Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Doobs]

What are your thoughts on the news? Tremendous growth and big valuation.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/12/04/sky-m-a-skybet-idUKKCN0JI0HI20141204

In before its AmayaStars all over again. Petition for Thewy to be removed as Team pro etc.

Very good, very good. Might have to get on The Ambassador's case, too.

I'm afraid I have a bit of a disconnect on this whole inability for poker players to understand that businesses operate for one reason, & one reason only - to make money. That's the same whether it be a supermarket or a gaming site. They exist to make money. They don't exist, as such, to "care" for anyone, unless it better serves their purpose. 

In fact, it goes a step further. Any Company which makes the same profit as last year is deemed to be failing, even if that is a huge sum. So the treadmill requres - DEMANDS - that all Businesses make more money than last year. The resistance to that notion, or inability to grasp it in an unemotive way, just astonishes me.

I don't expect poker players to LIKE it, of course not. But I would have thought they'd understand how business works, whether we like it ot not. 

I equally don't understand, beyond your role as devil's advocate and voice of reason, how you don't get why people are mad. It's fine to say that this is business and blah blah blah. But that sort of entirely misses the point.

Well I'm glad you can see a Devil's Advocate is needed to such a lopsided debate, we learn nothing from a bunch of people shouting & hollering & describing Amaya & DN in such unpleasant terms. 

When did a debate where one side just decide to describe the other as idiots, scumbags, douches & the like ever help contribute to a balanced view of the whole scene?

Do we really think that poker players understand poker businesses better than small gambling equipment suppliers? I certainly don't, it's as unlikely as Mr Amaya being able to teach poker players how to play.

FYP

I am done with this. They have clearly messed up the pricing of hyper sats, they may well win with million dollar spin and goes.  But who cares about the debate, if all you are interested in is pointing out what idiots we all are and that some other people say bad things about Negreanu. 

I should add that your average takeover is value destroying.   Just because Buffet gets it right, doesn't mean everybody else does.  I think if you have shares you should start from the idea the takeover will be a disaster if you are the buyer and not the other way round. 

[rfgqqabc]

http://www.ftpress.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2109325&seqNum=4

[david3103]

What are your thoughts on the news? Tremendous growth and big valuation.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/12/04/sky-m-a-skybet-idUKKCN0JI0HI20141204

In before its AmayaStars all over again. Petition for Thewy to be removed as Team pro etc.

Very good, very good. Might have to get on The Ambassador's case, too.

I'm afraid I have a bit of a disconnect on this whole inability for poker players to understand that businesses operate for one reason, & one reason only - to make money. That's the same whether it be a supermarket or a gaming site. They exist to make money. They don't exist, as such, to "care" for anyone, unless it better serves their purpose. 

In fact, it goes a step further. Any Company which makes the same profit as last year is deemed to be failing, even if that is a huge sum. So the treadmill requres - DEMANDS - that all Businesses make more money than last year. The resistance to that notion, or inability to grasp it in an unemotive way, just astonishes me.

I don't expect poker players to LIKE it, of course not. But I would have thought they'd understand how business works, whether we like it ot not. 

I equally don't understand, beyond your role as devil's advocate and voice of reason, how you don't get why people are mad. It's fine to say that this is business and blah blah blah. But that sort of entirely misses the point.

Well I'm glad you can see a Devil's Advocate is needed to such a lopsided debate, we learn nothing from a bunch of people shouting & hollering & describing Amaya & DN in such unpleasant terms. 

When did a debate where one side just decide to describe the other as idiots, scumbags, douches & the like ever help contribute to a balanced view of the whole scene?

Do we really think that poker players understand poker businesses better than small gambling equipment suppliers? I certainly don't, it's as unlikely as Mr Amaya being able to teach poker players how to play.

FYP

I am almost done with this, but really want the last word. They have clearly messed up the pricing of hyper sats, they may well win with million dollar spin and goes.  But who cares about the debate, if all you are interested in is pointing out what idiots we all are and that some other people say bad things about Negreanu. 

I should add that your average takeover is value destroying.   Just because Buffet gets it right, doesn't mean everybody else does.  I think if you have shares you should start from the idea the takeover will be a disaster if you are the buyer and not the other way round. 

fyp

[tikay]

Also on BBC 4 two nights ago was a lovely Show all about the Acoustic Guitar.

Just a history of the acoustic guitar & modern music really, but included a bunch of clips which wrere really great to see & hear.

Pick of the bunch was a 45 second clip of Keith Richards ad-libbing some stuff. How that man is alive amazes me, but all his bits seem to still be working.

Click to see full-size image.

Agreed. He's quite an amazing man in many many ways. I assume you have read his auto-biog? Great book.

A wonderful read. He is not, in some ways, the man he appears to be, he seems to have a real soft side, especially for his family.

Quite how he survived all that drug abuse, I've no idea.

Have you read Scar Tissue, by Anthony Kiedis? Stunning read, stunning. He was even worse than Richards, & he has survived, too. Highly recommended read, that.

No I haven't. As a natural contrarian I never liked the RCPs, but if it's that good I will give it a go.

