This is copy of a post I made on the Rendezvous site earlier: The second half of the post refers to Hove Mind Games a newly opened unlicensed club in Hove.

Spoke to Piers Whyman who came second £18,000 to David Lloyd in the GUKPT last week. Remarkably this was only the second time he has played in four years.

Hopefully he will be down on Saturday for the £200 freezeout. Piers proves that Ring Rust doesn't exist in poker. If you haven't played for a while give it a go this weekend, decent prize and a chance to play proper poker with a decent clock. The kind of game we need here at least once a week.

We badly need a freezeout once a week around £150 with a 50 minute clock, the final played out on the second day. Finals only need one dealer so it wouldn't be so costly as far as the club is concerned. This kind of game where the skill level is increased would attract serious poker players and relieve the regular players of the boredom of Ground Hog Day and short clock crap shoots. I for one would be glad to pay extra juice for a game of this kind.

Saturday 3rd August
£200 NL Hold em MAIN EVENT
25,000 chips
60 min clocks
Buffet included
European Ranking Points
£15,000 GUARANTEED PRIZE POOL

Those of you who haven't played for a while, support this game where an element of skill is involved.

The following is a reply to a local player asking for the results of Hove Mind Sports ( I sometimes refer to them as Mind Games) results  - clarification of who exactly made the final in the weekend game.

Sid Harris:  Everybody would like to know the results of the weekend game at Mind Sports - There are players in Brighton and Hove that want to see poker thrive. Mind Sports has to be more transparent - they have blocked anyone interested in the truth from their web  site. This of course is not the place for me to criticise another club, albeit one without a licence. What I will say is this, I have criticised the Rendezvous on this site and never been blocked. They have always responded positively to constructive criticism. We need to strengthen the poker clubs that have shown integrity in the past - poker can be vastly improved in this town and I'm sure, with a little ingenuity it will be. The first thing Mind Games needs to do is publish the names of the whiners of these games and also the names of their, so far, anonymous committee - There are many other things they need to do, but it would not be appropriate for me to speak of that here. I have written to the proprietor of Hove Mind Sports asking many questions that the poker community in this town is entitled the answer to, but have had no reply. It would be foolish of anyone coming into this town and thinking its inhabitants are all mug punters. (End of post on Rendezvous site.)

I am not implying that everyone who hasn't been blocked from the site is not interested in the truth. It's just that if you ask a question that they deem to be awkward you are persona non grata. I hope to be posting much interesting material about Mind Games in the near future.
 

Last week a thread was locked on this site which rendered me unable to answer a post by a hero member who had somehow reached the conclusion that I had a huge chip on my shoulder, relating to the success of younger poker players.

Having contributed to the success of many younger poker players and indeed bankrolled a few; when their money management was found wanting. This Hero member’s assumption would not wash with the silent majority, both on and off this site; who know me in real life.

I was never a professional poker player; I was indeed sponsored for a year but it was part of a business deal when I sold the rights to one of my horse racing lines.

It just meant wearing a phone number on my sweater.

It was an offer I found hard to refuse as there was no make-up involved and no part of my winnings belonged to anyone but myself.

When you start playing poker at the age of fifty-six (even though the game was more relaxed and enjoyable then) you would have to be a far bigger head case than I am, to entertain for even a moment earning your living as a poker player.

Although the Wizards and Super Wizards of today attribute their phenomenal success to their amazing skills; I always attributed my modest success to luck. The openings came at the right time. If you were to compare me to a race horse, I would be a lightly raced four year old handicapper trained by Sir Michael Stoute. The truth of it is - I have played very little poker.

As we all know luck comes and goes but I realise how fortunate I have been, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank my lucky stars.

Deteriorating health and a major operation slowed up my poker game; but I’m still standing, and still have it in mind to swim the channel when I'm seventy.

I also had another wonderful reason for not wanting to play poker; at the age of fifty-nine I met the love of my life, thirty years my junior. In the nine years we have been together we have never had a cross word and I am thankful beyond measure that we happened upon each other.

I do have massive chips on my shoulder though. I absolutely abhor internet loud mouths who, in real life, turn out to have no substance whatsoever. I also don’t very much like people who are willing to malign others on the internet as a past time.

Before I ever joined Blonde poker I was being maligned on the site, I joined and set the record straight. The threads are there for anyone to read.

I believe there is a monosyllabic clique on this site, a kind of mutual appreciation society that back each other up – this little crew like to dish it up but are not at all keen on being on the receiving end.

When a person crows about sending other people skint – I find that abhorrent.

When a person reneges on a bet – I find that reprehensible.

I will now finish on a lighter note.

