not offensive in making them. We can take those kinda posts all day & all night. Keith is ENTITLED to the view he holds, & he expressed it in a civilised manner. More of the same will do nicely, thank you. And if Keith is wrong, he's a big enough man (oops...) to say so, when the time is right.

I recorded it Keith, will watch it soon.

I respect your opinion and understand your reasons, none of us have had the abuse directed at us. Hopefully time will change your mind.

Hows life with the new addition going, and when are we likely to see you back on the circuit!?

If his insult to Keith is in his top 3, i can only assume that he called him a Palace supporter...or is that insult number 1 Keith ? :)

Why you little....oh wait cant write that you will edit me!! lol

totally understand and agree with your fair crack of the whip attitude. I try and see people the same. I would say the both WPT paris games he was badly behaved, not just the one.

When a footballer puts in a slide tackle that breaks a leg and ends a career, or punches an opponent in the face in an off the ball offence, they are subject to the laws of the land and can (should) be prosecuted accordingly. Just because they've stepped on a football field shouldnt change that. A poker table is the same. I know Tony's not hurt anyone physically but my feeling is that, what's said at the poker table stays said and the game ending doesnt wipe the slate clean. whether it's TonyG, Helmouth Matusow, whoever, they cannot simply underline everything said at the table by saying "it's only a game mate, no offence" Once again I say, I've been suprised and more than happy with Tonys personality since arriving and, if you say hes an ok dude, thats good enogugh for me. All I'm conserned with is that in the next Paris 2006 WPT the same happens as season 1 and 2 but this time he's "that guy from Blonde Poker"

I'm sorry to sound like I'm having a go but table manners are a big issue to me, mainly because of my fuse. I don't know what I'd do if I was sat where Surinder was (well, actually I do, that's the problem) I just wondered if the subject had been discussed between yourselves

I am not sure about entering this one.

I just want to make a couple of points.

I no longer view people as the good guys (wearing white) and the bad guys (wearing black) of my childhood (until I met Angie) days. Most people are not totally good or bad but bits of both in different circumstances at different times. There are people that will tell you I am a great bloke and at least a similar number that will say I am a total W****r - that probably holds true for most of us and in my view thats life.

Tony has been brought on board to generate cash for BlondePoker not babysit my kids. If he brings in the cash that keeps Blonde afloat thats great.

'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone'.

If he insults me he will know about it.

The world would be a boring place if we were all the same.

My two penneth. Let's not lose focus on the important thing which we all enjoy coming to Tikays virtual pub, to date he ain't done us wrong and we would all (i guess) would like to see it remain and remain free.

Let's please not start trying to find fault as it bloody difficult for me to try and remain diplomatic  ;D O0.

If he'd called me a Chelscum supporter he would have hit numero uno!

At the moment he is sitting just behind Vinny Vinh and Jim Britton... Exaulted company eh?

Life has never been better. Jake is just perfect.

As for poker. I have bought in for a couple of events at Amsterdam so I may be back then....

Adam, I can't add much to what I've already said, & I don't have a problem with your view either. But it goes without saying that I DID discuss everything with Tony pre-deal - surely, that's a given? At the risk of repeating myself yet again, watch his interview on next week's Poker 425.

We don't own Tony, he can & will do as he wishes. It's my judgement that, overall, he is exactly what blonde needed right now, & I'm thrilled to have him on board. I mean, imagine blonde relying on Dace C's & my recent poker winnings to finance the site......

i have only seen the one that was aired this week, what i am saying flushie is that since he has been on here he seems ok. i agree that he did not seem like a nice guy in paris, but if he had had a few that is probably what has caused it, obviously i havent got personnal experience of him like the camel and im sure if he insulted me then i would have indifferent views on him

LOL Keith that is some company!

Good to hear you will be back soon! I doubt i will be in Amsterdam myself, but hope to see you not long after!

As for Jake, has he learnt to check raise yet?

Camel says "he's behind Vinny Vihn & Jim Britton...."

