Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[RED-DOG]

I can't find those lyrics.

Approx 58 seconds in.

I mean the written lyrics.

FFS, I've never met anyone so awkward in my life.

I will say you looked well yesterday though. I confused you with Vinni at one point.

Don't worry about it Tone, It's an age thing. Just try to remember to shave and change your underwear regularly.

[Rod Paradise]

That "hell hath no fury" line is one people attribute to Shakespeare but it was 100 years later than that: William Congreve.

You had the Star Spangled Banner playing in my head there. wrong William Congreve though.....

[Karabiner]

On the subject of age Tony, I got a letter last week from an outfit called UK Age.

They warned me about the spiraling costs of funerals and offered a price-freeze if I took up their generous offer.

Unfortunately it was not printed on soft triple-ply tissue paper.

[AlunB]

I can't find those lyrics.

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/t/thesunhasgothishaton.shtml.  They do look offensive to my 21st century eyes.  Of course he shouldn't be sacked though.  So many songs I have played hundreds of times without hearing every lyric.

I am only singing the first line in my head and I can't get rid of it.  That word is in so many CDs in my car.  I guess I'll have to take a few out when the 6 year old starts singing the bad words.  I find the whole music in front of children thing difficult.   My record collection is swamped with bad language.  Such a tricky explanation if she asks.  You can only sing that word if you are singing along to this particular song, and you can't ever use the word yourself?  She is going to think I am nuts (like she doesn't already?)

I still remember someone (think it was Mark Goodier) playing the uncensored version of this in full on the chart show. One of the greatest moments of my life to that point*. He didn't get sacked.

http://youtu.be/QNzIKoAy2pk?t=4m12s





*I grew up in a small town in Wales

[mulhuzz]

I've often played songs without knowing all the lyrics.

Then again I'm not a professional and producer playing my own records.

He's obviously culpable (although being sacked is a bit much). Obviously not handled well by anyone really.

[Tal]

Navvies.

Click to see full-size image.

Navvies using a brickmaking machine during the construction of the Midland Railway's extension to St Pancras station 1865.
Credit: National Railway Museum


http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/navvies.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navvy


This one is a heck of a read, too:

http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/pages.php?enum=LE123&pnum=0&maxp=8

It was said that a man working on the construction of Woodhead Tunnel during the 1840s was at greater risk of injury than a soldier in the field at the Battle of Waterloo




Here's an article on some of the lesser known bits:

http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/chs/vol5/article3.pdf

And a story about a particular group:

http://www.arrocharheritage.com/Navvies.htm

[tikay]

Navvies.

Click to see full-size image.

Navvies using a brickmaking machine during the construction of the Midland Railway's extension to St Pancras station 1865.
Credit: National Railway Museum


http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/navvies.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navvy


This one is a heck of a read, too:

http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/pages.php?enum=LE123&pnum=0&maxp=8

It was said that a man working on the construction of Woodhead Tunnel during the 1840s was at greater risk of injury than a soldier in the field at the Battle of Waterloo




Here's an article on some of the lesser known bits:

http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/chs/vol5/article3.pdf

And a story about a particular group:

http://www.arrocharheritage.com/Navvies.htm

Great stuff Posh Bloke, thank you.

The origin of that word - navvy - is very apt (Navigation Engineer/labourer), & it's interesting how it has fallen in to more varied use.

PSB America have been airing some great footage of the construction of the Panama Canal, & Hoover Dam, majoring on ther manual labourers, but they were not called "navvies", as canals had not previously existed very much in the USA.

Panama Canal, weirdly, despite running through a foreign state - Panama - was actually IN the USA at the time. They negotiated a sort of mini-state/exclusion zone, later a topic of much heated debate. Quite recently, they handed sovereignity back to Panama.

The Panama Canal  celebrates it's 100th birthday later this year. No big deal, many might think, but it changed the world in so many ways, & still has a great deal of traffic.

By the same token, The Erie Canal, which most will never have heard of, was almost solely responsible for New York becoming the major city it is. No Erie Canal, no New York, or not as we know it. The Erie Canal made possible an Atlantic port on the north east coast of the USA, & from there, the world suddenly opened up.