Last week I was a guest speaker at a poorly attended comedy workshop. Only eleven people turned up, ten male and one female.

They took it in turns to do some stand up and it was obvious that there were only two real talents, one of them being the girl.

After the break I was answering questions and the talented guy asked me what was the first joke I had ever written: I told him that I was about eleven years old when I wrote my first joke. I then told them the joke:

"A Blind man found that he got the most pleasure from reading pornographic Braille when he read it with his penis."

The girl then asked how it had come about that I had written this joke at the age of eleven. I thought for a moment then remembered the motivation for the joke.

I explained that I had been in the cinema on a Sunday afternoon when, in the intermission, a short sighted guy in front of me started reading the News of the World, with the newspaper not three inches from his nose.

The nice part about this poorly attended seminar is that the talented comedian and comedienne, both in their early twenties, who had never met before, left together.

They were two young people I liked and I won’t be begrudging them all the success in the world; and who knows, all the love that’s possible as well.

You could tell by their humour that these two people were going to hit it off big time.

I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush on Blonde. I've read some of the threads and can see much good has been done.

If I have a fault it's employing the scorched earth policy when I'm attacked; but I'm working on ameliorating that.

To quote Joe E Brown's character in Some Like it Hot, "Nobody's perfect."

Was it something I said? 

What happened to the missing post?

Never backed out on a bet in my life. I would literally sooner die than do that. How do you live with yourself if your word is useless?

How come Triggs post was deleted? Didn't seem offensive to me.

Hope it wasn't Trigg that removed it and the bet still stands. With the price of fuel going up this winter - The money will be far better used in the hands of Help the Aged than Trigg ferrying it back to the bookmakers.

You came you saw and you conquered. You the Wizard made them all run away, and then after playing day and night for goodness knows how long you had a win or two - and kerching and kapow you found a voice.

Then you make the brilliant mistake that all ego trippers make of thinking that everybody else thinks like you. You take a group of people, unknown to you, and assume that they were too lazy to change their ways to compete with you. I could name dozens of these players who would willingly pay not to sit at a table with a bore of your calibre, myself included.

People have been going broke playing poker since the day it was invented. It has nothing to do with you or the wonder of your play. When the next wave of lemmings come along in a couple of years, you will be the dinosaur;but that wouldn't have occurred to you. And when the onslaught of lemmings from the near and far east hone in on you, your wizadry will be better employed playing quiddich.

There's a very strong rumour that there is a guy in Semipalatinsk  who is on the verge of completing a piece of software that plays a thousand poker games at once, showing a consistent profit. Don't rule out working for McDonalds in the long run.

I am keeping this light because I know your state of mind far better than you do. But I don't feel bad about the ten grand cheque - the charity I designate is Help the Aged, you would only have spunked this money up anyway. This will give you a chance to put your money where your mouth is.

I used to take a full page advertisement in the Sporting Life, endorsed by Mark Winstanley, who used to write a week end column in the paper at the time called "Beat the Book" which was in direct opposition to Pricewise in the Racing Post.

Mark's endorsement, of "Sidney Harris is the only judge I listen to." is in context and was repeated whenever my advertisement ran, which was three or four times a week. The ads were either half or full page broadsheet.

It is no secret that I had a long standing friendship with Mark and that we would discuss various form issues on a daily basis.

I think writing out this cheque is going to be the catalyst for you. This is where your life is going to change for the better. I think it's important for your esteem that you do this, it will show you are a man of your word.

Remember, the darkest hour is just before the dawn, as the sun comes up in Sheffield this will be a great day for you.     El Sid.

This was a reply to a post Trigg made around 7am this morning betting £10,000 that he would give to charity and calling me a liar on something that could easily be substantiated. I don't know if it was Trigg or a moderator that removed the post - If it was Trigg that removed it after thinking that his money is worth more than his word - so be it.

Just went through the whole facebook thread and that offensive remark is still on there. I don't blame you for not wanting anything to do with it.

The crux of the matter is that Trigg is still mine host to that offensive remark even now. If he had a shred of decency, he would apologise to the person the remark is aimed at and take down the offensive remark. But don't hold your breath on that count.

Flushy seems to have Trigg's measure.

I would be of no help to Trigg - but there are plenty of people in the phone book who would be. The delusions of grandeur are part of the illness. The other side of the coin is deep depression.

My brand of therapy specialises in tough love (Benny Hill double-entendre merchants - save it for someone else.) This guy is too fragile for that.

As for Trigg's assertion that I'm on the way out - I would say to him that the even the dying lion holds the rat in contempt.

You will find that the older you get the more ageism gets up your nose.
There are days when I will suffer fools and days when I'm just not having it.

