Hi Alex,

Like someonesaid earlier, I had an idea who you were so thanks for confirming with the photo.

Your post is well written but then Posh kids are supposed to be articulate (like me, lol). Keep up the good work.

A couple of your comments are interesting.

You'd rather play in an easier 50p/£1 game which you are comfortable in. To an extent I agree, I play in this game mostly because the sad reality is that is what I am genuinely rolled for. But as I said in an earlier reply to you, the trouble is that the game is too small to make a living from and the best thing about £1/£2 is that the play is, if anything, even worse and the opportunity to make hay with the straddling and deep stacks is enormous...

So maybe mix the two up a bit at selected times.

You said you had a small win playing and were unsure whether to book it or not. Do it mate, I record absolutely every result even from the games I play with my mates in the pub. Profit is profit and loss is loss and you need to keep score for several reasons. You need to know how you are genuinely getting on, you need to be able to spot patterns and you need the discipline that this entails.

It is an irony that only the winning players are diligent about keeping score.

I loved the comment about nine chumps on the final table - I see this so often, maybe not nine but so many terrible players doing well in coinflipaments really tilts me. Luck is a huge factor in tournaments and it seems that you do at least realise this, unlike many.

Good luck with it. Just try and balance this with a normal life. I couldn't stand getting home at 6am and it definitely affected family life -  so be careful.

Hey, thanks for posting. So you know who I am....who are you, if you don't mind me asking? I like the idea of mixing in 50 1 and 1 2, I think that's what I'll be doing this month. But the deepstacked 1 2 games require a lot more than a 20x 100bb buyin roll I think so I don't think I'm quite there yet. Might need 10k roll to comfortably play my game there. I know they are lucrative and its where I'm aiming.

I will come and say hi

I loved the comment about nine chumps on the final table - I see this so often, maybe not nine but so many terrible players doing well in coinflipaments really tilts me.

If a man can't fly a plane, or do a heart transplant, it doesn't make him a chump, an idiot, a moron or a retard, it just means he hasn't acquired that particular skill set.

Don't begrudge the less accomplished players their occasional success. Be glad for them, praise them, congratulate them.

Without them, there would be no game.

I know Red- Dog, I agree, I wasn't meaning to be derogatory, just quoting and echoing Alex's frustration at seeing how large a factor luck is in tournaments.

Hi Alex,

Like someone said earlier, I had an idea who you were so thanks for confirming with the photo.

Your post is well written but then Posh kids are supposed to be articulate (like me, lol). Keep up the good work.

A couple of your comments are interesting.

You'd rather play in an easier 50p/£1 game which you are comfortable in. To an extent I agree, I play in this game mostly because the sad reality is that is what I am genuinely rolled for. But as I said in an earlier reply to you, the trouble is that the game is too small to make a living from and the best thing about £1/£2 is that the play is, if anything, even worse and the opportunity to make hay with the straddling and deep stacks is enormous...

So maybe mix the two up a bit at selected times.

You said you had a small win playing and were unsure whether to book it or not. Do it mate, I record absolutely every result even from the games I play with my mates in the pub. Profit is profit and loss is loss and you need to keep score for several reasons. You need to know how you are genuinely getting on, you need to be able to spot patterns and you need the discipline that this entails.

It is an irony that only the winning players are diligent about keeping score.

I loved the comment about nine chumps on the final table - I see this so often, maybe not nine but so many terrible players doing well in coinflipaments really tilts me. Luck is a huge factor in tournaments and it seems that you do at least realise this, unlike many.

Good luck with it. Just try and balance this with a normal life. I couldn't stand getting home at 6am and it definitely affected family life -  so be careful.

Live a less extravagant life style and save some money?

Also one shot at 2-5<two shots at 1-2

Have u considered playing cash else where? That's what I did when I was doing this in manchester

yeh ive been playing in gala for most of the past 3 months and yeh maybe a change of scenery is a good idea. I can play cash at DTD now so I'll be back there (i used to work there and have had to have a 6month cooling off period...)

Playing at Gala. Wow. You've done well to avoid the third dimension. Get down to DTD quick. The games at DTD are probably a bit tougher (it is relative mind) but at least they're clean.

I wasn't having a go about your profits Alex, just trying to inject a bit of realism into the process. Any poker player is only a few beats away from the doghouse if he isn't rolled properly, even at lowly 50p/£1.