It's such a shame I can't air my views in a blonde-compliant manner on THAT one! But I did rather let loose on poor Jim on a Final Table somewhere recently. He decided to give me some lip, & he got rather more back than he'd bargained for. I really went for him - I was not prepared to stand for him giving me the usual JB treatment - & gave him the full works. There followed a stunned silence, then the table all stood up & clapped! Paul Alterman & Ross (or was it Barny?) both came up to me aferwards & said it was the best show they had seen in years. Oops, what happened to tikay, Mr Nice Guy?......

LMAO Tikay!!!

Dan i agree my opinion has changed since he joined blonde.

Tikay didnt you just scoop £170 in a £5 comp? Dont claim to not have any winnings!

I just remembered a French guy guy at the Aviation who stood and shouted at me for 15 minutes after I outdrew him.

I guess he would probably be in the top 3, but I can't speak much French and I have no idea what he said!

Jake is just learning about slow playing... check raising comes a week on Tuesday.

Keith the French guy was probs offering to buy you a pint  ??? ???

Having knocked Tonyg out of the world speed poker championships in Estonia last year I found him the perfect gentleman.

Last night on the Blonde tourney on Crapto, I could not even get an insult out of him when i playfully accused him of chip dumping to the camel.  He was taking the time to talk to all the players who were entering our table chat box and strikes me as a bit of a loose cannon but a decent geezer.

can i just say the reason Blonde hasnt made much money so far from afflilates is causes they are buried so deep into the site even looking for them i can find them and i know i looked

but welcome aboard tonyg just dont do a repeat of paris or i will set the camel on you

You are probably right Iron. Like I said, we (Dave & I) are just useless at affiliate stuff.

Another reason is that we get huge traffic flows through the Forum, but much less on the Main Site. But we have plans afoot to change that, so that the Forum is, in effect, part of the main site, rather than an annexe. Many Members never visit the Main Site. I bet 80% of the regular Forum P:osters rarely go there. But that's a safe bet - I've seen the Traffic Stats!

My position has also been that I don't really want affiliate banners on the Forum, it's our little "den", our haven from the commercial world, & I wanna keep it that way if I possibly can. We will have to see, "needs must as the devil drives".......

tikay the problem with the blonde site is that unlike the forum there is rarely anything new on there

the live tourny schedules are out of date and for that info people have to goto other sites, links link to the wrong place on the site i hope the new webmaster has a good overhaul of the main site as i no longer goto PIE to get details of tournys due to their support of casino without wheelchair access.

So only 2 of us want to see Tony G go blonde!!!?

i always thought tonyg was blonde

True Iron, we do not update the Home Page as much as we want, the aim was always to update it daily, as I used to, but that old enemy, time, got in the way. Jen is now trying to do Updates two or three times a week, we have a new writer starting on Monday who has promised articles three days a week. And my Diary, which is commissioned for Poker 425 (who on earth would wanna read that, I ask myself) now goes there too. Until recently, it has been uploaded on a weekly basis, but as & from Monday, we intend to release it in daily doses, heaven help you. We are working on it big fella, I promise.

Live Tourney Schedules. Another of my jobs - jeez, they all seem to fall in my lap! - which I've got behind with.

Links go to the wrong place? So I'm told - the new Webmaster is working through them all, though I was told they'd all been corrected.

Overhual of the Main Site? Almost complete, though it's all being done offline. I think we re-launch, having thoroughly checked every nook & cranny, on Monday week.

Or even when you accused him of playing with his todger ! IIRC   :o

Tikay, Any job will get you in to this position unless u delegate, if u need help u have to ask -  we are here to help each other, ask for help if u  0:-)need it   0:-)

if i was to get sent deatils of every live festival (tourny) in the UK and you trusted me with FTP access you could delegate that job to me  my writing skills aint up to much but i could handle that job and its about time i did something round here

Thanks Guys. When Cardrooms send us updated Tourney Info, we update, but we need to be pro-active, & ask THEM, as they don't give it to us unless we ask.

The upgraded site will not need FTP access, anyone - subject to Password Control - will be able to upload directly. That WILL be a big help. To be honest, I got a bit frustrated with uploading stuff that had immediacy to it, as I wlould send it to "Head Office" at 4 & 5 in the morning, & it often did not get uploaded for 2 days, so I reverted to putting stuff straight onto the Forum instead.