Not sure from where, or why, all that waffle arose.

Carry on.

[tikay]

I seem to upset folks when I mention this elsewhere on blonde, "la la la, I'm not listening", but it needs saying.
Here's an extract from the Poker Scout weekly Update this week.

Online poker traffic rose 0.1% last week, the second consecutive increase following an 11-week losing streak.

Overall, the worldwide market is down 8% from this time last year. That number, which held steady from last week, represents an improvement over the previous downtrend of about 10%, giving hope that the industry's decline may be slowing.


The cliffs.

An 11 week run of decline, that can't be good, & we should not ignore it, even though we all have differing views on why, & what needs to be done. Finger-pointing is not the route, imo.

A 0.1 increase is not much to shout about, but at least it stopped the rot. The increase probably arose from SCOOP. 'Stars have well over 80% of the online poker market. Globally, in Online Poker, I think the cake is split 17.5% MTT's, 17.5% SNG's, & 65% cash, give or take a bit. So once SCOOP is over, it'll be interesting to see how the numbers progress.

A near 20% decline in 2 years ought to ring alarm bells. Another 2 years like that, & the decline feeds upon itself.

It's a bit odd that an 8% decline is seen as a good thing, because the prior year saw a 10% decline.

Fingers crossed things change soon. 

DTD are moving mountains with their innovative ideas as to Live Poker, & it IS making a difference to the Live scene. We just need the Online world to do the same now. 

[Skippy]

I seem to upset folks when I mention this elsewhere on blonde, "la la la, I'm not listening", but it needs saying.
Here's an extract from the Poker Scout weekly Update this week.

Online poker traffic rose 0.1% last week, the second consecutive increase following an 11-week losing streak.

Overall, the worldwide market is down 8% from this time last year. That number, which held steady from last week, represents an improvement over the previous downtrend of about 10%, giving hope that the industry's decline may be slowing.


The cliffs.

An 11 week run of decline, that can't be good, & we should not ignore it, even though we all have differing views on why, & what needs to be done. Finger-pointing is not the route, imo.

A 0.1 increase is not much to shout about, but at least it stopped the rot. The increase probably arose from SCOOP. 'Stars have well over 80% of the online poker market. Globally, in Online Poker, I think the cake is split 17.5% MTT's, 17.5% SNG's, & 65% cash, give or take a bit. So once SCOOP is over, it'll be interesting to see how the numbers progress.

A near 20% decline in 2 years ought to ring alarm bells. Another 2 years like that, & the decline feeds upon itself.

It's a bit odd that an 8% decline is seen as a good thing, because the prior year saw a 10% decline.

Fingers crossed things change soon. 

DTD are moving mountains with their innovative ideas as to Live Poker, & it IS making a difference to the Live scene. We just need the Online world to do the same now. 

How do they work out how Pokerstars are doing? Is it as simple as watching all the tables with software? I doubt Stars are telling anyone what's going on.

[tikay]

I seem to upset folks when I mention this elsewhere on blonde, "la la la, I'm not listening", but it needs saying.
Here's an extract from the Poker Scout weekly Update this week.

Online poker traffic rose 0.1% last week, the second consecutive increase following an 11-week losing streak.

Overall, the worldwide market is down 8% from this time last year. That number, which held steady from last week, represents an improvement over the previous downtrend of about 10%, giving hope that the industry's decline may be slowing.


The cliffs.

An 11 week run of decline, that can't be good, & we should not ignore it, even though we all have differing views on why, & what needs to be done. Finger-pointing is not the route, imo.

A 0.1 increase is not much to shout about, but at least it stopped the rot. The increase probably arose from SCOOP. 'Stars have well over 80% of the online poker market. Globally, in Online Poker, I think the cake is split 17.5% MTT's, 17.5% SNG's, & 65% cash, give or take a bit. So once SCOOP is over, it'll be interesting to see how the numbers progress.

A near 20% decline in 2 years ought to ring alarm bells. Another 2 years like that, & the decline feeds upon itself.

It's a bit odd that an 8% decline is seen as a good thing, because the prior year saw a 10% decline.

Fingers crossed things change soon. 

