Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

1% please Tikay.  No idea how much it is.

In Obv

This as well

Watched your last ever show (until the next one) last night Tony.  I thought it was really good.  Even enjoyed Orford's win. 

Can you watch the new shows on the internet or is it skysports only?

Thanks David, BOOKED.

I'll reply properly about that "last show" later, but yes, it was pretty good, or so it felt. Shame it was the last "861" before it morphs into Sky Poker TV, but life goes on.

The shows on Sky Sports will not be streamed or on the internet in any form except, I suppose, SKYGO. The whole Sky Poker TV model will revolve more around UKPC series, Cash Games recorded for TV, & You Tube stuff, lots & lots of the latter. It's all about cost-effective Marketing, the digital world works in strange ways. Whether it will be within my skillset is another matter, but it's Hobson's choice, & I'll give it a crack.

[Tal]

Supersymmetry is only a theory at present. That's partly what the Large Hadron Collider is up to. We only know what's makes up 4% of the universe. The present mainstream belief is that 26% of the rest is dark matter and the remaining 70% dark energy.

There have been some terrific Horizon pieces on it the last couple of weeks. Well worth catching up on iPlayer.

[tikay]

Hi tikay, busy much lately?

I missed the chance to have a vested interest in your Vegas trip last year, so if I may, could I have 5% of whatever you play in this year?  (Happy to reduce to 1% if you sell out and others still want to buy something).

Busy? Busy fool, some might say, but yes. Guess you saw the thread next door, when I was getting beaten up a treat, lol.

For the most part, people did not give me a hard time, but some actually think I'm responsible & get a bit arsey. Quite why a man should be berated for going to work & doing his bloody job is another matter altogether, but whatever. Twitter was fine, or the stuff directed at me was, Facebook not so much. I don't have Facebook any more, but some well-meaning friends sent me some of the nasty personal stuff directed at me. I wish they had not sent it, to be honest, it's a bit hurtful, & I'd rather I had not seen it. I'm far less sensitive to it than I used to be though. Just as well, I've had a fair bit of practice.....

How is Leo (NOT Leon!) these days. Sorted out a career path yet?

You still got that Beemer?

I've reserved 5% for you, thank you very much. You can reduce that % if it comes to a bit much, I don't mind at all, & anyway, it is all non-binding at present.

Did you go see Britannia the other week, when she arrived at Southampton?

Must have been quite a sight to behold. I planned to go see her, but the dates fell really badly for me. I'll try & get down next time she is in. Best way is to get the IOW ferry, & time the return to coincide with her departure. The big cruise liners usually leave berth late afternoon, so I catch the 4pm ferry back, it works well, get a great view of them steaming (?) out of port. 

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Supersymmetry is only a theory at present.

That's partly what the Large Hadron Collider is up to. We only know what's makes up 4% of the universe. The present mainstream belief is that 26% of the rest is dark matter and the remaining 70% dark energy.

There have been some terrific Horizon pieces on it the last couple of weeks. Well worth catching up on iPlayer.

Yup.

As I understand it, in theory, supersymmetry would sort of make sense, nature likes elegant & neat solutions, & supersymmetry would be exactly that. The standard model is not elegant enough, so the boffins sort of want supersymmetry to exist, as it would fit their beliefs.

Amazing how much money gets poured into particle physics. I've read more books enough about the subject, & I still can't grasp the "smallness" of it all. It's small on a gigantic scale. Bryson first piqued my interest in the matter, in ASHONE.

God, I wish I was younger, brighter, & google & the internet had been invented 50 years sooner. Sure, the internet is the nut best thing to abuse others, but it's also the greatest free educational tool the world has ever known, free to everyone in the world who has access.

[tikay]

Could I have 1% please Tikay ?

xx

Of course, Lisa, thank you.

I got a bit of time with Peter at UKPC, & I completely queered his pitch by telling everyone who he was. They were all "what, oh wow". He was disguised in a silly hat, so nobody realised who he was until I spilled the beans. I said to Pete "no need to thank me", & he said "no, I won't bother", with that little look he gives. Love him to bits. 

[Tal]

I was out last night with a group of friends at the local British Legion for a frame or two of pool/snooker and a few very recreational card games. Over the poker table, I mentioned about 861 and a few of them watched the show fairly regularly but missed this week and hadn't realised that Thursday was the last show. I explained what was replacing it. The response from one?

