blonde poker forum

Some dreadful news I'm afraid, Kim passed away last night.

He had an aneurysm of the brain on Wednesday, was admitted to hospital, & this was followed by a stroke.

He was transferred into specialist care at Queens Med, but he never regained consciousness & passed away last night.

Kim was, truly, in my personal opinion, one of the nicest chaps I ever met in poker, & many of you will remember him from Gala Notts & later, DTD, where he played the Dealers Choice Cash Games with consummate skill.

Kim used to play that very big cash game in Birmingham, back in the day, with the likes of Dave Colclough, Micky Wernick, John Shipley, Lucy Rokach, Devilfish, Derek Baxter & others. And it was a big game, some serious sums were involved.

There is a famous story of the night he was £80,000 up in that game, but after a series of horrendous beats he done the whole lot within a few hours.

No moaning, no groaning, he just got up & bade everyone goodnight, "that'll do me for tonight gents, see you next week" & off he toddled.

I first met him at Gala Notts, & then we played a lot of DC at DTD. He was unfailingly helpful & kind to me & if I know anything about DC,  & the 4 card game, he probably taught me it.

His brother, Pete Costa, is probably better known as a Tournament player, but Kim was really something special at the cash games. Most of the family - there are 9 brothers & sisters, all of whom survived him - shortened their surname to Costi or Costa, but Kim remained forever Constantinou. (Apologies if I have not spelt it correctly). 

Kim was 58.

As you can imagine, Maria, (Chili) his niece, is in absolute bits, they are such a close family. I have not spoken to Peter, but I imagine he is devestated, too.

RIP Kim, you were an inspiration to so many of us, & you will be much missed.

 

RIP Kim

RIP - thoughts are with the family, especially Maria.

RIP

RIP

Thoughts with Maria and all the family

Another one of the irreplaceables gone.

RIP Kim. You won't be forgotten.

Have fond memories of Kim.

I learnt to play poker at Gala Notts around 2003-2004 and in those days it was
quite an intimidating atmosphere in the smoke filled card room if you were a newbie.

Kim stood out from the old crowd as someone you could have a chat with and he was
always pleasant and polite , a proper chap.

It was an honour to have known you Kim.

RIP.

R.I.P Kim

Condolences  to the family

Didn't know Kim, sounds a great man and a real character from Tikays words. RIP and thoughts with the fanily

RIP Sir.

Sad news.

Didn't play poker with him much, but the few occasions we did, he always seemed like a really nice bloke.

Terrible news. RIP Kim.

Terrible and shocking news.

I've known Kim since the early 1990's when I first started to play holdem in what is now Gala where he and his brothers Pete and Louie were regulars, as were various cousins and in-laws.

Always a fierce competitor and a skillful, fearless opponent but I never once heard him raise his voice in anger during all of the years I have known him such was his temperament. He was a gentleman at all times.

Condolences to all of the family who must be devastated.

RIP Kim

RIP. Thoughts with the family.

RIP.

He was at my table the first time I ever played live at Gala Notts (early 05' I think) and he was one of the good guys. As has been mentioned at the time it wasn't the most pleasent of places for a newbie and people like him took some of the edge off.

Heard about this last night on Pete's Facebook.

Terrible news, such a gent at the table and an absolute nightmare (in the best sense of the word) to play in DC cash at the Gala.

Spent many an enjoyable year playing Kim at backgammon and poker. When you were drawn on his table it was a mixed blessing, on the one hand you were going up against a very savvy and wily competitor, on the other you were going to enjoy yourself, the time would pass quickly with laughter and good conversation.

One night his impeccable manners resulted in him coining one of the great truisms of poker, a young lad on our table was regaling us with minute details of every bad beat he'd had for the past fortnight and whilst we were all thinking 'please shut up' Kim politely turned to him and said "You realise the problem with telling people your bad beats?", "No-what's that?" the young lad replied, "Well, half the people don't care and the other half are glad"

His family are cast in the same mould as well, a sparkle in the eye behind a wide smile and my condolences to Andy, Peter, Angelo and Maria.

RIP Kim - a true gent

Thank you everyone for the lovely messages and memories of my Uncle Kim. He will be missed so so much its hard to comprehend at the moment.

My mum, dad and Uncles & Aunties have been shown the posts here and are appreciative of the support tonight as am I x

RIP

RIP kim had the honour of your company a few time i was in DTD and it was great how you made total strangers feel welcome and at home

Terrible news

Playing Poker in the 90's @ Stakis Kim was always the one to fear across the tables.

A voice in the card room to listen to and a personality to respect. 

Kim was a  true gent, so polite and a just very likable bloke.

R.I.P Sir

From the tributes here, obviously a pretty special guy.

RIP and condolences to the family.