DTD are moving mountains with their innovative ideas as to Live Poker, & it IS making a difference to the Live scene. We just need the Online world to do the same now. 

How do they work out how Pokerstars are doing? Is it as simple as watching all the tables with software? I doubt Stars are telling anyone what's going on.

None of the poker sites tell anyone what their numbers are, but it can be data-mined presumably.

We had quite a heated debate Next Door a while back, as some players got uppity that data was being supplied to people like Sharkscope without their permission - but it does not work like that, nobody gives Sharkscope data, they just collect it themselves.

I assume Poker Scout, & the other Industry sites, do the same thing. I don't know, in truth, but I assume that to be the case.

[AlunB]

I seem to upset folks when I mention this elsewhere on blonde, "la la la, I'm not listening", but it needs saying.
Here's an extract from the Poker Scout weekly Update this week.

Online poker traffic rose 0.1% last week, the second consecutive increase following an 11-week losing streak.

Overall, the worldwide market is down 8% from this time last year. That number, which held steady from last week, represents an improvement over the previous downtrend of about 10%, giving hope that the industry's decline may be slowing.


The cliffs.

An 11 week run of decline, that can't be good, & we should not ignore it, even though we all have differing views on why, & what needs to be done. Finger-pointing is not the route, imo.

A 0.1 increase is not much to shout about, but at least it stopped the rot. The increase probably arose from SCOOP. 'Stars have well over 80% of the online poker market. Globally, in Online Poker, I think the cake is split 17.5% MTT's, 17.5% SNG's, & 65% cash, give or take a bit. So once SCOOP is over, it'll be interesting to see how the numbers progress.

A near 20% decline in 2 years ought to ring alarm bells. Another 2 years like that, & the decline feeds upon itself.

It's a bit odd that an 8% decline is seen as a good thing, because the prior year saw a 10% decline.

Fingers crossed things change soon. 

DTD are moving mountains with their innovative ideas as to Live Poker, & it IS making a difference to the Live scene. We just need the Online world to do the same now. 

Pokerscout monitors cash game traffic no? Although this statement is probably still true.

Poker has not shown any real signs of growth for some time now and really seems unlikely to in future. At some point, perhaps, the industry needs to accept it's just managing decline.

[tikay]

I seem to upset folks when I mention this elsewhere on blonde, "la la la, I'm not listening", but it needs saying.
Here's an extract from the Poker Scout weekly Update this week.

Online poker traffic rose 0.1% last week, the second consecutive increase following an 11-week losing streak.

Overall, the worldwide market is down 8% from this time last year. That number, which held steady from last week, represents an improvement over the previous downtrend of about 10%, giving hope that the industry's decline may be slowing.


The cliffs.

An 11 week run of decline, that can't be good, & we should not ignore it, even though we all have differing views on why, & what needs to be done. Finger-pointing is not the route, imo.

A 0.1 increase is not much to shout about, but at least it stopped the rot. The increase probably arose from SCOOP. 'Stars have well over 80% of the online poker market. Globally, in Online Poker, I think the cake is split 17.5% MTT's, 17.5% SNG's, & 65% cash, give or take a bit. So once SCOOP is over, it'll be interesting to see how the numbers progress.

A near 20% decline in 2 years ought to ring alarm bells. Another 2 years like that, & the decline feeds upon itself.

It's a bit odd that an 8% decline is seen as a good thing, because the prior year saw a 10% decline.

Fingers crossed things change soon. 

DTD are moving mountains with their innovative ideas as to Live Poker, & it IS making a difference to the Live scene. We just need the Online world to do the same now. 

Pokerscout monitors cash game traffic no? Although this statement is probably still true.

Poker has not shown any real signs of growth for some time now and really seems unlikely to in future. At some point, perhaps, the industry needs to accept it's just managing decline.

Yes, it measures all traffic, as far as I know.

I was just trying to put the increase in perspective by mentioning the SCOOP boost. SCOOP would have boosted MTT traffic globally by 5% or more, I'd guess, which netted down to a small increase overall.

You are probably right as to "managing the decline" of course. I find it a bit worrysome that so many seem to be in denial. If we can manage that decline better, or even arrest it, then we ought to at least try.