"Oh that's terrible! I really enjoyed that. It's great watching the TV and your hand comes up and they go over it. I liked that Tikay and Richard Orford was really good. The only one I can't stand is the floppy haired bloke who's always fiddling with his hair. Never shuts up."

No idea who he was on about.

[tikay]

I was out last night with a group of friends at the local British Legion for a frame or two of pool/snooker and a few very recreational card games. Over the poker table, I mentioned about 861 and a few of them watched the show fairly regularly but missed this week and hadn't realised that Thursday was the last show. I explained what was replacing it. The response from one?

"Oh that's terrible! I really enjoyed that. It's great watching the TV and your hand comes up and they go over it. I liked that Tikay and Richard Orford was really good. The only one I can't stand is the floppy haired bloke who's always fiddling with his hair. Never shuts up."

No idea who he was on about.

Nooooooo

Poor old Mr Ambo.

[david3103]

I'm glad that you enjoyed the podcast, hard not to really. Every story as a gem, but the ones involving his Dad were the highlights for me too.

Interestingly enough, I found these podcasts via the blog of the pulchritudinous one who has also been a guest. There's rather more of Richard Herring in Vicky's hour and a bit and you've probably heard the Vicky stories already, but it's entertaining nonetheless. Especially the sequence around Once More With Feeling..

[tikay]

I'm good thanks I still lurk here often

Yes its added a lot of potential $ to my total buyins this year too.  Last year I bought into $14k of total tournaments and already expecting it to be at least 1.5 x that this year. 

Likely similar dates/games and hotel this year as im booked 31st may for 33nights at Rio but the dates could change yet. 

Blogs died for now I think, a bit like the plo8 games online       As Doobs pointed out  CAPs is my choice of game for the last couple months and time being.   The swings are nuts and I lost $600 in my first 12 mins earlier 1 tabling so $1k in 20minutes is not only possible, its common    I need a stop loss for the day and set one at -$5k , the only trouble is the 2 or 3 times i've hit it i've carried on anyway ! 

Its all about the rakeback in these although unfortunately those new lower levels are nearly unbeatable due to the higher % of rake to the blinds.  Caps gets a bit of blame for decline in other games which is very unfair as it attracts a different type of player and often one u wont see playing the other game types.  There are no caps on the other 2 or 3 sites I used to play yet they have similar declines in traffic for all the common reasons we all know about and have been discussed before for not just O8 type games.

Agree u would like the 18mans , I played them a few years ago when 7 s and 15s ran all day.   Looking now there is 1 $7 and no 15s.  Its all $3.5 and $1.5 that's there's loads of running early evening.

Anyway back to vegas stuff, nice wishlist.   $1500 is 24th not 23rd so only the "bad" clash from my (maybe your) is the BIG O and PLO8 at nugget on the 23rd.  Obv still wynn aria and planet Hollywood schedules to come but I expect 0-1 games to appeal to me from each of these.

I will take 1% if you still selling , if not put me on a reserve list

Sorry Robert, I missed this one.

Yes, 1% booked, thank you, & the list on p2755 amended.

The PH schedule came out today, & you were correct, nothing to interest you, just 2 x $150 PLO & 1 x $150 PLO8, & one of those clashes with a Venetian $600 PLO.

I had a look at the 'Stars traffic this afternoon for the PLO & PLO8 18 mans - nothing was running when I looked. May have another look later.

[Machka]

Hi tikay, busy much lately?

I missed the chance to have a vested interest in your Vegas trip last year, so if I may, could I have 5% of whatever you play in this year?  (Happy to reduce to 1% if you sell out and others still want to buy something).

Busy? Busy fool, some might say, but yes. Guess you saw the thread next door, when I was getting beaten up a treat, lol.

For the most part, people did not give me a hard time, but some actually think I'm responsible & get a bit arsey. Quite why a man should be berated for going to work & doing his bloody job is another matter altogether, but whatever. Twitter was fine, or the stuff directed at me was, Facebook not so much. I don't have Facebook any more, but some well-meaning friends sent me some of the nasty personal stuff directed at me. I wish they had not sent it, to be honest, it's a bit hurtful, & I'd rather I had not seen it. I'm far less sensitive to it than I used to be though. Just as well, I've had a fair bit of practice.....

How is Leo (NOT Leon!) these days. Sorted out a career path yet?

