Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[simonnatur]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

[Tal]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

[The Camel]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

Are there more weirdos playing poker than chess?

Your opinion of the nutter to normal ratio for both games please.

[Tal]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

Are there more weirdos playing poker than chess?

Your opinion of the nutter to normal ratio for both games please.

Chess players are weirder, IMO.

A good chunk of poker players play poker either because they make money in it or because they occasionally win a bit of money in it. Yes, there's the enjoyment and social factor in that, too, but money is a heavy influence.

Unless you're a Grandmaster, there's no money in chess (and even most Grandmasters in the UK have jobs). Membership of a club costs a pony or so, then you get a dozen evening league games a season in your local area, meaning six away games (my club is in south Birmingham, but we play against teams in Wolverhampton, Tamworth and various teams the other side of the City) to which you'll have to make your own travel arrangements, will play for up to three hours for your one game and might have to go back a couple of weeks later to finish. There is no financial prize for winning the league or any of your games.

County chess is similar: a four hour game for a team a handful of Saturday afternoons in the year somewhere in the country, again, making your own travel arrangements for no financial reward (maybe a medal if you win the national championship)

Tournament chess is kind of worse. There's two types: rapidplay tournaments are one day affairs but the games are shorter, which doesn't suit everyone and it can be a bit frenetic. The entry fee will be, say, £15 and the prize for winning your section of 50-100 players might be £100. The rest goes to the venue, the chess federation and the various other people involved.

The other type is a longplay tournament, which are all weekend affairs. Five or six games, sometimes 3 on Saturday and 3 Sunday, sometimes one on the Friday night. Obviously, you might have to stay overnight somewhere and you'll have to get there and back yourself of course. Entry fee will be nearer £30 and top prize for your section £200-300.

The nature of chess tournaments means you're always playing against people of similar standard, so you have difficulty getting an edge on the field unless you've improved a lot since the annual rating was published.

In summary, the vast majority of chess players (probably 99% or more) play solely because they enjoy it and despite it costing them  significant amounts of time and money.

Plus there are way more milk bottle thick glasses, cagoules, packed sandwiches, boiled sweets and flasks of coffee at chess matches than any poker tournament I've been at

[simonnatur]

If the 2+2 forum is a fair representation, I think Poker Players must give any other game players a run for their money in the weirdness stakes.

[DaveShoelace]

Plus there are way more milk bottle thick glasses, cagoules, packed sandwiches, boiled sweets and flasks of coffee at chess matches than any poker tournament I've been at

Bah, swap the sandwiches for nandos and the cagoules for a hoody and you get the same thing.

[Tal]

[Skippy]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

Are there more weirdos playing poker than chess?

Your opinion of the nutter to normal ratio for both games please.

Chess players are weirder, IMO.

A good chunk of poker players play poker either because they make money in it or because they occasionally win a bit of money in it. Yes, there's the enjoyment and social factor in that, too, but money is a heavy influence.

Unless you're a Grandmaster, there's no money in chess (and even most Grandmasters in the UK have jobs). Membership of a club costs a pony or so, then you get a dozen evening league games a season in your local area, meaning six away games (my club is in south Birmingham, but we play against teams in Wolverhampton, Tamworth and various teams the other side of the City) to which you'll have to make your own travel arrangements, will play for up to three hours for your one game and might have to go back a couple of weeks later to finish. There is no financial prize for winning the league or any of your games.

County chess is similar: a four hour game for a team a handful of Saturday afternoons in the year somewhere in the country, again, making your own travel arrangements for no financial reward (maybe a medal if you win the national championship)

Tournament chess is kind of worse. There's two types: rapidplay tournaments are one day affairs but the games are shorter, which doesn't suit everyone and it can be a bit frenetic. The entry fee will be, say, £15 and the prize for winning your section of 50-100 players might be £100. The rest goes to the venue, the chess federation and the various other people involved.

The other type is a longplay tournament, which are all weekend affairs. Five or six games, sometimes 3 on Saturday and 3 Sunday, sometimes one on the Friday night. Obviously, you might have to stay overnight somewhere and you'll have to get there and back yourself of course. Entry fee will be nearer £30 and top prize for your section £200-300.

The nature of chess tournaments means you're always playing against people of similar standard, so you have difficulty getting an edge on the field unless you've improved a lot since the annual rating was published.

