blonde poker forum

I first found it looking for live updates although i don't always read them now.

Sandy

when i joined there wasnt any live updates or tourny reports

I came because elblondie asked me to contribute to the forum.

long long time ago.

Migrated from THM many years ago.

The Camel:    Date Registered:     February 05, 2005, 12:20:41 AM

Ironside:       Date Registered:     January 30, 2005, 12:41:18 AM

Darn it. beaten again.

followed tony from thm

liked the updates and the style which they were written (started by tikay himself).

now only visit frequently due to work commitments but always check the live updates to see if any mates are doing well.

Met Tikay at Brighton and he told me about the forum. Joining Blonde was the only way I knew of keeping in touch with him and meeting him again.

if only i could beat you at something that matter like a poker comp

I searched on google for a password to a gukpt freeroll and one of the links was to a post from Boldie,suprise suprise so i sent him a pm asking for the password and he duly obliged what a nice man,i then wen't on to realise what a great forum it was and now am on everyday to get involved in geneal discussions,talk a loada crap on the pha board or to find out how everyone cooks there fry up it's quite a variation ain't it.Add to that the fun of playing they odd league event and the immense amount of fun at a bash and i'd say i'm rather glad i did come and will be around a long time to,quit the sighs everyone.Updates or no updates i still will be.

17 - 4 for others in the early running. I'm surprised by that. If that continues i'm sure that'll ease the minds of those who made the tough decision.

I agree with The Camel regarding the updates but early indication would suggest they are not the huge asset to the site they once were and that the community that they helped create is now strong enough to withstand the loss.

Sandy

The live updates did help but mainly because a few of my poker mates were posters here.

You must be the only poker playing woman he hasn't offered his phone number to.

the question why did you come to blondepoker doesnt quite prove dropping the live updates is a good idea. Why do you continue visiting blonde or what aspect of blonde do you most commonly use may give you a better idea. I think a very high % of people who did the original blonde questionaire thing said the live updates were their favourite part of blonde. the fact many of us would happily pay for it should tell you how important they are.

+1

I think I got an email from TK about his linking up with Dave C & Rhowena...

Think people need to realise Blonde is more that live updates tbh and if we can't afford then Im afraid we don't have them (hopefully short term)

True but if they are not the main attraction as many think they are then it alters the value of them.


Most posters would still post without them even if they would pay/donate to keep them. You are one of the few with a post count over single figures saying otherwise.

If you find some old debates on this (2005/6) you'll find that i said at that time that they were the biggest attraction to the site and they'd be mad to ditch them. It doesn't appear that way now.

Sandy

[ ] That makes me feel really good, either I lucked out or having seen me play he realised I wasn't a poker playing woman....

 

No, he knew he had no chance with a woman of your beauty and intelligence.

Oh good retrieval Sir.

So what you're saying Robert is that it's not true??

tbh, i would happily pay a £5 a month for Gukpt updates & DTD updates, I think it makes it far more interesting following the blondites in these comps.

agreed

Now we just need another 498 members to also agree, to come anywhere near the costs of yearly updating.

Ariston, do you really think, for one minute, that the decision makers at blonde canned the updates lightly?

I first came across Blonde through a live update at the main event in the Midland Masters fessie at Walsall a couple of years ago.
Although I've played poker for over 20 years it was my first major tourney which i played in. As i made it to day 2 of the event my young kids wanted to know how i was getting on (i came 8th :) ).
Blonde came to the rescue!!

Ever since, although not a constant poster, there are not many days I don't logon to Blonde to browse the various forums and catch up with all the blogs and general banter all of which makes Blonde a great place to be part of.
Although I enjoy the live updates it's not all that it's about and I will continue to stalk amongst the forums and occasionally join in.

I don't play enough online poker (because I'm crap at it) to offer much support in that way but If there was some kind of members affiliates scheme or membership fee to help keep Blonde going through hard times I would gladly muck in.

Long live Blonde and all who sail in her.

via snoopy's blog for the live updates.

Although I knew of Blonde forum, I felt it was bit too exclusive for me to join in, i.e it was for the big lads and I was still in the infants in comparision.

Obviously by my post count I'm more of a lurker on here than a poster, I still visit most days, and as  I meet more and more blonde members I realise that its not such an exclusive place after all, just a massive range of players post on here, some that you see in the magazines and some that you play against in your local club. Maybe I just graduated to juniors.

It would be a real shame to have to stop the updates, Snoops, Floppy and others do a fantastic job, and its often my ambition to get to play in the size of tournaments that these guys report on. I understand that finances are tight, but hopefully you'll secure enough business to get these updates from these guys running again soon. I'll open an account, although to be honest, the rake won't make you rich, but it might help a tiny bit.