You still got that Beemer?

I've reserved 5% for you, thank you very much. You can reduce that % if it comes to a bit much, I don't mind at all, & anyway, it is all non-binding at present.

Did you go see Britannia the other week, when she arrived at Southampton?

Must have been quite a sight to behold. I planned to go see her, but the dates fell really badly for me. I'll try & get down next time she is in. Best way is to get the IOW ferry, & time the return to coincide with her departure. The big cruise liners usually leave berth late afternoon, so I catch the 4pm ferry back, it works well, get a great view of them steaming (?) out of port. 

Click to see full-size image.

I thought the thread next door was surprisingly light considering what was at stake.  Or maybe I've just become far too accustomed to trolls and keyboard warriors these days.  But then I'm not the one having to take all the flack.  You handled it very well as usual.

I don't tend to See too much negative posting about you these days on Facebook, leaving it was probably a wise decision.

Leo is great thanks, 14 now and he's just picked his school options for next year.  Triple science, 2 computing subjects, and some other subjects he has interests in.  Do kids know what they really want to do as a career at that age?  I certainly didn't.  As far as I'm concerned as long as he has a decent rounded education under his belt then any career is a possibility.

Still have the 520D, running like a dream and still as nice to drive as the day I got it.  Do you still have yours or have you changed it as I know you seem to update yours on a regular basis?

I did see Britannia, I wasn't going to see it specifically but passed down by Southampton docks and it's pretty hard to miss it if you are in that area, it really was pretty impressive to see even from a distance.

Glad to see you're getting into some science books these days, some recommendations I made 2 years ago which you said you would add to your Foyles list that should still definitely be on there:

Quarks, gluons, quasers, leptons, mesons, quartons, & even pentaquarks...

Now that brings me onto one of the authors I was going to recommend, Richard Feynman.

I did notice that there was a recommendation for one of his light reading books on your diary before by Bongo called Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Surely-Youre-Joking-Feynman-Adventures/dp/009917331X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

A few more great books by Mr Feynman that are definitely worth a read are

Six Easy Pieces - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Easy-Pieces-Fundamentals-Explained/dp/0140276661/ref=pd_sim_b_4

No Ordinary Genius - http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Ordinary-Genius-Sykes/dp/039331393X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366061380&sr=1-1
...

[tikay]

Just seen your 'next door' news. Bet you've been busy.

I've had many great times on the show in the past......my god, eight years!

The plan going forward with more preplanned content looks like a viable one to me, especially if a lot of that is on Sky Sports, Challenge and other much easier to find channels than one being very near to, ahem, those phone lady channels.

Eventually got round to this, Barry. It was all a bit raw on Thursday, & I was too close to the action, could not see the wood for trees, so I wanted to leave it for a day or two, for better context, to let the dust settle. 

Busy? I love busy, but yeah, the e-Mails & PM's were flying in all directions. A very intense week.

The last 861 Show? - I was so pre-occupied with the moment, that the significance of it sort of passed me by. Curiously, perhaps, I also did ther last show for Wm Hill TV (Poker 425) & good old Poker Night Live. I was not originaly booked to do that Show, but 24 hours prior, they asked me to step in & do it, on the "safe pair of hands" logic I gather. Oddly, I had already been booked for what we all thought would be the final 861 Show on March 31st. Rather fittingly it was due to be with Orford, as we were the only survivors (front of camera) for all 8.5 years.

Prior to the Show, it was all hands on deck, as the date had been suddenly moved forward 2 weeks. It was due to come off air on March 31st, but Compliance issues around the teleshopping licence (due to the changed situation with ownership of SB&G) reared their ugly head. Poker players don't get to hear or see much about Compliance, but it's a very very serious matter, as you know, & nobody takes any chances with it.

After the Show, feedback moved into a new phase, with all the understandable negativity from those who enjoyed watching the Shows. As I know you enjoy the thought processes in these things, remarkable similarities are developing with the negativity towards Amaya after they took over 'Stars. Everyone was hating on Amaya, & yet all the decisions (be they good or bad) were still being made by the incumbent - & very good - 'Stars Management.

So now, Next Door, much of the feedback is hating on CVC, the new owners of SB&G. And of course they had nothing to do with the changes, they had zero input. All they have done is say "let's expand quicker", & have encouraged the recruitment of 90 additional staff at Head Office to help build a better platform & fuel the growth. 90! That's some expansion.

