It's the notion that the NHS is 'free' that probably grates the most. It's very expensive and in discussing the issue with many people and family members who work within the NHS, just the most incredibly inefficiently run 'business' they've been involved with.

Some generalisations contained herein

Always find it hard to understand the prevailing wisdom in this country that we want to exercise personal choice in most everything we do, personal choices about lifestyle, buying our houses, our cars, whether to shop at Tesco or Morrisons etc etc.

But on probably the most important choice about how best our interests can be served (ie our health) we want government to deliver it and then complain when it's as crap as all services that any government has ever delivered.

Governments do armies, assasinations, posing, control and used to do policing - they don't do 'for the good of your health'.

Would prefer less tax and more choice, we are taxed to pips squeaking anyway and the services remain poor. Give me my money back and let me afford private health care.

A residual shrunken, private service (funded centrally , slightly oxymoronic I know) to take care of the truly needy would be fair and something I'd be happy to contribute a few percent to.

Thank you James fish & Tikay (shouldn't you be in bed ? Hope I'm fitting in ok by making a compulsory passing reference to your years, I mean wisdom :-)

x

Great reading - thank you !

Not a huge win but 320 plus entries made it very satisfying - makes me think I still have a tourney life in me :-)

Congratulations to 'foxxster', who won $702 in '$2000 Guar't'd - 12 min rounds' tournament.

Please excuse idle bragging but been a while since I won one

xxx

This is great viewing I think. Had a good, for me, coupla weeks running up several thousands in profit on cash tables and tilted away about $2000 of it thinking I could play better than I can. A lot of the hands I played like matey tuff but he's better than me I think. I find some of his commentary quite instructive in fact :-)

The big mistakes ARE hilarious though. There's one I enjoyed specially where he made 2 pair on the river and and then comments on what pain the other dude is gonna be in when he calls his river bet. He's already put the guy on a bare A ( there's an A on board ) but our hero didn't notice that the board had a pair of (or something like) and the man has Aces up.

His "Doh" type explosion as he realised his mistake really had me rolling around.

I'll watch more I think and then return as a tuffer fish.

LOL, calling pab names should ensure a great take up on this generous offer

As a complete contrast to my Tony G post just watched these 2 guys play out the final table of one of the WSOP events last year.

The camaraderie, together with a massive competitive element, and 2 obviously good blokes made for great viewing.

Fantastic to watch

Putting my 'Guardian of the Game' soapbox away now

xx

I guess my real thinking at the start of this was I dont really care if he was/is a gent or not.

What I care about is that there is no sanction to stop that kind of behaviour at the time it is going on.

Just the talking I found peurile but tolerable. It was the physical moves towards people I thought was overly pathetic and intimidating.

I know I woulda lumped him and taken a beating if necessary, always like a fight when there's plenty of people around to stop it :-)

I'm not sure lumping him should be considered any worse behaviour to be honest.

Think we'd all love to have our 15 minutes tho mate. You look cooler than you may have felt I reckon

Watching this reminds me of a line in a Seinfeld sketch

"Yr sooooooooo good looking"

Nice to see this again Lee

Suppose I'd equate it to a charge against him of 'bringing the game into disrepute'.

Generally speaking I really enjoy the company of poker players - met so many genuine, decent people in the game.

I think I'd take the view that, sadly, behaviour like that which goes unpunished or unrestrained makes the whole poker community the poorer for it.

Prob old news but after a bitova tilt last night thought I'd watch some poker instead and caught the final table featuring El B and finally heads up between Surinder S and Tony.

I generally like characters at a table - colour and all that. But I thought he was just a tad beyond the pale. Would be interesting to know if anyone here knows him personally and thinks he's a good egg. Mind you good egg or not still think he borders on the unwatchable and definitely unlikeable.

Didn't the hit stage show 'Muppetry of the Penis' originate in Australia ?

How much weight would you attribute to the 'table image' you have developed for yourself over a period of time  to the fact that you're a winning player and that people are familiar with you.

I guess what I'm asking is do you think you make more money generally playing at a table with 3 or 4 people you see regularly and a few unknown players, or, do you do better at a table full of unkowns. Other possibility is of course that it makes no difference.
,
I'm kind of referring to the stand - off that tends to get created amongst players who have seen each other win regularly to a degree or another. Each of the players known to each other (i dont mean as any kind of friends or soft-play) tend not to get into big pots with each other, a certain amount of stealing of pots goes on between one another that tends to even itself out.

It sometimes feels like 4 or 5 people have an undeclared detente and are waiting to take money off all the new money that arrives.

I'm happy playing at a table full of unknowns but overall I think I make more when a few people's styles are well known to me, and I hate to put it like this, you take turns taking the other money on the table - some sessions you get more turns than others.

Anyway, table image, familiarity and all that. A key factor or not in the online game ?

Quick thanks Mr Totalise (and others) for making so much time to provide a whole raft of cracking advice.

Think the advice to call a raise from a rock with any 2 is potentially the most profitable tip on this thread - fascinating reading for sure.