In summary, the vast majority of chess players (probably 99% or more) play solely because they enjoy it and despite it costing them  significant amounts of time and money.

Plus there are way more milk bottle thick glasses, cagoules, packed sandwiches, boiled sweets and flasks of coffee at chess matches than any poker tournament I've been at

So your argument is that chess players are weirder because they spend their leisure time doing something they enjoy, whereas poker players do something they don't enjoy much and that even if it does earn them money it's only about £1 per hour?

:p

[Tal]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

Are there more weirdos playing poker than chess?

Your opinion of the nutter to normal ratio for both games please.

Chess players are weirder, IMO.

A good chunk of poker players play poker either because they make money in it or because they occasionally win a bit of money in it. Yes, there's the enjoyment and social factor in that, too, but money is a heavy influence.

Unless you're a Grandmaster, there's no money in chess (and even most Grandmasters in the UK have jobs). Membership of a club costs a pony or so, then you get a dozen evening league games a season in your local area, meaning six away games (my club is in south Birmingham, but we play against teams in Wolverhampton, Tamworth and various teams the other side of the City) to which you'll have to make your own travel arrangements, will play for up to three hours for your one game and might have to go back a couple of weeks later to finish. There is no financial prize for winning the league or any of your games.

County chess is similar: a four hour game for a team a handful of Saturday afternoons in the year somewhere in the country, again, making your own travel arrangements for no financial reward (maybe a medal if you win the national championship)

Tournament chess is kind of worse. There's two types: rapidplay tournaments are one day affairs but the games are shorter, which doesn't suit everyone and it can be a bit frenetic. The entry fee will be, say, £15 and the prize for winning your section of 50-100 players might be £100. The rest goes to the venue, the chess federation and the various other people involved.

The other type is a longplay tournament, which are all weekend affairs. Five or six games, sometimes 3 on Saturday and 3 Sunday, sometimes one on the Friday night. Obviously, you might have to stay overnight somewhere and you'll have to get there and back yourself of course. Entry fee will be nearer £30 and top prize for your section £200-300.

The nature of chess tournaments means you're always playing against people of similar standard, so you have difficulty getting an edge on the field unless you've improved a lot since the annual rating was published.

In summary, the vast majority of chess players (probably 99% or more) play solely because they enjoy it and despite it costing them  significant amounts of time and money.

Plus there are way more milk bottle thick glasses, cagoules, packed sandwiches, boiled sweets and flasks of coffee at chess matches than any poker tournament I've been at

So your argument is that chess players are weirder because they spend their leisure time doing something they enjoy, whereas poker players do something they don't enjoy much and that even if it does earn them money it's only about £1 per hour?

:p

I think most people who go to casinos around the country, sit in dirty rooms next to people who sneeze without using a tissue and don't wash their hands after they've been to the loo, play a game of cards for eight hours for the price of a night out and come home at unsociable hours do so because they enjoy it.

[The Camel]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

Are there more weirdos playing poker than chess?

Your opinion of the nutter to normal ratio for both games please.

Chess players are weirder, IMO.

A good chunk of poker players play poker either because they make money in it or because they occasionally win a bit of money in it. Yes, there's the enjoyment and social factor in that, too, but money is a heavy influence.

Unless you're a Grandmaster, there's no money in chess (and even most Grandmasters in the UK have jobs). Membership of a club costs a pony or so, then you get a dozen evening league games a season in your local area, meaning six away games (my club is in south Birmingham, but we play against teams in Wolverhampton, Tamworth and various teams the other side of the City) to which you'll have to make your own travel arrangements, will play for up to three hours for your one game and might have to go back a couple of weeks later to finish. There is no financial prize for winning the league or any of your games.

County chess is similar: a four hour game for a team a handful of Saturday afternoons in the year somewhere in the country, again, making your own travel arrangements for no financial reward (maybe a medal if you win the national championship)

Tournament chess is kind of worse. There's two types: rapidplay tournaments are one day affairs but the games are shorter, which doesn't suit everyone and it can be a bit frenetic. The entry fee will be, say, £15 and the prize for winning your section of 50-100 players might be £100. The rest goes to the venue, the chess federation and the various other people involved.

