Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[EvilPie]

I'm amazed that someone who enjoys tinned tomatoes as much and as frequently as you do hasn't realised that the quality of whole tinned tomatoes is vastly superior to the tins of ready chopped.

Having tried them for the first time recently I'm amazed that more people don't just buy fresh tomatoes and smash them to pieces themselves.

[EvilPie]

How much do I need to take to put you on 50%?

Happy to go anywhere between 1% and 5% but I hate the thought of you losing money and less than half of it being yours.

[tikay]

It would seem I am alone on this thread with my refined palate.

Tinned whole plum tomatoes are excellent, yes, but one has plum toms with a fried breakfast.

What you guys need to do is elevate your aims & aspirations as to food, &, if I may make so bold, show a little class.

THIS is what a proper diet dinner looks like, OK?

What price you are all hungry now? One thought as much.

nom non nom. 

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

How much do I need to take to put you on 50%?

Happy to go anywhere between 1% and 5% but I hate the thought of you losing money and less than half of it being yours.

Very good Matthew, very good. I lose enough already with staking others, tyvm.

I'll have a look at the numbers shortly, (also in reply to Mr Dickie).

I'm not madly bothered by a few % either side of 50%, but it's getting a bit tight, & it would look bad if I sold much more than 50% or 55%, as if I'm trying to get a freeroll.

I'm most grateful & a little surprised, truth to tell, but I'll do as tot-up later today, & see where we are.

In theory, I head off 3 weeks today. I'm a little bit excited, as in, nearly wetting myself.

[Karabiner]

Is that why you have to hold your willy when you get excited?

[Machka]

It would seem I am alone on this thread with my refined palate.

Tinned whole plum tomatoes are excellent, yes, but one has plum toms with a fried breakfast.

What you guys need to do is elevate your aims & aspirations as to food, &, if I may make so bold, show a little class.

THIS is what a proper diet dinner looks like, OK?

What price you are all hungry now? One thought as much.

nom non nom. 

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

I don't have time to photoshop your dinner...

Fit for a King.

Proper 5 star a-la carte.

Click to see full-size image.

So here's one I prepared earlier...

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Can you PM your bank details please Mr T, thanks.

Apologies for getting all behind, I've now sent you my Bank Details via PM.

[tikay]

Oh you better worry about cashing this time! Wasn't it zero cashes last year, embarrassing, I mean let's get back on it this time around! None of this 'I am a weak player and a pussy' talk either!

How much you want? Same deets?

Last year? Don't remind me, it plays on my mind non-stop - "have I lost it?"


We shall see.

Yes, same bank details as previously.

You are down for 5%, which is £425, but if you'd prefer to take a little less, it is not a problem, I'm well oversold & have a reserve list, so it won't be a problem. But if you want 5%, that's great, & you are booked.

No way I want a piece of the cake when you win the bracelet, £425 sent. Need a bit of ass busting for my money tho. You can play this game as well as the next man so don't forget it, just feel the hunger, like Fast Eddie Felson in The Colour of Money!

Oh and good news, Sky commissioned our Golf Juice show!

Is it really 11 days since I (failed to) reply.......

Colour of Money? I think the current fashion is more in the Any Given Sunday area.

Honestly, confidence ebbs & flows, it just does,. Of course I self doubt, all the time. Last year was so mixed, a big profit in the UK, & knocked the lot in out in Vegas.  Anyway, all I can promise is I'll try my very hardest, & you'll get no excuses or moany woany bad beat stories.

Incred news on the Golf Show. The power of TV is very much in decline, but even so, this should be huge for that golf business thing. Good luck.

[tikay]

Mention of "same Bank Details" got me thinking.

I don't tend to change much unless I'm forced to, but this must tell me something about my nature.

Same bank account since about 1983. 

Same personal e-Mail addy since 1997.

Same mobile phone number since 1987.

Same house since 1980.

Same job since 2006. (& only 2 jobs, lifetime, before that).

[/i]

There are scores of similar examples. I'm easily pleased, I guess.

Excellent, that saved me asking the question about bank details since it's been a couple of years since I have 'invested' in your Vegas adventures.  Turns out I would have been safe transferring the money to the same place after a couple of decades.

£425 sent, well, give me 2 minutes and it will be.

As an aside I have really enjoyed all the Sky Sport Sky Poker TV shows so far.

Over the last couple of years I had only caught the occasional show as I had been preoccupied with other things outside the poker world.

I think with the more focused 2 hour show a week I find it easier to find the time to sit down and watch it.  Glad to see the return of the studio challenge format with the leaderboard.  I've been watching and quietly railing during most of them, watching your delayed reaction on screen to wins and losses is pretty entertaining for the viewer.  Less so for you when you're being bluffed off a pot with Q high!

Don't think I replied to this, either.

It was a funny spot, when he shoved on me with Q high, though I felt a tad better when I showed my J high.

Did the Show again last night. It was a D I S A S T E R.

Lasted about 20 minutes, barely won a pot, struggled to spin all the required plates, & the Show got a bit of a panning Next Door. Apart from that, all good.

I was in a funny spot last night, trying to play, analyse, prompt the Guests, bla bla, & I fell between all the stools. Such is life.