Now, how does a post like this usually end ?

I remember - "Kev - where's my t-shirt"

Good Luck

Mike

Me too. Financial head on ...

Costs I think have been mentioned on another thread at about £1500 per update? So at £5 per head Blonde needs 300 people to pay that each month for one update. if there's more than 1 update a month (which there probably would need to be the subscription would need to be higher or more peope would need to pay up.

I'm not sure how many people read the updates in total. Perhaps someone else does, but I'm not sure that it reaches 300 different people but I could be wrong. Would enough people be prepared to pay more? Speak now!!

The lovely suzanne got me to sign up after one of our many many battles back in the day on Tribeca, telling me about a Blonde Bash if memory serves...glad she did :)

[  ] So are the rest of us

+1

Of course it's true. I'm just surprised that you didn't realise that was the reason yourself.

[   ] its nice to feel loved

awesome, funniest thing iv read today, quality on so many levels!!!!!

Courtesy of Ian 'Gamblor21' Bradley.

At last, sanity.......

In case Ariston misses this, too, because I've said it again & again.......

Ariston, do you really think, for one minute, that the decision makers at blonde canned the updates lightly?

Random googling looking for stuff about Gala Notts, back in the days of me bothering to play live (2005).

Found Blonde on Google while trying to work out how to play the local Gala rebuy tourneys.

no need to shout. I dont think you have taken the decision lightly. I also dont think there will be anywhere to shout about it in a few months unless the decision makers start treating this like a business instead of a hobby/burden. driving your community/potential customers to a competitor is one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make in business and in you head (not your heart) you know I am correct in saying this.

You have lost your best assets in snoops and floppsy and I know they will be snapped up very quickly by someone else. I know you regret it already as blonde is your baby tony but you will regret it even more when you are left with a few faithfull blondites and nobody else as they have all gone elsewhere.

I started here just after I started playing poker.  I orginally started on the Betfair forum as I played there, but people weren't overly friendly and seemed to have a bit of an elitist attitude towards themselves (except Mandylou I think it was, he/she was very helpful)  Anyway, I found myself here, probably after Googling Poker Forum or something like that, and everyone was instantly helpful, friendly and welcoming.   They did welcoming threads back then for new members and it just felt great joining a new community and being made welcome straight away.

 :'( Please don't go  :'(

If the updaters can come back I'm sure and hope they will, who wouldn't want to update on Blonde and be part of the banter? Ariston - this is hopefully short term - in the meantime sponsor some players on blonde if you want the site to keep going!!

A friend played in the first APAT at the Broadway and told me I could follow his progress here. He was unlucky and the tournament was won by a complete luckbox.

you aint wrong

but i beleive the guy who went out in 8th was a star

sorry i dont sponsor players anymore. I did try and open a dialogue about maybe bringing a staking site onto blonde with kickbacks etc which would have more than covered the costs of the updates but was turned down. I no longer run a staking site of my own and now work full time for a living but a link with one of the staking sites would certainly be a huge revenue stream for blonde given the ammount of decent players that are on here. if tony wants to do a deal like this he knows the people involved in the biggest one personally and i know he could easly do a deal of some kind.

 I first found blonde when the DTD forum was on here, I very rarely read the updates for what its worth.

Simple answer really............................






















NORKAGE  ldo

Yes, you offered a Deal. I had no wish to be associated with that Staking Operation.

Yes, I know the good peeps at BadBeat very well. We had extensive negotiations with them, Dave & I. It came to nothing, because there was nothing on the Table for us, no room for a middleman really.

We are in talks about a commercial Staking Operation with a backer. As I have stated several times. I actually spoke with him tonight. He remains keen.

Played the first APAT tournament in Brum ( Won by Kinboshi) busting out in 23rd, atmosphere was great and everyone kept mentioning Blonde poker so when I got home I checked it out, liked what I saw and have been loitering ever since.

Edit: I should add that I was knocked out by Brendan (Eric Stoner), a real gentleman on and off the table.

And you, in turn, recruited me :-)

I think a pertinent question would be, how many people found blonde by searching for something else on Google? Like I've said elsewhere, blonde is currently highly visible to search engines, and without new content being posted on the site daily, the googleability will drop very sharply. I hope these cutbacks really are very short-term, as I think that the stagnancy of the site will very quickly reflect in the number of new people who stumble across blonde.

it won't be stagnant

right... after all your posts on both threads Dana, I have to ask a question.