You always know when the diatribe starts off with, "Sorry to be cynical and negative" You are about to hear a dollop of crap.

My point of view is this. If you can't walk up to someone and insult them face to face, don't bother doing it on the internet.

The reason a lot of older players gave up the game was that they found most of the younger players boring in the extreme. In essence they hadn't lived and had little to offer in the way of parlegation.

It just so happens that far more younger players have come and gone than older players. They burnt themselves out four betting each other to death.

Now, there are some fantastic young poker players, but they have the good sense to get it quietly. These players I respect.

I have found that the most vociferous on this site are the most fragile, they are very good at dishing it out but don't like it up em.

I expect the be scrubbed off quite a few Xmas card lists, but with the current price of postage that's probably not a bad thing for any of us.

To the moderator. Once you removed the heart of the matter, the whole ethos was lost. You need to man up and get a little jiggy, if people want to talk crap on facebook or twitter - it's there for the world to see.
Fancy there might be a bit of clique on this site. You're denying your followers the chance make up their own minds.

The clues are all there:
if everyday was sunday id go domino hustling OAP's

This guy has a real problem with old people, and that last laugh was very hollow.

Even Jimmy Savile wouldn't stoop that low.

The tail end of the post that follows includes only Action Man and myself.

Richard James Trigg lol dunno why im getting stick here? look back through this status, not once have I said anything about colclough.
sid, i didnt critisise your game at all. Just whether i believed you had the credentials to be writing books on anti-tilt methods and charging per hour for coaching.
42 minutes ago · Like

Sid Harris You did not say anything about Colclough, did not defend him either. Just lit the touch paper and stood back, it's still a few weeks off Nov 5th. Just copied your post about me on Blonde as follows:
he joined my table yesterday and nitted it up for 4 orbits before before opening the button to 2500 at 300/600. ....... That was while we were both still in the tournament. Shows what a class act you are.
15 minutes ago · Like

Sid Harris You are welcome to come over and see my credentials any time.
13 minutes ago · Like

Sid Harris I also suggest you read my latest book. How to Stop Gambling Now - available on Kindle, this will give you a deeper understanding of my credentials. www.howtostopgamblingnow.net

How to Stop Gambling Now | the online book
howtostopgamblingnow.net
How to Stop Gambling NowAn Insight into the Gambler’s Mind By Sidney HarrisGambl...
See more
11 minutes ago · Like · Remove Preview

Richard James Trigg yeah well your skills in life which include writing, definitely don't include poker
9 minutes ago · Like

Richard James Trigg That "STOP" sign is rather prevalent in your work sid, i seem to remember it from "STOP TILT"
rather hoping the next one is, STOP your fixation with facebook ramblings NOW
7 minutes ago · Like

Sid Harris Who's on tilt now?
5 minutes ago · Like

The only reason anyone would delete this is because they were afraid of free speech. Or afraid of things that go bump in the night. Or just plain afraid.

No, I don't think the mods will stop what might become an in depth and exciting thread. Let's get some of the no-thinks thinking. Let's live a little before we die. Up the workers!

You will find that the older you get the more ageism gets up your nose.
There are days when I will suffer fools and days when I'm just not having it.

You always know when the diatribe starts off with, "Sorry to be cynical and negative" You are about to hear a dollop of crap.

My point of view is this. If you can't walk up to someone and insult them face to face, don't bother doing it on the internet.

The reason a lot of older players gave up the game was that they found most of the younger players boring in the extreme. In essence they hadn't lived and had little to offer in the way of parlegation.

It just so happens that far more younger players have come and gone than older players. They burnt themselves out four betting each other to death.

Now, there are some fantastic young poker players, but they have the good sense to get it quietly. These players I respect.

I have found that the most vociferous on this site are the most fragile, they are very good at dishing it out but don't like it up em.

I expect the be scrubbed off quite a few Xmas card lists, but with the current price of postage that's probably not a bad thing for any of us.

Fidget, thanks for vote of confidence at three pounds, but you are mistaking three for FREE - for the next seven days.

It will be Free for longer in US libraries.

I'll bet you it's not.

- Let me assure you it is.

Direct link to FREE Book - available FREE for another 4 Days.
>  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/229594

If you have the slightest fear of ever becoming addicted to gambling, read this book and immunise yourself now.

This book could be read by a child of twelve, many will say a child of twelve could have written it.

But if every child of twelve were given this book to read we would be insuring that the majority of them would not fall foul of faulty finking.
(deliberate spelling mistake)

If you're a gambler, give yourself the last laugh by taking an insight into your own mind. All you have to lose are a few illusions.