 

[tikay]

a bit of history then Tikay,as you asked.
bought the shop in a south yorks village in 1987,just before the live pictures came in. just a run down wooden hut with a busy Working Mens Club next door. as you say, they had def "massaged" the figures a bit but it was in a good spot,and with hard work and good customer service we ended up with a shop doing £1 million turnover over the counter (2008).
changes to the "proof of demand" laws meant that when two of my customers wanted to open a shop in the same village i was powerless to stop them. when hearing of their plans i told them that one good shop would become two average ones and sure enough that happened. at the same time expenses were rocketing with turftv entering the picture market and the jobs for the boys Gambling Commission regulating the business. turnover decreasing and expenses increasing is not a good recipe,and i sold out to the "opposition" in Feb 2011.
not sure that i'd like the earlier openings and later closing times that seem to be in force now, and with betfair and mobile apps i'm not sure we'd be doing £1million otc, but i got a good living out of it when the times were good,and diff class been self employed.

What a tale, & the first time I've heard that "proof of demand" thing used that way.

Presumably those guys had some history with you, & were determined to kill your business?

Seems ridic on the face of it.

Anyway, you seem to have coped OK, I'm pleased to hear.

Strange, on reflection, in a relatively short time span, High St Bookies arrived, flourished, dominated, declined, stagnated, & now almost died. All inside, what, 50 years?

High St Travel Agents went the same way, killed by the internet. They used to be hugely popular. 

I would guess Bingo Halls are suffering, too, with the current boom in Online Bingo. Who'd have thought, Online Bingo?

[tikay]

Good morning sir.....Sorry I'm late to the party. Would you please put me on the reserve list for 1% please and pm me your bank details if successful.

Many thanks.

...and yes whole tinned tomatoes > chopped tin toms by far.

GOT THERE!

I have to try & reply in date order, or I forget, so this was the one I was trying to get to.

I've just had a tot-up, I had not intended to sell more than 50%, but we seem to be at 54% as of now, & there might be a few who drop out, so yes, will gladly sell 1% to you, you mad optimistic Dickie.

That will take it to 55%, & I really will have to cut it off there, or it will look bad, as if I'm trying to offload it.

So, if you confirm you want the 1%, let me know, & it'll be booked.  

Thank you.

Incidentally, have nearly finished the Danny Baker book, vol 2 - another excellent read.

He really does tell a good yarn.

He seems to have got lucky so often, but I fancy it's just the glass half-full thing.

He's quite cutting at times, too, deffo not an establishment guy.

So much of the book, & his early success, came from, apparently, The Six O'clock Show - and I never once saw it, or even heard of it. I've never been a casual watcher of TV really, just sort & documentaries mainly.

There was a great profile of the Eagles on Sky Arts 3 or 4 nights ago, a 2 parter which lasted FOUR HOURS.

I only watched it really because, despite the fact Hotel California Hotel is one of those era defining tracks & albums which has defied time, & I love to bits, I've got an ever growing man crush on Joe Walsh. I never realised how much in the drug hole he had fallen, but his Eagles career saved him.

I just want to look as cool as he does. I'd die a happy man if I could carry a suit like that.

Click to see full-size image.

[Tal]

Probably the wrong forum, let alone the wrong thread, but as you have a 93 year old baying for blood, I'll ask you here...

Would it be feasible/fun/good to have a skybet over/under line for the £100 challenge for the players? Be a nice bit of marketing for your bosses. Also, gives some of the viewers a sweat for the show. They get to cheer in river cards (or hope for a brick).

It's obviously a bit of a lottery, but I can see people having some fun with it. Not going to make sky much money of itself, but it'd be an easy "in" for some new accounts.

[tikay]

How much do I need to take to put you on 50%?

Happy to go anywhere between 1% and 5% but I hate the thought of you losing money and less than half of it being yours.

Very good Matthew, very good. I lose enough already with staking others, tyvm.

I'll have a look at the numbers shortly, (also in reply to Mr Dickie).

I'm not madly bothered by a few % either side of 50%, but it's getting a bit tight, & it would look bad if I sold much more than 50% or 55%, as if I'm trying to get a freeroll.

I'm most grateful & a little surprised, truth to tell, but I'll do as tot-up later today, & see where we are.

In theory, I head off 3 weeks today. I'm a little bit excited, as in, nearly wetting myself.

I've done the tot-up Matt, if you are happy with 1%, we are good to go.

The first Stakers Update - ooh - was intended to be next, but it's time to cook me some dinner.

[tikay]

Probably the wrong forum, let alone the wrong thread, but as you have a 93 year old baying for blood, I'll ask you here...

Would it be feasible/fun/good to have a skybet over/under line for the £100 challenge for the players? Be a nice bit of marketing for your bosses. Also, gives some of the viewers a sweat for the show. They get to cheer in river cards (or hope for a brick).

It's obviously a bit of a lottery, but I can see people having some fun with it. Not going to make sky much money of itself, but it'd be an easy "in" for some new accounts.

Ha! How did you spot that? You must have eyes everywhere. He's a nice chap, & we get along fine, but I was struggling to know how to reply to "I want an explanation". Anyway, it's all fine & dandy now.

Fair to say, yeah, been one of those days today..........

I'll reply to the other bit later, really do need to get my dinner cooked.

Hope you enjoyed the Show, Jamie & Daiva were very good I thought. Jamie (Burland) got married this time last year, & Daiva is getting married in a fortnight. I got all broody momentarily.

[Longines]

Can you PM your bank details please Mr T, thanks.

Apologies for getting all behind, I've now sent you my Bank Details via PM.

No problem, £85 winging its way over now.