Can you come up with an alternative to the decision made ?

Not half as much as I do, as I think I already said.

In the interim, we'll try & keep the "googleability" as high as possible, via articles & stuff.

I'm not sure anyone could keep up the superhuman efforts that Snoopy put into the main site. Less content posted = lower web visibility.

Really, Snoopy works like, well, a dog.

* - That does not include a risk of us not being able to meet his wages, in full, & on time.

Found blonde many moons ago, through word of mouth. A few friends on another forum had found blonde (also through word of mouth) and quite frankly, blonde was friendlier, and I moved over.

Now, with an extra 8500+ more members, that's a hell of a lot of potential word of mouth to spread the good blonde word.

Not everything is found through the main page.

I know, I admire him enormously. Less content will be posted but the site will not be stagnant

Agreed, 100%.

To be fair, & sadly, high web visibility does not necessarily translate into revenue.

It was the updates that first brought me here. But it is the general rubbish discussed by everyone each day that brings me to the forum on a daily basis.

I am afraid I dont play on the card room because I cant stand ipoker. Is opening a Blondepoker 2 on another network an option? (not to replace, but run as well as).

& does it really cost £250 a month to host??? Admittedly I know little about that stuff but I didnt expect it to cost that much.

A colleague got a seat in a Vic event, I googled, I think, for potential updates and found blonde. There was an old chap doing some updates. I was on another forum at the time but found the atmosphere absolutely wonderful here so stayed around to contribute.

Considered a while back

We would like to move off IPoker, but there are financial barriers to that which are currently unfundable

where would u move to if u could? ipoker does suck but the traffic is better than ongame/crypto

You can get a website that no-one looks as for next to nothing, but users equals bandwidth, which is what costs, also the speed of blonde is superb which means its running on good uncongested servers.

Old bloke?

FFS.......

Yes, I used to Update, so I do know the score.

I hate to think what the awop updates cost as they were live streaming and it kept on sticking because they didn't have enough room on the server. it's all down to money folks!

I was searching for updates on a player in the monte carlo millions, i asked for a chip count on the update and within 2 minutes Heid (what happened to her?) had qouted me and replied with a smiley and said "welcome to the forum and the answer would be soon coming" I was stunned to be honest as up to that point i'd skimmed over a few arrogant US forums and never felt easy there, now 115 days, 9 hours and 27 minutes later i'm still hanging about,  i love the place

We would have liked to have changed skin provider on Ipoker, but that option was closed off

Nowhere else I can find has acceptable traffic, but better functionality, that would have someone as small as us,  to justify a change

Entraction has recently become a possibility

thats the problem there is nowhere better at the moment that offers skins.

Would it not be possible to look into funding the site through affiliates, with an eye to winding up the cardroom? Obviously I have little grasp of the numbers involved here and how long blonde is tied into ipoker for, but it seems to me that if the cardroom is unprofitable then it's unprofitable, and it would be better to look into other sources of revenue. Sacrificing something priceless like web visibility seems to be nothing but destructive in the long term. It seems to me that that should be absolutely the last thing to go, if the plan is to make blonde a profitable web-based venture at any point in the future as well as a friendly community.

I didnt say move off. Why move a profitable card room?

I meant open a second.

2 x profitable card rooms = problem solved?

What about getting exiled from the network like NOIQ & Carlos recently...............would there be a financial burden if iPoker kicked Blonde off the network?

Have you actually read any of the original posts, The card room IS profitable ... the updates aren't, the home page isn't.

It really is that black and white.

the card-room is profitable

as I said on the other thread also

"
I am aware the business model is faulty. However to change it, possibly to a super affiliate model, requires two things

a) a sum of money to tide us over while we change, via income or shareholder investment otherwise we're busto and we have a non commercial forum only. Probably a neat solution for tikay and an easy life but not for shareholders of a limited company overall

b) a potential partner. Full Tilt are spoken for, Stars uninterested and what other "must play" site is there that is a cast iron certainty to make us more money than we currently do? Always allowing for the fact that a lot of blondes will be signed up already with whoever we go with"

I did that very Update, with Miss Mason. Never had more fun. Except the 'copter ride with Mr Goodwin, which Jen enjoyed gleefully.

not as such, as I say Entraction is on the radar now

with our base of players? spread too thinly is the more likely outcome currently

Please sir can I have 50% rakeback until you move networks?

lol, no!

Surely the most important question is not  "Why did you come to blondepoker?" But rather, Why do you stay?

entraction?

The Cardroom IS profitable. Biut not enough to pay for the bells & whistles.