Quite how the news stayed off the radar for so long is a miracle. Those connected with the Channel have been aware it was "under review" for some 3 months, we were all kept up to date via e-Mail, & were eventually informed a week or two back that 861 would cease on March 31, & be replaced by Sky Poker TV, several weeks ago. Then, out of the blue, it got moved forward to 19th March, which wrong-footed us all.  

As many can attest - there were at least 20 people in Trickett's Room at the time @ DTD one night during UKPC (mid February) - when x (very well known Poker Pro) walked in & said to me, within earshot of everyone - "sorry to hear 861 is closing".

I nearly died, & was squirming with embarrassment. He's a good mate, a great mate, of many years standing, maybe 10 years. And I had to feign ignorance & make out I never knew. But I KNEW he knew. A horrible moment.

So yes, an interesting time, one way & another.

I make no apology for writing at length about this - it's been a large part of my life for eight & a half years, & this is my diary. So more follows. Look away now, I don't care, as it's quite personal to me.  

[tikay]

The best thing, for me, is I can look back on it & say "no regrets, I did my absolute best, & never left a bean on the table".

I ain't no Jonathon Ross or Parky, but I gave it my best, & thats all that matters to me.

In 8 years, I never once missed a booked Show, or threw a sickie, be it a "convenient sickie" or not. Never missed one.

Before every single Show, I'd prepare very carefully, get some sleep midday for an hour or so, then research, research research.

I knew the nitty gritty of every current Promo, no autocue or prompts needed. Autocue makes us sound wooden, but I could ad-lib every single fact.

I'd research all the main MTT results of the week, too, so I could namecheck as many winners as possible, without prompting, & as & when it was suitable. Players really appreciate a namecheck, especially when the "little guys" bink a win. It's their moment of glory, & to have their name read out on TV meant a lot to them. Love it when regular guys win, love it. 

In those respects, & excuse the lack of false modesty, but I was the best they had, & I never let them down once. It was, after all, a Teleshopping Channel essentially, there to promote the business. Oddly, when we simulcast with Sky Sports, we were abso BANNED from Teleshopping.

Teleshopping involves what are known as calls to action.

Register NOW for the 8pm Main

plenty of seats at the Mastercash Tables.

Don't Forget Viva Las Vegas is up & running.

That sort of stuff.   

As an Analyst? Not so much, I was bottom of the league, & it's not even close. (Ryan was the total best, not even close, love that lad).

I can teach absolute NLH newbies better than anyone actually, but beyond that, no, I was a crap analyst, total crap.

I almost never play, & I deffo don't much enjoy, NLH these days, but it is over 90% of the traffic. I could discuss PLO & PLO8 with some confidence & ability, yes, but the console the Channel used was not able to show the 4 card game.   

Anyway, it's over now, but no regrets here, none at all.

What next for me?

[tikay]

Well I only had official confirmation that I would be part of the new Sky Poker TV (front of camera) a few days ago as it happens, though I knew my behind the scenes role would continue.

With just one x 2 hour Show per week, & several Analysts, I'll not be doing many Shows in the future, though a quirk of scheduling (the rosters for March were agreed 3 or 4 weeks ago, before everything changed) I'm currently booked to do the first 2 new Shows. Whether I will, I don't know, I'm quite happy to step aside if need be, & give one of the other lads one or both of the first 2 Shows. Not my decision, of course.

Sky Poker TV is 95% certain to do Vegas this year, & if so, it's confirmed I'll do the front of camera stuff, so thats one job in the book, hopefully. I love working in Vegas. 

I'm currently heavily researching Twitch, learning the ropes, they want me to do Twitch sessions. I'm acutely uncomfy with this, but I'll give it a bash. Who the hell wants to watch nitty me play poker? I can do a great job teaching newbies, yes, of course, but how do you target the abso newbie Twitch Market, even if it exists? They are all hardcore types from what I can see so far, the serious sorts who bang on all day about range merging & the ideal 4 bet fold spots. I can't do that stuff, to me, poker is a game we recreationals should play with a carefree smile & enjoy. It's NOT serious, ever. Anyway, I'll be giving Twitch a bash, lol.

Content? That's my main thrust right now, writing Content. I have had 9 or 10 articles published in the last 10 days, mostly on Sky Poker, but also on SportingLife.com (same ownership as Sky Poker) which has a massive audience, & of course Bluff Europe Magazine.