Cue, I gurantee, I'll be called "a doom-monger" again.

Ah well, so be it.

[BorntoBubble]

I seem to upset folks when I mention this elsewhere on blonde, "la la la, I'm not listening", but it needs saying.
Here's an extract from the Poker Scout weekly Update this week.

Online poker traffic rose 0.1% last week, the second consecutive increase following an 11-week losing streak.

Overall, the worldwide market is down 8% from this time last year. That number, which held steady from last week, represents an improvement over the previous downtrend of about 10%, giving hope that the industry's decline may be slowing.


The cliffs.

An 11 week run of decline, that can't be good, & we should not ignore it, even though we all have differing views on why, & what needs to be done. Finger-pointing is not the route, imo.

A 0.1 increase is not much to shout about, but at least it stopped the rot. The increase probably arose from SCOOP. 'Stars have well over 80% of the online poker market. Globally, in Online Poker, I think the cake is split 17.5% MTT's, 17.5% SNG's, & 65% cash, give or take a bit. So once SCOOP is over, it'll be interesting to see how the numbers progress.

A near 20% decline in 2 years ought to ring alarm bells. Another 2 years like that, & the decline feeds upon itself.

It's a bit odd that an 8% decline is seen as a good thing, because the prior year saw a 10% decline.

Fingers crossed things change soon. 

DTD are moving mountains with their innovative ideas as to Live Poker, & it IS making a difference to the Live scene. We just need the Online world to do the same now. 

Pokerscout monitors cash game traffic no? Although this statement is probably still true.

Poker has not shown any real signs of growth for some time now and really seems unlikely to in future. At some point, perhaps, the industry needs to accept it's just managing decline.

Why would it do this?

Theres no real reason why poker cannot grow, its a great game that we all love and there will always be more people coming through that could learn to love the game. Gambling as a whole seems to be growing so why can poker not eek out some of that market. Something is going wrong at the minute for me its lack of big cash games on tv with characters like Late night poker etc. This is what got sooo many people into the game its exciting seeing wads of cash fly around a table.

For me i dont care if they multiply the numbers by 10 for TV purposes to get the audience interested. yeah EPT,s UKIPTs, UKPCs are ok for me to watch on TV (tbh i find these pretty boring anyway). But a new player must be bored out of there skull. Cash games are where the exciting TV is at £100k won or lost on the flip of a card. Where have these big televised games gone? have a game of £25/£50 televised and just say the blinds are £250/£500 etc. BOOM

[AndrewT]

Ignore the 11 week decline - that's just the seasonal effect of spring going into summer.

The only relevant figure is the YoY one and, yes, it's no secret that online poker is passed its peak. Casual players find other things to do - Candy Crush Saga pulls in $1m a day and that's just a Bejeweled ripoff.

Also, as Alun said, Pokerscout only tracks cash game traffic - the number of players sat down. It doesn't track MTTs/SnGs and, crucially, it doesn't tell you how much rake each of those cash game players are generating.

[tikay]

Ignore the 11 week decline - that's just the seasonal effect of spring going into summer.

The only relevant figure is the YoY one and, yes, it's no secret that online poker is passed its peak. Casual players find other things to do - Candy Crush Saga pulls in $1m a day and that's just a Bejeweled ripoff.

Also, as Alun said, Pokerscout only tracks cash game traffic - the number of players sat down. It doesn't track MTTs/SnGs and, crucially, it doesn't tell you how much rake each of those cash game players are generating.

Ahh, my apologies, I never realised it was cash game traffic only.

Even so, if cash games generate 65% or 70% of the total, (must be close to that?) it's a good indicator, I'd say.

Not sure I agree with the seasonal effect. The seasonal ups & downs in the Northern hemisphere (currently down as we head into summer) are surely at least part-balanced by Southern hemisphere reverse effect? In my experience, the annual European seasonal downturn does not really start until Easter is over. OK, it rarely reaches, say, Xmas levels, but it holds fairly stable November - Easter.

It is quite amazing how European traffic is so seasonally affected though. The World Cup will hurt it, too. Roll on September.