I've been playing live £0.5/£1 cash for a living now for almost 3months, I've had pretty good results, winning about 5k for that period. However I've had bills, rent etc to pay, enjoy spending money having a good time, treating the missus etc and my roll seems to constantly hover around the 2-4k mark. I'm getting really tilted playing with players so much worse than me and am really keen to move up to £1/£2 or £2/£5. I am confident the games are soft enough that I could win at them, but not so soft as to drive me insane. So my question is, how to move up? I reckon if I don't do anything different I could be playing £.50 £1 for a year and never reach a 5figure roll.

I've come up with 3 possible options:

1) Look into getting staked for bigger games
2) Play online MTTs (5-50$) for a month to try and bink a decent 4figure score
3) Take a few random shots at bigger games eg put 1k out of 3k roll into a £2 £5 at DTD this week, hope to run good and never look back...if I lose, grind again for a while, take another shot in a month or something...

50p/£1 is way too small a game to make a genuine living from. Like you, I played this game full time for about a year while I was out of 'proper' work and what a grind it was. Incredibly easy to beat, but variance still hits you wherever you play and with profits being small (they have to be - this is 50p/£1 remember), when you run bad and still have bills to pay, it snookers you somewhat.

It's frustrating I agree not being properly rolled to play higher, especially when the £1/£2 games are even easier to beat in many ways with the straddling and deep stacks, but you have to cut your cloth accordingly..

I always worked on the basis that I would move up if I ever luckboxed a decent sized tournament but that has yet to happen as I seem to run comically bad in coinflipaments.

So I get stuck playing 50p/£1 with the occasional short-stacking forays into £1/2.

I sympathize mate, without at least £20k ring-fenced behind you you're pretty much wasting your time. I would be wary of your profit so far (is it accurate? Be honest)  - 3 months live isn't very many hands really. Wait till you have a horrible downswing - it doesn't matter how good you are when that happens my friend and a 2-4k is pitiful bankroll in real terms as you will probably discover sooner or later

...and online poker... well for me it doesn't do it - it's so, so , so tedious and more importantly definitely not a level playing field. That probably is the route for anyone who seriously wants to play full time but I'm not sure if I can be bothered to dodge the cheaters, colluders, hand history stealers and 24-tabling teenage math geeks living with Mummy.

Ho Hum.

D Neg. states what we all know from playing tournaments - that we always get the farcical middle section where all that most players can do is wait for a hand (now that any prospect of flop play has been taken away from them) and pray that they win the ensuing coin flip.

So, his idea to have bigger antes and a quicker cull has some merit if it leads to the 'middle no flop nonsense bit' being far less of a factor in the overall scheme of the tournament.

Never thought I'd say that.

I'd still prefer more chips and slower structures mind, but maybe we should just have one or the other and nothing in between.

Having slagged off the new DTD structure the other day I'm going to give a tourney a go tonight, which will be interesting, but I doubt it'll change my mind.

 I just like playing all the streets, but perhaps that makes me old fashioned...

Pyso,

I don't mind criticism, we need it to keep improving things at the club, its actually welcomed and helps us, Alex, Simon, Nick and myself review all feedback on a weekly basis, our members comments, face to face, in writing, in the suggestions box, and on open forums, are a real help, the negative ones are more helpful that telling us we got something right, as getting it right is linked directly to how many people come in the club for any specific event we put on, customers vote with there feet.

However, what really gets on my nerves, is when anyone goes out of there way to have a go, and opening a New thread with the words "Hating" and "DTD" in the title, fits into that category, when a simple comment/opinion on the general DTD thread, an email  or better, a few words with Simon, would do the job.

We get criticised equally as much on our face book group, but the tone and manner is different to forums, I am sure it because people are posting in their real names/pictures and therefore are more likely to think before they type, in your case,  its your view, as it is my view that you are a jockey for opening a thread with that title if you really do like the club. I stand by my view. I wouldnt worry too much about me calling you a jockey, it is not really an insult, its like a term of endearence, a bit like a plonker, or numpty. I don't know who you are, but if you are ever in the club feel free to have a word with me about this.

Cheers Rob

Fair enough Rob, I understand why you would be frustrated by the way I went about posting and to be fair on reflection it was a bit 'in your face'. This is the trouble with forums, as outrageous74 has pointed out, sometimes the tone and message can get entirely and irrevocably mixed up. Anyone that knows me would say that I am probably one of the least confrontational members of DTD so it's ironic that I have managed to upset the owner..

For me it was a case of being frustrated at not having the tournaments on offer that I actually would play, so when the structure went south for me, my disappointment, I felt, rightly or wrongly, merited a post on blonde. Don't worry, I have no problem coming up and having a word, and I will do next time I see you.

All the best,

Pyso

I just love the title of this thread, the warmth of some of my members towards supporting the club brings a tear to my eye.