What did he look like? I'm sure I'd recognise him.

Sad stuff, condolences to all.

I played many times with Kim in the Dealer's Choice games at DTD a few years back. He was a complete gentleman and a class act. A sad loss. RIP Kim.

Very sad indeed. A really genuinely nice chap. My thoughts are with all the family.

A real gentleman . Was always polite an had a calm aura about him. i often asked Maria how he was as i missed playing with him at nottingahm last few years.                                                         My thoughts with the family.

Yes this is definitely true. He had a real aura about him; of calm and class. It was impossible not to have instant respect for Kim. And then when I observed closely how he behaved at the table that level of respect increased even further.

All my thoughts with this amazing family at this time.
Kim and Pete hold so many early poker memories for me as they were friends with my dad and showed so much support and enthusiasm to me when I first started playing.
Kim always had the biggest smile on his face, it was one of the first things you saw when you walked in gala all those years ago.

I know his family will miss him terribly but I hope they can hold some comfort in the fact that he was genuinely one of the nicest people anybody could have the pleasure of meeting.

Goodnight and God bless Kim x

Thank you all for your kind words. 

The whole family is devastated and not sure how we can overcome this.  We all so looked forward to the years ahead and to sharing precious time together. To think that our beautiful brother will not be with us is beyond any pain we have experienced. 

R.I.P our brother - we will miss and love you always 

 

Thoughts are with Maria and her family.

RIP X

Sorry for your loss Maria and your family.

RIP

Thoughts and prayers with you all.

God bless.

I knew Kim for over 20 years . True gentleman .
Really sad to lost him . My thought r alway with his family.
RIP MATE ..

Thoughts are with you all

RIP

 >:(

My thoughts go out to you and your family Maria.

The first time I played poker was with Kim and Angelo at Gala Nottingham, a real gentlemen and a lovely person, like all of the family.

rest in peace kim,

you'll not be forgotten & even now i remember that fatherly-like rolling of the eyes when i or any other newbie dusted of our stack, one way or another you taught us a lot.

RIP

Thoughts and condolences to Maria and all family and friends

 Aspades

I Played in games with Kim a lot throughout the 80`s and 90`s in Birmingham,Derby and Notts and if ever there was a true gentleman poker player it was this man.

RIP ...A true gent of the poker World.

If anybody wishes to attend my Uncles funeral the details are below.

Date: Monday 11th February

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas & St. Xenophon
Aylestone Road
Leicester
LE2 7NW

The church is 11.30am followed by the burial at Narborough Cemetary, Leicester LE19 2EL around 1.15pm.

There was an obituary in the Leicester Mercury last week.

http://www.thisisannouncements.co.uk/23472033?s_source=clmi_innl

Be nice to see one or two of you there for a good send off.

Thanks Maria.

That is a lovely obit, very moving.

I will try & attend on the 11th.

Kim was laid to rest on Monday.

Maria wanted to Post something, but did not feel quite able to find the words, so I said I would write a few words on her behalf.

The Funeral was at a Greek Church, near the centre of Leicester, as Kim, & many of the family, live in the area.

There was not a spare seat, or pew, in the Church, there were some 250 mourners seated, & another 50 or so standing.

I had never attended a Greek funeral before, & it was very different to what I was used to. 

The congregation were not required to sing, or pray, all that was done by three Clergy, dressed in their wonderful robes.

They "chanted", in Greek I assume, for some time, one at a time, in rotation.

Then the Chief Clergy spoke in English about Kim, & the family.

One of Kim's daughters, flanked, I assume by her sisters, then read out, with some difficulty via quivering lips, a Poem called "Welcome Home". I tried to find it Online, as it was perfectly lovely, but there are several, & I don't want to quote the wrong one.

We were each handed a long, thin, white candle, which we lit, & held throughout the Service, which lasted some 45 minutes.

After the service proper ended, music was played, starting with Cat Stevens, "Moonshadow".


Yes, I'm being followed by a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leaping and hopping on a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my hands
Lose my plow, lose my land
Oh, if I ever lose my hands
Oh, if - I won't have to work no more

And if I ever lose my eyes
If my colors all run dry
Yes, if I ever lose my eyes
Oh, if - I won't have to cry no more

Yes, I'm being followed by a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leaping and hopping on a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my legs
I won't moan, and I won't beg
Oh, if I ever lose my legs
Oh, if - I won't have to walk no more

And if I ever lose my mouth
All my teeth, north and south
Yes, if I ever lose my mouth
Oh, if - I won't have to talk-

Did it take long to find me?
I ask the faithful light
Oh, did it take long to find me?
And, are you going to stay the night?

Then all the family assembled on the Alter, near the coffin, & one by one, every Member of the congregation filed up to them & embraced.

The whole Funeral, such as it can be, was wonderful.

