Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Laxie]

bingo spoiling

 

[Claw75]

bingo spoiling

 

lol - i felt a bit mean right afterwards, but now that you've posted too I'm over it

[tikay]

Totally out of sorts today, slept dreadfully, & feel like I've not been to bed. I rarely feel "off", but I do today. Not ill or anything, just out of sorts. Had my first Nurafen since the Diet started, too.

Was due to go home & get on with more flood relief clearing up, but just could not bring myself to face the 3 hour drive & the work that would follow, so cancelled.

Weight 13st 5lbs today, a slow but steady week really. I usually feel better than this when I diet, but that's not kicked in yet. It will.

Tried to be disciplined, & not totally waste the day - I HATE wasting days, so I've attacked the blonde PM backlog, & have cleared 30 so far. I am steeling myself to do the same exercise next door, now. The Community software next door, especially the PM service, is a bit, err, clonky, & it's quite hard to work quickly, especially compared with the blonde PM software, which is super-fast & super smooth.

Camel replied to a PM & said that he was on his way to Deauville for the EPT. I had a rare moment of jealousy, I adore everything about Deauville, & have so many happy memories of it.

I'd have liked to play the DTD thing this weekend, too, but I'm doing the Show tomorrow, so that's a no-no. Still, 2 Shows in a week (I did Thursday, too) is good for the cash-flow.  

My February Show roster has me down for straight Thursdays, & no Saturdays or Sundays, so that means I'll get out & play a little Live Poker, so I'll look for some nice Events in the £200 to £500 price range in February. I don't play bigger Events these days, common sense has slapped me in the chops - losing £1k in a game of cards no longer makes any sense to me. I get the same fun at £500, £300, £100, even £50 or £30, & make a little money over time in them, just "spending money" really, but it's nice never to have to draw cash from the bank. So, the DTD £300 next month is a "likely", & I'll see if I can find some nice 2 dayers at the provincial Venues - Brighton, Southend, Cardiff, I really love going to those, & catching up with poker friends I don't see so often.

[celtic]

UKIPT is on at DTD next month too. 11th I think.

[Royal Flush]

Brighton festival starts Monday....

[tikay]

Brighton festival starts Monday....

Shocking timing, James!

I have to be in Manchester from Thursday onwards for the GUKPT, there will be 7 or 8 "Team Sky Poker" players there, & I'm Mother Hen.

Our crew all play Day 1b - Friday - so short of all 8 going busto on the Friday, I'll have to swerve Brighton. A shame, I enjoyed my last visit to the Rendezvous. Briefly.

[tikay]

UKIPT is on at DTD next month too. 11th I think.

I'm free for that, but, & I don't know why, somehow the UKIPT has never appealed to me in any shape or form. No reason, it's illogical, really.

A whole bunch of friends are playing it, though, & DTD is the only UK venue that can really carry it off with aplomb, so I may well have my UKIPT baptism. 70/30 against at the mo though.

I noticed that February does not have any GUKPT's, which is a shame - some sideys in that would have fitted the bill perfectly. The next GUKPT, as far as I can see, is The Vic, in March, when the Main is a £1,500 jobbie.

I played a Tourney at The Vic in November for the first time in many years, & enjoyed it, the place has improved immensely, though Raaby must be a huge loss. I was running nicely in the £300, too, until I made a shocking SB v BB Button read, & did the lot in a moment of madness. I don't think I've ever cashed at The Vic. Not good enough, in both senses, maybe.

[George2Loose]

UKIPTs are great. Really well ran and good mix of players. You should play

[GreekStein]

Do you / have you ever invested money in property or business etc?

[tikay]

Do you / have you ever invested money in property or business etc?

Yes to both.

Property, only via quoted companies, such as St Modwen Properties, who I believe to be the best managed listed Property company I know, by far. Had shares in them since the mid-eighties. I got most of them for 40p, topped up at 50p. It was run at the time by Stan Clarke, later Sir Stan Clarke, & now, sad to relate, "late".

He was running St Modwen, & decided to purchase Uttoxeter Racecourse, because he had an eye for the development potential of the land. One thing led to another, he ended up buying, initially via St Modwen, 9 Racecourses, Newcastle being the 2nd, then a whole string of them, all one time "gaffes", including Brighton, Bath, Fontwell, Yarmouth, Sedgefield, Fontwell, etc. He eventually spun these off into what became Northern Racecourses. ("Northern" being an oddity, considering the location of them). 

He owned Lord Glynne, the "bomb-scare" Grand National winner, & other good jumpers, "Barton" in particular. After a Cheltenham Fessie winner with Rolling Ball, his missus fainted in the winners enclosure! I was a Member at Cheltenham at the time, & I have to say, it's far & away my favourite racecourse on earth.

I got to know him via Bowmer & Kirkland, who did a bunch of work for St Modwen. John Kirkland introduced me to him, & we became quite good friends, & I went to various garden parties at his mansion, Dunstall Hall, near Burton. He knew I was out of my depth with the good & the great, the pretty & the rich, with whom he now mixed, but he understood, & looked after me without being in any way patronising.

Joe Bamford - Joseph Cyril Bamford, he of JCB, & father of Sir Anthony - attended them too. Joe later died, & I attended his funeral. B & K & JCB had a great working relationship, & we built a lot of stuff for them, including their "World Parts Depot" on the A50. Sadly, we never did anything at Rocester, the JCB World HQ. JCB is everything I admire in a British Engineering Company, & is a world-leader. When peeps tell me I ought to invest in shite oil exploration companies such as Desire, I can barely contain my mirth, though JCB remains privately-owned. Quite right too.