Here I am sitting in the club for the second night running, as well as every night last week, analysing the new formats, clocks.structures/chips, looking at ways to benefit every player at the club and build decent prize pools for our regulars, both those that want early finishes as well as those that want to play all night, and some jockey is opening a thread about hating the new DTD tournament schedule, quite amazing what goes through some peoples minds when they get behind their keyboard.

Rest assured, loads of thought goes into everything we do at the club, and things need to be tried and then tweaked, we have set a budget of losing up to £20k in GTE's to get our weekly schedule right, by "right", I mean 100 runners in all £50+ comps, no venue in the UK achieves that every evening, so its a tough task but with tweaks over the next 4 weeks, I am willing to bet anyone that we will get there.

Cheers Rob

Rob,

Just to be clear, I never said I hated DTD, just the new tournament schedule. I reserve my right in a free country to have an opinion. I also pointed out that primarily as a cash game player maybe my view wasn't as relevant as others who do play the tournament scene more than me.

I was not setting out to have a go at DTD the club at all, I was just making an observation from one side of the fence and wasn't doing anything other than pondering the matter and maybe opening up the floor for peoples' opinions. If my opinion on the new schedule is in the minority, then that's fine.

I have nothing but warmth and affection for DTD and everything you have done Rob for poker players and many of my previous posts if you care to look just reiterate that I want the place to succeed as much as the next guy.

Having never been called a jockey before who knows whether I should take offence or not to that one, but perhaps I deserve it for the title of the thread which on reflection is a little on the harsh side.

Whatever, sigh...at least it got a reaction and some feedback from other posters so I suppose that is a good thing.

Good luck with the new schedule - even if I don't like it, it would seem others do.

Pyso

Maybe I'm not the best person to judge here, as I have little time for coin-flip-aments at the best of times, but DTD's new tournament schedule makes me even less inclined to tear myself away from the cash tables.

Earlier starts - I always struggle with an 8pm start, so expecting me to wind down from work, hug the wife and baby, do the washing up etc and still get there on time...it ain't gonna happen...

Less chips - the tournaments were already crapshoots so let's get you to shoving territory even sooner...not good...

Four minute shorter levels - now we really are taking the mickey.

Sorry, but this is only going to put me off playing tournaments even more. On the plus side the cash games should get livelier a bit sooner.

I love DTD but I'm not sure they've thought this through.

Time will tell.

This advert offends me. Not just because of the gore but because Poker Stars are so filthy stinking rich that they can spend a couple of mill making an advert that they know will never be seen by more than a few diehards who already play on their site.

This is what they spend their non existent rakeback on. Nice.

This one doesn't tilt me or annoy me, but it does make me laugh, and it's an expression, not words (so in fact I can't really place it as a reply to the OP, but what the hell).

It's that look of consternation and utter surprise from a fish out of position (who has led out on the flop, been re-raised by someone who has actually pot committed himself), and then tanked for ages, .....called..... and then .....well I imagine after that, it's "bloody hell.... he's only gone and bet again on the turn....and now I have to call again for all that money....I just didn't see that coming......I suppose he must be bluffing......let's count my chips... oh yes it's for the rest of them...the bastard.....sigh.....I have to call, there's too much in the pot now....oh, he has three of a kind....I mean he just had to be bluffing"

"Chips !! - £50 please"

great to see its a complete sellout ,cant wait , such a brilliant comp !!! just shows how great a poker club dtd is when me and a few of my mates are prepared to travel 120 miles from hull to play at such a superb,organized efficent welll run club,

Hull isn't that bad is it?

Day 1B for me; gonna be so busy I might bring my own sarnies and a flask of tea.

Most live poker comments are irritating to be honest. Thank god for the ipod I say. With over 5000 songs on mine it's the only chance I get to listen to it (yes I have my moody, antisocial moments).

And, yeah, the Anna Kournikova one is a little tiresome, although a mate of mine did come up with a gem on that one.

Some twat had explained why AK was called Anna Kournikova and to lighten the boredom I started talking about her merits as a tennis player, saying "I don't think she won much but she did get to a few semi's" His reply was "yeah, she gave me a few semi's"

It's misrepresentation, fraud, call it what you will, and both players are party to it.

It's like someone qualifying for say, the Open Golf Championship under a different name and then the less capable or originally unavailable player playing in the real event. How would the sporting world feel about that if it happened (which of course it never would, but it's an extreme example to prove a point)?

Maybe I just come from an out-of-date generation that cares about these things. I've never lied on a CV and I still think it matters to get "your" and "you're" mixed up...so, sigh, what do I know?....