Web visibility is important, but with the advertising market as flat as a....banjo, it does not translate into any revenue at all right now.

No Iq, Carlos, devilfish poker

up and coming network

I disagree. Most of us play on multiple networks and sites. Having a second site would mean opening up blonde to players (like me for example) who would glady play on blonde but just not on ipoker. Those that are happy with ipoker would stay there.

I currently play on Boss and really like it. (despite moaning about some of their tourn structures!)

Boss an option?

It was yes, a while ago

I will ponder, thank you

3 cardrooms ftw

Ipoker, Entraction, boss

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

remember that NoiQ are very much an affiliate driven room. you'd need to be intelligent to make it worthwhile for high rakers to move

oh dear, intelligence?

I'm all ears Byron by the way

Blatant "admit it you know you love my diary" post imo.

he doesn't say much but when he does it makes complete sense

I just googled what is the best poker related forum in the world it replied BLONDE

as well as someone on Sky Poker recommending it

 (cant remember who it was now but if i do i let on so you can ban em)

think it was actually claimer that got me to join back in the old tribeca days

I came because i liked tightend and because i flopped a set v top two against flushy in the sussex masters which tempted me to go to the blonde bash. There i met a load of ppl who were off the radar and i like people off the radar. Stayed there because i like the youngsters and the oldies are pretty cool too, esp compo, who is my idol. Just has a nice feel here and as im premanently grinding its a nice reprieve to talk poker after playing all night.......... :)

".....we have a non commercial forum only. Probably a neat solution for tikay and an easy life..."

That'd be incredibly cost effective, stress-effective, & time effective. No more worries, no more pain.

Contrary to what several seem to think, I don't enjoy all this grief. Or laying off, even temporarily, golden staff. Or not being abl to fund their wages. Nor do I need it at my time of life, when everything else is going swimnmingly, in my later years.

But I happen to think this is a special place, a wonderful community, & worth battling for. I'm always game if there's a bit of a struggle to be faced. It's good for the soul.

stay, because its not just Poker, all human life is here...

Long live blonde.

And if someone in blonde doesn't use that in advertising in the future when they can afford it they should be shot. Thats wonderful.

'Nice feel' sums it up perfectly imo. A fine forum is blonde, cannot be faulted.

Not really.

If the live updates are the big draw to the site (i expected that was the case but it seems not) then they would have been crucial.

If they were the reason most people kept coming back then the issue would be huge as it is unlikely that those people used the site unless there was an update and as such would hold no value to the site as they would contribute no earnings as well as very little community value.

It is important to understand why people stay and how you can keep them whilst attaining some value from them but the whole issue seems to be that the updates are too expensive and i wanted to see how important that expense was. The answer has surprised me as i thought they would be vital but it appears they are not vital although a great addition.

Sandy

Pretty much the same, I stayed for the reason I came in the first place.

pretty much exactly my story :)

To be honest I only read the updates if there are people I know playing

I came to the site after getting interested in poker and looking for a site that had a broader base of discussion. Didn't know about the updates and only occasionally look at them. Certainly don't read/post on blonde because of them.
Have stayed due to the community spirit and vibe of the place. I haven't met any blondes as live poker is pretty much a no go at present, due to working shifts and having a 2 year old. Will continue to use the forum as before.

And you recruited me  ;adamm;

I would like to add that I have never posted on a forum before, as I am rather shy at doing so, as I am wary of strangers. I used to read the Blonde forum a lot before I actually joined and the reason I post on here is that everyone is friendly and I love the tongue in cheek banter.  I have never played live yet but started playing poker on Sky under the name Panzer, and recognised some of the players from there who post on Blonde.

I now play on Blonde and I do try to help out in my small way in supporting the Blonde cardroom by playing cheap S&G and very rarely winning.

It is obvious that due to the financial situation worldwide everyone will suffer in some way and the numbers playing will go down. I am willing to pay a small fee maybe in the form of a subscription to keep the forum and live updates going.

PS: By the way I have bought a lottery ticket for the Euro Lotto tomorrow so I will keep Blonde in mind if my numbers come up.  rotflmfao

why did I come here ? Found this place by accident, when looking for info on the cinicinatti club, joined up, found there were a few people I knew already on here, had a home game, got told "hey we are all going to birmingham next month to meet some people off the internet, are you coming"...

kinda went downhill from there....

Web visibility can be rebuilt down the line, it is very sad snoopy has lost his job but its a tough economic market at the moment and sensible buissness practice means cutbacks.

Oh and blonde already is a profitable web venture, as long as it dumps the luxury items.

