Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

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Erik Seidel
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@Erik_Seidel
 20m20 minutes ago
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Woke up to the sad news that backgammon legend Paul Magriel (X-22) has passed away. He changed the game w his book, was a generous & enthusiastic teacher, he changed my life & the lives of many others

Oh my.

Well I suppose it was not at all unexpected, he had not been a well man for many years, though last year was the best physical shape (relatively...) he'd been in for some years I rather thought.

I hope the poker pros, including the youngsters, pay their respects, he was, in his time, an extremely bright & clever guy, though of course substance abuse appeared to take it's toll in later years.

Jen Mason will be upset, I imagine. At one time, she was ghost-writing a book for him. It began in Vegas 1 year, I was there with Jen for blonde, & Paul would pop in every day to discuss matters with Jen. Paul being Paul, the wheels never quite fitted & that particular book was never completed.

In latter years, I shared tables with Paul on many an occasion. He was, physically, such a mess 2 or 3 years ago that I could barely look at him, but it never seemed to bother him. His mind was wonderfully sharp though, he knew the odds of every combo on every street. The kids rolled their eyes when he used to make some unorthodox calls, but he knew the precise odds, & if he had the price, he was calling.

World class Backgammon player, too.

Yikes, that's all quite distressing.

RIP Paul, quack quack.  

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Fair to say, I hope not disrespectfully, he was never the best looking guy in town, but his physical decline in the last decade was remarkable.

Click to see full-size image.

 

[typhoon13]

Yeah I shared a table with him last year, nice guy, liked to apply pressure and get em in

Big shame

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Again, no disrespect to either party, but he always put me in mind of Mr Camel. Both of them very bright, of course. 
 

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Yeah I shared a table with him last year, nice guy, liked to apply pressure and get em in

Big shame

At Venetian, unless I'm mistaken? He played several PLO8 affairs there last year.

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He had something of a physical facial "tic" or mannerism, when he was in thought, his tongue came out & he sort of licked his lips, like below. It was completely involuntary as far as I could see. 

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Here's Paul in his backgammon days, (left, spectacles) this was in Greece of all places.


 

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Paul at the World Backgammon Championships, 2005.

That has to be Kara Scott, too, I think, & might that be Jesse May in the middle?

Click to see full-size image.

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Back in the day he had a nice line in jackets, too.

[typhoon13]

Yeah I shared a table with him last year, nice guy, liked to apply pressure and get em in

Big shame

At Venetian, unless I'm mistaken? He played several PLO8 affairs there last year.

No Sir, your favourite place PH

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Guess I'd best stop waffling, Paul was old school, & "who gives a shit?" sorta thing.

My evening walk awaits, tonight it will fly by as the memories of a great character fill my mind.

Age sucks.   

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One last comment, here's Paul's Wiki page. I had quite forgotten that he was the fella that first came up with "M-Ratio" in poker.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Magriel

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Age sucks.   

It beats the alternatives.

[Kev B]

RIP Paul. He was on my table once playing the daily Aria comp. Remember thinking times must be hard given the big games he's played in. I'm shocked to see how he deteriorated in that photo.

[Doobs]

Hey Tony

Do you ever watch Talonchick's twitch channel?  I didn't rate her much before I saw it, but she has game.  I have definitely warmed to her.  Her kids show up every so often and I think she is a natural for it. 

Most of her content is O8, though you'll have to put up with NLO8 too.   Monday night is the big PLO8 tourney on stars, so that is your best bet.  She usually late regs at 9 or so uk.   If she isn't there, you often get Lex instead and he definitely has game.

I think you'll enjoy it.  The final table song is bloody awful though, and you have to be ready to switch off some of the songs in the break! Don't let it put you off, would recommend.

No.

In fact, I'll be honest, I don't ever recall watching anyone's Twitch stream.

I will give that a go next Monday though. Where would I find it? I've got a full Sky Subscription, so I've got all the channels.

"final table song".

Wait. It has music?

FFS.

Clever linking to the word "row" though David, wp, wp.

Click to see full-size image.

https://www.twitch.tv/talonchick

I tend to just have it on in the corner if I am playing, unless I am out of space on the screen.   She has a song that she puts on when she reaches the final table.  It isn't up there with Flo and Joan and root canal work, but still pretty annoying.

She has now left Stars and won't be streaming so much in future, which is a shame.