The other type is a longplay tournament, which are all weekend affairs. Five or six games, sometimes 3 on Saturday and 3 Sunday, sometimes one on the Friday night. Obviously, you might have to stay overnight somewhere and you'll have to get there and back yourself of course. Entry fee will be nearer £30 and top prize for your section £200-300.

The nature of chess tournaments means you're always playing against people of similar standard, so you have difficulty getting an edge on the field unless you've improved a lot since the annual rating was published.

In summary, the vast majority of chess players (probably 99% or more) play solely because they enjoy it and despite it costing them  significant amounts of time and money.

Plus there are way more milk bottle thick glasses, cagoules, packed sandwiches, boiled sweets and flasks of coffee at chess matches than any poker tournament I've been at

Mmmm 50-100 runner fields, £15 entry and £100 top prize.

Do they moan about "the rake is too high" or "prize money should be more top heavy"?

[Tal]

I found this morbidly interesting http://totalcrime.co.uk/2014/06/21/murderbook-1900-1999/  Don't worry I don't have a library full of books on serial killers or anything like that.

Btw in amongst these murders there are two mentions of chess being played. In one the players become bored with their game and decide to move on to Russian Roulette. The second where an argument over a chess game escalates into murder and cannibalism. Best keep an eye out for these chess playing types.

Ha! We have a wide range

Are there more weirdos playing poker than chess?

Your opinion of the nutter to normal ratio for both games please.

Chess players are weirder, IMO.

A good chunk of poker players play poker either because they make money in it or because they occasionally win a bit of money in it. Yes, there's the enjoyment and social factor in that, too, but money is a heavy influence.

Unless you're a Grandmaster, there's no money in chess (and even most Grandmasters in the UK have jobs). Membership of a club costs a pony or so, then you get a dozen evening league games a season in your local area, meaning six away games (my club is in south Birmingham, but we play against teams in Wolverhampton, Tamworth and various teams the other side of the City) to which you'll have to make your own travel arrangements, will play for up to three hours for your one game and might have to go back a couple of weeks later to finish. There is no financial prize for winning the league or any of your games.

County chess is similar: a four hour game for a team a handful of Saturday afternoons in the year somewhere in the country, again, making your own travel arrangements for no financial reward (maybe a medal if you win the national championship)

Tournament chess is kind of worse. There's two types: rapidplay tournaments are one day affairs but the games are shorter, which doesn't suit everyone and it can be a bit frenetic. The entry fee will be, say, £15 and the prize for winning your section of 50-100 players might be £100. The rest goes to the venue, the chess federation and the various other people involved.

The other type is a longplay tournament, which are all weekend affairs. Five or six games, sometimes 3 on Saturday and 3 Sunday, sometimes one on the Friday night. Obviously, you might have to stay overnight somewhere and you'll have to get there and back yourself of course. Entry fee will be nearer £30 and top prize for your section £200-300.

The nature of chess tournaments means you're always playing against people of similar standard, so you have difficulty getting an edge on the field unless you've improved a lot since the annual rating was published.

In summary, the vast majority of chess players (probably 99% or more) play solely because they enjoy it and despite it costing them  significant amounts of time and money.

Plus there are way more milk bottle thick glasses, cagoules, packed sandwiches, boiled sweets and flasks of coffee at chess matches than any poker tournament I've been at

Mmmm 50-100 runner fields, £15 entry and £100 top prize.

Do they moan about "the rake is too high" or "prize money should be more top heavy"?

Nope.

#lovethegame

[The Camel]

Talking of weirdos. Whatever happened to Davood Mermand?

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=2113

He was one strange cat.

[RED-DOG]

Tal. Do you think it's rude when people ask you questions on Tony's thread when you have a perfectly good thread of your own? I mean, I wouldn't do it.

[Tal]

Tal. Do you think it's rude when people ask you questions on Tony's thread when you have a perfectly good thread of your own? I mean, I wouldn't do it.

Not at all. I don't have a thread. I leave that to the diarists. I far prefer using and abusing others' diaries to my own ends. Less hassle.

[DaveShoelace]

Tal. Do you think it's rude when people ask you questions on Tony's thread when you have a perfectly good thread of your own? I mean, I wouldn't do it.

Hey Red, hows it going? What's your favourite sandwhich filler?