Keith Richards is a hugely underrated guitarist IMO. And I really didn't fully appreciate how much of a driving force he was behind the Stones til I read the book.

Well you enjoy being a contrarian! On my occasional visits to the dark side, I don't.

Anyway, yes, please do try read the Keidis book, few rock bios made such an impression on me as this one, & of course the Richards one.

If you think Richards got in deep with the hard drugs, you have a new think coming. Interestingly, they both claim only to use the "best shit".  

Click to see full-size image.

I get the impression Keidis's life is in a better place now. I do hope so. If I ever get to be cool enough to wear shoes like that, I'll die a fulfilled man.

[tikay]

Thought you would be interested in this Tikay. I remember reading in this diary about your interest in the Great Train Robbery.....plus I believe your like trains and stuff......so this ticks both boxes.

http://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/crewe-south-cheshire-news/great-train-robbery-victims-jack-8215499

That's a lovely story, & tribute, Alan, thank you.

Yes, the Great Train Robbery interested me greatly. I was a young man at the time, about 16 I think, & had just learned to read. A £2.5 milly robbery is nothing these days, but in relative terms, that story got as many column inches as the 9/11 affair, we were all enthralled by it.

And the story unfolded wonderfully, as, day after day, sacks of money would turn up in odd places, phone boxes, lay-bys, solicitors suitcases, all over the shop. And then, one by one, those involved all got arrested & sent down for a very long time, I think the average prison sentence they got was 24 years.

It continued, of course, as they started escaping from prison one after the other, & it all became very "celebrity".

Think I have 8 or 9 books on the case. The best was the latest, it had not a word of puff or fill, it was just statements & evidence of the whole police operation from start to finish.  

It would be, in crime terms, maybe "The Greastest Story Ever Told" were it not for the injuries poor Jack Mills received. Railwaymen across the UK revere him.  

How is your boy these days, Alan?

Do you take him to The Britannia to watch Stoke City? They've had a bad run of late, but I think they have their dream fixture this weekend - The Arsenal. Enjoy.  

Click to see full-size image.

What an evocative image this is, too.......

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Bridego Bridge, where the GTR actually took place......






...actually has a commemorative Bridge Plate these days.

Fascinating stuff, right?

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

This was the day that the Train Robbers local hideaway @ Leatherslade Farm, & where it all went wrong, was discovered.

Just look at that beautiful Jaguar Police Car.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

And finally (you started me off!), this was the scene outside Wandsworth Prison after Ronnie Biggs escaped.

He scaled the wall with a rope ladder, then jumped onto the roof of that lorry, then down into a waiting getaway car.

[tikay]

Meanwhile, as the Amaya/Stars debate gently meanders on, in what might seem ironic karma, SB&G, which owns Sky Poker, was sold yesterday.  The price surprised many, but it came on the back of SB&G's annualised earnings increases of 40% over the last 5 years, which is sexy stuff.

All a bit unsettling in some ways, & it was a very strange day.

An "all staff" missive @ 0730 announcing the deal, then a phone call from the Big Poker Suit in Leeds to say he was on the way to London to meet us & explain stuff. SB&G is almost entirely Leeds based except Oddchecker, & the TV Channel, which share an office in Osterley, so we are a bit of a sort of satellite office, away from the main hub.

We had the meet, & it was slightly awkward really. We are all on informal terms, & speak with Mr Big Suit every day, but there are protocols to be obseved in these matters, so it was all a bit formal.

The vast majority of staff won't be affected, but there will be some changes, for sure, some good, some bad. New brooms sweep in different ways. 

Quite where it leaves me I'm unsure at the moment, but I'll know very soon I suppose, & what will be will be.

It caused me to have some reflection last night, on "where I am". All options are possible, I suppose, but it did make me start to think about my future, & what may happen.

However it pans out for me, I can't complain, but I always had the wish of leaving - retiring effectively -  when it suits me, not others. We shall see. I hope things stay as they are for the time being, but I have no input to that.

I do know it's an amazingly successful business, all of it, & I'm pretty sure it will continue to do well. The existing Management will be staying, headed up by a chap named Richard Flint, who is a bit of a genius at strategy. 

Anyway, excuse the ramble, but it was a weird day yesterday.

 

[tikay]

Meanwhile, I'm still embroiled in helping sort the UKPC nitty gritty, which is something I very much enjoy.

Being the comms link between Rob Yong & Sky Poker - you could not imagine two more contrasting Management cultures -  is one of the most exacting & awkward things I've ever done, but somehow, we have managed it so far.

I met at length with Rob last Friday & he sort of blew me away with the way he comes up with so many different ideas, he's like a whirlygig factory, with stuff spinning in all directions.

Then I have to translate that into Sky speak & "sell" the ideas to them. Completely different language.

[AlunB]

Also on BBC 4 two nights ago was a lovely Show all about the Acoustic Guitar.

Just a history of the acoustic guitar & modern music really, but included a bunch of clips which wrere really great to see & hear.

Pick of the bunch was a 45 second clip of Keith Richards ad-libbing some stuff. How that man is alive amazes me, but all his bits seem to still be working.

Click to see full-size image.