The shares in St Modwen went along nicely, gradually rising year on year, & they paid two cracking dividends every year, too. After the recent "credit crunch", which decimated Propert shares & prices, the Dividend was halted, & they took a write-down on assets of just obver £100 million last year.

They had invested in what they called a land "hopper", & were asset rich, with low borrowings. From 40p, they inched up & up over the years, eventually peaking at £7+, & I seriously considered selling them. I had a CGT problem, though, & dithered as usual. Then 9/11 happened, the market crashed, & they bombed down to about £1. I should dived in & got a bunch more there & then, but indecision & a plethora of other value buys (BA - 80p!!!) meant I missed the boat, so I still just have the original batch. They currently trade in the 170p - 175p range. I really should have got out at £7, but greed being what it is, I thought I'd hang on until they hit £10. GG me.

A great share, though, & a good investment. Given my age, I'm trying to re-evaluate what I do with my Shares. I still hold Shares in 10 or 15 quoted companies. They were always a long-term investment for my retirement, but things have gone a bit wrong.

[tikay]

Do you / have you ever invested money in property or business etc?

Businesses, no, not much really.

I only have two at present, one being blonde, if it can be called a "business" these days.

Almost impossible to imagine that I so nearly sold my 25% (22% really, as I hold 3% for & on behalf of snoopy) for about £187,500, 2 or 3 years back. Ugh. Had the documents in my hand, with the deal said to be going through the next morning. At midnight, a text arrived, "the deal is off".......it never overly bothered me then, not one iota, & never has since, but it's quite something to tot up what has slipped through my hands down the years. I can think of three missed opportunites alone which, in 3 years, would have netted me close to a quarter of a mill in cash. Current worth of those three? Maybe £7k, & that's valuing blonde at zero. But the money is not important, I just want to live in peace & quiet now, & I can do that very cheaply once I retire, very cheaply indeed, I have very modest spending habits & lifestyle. Just can't find the peace.....

The other interest is something I've had for about 6 years, but it would be a bit indelicate to discuss here & now. It's not much, but it has some genuine worth. I think.

I've missed some great business opportunites though. But it's easy to reflect, & say "I should have done this, that, or the other". Eveything is relative at & to the the time.

[ripple11]

There's a "deepstack" in Luton , early March.

http://englishdeepstackpoker.com/

50,000 chips......you can sit out till the final day

[tikay]

There's a "deepstack" in Luton , early March.

http://englishdeepstackpoker.com/

50,000 chips......you can sit out till the final day

That'll be Mr Lacey's baby, I assume?

Hmm......tricky one.

We crossed swords over some bad business in Ireland a few years ago, & then again, over the way he treated blonde, & in particular, myself, after we did some Green Joker Poker satellites back in the day. The culprit, of course, was Aqua, who had the money, but were farting around with currency translation from $ to € as I recall. Tighy will confirm in both cases.

Are Green Joker Poker still alive & well?

It was a weird story, but he got very uppity with me, & I returned the favour, hopefully with a shade more dignity. We had been quite good friends back in the day, & both of us semi'd together in the Deauvile EPT in '04 or '05.

Dilemmas, dilemmas.

PS - The Sky Poker event was scheduled for the same week, it was booked way back. Then G-Luton rang Tighty, who manages the SPT, & said they had "staff issues", could we move the SPT back a week? No problem, always pleased to assist. Next day, they announced the Deep Stack Event on "our" original dates!!!

You could not make this shit up, honestly.

[RED-DOG]

There's a "deepstack" in Luton , early March.

http://englishdeepstackpoker.com/

50,000 chips......you can sit out till the final day

That'll be Mr Lacey's baby, I assume?

Hmm......tricky one.

We crossed swords over some bad business in Ireland a few years ago, & then again, over the way he treated blonde, & in particular, myself, after we did some Green Joker Poker satellites back in the day. The culprit, of course, was Aqua, who had the money, but were farting around with currency translation from $ to € as I recall. Tighy will confirm in both cases.

Are Green Joker Poker still alive & well?

It was a weird story, but he got very uppity with me, & I returned the favour, hopefully with a shade more dignity. We had been quite good friends back in the day, & both of us semi'd together in the Deauvile EPT in '04 or '05.

Dilemmas, dilemmas.

No point cutting your nose off to spite your face. (At least not unless you have to drive all the way to Brighton to do it)

[tikay]

There's a "deepstack" in Luton , early March.

http://englishdeepstackpoker.com/

50,000 chips......you can sit out till the final day

That'll be Mr Lacey's baby, I assume?

Hmm......tricky one.

We crossed swords over some bad business in Ireland a few years ago, & then again, over the way he treated blonde, & in particular, myself, after we did some Green Joker Poker satellites back in the day. The culprit, of course, was Aqua, who had the money, but were farting around with currency translation from $ to € as I recall. Tighy will confirm in both cases.

Are Green Joker Poker still alive & well?

It was a weird story, but he got very uppity with me, & I returned the favour, hopefully with a shade more dignity. We had been quite good friends back in the day, & both of us semi'd together in the Deauvile EPT in '04 or '05.

Dilemmas, dilemmas.

No point cutting your nose off to spite your face. (At least not unless you have to drive all the way to Brighton to do it)

Not wrong Tom. I'll think about it.

Not going to The Rendezvous next week then, I assume?......