I need to write better, a lot better, but freed from 861 distractions, I think I can. I love writing, but I'm aware of my limitations.

So, every day, I open up the lappie & the first thing I do is check my "click count" for yesterday, lol. We measure them very accurately & precisely. Oddly, I find it very satisfying to see the little graph going up & down. A little piece I had published yesterday, written in a hurry, got amazingly good clicks. I'm still experimenting with what works best. I write like I analyse poker - badly - but I know I can improve, & build an audience. Quite excited by that.

My most "successful" (relatively....) piece so far was the Guide To Vegas, Part One. Why? "Vegas" is such a great SEO Keyword, it's that simple. Good Keywords begat lots of clicks.   

You Tube, I'll be doing a ton of on-Message stuff for You Tube. These are as valuable as written Content, but there is a knack to doing them in an effective (click grabbing) way. 

I still "look after" the Forum Next Door. It's like blonde in some ways, subject to mood swings, & it needs working to keep the mood bright. Moany woany Forums are of no interest to me. Poker players - us - are remarkably fickle, & the smallest thing that goes wrong gets blown up right out of proportion. When a Table loads slowly it's not ideal, no, but missing one hand hardly seems much of an inconvenience to my mind. I guess if you sit in the back bedroom grinding all day, yeah, some of these guys have a very narrow range of interests in life, & it annoys them to death. What a life they must lead when that's the worst fate to befall them, a software lag, or a forum thread. It should not happen of course, but it does, & it always will. The riggies exercise me, too, jeez, these people, what's that all about? If I don't like an Online poker room, I know what I do, there are hundreds of sites out there. Still, I enjoy the challenge of keeping the place cheerful & upbeat, & every morning I'm out of bed at 5am & can't wait to start "work".

Some other interesting stuff on my desk, too, for Sky Poker TV, but I'd best keep that under wraps for now. 

UKPC - I've still got that on my desk, & negotiations for those in the future are happening right now, that's my department. At the moment, anyway.

I'm trying to get the SPT's back, too, think they'd dovetail nicely if they alternate with the UKPC's. No commercial value compared to UKPC, none at all, but they deliver feel-good. They won't do them because I suggest it, lol no, but they might just feel the time is right. 

So there it is, closing in on 70 years of age, & still trying new tricks.

No telling how long I'll survive Next Door, I don't have a long-term contract, they can bin me without notice. I hope they don't, but I'll not bat an eyelid if they do, I've given them my best shot, & I have other job offers on the table if I ever need them.

Changing times for me, testing times, challenging. I'm excited.   

[tikay]

And blonde?

It's a Forum, & a lovely one imo, but Forums are dying, they just are.

I chatted to Tom for an hour one day this week, & the matter of blonde's survival arose.

Tom nailed it, of course. It's uphill, some of us are really trying hard to rev it up a bit, but I'm not convinced it is sustainable. Tom - & several others, are making an effort, to be fair. You can't push water uphill though. 

I'd hate it to die a slow death, gradually getting less & less interest. I'd bail out if it dropped much below current levels, for sure. Don't want that to happen, but I have a ton of stuff I want to do before Dr Reaper comes a knocking. 

It does exercise me that people take it for granted though. It's free to view, & you don't have to support our Sponsor at all. And yet people treat it like shit sometimes, with no thought or concern that it damages blonde, their sense of entitlement is totally misplaced. It costs them nothing to use, & hopefully enjoy, & yet they think nothing of being disrespectful to it. They have no right to do so, none at all, it's a freeroll, they don't pay a penny piece to use it. IMO, of course. If it were not here, or if they had to pay for access, they'd miss it, for sure.     

Guess I could lose my job, & blonde, in the next 12 months. Or keep both. It's the uncertainty, the insecurity, that drives us on.

And breathe.

If only there were more hours in the day, or days in the week. 

All good though. My worst nightmare would to be bored. I simply can't imagine the horror of being bored.   

Ooh, a Sunday morning look in the mirror.

On with the diary, back to backhoe excavators, strange quarks, & concrete.

[RED-DOG]

I don't understand the clicks count thing Tone.

As far as I can see the only thing that matters is the title, after that the article could be totally brilliant or absoluter dross, it wouldn't matter, the click would still count.