It's very kind of both you & Dewi to offer to help, I appreciate it.

Delegation is my biggest problem. Dave says I am the worst delegator he has ever met, but I tell him that's unfair - I am just too busy to delegate.........

LOL

I must be the worlds worst person to work for, I have always been a one man band but like everyone else I have to get the pro's in sometimes, plummers, builders etc, the trouble is, I have to 'help' them, I can't stop asking questions or suggesting better ways to do things

If the boot was on the other foot, I would tell them to bugger off or do it themselves

Plumbers Red, PLUMBERS.......

Sigh.

I feel a story coming on

Get it off your chest

While your at it, how come you put up with so much crap with your broadband?

What can I do about it? I've rung BT six zillion times. Bizarrely, I just checked the PC to see if the Broadband was back on yet, & it IS - Whohoo! I had unplugged the thing from the port, the pluggd it back in again, & hey presto, I'm back on broadband!

I was going to say, in most cases you don't have much choice.

I once had non working broadband for 7 weeks before BT managed to fix it.

Tikay I offer my web services too if ya get stuck.  Even if it is just proof reading b4 uploading - I think and hope that Ange and Davey can confirm I am capable.


T

I use AOL Broadband, expensive, but ZERO problems!!!

Spoke too soon. It dropped out again within 5 minutes.....Grrrrrrr

Tikay - moan at the guy in the call centre until they put you through to the special faults team. Refuse to hang up until they do, pointing out how you've rung them a zillion times before and nothing has been done etc...

We did this and got put onto a guy who knew what he was talking about, had special equipment for analysing the line for faults etc to see why the line dropped.

Tikay do you have a filter connected to EVERYTHING that uses the phoneline?????

Refuse to pay the bill, sign up with someone else, tell them you will see them in court

I have done it many times when I don't get the service I'm paying for, none have ever taken me to court

The problem with that is Red is that you have very little actual choice with broadband (at the moment).

Unless you live in an area served by NTL/Telewest (or whatever the merged company will be called) then you have to go with ADSL. The vast majority of all ADSL will use BT lines and equipment at the exchange (i'm unsure at which point it switches to your choice of provider - i've never bothered to find out). Faults with these will be dealt with by BT wholesale - whoever is providing you with the retail product. Switching provider will merely lead you on a merry dance of paying someone else but dealing with the same people.

I ONLY have my Broadband plugged in, & that goes through the microfilter. Nothing else is plugged into the phone socket. It seems to be perfect for 4 or 5 weeks at a time, then it drops out & plays up for a week.

Bongo is right too, whoever I go to, it's still BT at the other end providing the Broadband.

Janeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?????????

Are you here????  Any ideas on Tikay's prob?

Trace means my Broadband prob, not my women prob..........

Tut Tikay, would I really say anything like that about you???

Jane's gone offline btw....

Great read Tikay. I cant wait to see the plans unfolding.

The future's bright, the future's blonde.

I welcome Tony G,
like u say Tikay, these things dont come cheap (running of Blondepoker) and if Tony is willing to take the risk with his £££ like u and DC have, well he should be commended.
 One thing Tony will guarentee you is exposure, and that can be priceless.

Welcome aboard Tony, and let me be the first to offer to buy you a drink  ;)

How peculiar Tikay.

I live less than 20 miles from you in Nottingham, and my BT Broadband connection has been fine.

I do get the very occasional "bad day" where I maybe have to switch off for an hour or so.

But by and large it's excellent   ???

Tikay, I may be able to help out a little with your connection probs, I'll get dinner sorted then the kids and send you some ideas via a PM.

You never know, we may be able to sort it out once and for all. :)up

I already liked TonyG in the same way I like Phil hellmuth and Mike Matasou

I think they have been good for the game of poker in general

Since he came to Blonde I have been very impressed, especially

when he railbirded a Blondite, Quality IMO

I have already offered my services in a design/graphics capacity

I think it would be nice if the members could be involved in the evolution of Blondepoker  8)

In 5 years time i will offer to fly Tikay's private jet.

That what you mean?