Agreed. He's quite an amazing man in many many ways. I assume you have read his auto-biog? Great book.

A wonderful read. He is not, in some ways, the man he appears to be, he seems to have a real soft side, especially for his family.

Quite how he survived all that drug abuse, I've no idea.

Have you read Scar Tissue, by Anthony Kiedis? Stunning read, stunning. He was even worse than Richards, & he has survived, too. Highly recommended read, that.

No I haven't. As a natural contrarian I never liked the RCPs, but if it's that good I will give it a go.

Keith Richards is a hugely underrated guitarist IMO. And I really didn't fully appreciate how much of a driving force he was behind the Stones til I read the book.

Well you enjoy being a contrarian! On my occasional visits to the dark side, I don't.

Anyway, yes, please do try read the Keidis book, few rock bios made such an impression on me as this one, & of course the Richards one.

If you think Richards got in deep with the hard drugs, you have a new think coming. Interestingly, they both claim only to use the "best shit".  

Click to see full-size image.

I get the impression Keidis's life is in a better place now. I do hope so. If I ever get to be cool enough to wear shoes like that, I'll die a fulfilled man.

Says the man without a TV who refuses to read fiction

I don't particularly enjoy it. Nor do I not enjoy it. It's just how I am. I tend to find the more people tell me I absolutely have to love something as everyone else has agreed it's good and therefore I should too, I tend to find myself naturally leaning the other way. Especially with music, which I know a lot about.

[MANTIS01]

I was watching some footage of the miners strike on the telly. The livelihood of these guys was being threatened, everyone was feeling hyper anxious and there was a lot of jostling going on. In a particular jostling scene one of the miners reached out and knocked the policemans helmet off his head. Well what did that solve? Did that help move debate along? No, but I'll tell you what it was pretty goddam funny, even the jostlers were laughing. Good release of anxiety and no real harm done I say.

Seems like some jostling going on at Stars and Negreanu is the policeman. I think it's ok to knock his helmet off really. The dude is loaded, his ego probably could do with deflating and his hair is all kinds of weird. But hey, no real harm done right?

[Marky147]

I was watching some footage of the miners strike on the telly. The livelihood of these guys was being threatened, everyone was feeling hyper anxious and there was a lot of jostling going on. In a particular jostling scene one of the miners reached out and knocked the policemans helmet off his head. Well what did that solve? Did that help move debate along? No, but I'll tell you what it was pretty goddam funny, even the jostlers were laughing. Good release of anxiety and no real harm done I say.

Seems like some jostling going on at Stars and Negreanu is the policeman. I think it's ok to knock his helmet off really. The dude is loaded, his ego probably could do with deflating and his hair is all kinds of weird. But hey, no real harm done right?

Very expensive, too!

[pleno1]

You're 18 just finished school, good at poker, good student. It's 2015, do you go to university, get a job, play poker, get an apprenticeship or travel?

[tikay]

You're 18 just finished school, good at poker, good student. It's 2015, do you go to university, get a job, play poker, get an apprenticeship or travel?

Yikes, what a great question.

If this 18 year old was my Son or Daughter, my prefences would be easily prioritised........

1) Go to Uni.

When I was young, I never knerw ONE person who got to Uni. These days so many more get the chance. They should take it.

2) & 3) Get a job or an apprenticeship.

Same thing, almost. Yes yes yes. Get to build their skills, see how real life after school works, build & platform & a safety net for the future, get something on the CV. "Working" seems to have a bad name in some circles, but it can be immensely satisfying to have a fulfilling job where you can make, or help make, things happen. My Apprenticeship was a bit of a disaster, to be honest, & I eventually abandoned it, much to the chagrin of my Dad. I was poached by another company who said "Tony - if you come to work for me, one day, quite soon, you could be earning £1,000 per year". I was bowled over. I was earning £250 per year at the time. But it lead to other things & eventually, a most enjoyable & satisfying lifetime of "working". And I still possess the skills I learned as an Apprentice, so if you ever want to know how many flettons there are in a ton, the BS number for Cast Iron Manhole Covers & Frames, (Double Triangular is my fave) or the range of three quarter section salt-glazed earthenware drainage, I'm your man.  

4) Travel.

One of life's great pleasures & luxuries. I have visited a good few places, but nowhere near enough. I'd deffo encourage them to travel widely, most especially to places like (much of) Africa, where living standards are, compared to us, horrific. Helps with life perspective.

5) Poker. (Or any other recreational hobby). Yes yes yes, Does not have to be poker, but I'd not discourage them from playing poker for fun. It is a wonderful game, full of nuances, & tests their character. It has given me so much pleasure, in fact it still does, to this very day, & I play almost every single day. But ANY recreation would be fine, it does not have to be poker. Fishing, walking, travelling, football, playing sports, anything really, it helps give good balance. I would prefer them not to become obsessed with it though. I would strongly disapprove of them playing "X-Box" style computer games though, because it seems (generally, not always) to blunt social skills & be so obsessive. If they wanted to play Pro Poker? I'd not approve of that, no.  

Those are just my personal views as to my mythical Son or Daughter of course. Maybe just as well I never had one, eh?

What suddenly prompted that question, Patrick?