Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[4KSuited]

There's some seriously wasted talent on here.....

😉

[bobAlike]

There's some seriously wasted talent on here.....

😉

Combination of booze, drugs and hot weather:)

[tikay]

http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-warren-buffett-trolled-by-crypto-miner-billboards-2018-5-1024983564

I feel like Mr Buffett will survive this. Just a hunch.

Enjoying the signature, RedMogg. Tempus don't arf fugit.

Yes, I think he'll just about manage.

I had a read of those links, which explain how bitcoins are created, or "mined" as they call it.

I don't know nearly enough about crypto currencies to enter the wider debate, but deep down, I'm very sceptical of the whole thing, the process whereby (perceived?) value is created out of nothing. I can understand basic stocks & shares, what they represent, & how we can assess & measure their value, & what protection the Authorities give me. I can't begin to do that with crypto currency stuff, Bitcoin & the like, & it all seems a bit Wild West to me.

Anyway, I hope those who invest in Bitcoin get the lot, I really do.   

[tikay]

On a sad personal note, Gill was made redundant 2 weeks ago, which has put a dampener on things, & saddened me more than I care to admit.

She's been at the same place 10 years or so, never missed a day through sickness or absence of any sort, works unpaid overtime regularly & generally been a good egg. Life's unfair sometimes.

It's not an immediate crisis, she's got 10 years redundancy & 12 weeks wages, so no immediate financial pressure. As it happens, today is her last day, so it's all a bit emosh right now.

Fingers crossed she gets fixed up soon. It might cause problems with our annual Vegas jaunt, too, but hopefully we can work round that.

Gill is doing really well with job interviews, had 4 or 5, & all of them gone well.

Her very first one, which was on a Tuesday, was nerve-wracking, but when she arrived back home there was a message waiting - "can you come back on Friday to meet The Big Boss?" 

So that was jolly exciting. Friday morning, whilst she was getting all dolled up & ready to set off, they rung her to say they had given the job to someone else.

I've never applied for a job in my life, or even been unemployed, (watch this space.....), but the emosh ups & downs must be awful.

She's since had several interviews - Vodafone, Bet365 & a few others, & made the 2nd interview in every case. She is being interviewed by DHL today, so that's another iron in the fire.

Bet365 offered her a job after two rigorous interviews, though the hours are very unsocial & the greengages not too good, but it's "one in the bank", so if nothing else materialises, at least she has a job when she gets back from Vegas at end of June.

I'd really like for her to be sorted before she comes to Vegas (June 16th), as she will be worrying & fretting (understandably) if she does not have a job to come home to. 

 

[celtic]

On a sad personal note, Gill was made redundant 2 weeks ago, which has put a dampener on things, & saddened me more than I care to admit.

She's been at the same place 10 years or so, never missed a day through sickness or absence of any sort, works unpaid overtime regularly & generally been a good egg. Life's unfair sometimes.

It's not an immediate crisis, she's got 10 years redundancy & 12 weeks wages, so no immediate financial pressure. As it happens, today is her last day, so it's all a bit emosh right now.

Fingers crossed she gets fixed up soon. It might cause problems with our annual Vegas jaunt, too, but hopefully we can work round that.

That come back friday then get a phone call saying someone else got it is horrible.

Gill is doing really well with job interviews, had 4 or 5, & all of them gone well.

Her very first one, which was on a Tuesday, was nerve-wracking, but when she arrived back home there was a message waiting - "can you come back on Friday to meet The Big Boss?" 

So that was jolly exciting. Friday morning, whilst she was getting all dolled up & ready to set off, they rung her to say they had given the job to someone else.

I've never applied for a job in my life, or even been unemployed, (watch this space.....), but the emosh ups & downs must be awful.

She's since had several interviews - Vodafone, Bet365 & a few others, & made the 2nd interview in every case. She is being interviewed by DHL today, so that's another iron in the fire.

Bet365 offered her a job after two rigorous interviews, though the hours are very unsocial & the greengages not too good, but it's "one in the bank", so if nothing else materialises, at least she has a job when she gets back from Vegas at end of June.

I'd really like for her to be sorted before she comes to Vegas (June 16th), as she will be worrying & fretting (understandably) if she does not have a job to come home to. 

 

[tikay]

Vinni seems to have trouble with his quoting skills, so I'll assist;



That come back friday then get a phone call saying someone else got it is horrible.


Just a bit. I suppose it might be better than a "false" interview when the job has already gone, but it seemed pretty cruel to me.

How is your job situation now Vinni? Still sitting comfy with Mr Galfond & RIO?

I hear that Bet365 will likely relocate to Malta after Brexit, & have already purchased the Office Blocks etc that they need. That'd be a right shot in the arm for the economy in Malta. (That's the Bet365 operation currently based in Gibralter, not the Stoke crew). Think they have 1,000+ plus staff in Gib currently, so quite a big deal. 

[celtic]

Vinni seems to have trouble with his quoting skills, so I'll assist;



That come back friday then get a phone call saying someone else got it is horrible.


Just a bit. I suppose it might be better than a "false" interview when the job has already gone, but it seemed pretty cruel to me.

How is your job situation now Vinni? Still sitting comfy with Mr Galfond & RIO?

I hear that Bet365 will likely relocate to Malta after Brexit, & have already purchased the Office Blocks etc that they need. That'd be a right shot in the arm for the economy in Malta. (That's the Bet365 operation currently based in Gibralter, not the Stoke crew). Think they have 1,000+ plus staff in Gib currently, so quite a big deal. 

I done a great job of quoting there! Apologies.

Heard Bet365 on their way, think there is something like 400 gaming companies based in Malta. Pretty incredible really.