Joined after Tikay told me about the forum. I used to enjoy his " Tales from the road " about his poker outings which he used to post on HMF

I KNOW IT:   Date Registered:     January 29, 2005, 09:24:51 PM

 ;nana;

A tad harsh, labellng our beloved beagle a "luxury item"

Stick around if you enjoyed them Craig. They might be about to re-start.

Not snoopy, the updates/blondepedia/reports

Yes it is, and pretty much sums why I look in ,and will continue to do so ,daily.
To me the updates are worthwhile but not the heart of blonde.

Happy 4th anniversary Craig...I joined January 30th 2005 7 something AM so my 4th year today too, time obviously flies :)

Many happy returns to you too

 :cheers:

I played in an APAT event and met tikay, Des, Tighty, Ironside, and others - and they suggested I signed up.

Bet they're regretting that now.

wow Dan I thought you were a member before APAT- makes your post count even more sad impressive!

[ ] Thanks

[X] You're very welcome

I was at DTD on the Saturday of a Blonde Bash and ironside told me to come here.

I was googling for information on DTD before it opened, and found Rob's huge diary thread on here.

ffs des, you've got your own forum, couldn't you have just kept him there?

I wanted to keep track of the whole DTD story as this was the place where I was gonna start to play live poker.

I should have signed up a long time ago having spent months just reading all the posts without being a member.

This forum provides a wealth of information and great debate, and I need my daily fix of the Blonde Forum cos I feel like I'm missing out if I don't.

I don't post much due to the fact that I don't know any members personally, but hopefully this will change in due course.

It was in the days before APAT had a forum.  FYL

   I really can't remember how i found the forum but my join date is Oct 2005 so i had only just started online poker.I do know now that my internet routine is fire up the laptop,check emails then BBC then Blonde.I rarely visit the homepage but enjoy the tourny updates even though i don't know any of the players personally and get a real buzz when a forum member goes deep.I have been to the last three bashes and have loved them LONG LIVE BLONDE.

To try and find out the schedules of tournaments in Leeds.

I found it thru my cuz Geo the Sarge, gr8 forum, always informative and made many friends.

I even manage to beat Ironside on this one.

Joined January 29, 2005, 08:53:31 PM

Had just started playing Poker, and found a link through THMF.

Remember Tikay doing the first updates via TXT on his phone.  Thought they were great, but not the reason i had joined OR stayed.

Hindsight FTW  ;)

Me too. My thumb is still sore from all that texting - I sent about 600 texts in 2 days. To Greece! Don't ask......

i did?

you listened?

It's come to my attention this was taken the wrong way, it was a joke asa :D

I came here cos i am the one!

(http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/00/02/33/91/69217501_ph1.jpg)

I came here because this is where the one posts.

i came here cos they used to have these great diary's that you could read for FREE

sigh, please tell me this wasn't really taken the wrong way. I'm truly starting to despair over the whole sense of humour bypass thing going on atm

I was first aware of BP when I  became friends with two dozy buggers called Brian Wilson & Dave Colclough in Vegas 05 and then a few days later meeting Mr Tony Kendall, (with newly added Blonde hairdo apparently),Phil Quayle & Jen. I vividly remember it was the first time I had ever seen my name up on the World WideWait as it was then.
Now I didn't jump right in until i met my good friend Dan Blake in the Caribbean 05 where he told me what this forum thingy was all about. I quickly took the piss as is my way, and promptly  told him if you have to lean forward to talk to people, then they must be all sad lonely bastards and I want nothing to do with them !!!. However when I got back to the UK i checked the forum out a bit more and went to a my first Bash in Birmingham, where I met a few of these Lean forward friends. I too realized that what a friendly place Blonde Is and I was wrong about the sad lonely bit (well a little  ;D).
Now in all honestly I don't contribute hardly anything to Blonde. I very rarely post or in actual fact read anything apart from the updates and a few things here and there. however I've always felt welcome by the regulars on here and at the bash's, I'm sure this is why its been so successful over the years.  I like most people on here just take it all for granted what goes on in the background. Apart from the wonderfull updating team who Ive had the pleasure to meet over the years, especially when you see them running around the Rio for 13 to 15 hours a day, and still have the time to speak to me. i wouldn't want to do that for £500 a day !!!. All this since 2005 must cost a small fortune and I'm truly amazed that Blonde has laid on this wonderful FREE service and is still here. If they went, of course it would be a huge loss to the overall feel to Blonde. But I'd personally would still prefer a BP forum than nothing at all.

I just wanted to wish all you guys the best in the near future with all the problems.

John.