I never attended the burial at the Cemetery, or the wake at The Marriott, but Maria tells me it was packed with those paying their respects.

There must have been a good 30 or 40 poker players there, including so many faces from back in the day at Gala Notts, Gala Leicester, Walsall Grosvenor & The Broadway. I was sat next but one to John Shipley, & behind Frankie Knight. "Chippy" the Leicester lad, was close by, too.

I recognized many of Maria's family, including her Mum, who has not aged a bit, Angelo, Louis, & of course Peter. Peter looked terribly gaunt & distressed throughout.

Maria was there with Glenn. Maria had been dreading it, but she told me she was overwhelmed by how many people turned out to show their respects, and she was fortified by the wonderful way the whole Family had come together at such a difficult time. 

Before the Funeral, Maria had shown this thread to the Family, & they were thrilled that so many of you had taken the trouble to say such moving tributes to Kim.

RIP, Kim. Proper Gentleman.

RIP, nice words Tikay. I'm sure the family will gather strength from a service like this.

Thank you Tikay, that was very nicely summarized. I appreciate it.

I was dreading the church ceromony so much as most people that know me, know my feelings against religion. But I know Monday had nothing to do with me or my beliefs or even Kims for that matter. It was about my wider family who would have taken comfort from the ceremony.

I just shut my ears and thought about my uncle and the things we shared and the times we spent together  and kept telling myself in that church, don't forget his smile, don't forget his laugh don't forget his bad jokes.

The burial itself was so humbling, so so many people went there. They stood around the grave and rippled out into a big circle. People were stood on the snow dusted ground, shivering and shaking from the bitter cold but yet they still stood and seemingly found it hard to leave.

A Greek tradition at burials apparantly is to provide some symbolic food to share. We had olives, bread, cheese and a sweet red dessert wine produced in Cyprus called Commandaria. From all the painful parts, this breaking of the bread so to speak, was one of the warm parts - even though I dropped my olives on the floor and Kims daughter was still able to laugh at me.

I have a huge family with over 30 first cousins alone. Even with this I've struggled in the past with large crowds and preffered to be a bit of a loner. If this tradegy has taught me anything then it's reminded me about the closeness you can have with your family and no matter what life throws at us, we will always be there for each other!! Oh and to call my mother a lot more :)

I don't know where all this came from. I only logged on to thank Tikay for going to the funeral and a ty for excellent summary.....

Lovely post Maria.

(HUGS) x

what dan said,

lovely posts from maria & tony

Really lovely words. Rest in Peace.

Lovely sentiments from both.

Take care, thoughts are with you xx.

Hugs x

Lovely piece Maria.

RIP Kim.

PS I'll take the unders for olives consumed by tikay.

You win Ralph x

lovely words Tony an Maria
Thoughts are with you
Rip Kim.............

Thanks to all for your kind words and to all those who attended the funeral.

I cannot really put into words of the immense pain at losing Kim. He is the first of nine siblings to leave us and we are all devastated at the timing. For me personally, it really brings an end to a dream. Only a week prior to his passing, I spoke with Kim and of my dream and how we should give it a year before it becoming realized.

One year before Kim retired and one more year before my time in Vegas had come to end.  I loved Vegas, and will forever be grateful for the role it has played in my life and for the people it introduced into my life.  I may even go as far as saying that Vegas saved me.  It allowed me to change, to grow and overcome health issues that perhaps I would not have addressed had it not been for the climate of Vegas.  Yet, I yearned for something else.  I dreamed of spending more time with Kim.

It was a simple dream of spending time with someone I adored.  Kim’s joy was my joy, his pain my pain.  I would often find myself pondering the joys in my life and transferring them to Kim.  I wanted him to experience what I felt, to feel as I felt. Nothing major, just small, everyday little things that I felt would enhance his life. I even told my cat a thousand times how much uncle Kim would love her.  To me, those little things meant more than ruling the world.

It will be difficult to replace a dream that had been created over a lifetime.  Yet, I think Kim bestowed one to me.  It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as I know it was from him and that I use it to drive me forward. 

Someone once told me that I needed to feel anger in my life as anger could be my friend - that anger could inspire. It worked at the time and it is working now.  But perhaps it’s not anger that make me feel as I do, but love.  Perhaps it my love for my brother that will now drive me.  I hope so, because I know that love will never leave me. 

This is for Kim

There are many reasons for my sadness and many people I feel pain for

But today I feel selfish, for I feel my pain, for the dream that is no more

The years to come were the years yearned, when the debt by time was paid

When work was done, when peace was ours, when fun and smiles remained

I will miss you Kim, and think of you, with every step on the Cyprus shore

For the brother you were, for the love I feel, for the dream that is no more

Lovely Peter :( xx