As for RIO, I'm enjoying it a lot. Been here three months and the people are great. It's a little quiet at the moment for some of us as we wait for the launch, but there is some stuff in between to keep us occupied.

Phil is really hands on with the project which is good, and the developers and programmers are all working ridic hard to get it right before launch. I really hope it succeeds. We've had a couple of BETA sessions with players from around the world and the have gone relatively smoothly, so hopefully it will be launched fully in the summer.

[tikay]

It's a very interesting time to be launching an Online Poker site, but I hope it goes well.

I'm assuming it will have X-sell to Gaming sites - slots, Casino, Sports Betting - as it'll be a bit of a struggle without them, the whole Online Poker business these days relies on X-Sell. As a general rule, for every £ spent on the Online Poker site, X£ (a big multiple) finds it's way across to the other Products.

'Stars used to be pure poker, of course, but those days are long gone, for better or worse, it's not really a model that works well these days.

Mr Galfond seems to have his finger on the pulse, so I'm sure it'll go well whatever the model is.

When DTD began it was pure poker, of course, but market forces & economics soon changed that. There's just not enough money in poker as a standalone, & of course earnings are capped to a degree. The market is not exactly growing fast - if at all - either.   

Family all OK mate?

[tikay]

This one is huge http://www.starsgroup.com/press-center/the-stars-group-news/the-stars-group-to-acquire-sky-betting-and-gaming-for-4-7-billion-

Hope the above is a positive for you Pops would love your thoughts on it

Morning Barry.

My OCD is really bad right now, & until I answer all questions I can't put up the Vegas Staking stuff (OCD is a truly weird thing, but really powerful), so I'll try to deal with that one next, & then I can stick the Staking Thread up.  

Prior to the announcement, &, to a degree, since, SB&G staff have been in a sort of purdah, so I can only discuss what is in the domain, but you'll get the drift.

[tikay]

So, 'Stars are buying SB&G.

It only needs 'Stars to be purchased by Ryanair, & I'll complete the hat-trick of working for (or worked for....) Businesses which appear to be the butt of Team Hate jibes.

The background.

Just over 3 years ago, CVC purchased SB&G for a price that valued SB&G at £800 million.

3 years & 1 month later, 'Stars purchased SB&G at a price that valued SB&G at £3.4 billion. That's some ROI for CVC, & the most amazing thing is that growth has come in just three years & is 100% by organic growth - no takeovers, no financial engineering, just pure growth. The SB&G Directors had 10% of the action, too, &, imo, deserved every penny.

As a student of business - nearly a third of the 1,500 books I've accumulated in my lifetime are Business books - it's been thrill-a-minute stuff for me to have a ringside seat as SB&G growth just went up & up.

TSG (The Stars Group) purchased SB&G primarily to get their hands on the expertise of Sky Bet, but the rest of the Products are all very successful too.

It's wonderful news for all - well almost all - of the SB&G Staff, as the Business will go global now, & I'll explain why shortly. So there was much rejoicing in Leeds, as job opportunities across the globe should soon become available.

"Almost all"? Well Poker might be in a different box, but I'll come to that in a bit.

More follows.....

 

[tikay]

When Sky TV sold SB&G in 2015, they granted SB&G a licence to use the Sky Brand for 25 years. 22 years of that Licence remain valid.

However, it ONLY applies in Licensed/Regulated jurisdictions. Currently, 'Stars operate in around 100 markets across the globe, but only 17 of them are fully licensed & regulated. (Since the takeover was announced, everything ramped up of course as the USA changed it's stance on Online Sports Betting, so that really ups the ante).

Currently, Sky Bet & some of it's family of products operate in 3 Countries - UK/RoI, Italy & Germany.

The basic plan is that Sky Bet will replace the BetStars brand & run the Sports Betting operation in the licensed/regulated domains. What a great opportunity for the Sky Bet staff, could not be more exciting. It's unclear at present (to me) who will run the Sports Betting side in unlicensed/unregulated markets.

Poker? Well it's easy to guess the likely outcome, but in fact there are a lot of ways of skinning that cat, so we will have to wait & see.

Almost my biggest dread is not having a job, I adore working, so it's a bit of a worry, to put it mildly, & it's hard to imagine what use TSG might have for  a septuagenarian. I'm not blind to the likely outcome for me, but you never know.

The takeover will be complete in a few months, & integration is expected to take 12 to 18 months. (I'd make that 18 to 24 at a guess).  

Top of the integration list will be Sports Betting, obv, Poker won't be a priority, but at some point it will get sorted.

I was shitting a brick at first, but as more details emerged, it started to become apparent that, at worst, I'm not down the road in the next few weeks, & you never know, I may survive for a year or more. And at my age, I'm not sure it makes too much sense to worry about what may or may not happen in 6/12/18 months. I might be down the road in 2 months, or it could be 12 or 24. What will be will be. They might even come up with an option whereby Sky Poker retains it's brand & I still have a job. Or 'Stars might offer me something. Stranger things have happened, but not many....

So my original doom & gloom has been replaced by a slightly more realistic mood. I was even thinking of cancelling my Vegas trip at one point, but once the dust settled I realised that the immediacy was not round the corner. (Hope I've not bokked myself there...).        

[tikay]

When the news first broke, at around 10am on the Saturday morning, I could barely believe my eyes.

Sure, we were in play, & a deal was expected, but I never even considered it might be 'Stars.

I just stared at my computer screen, jaw wide open. Wow.

It was just rumours at first, but the source was Sky News, so that was a clue.

Then, at 1.30pm, The Business issued an (internal) Press Release.

Yes, a deal had been signed after an all night session on the Friday. The plan was to go public at 7am on the Monday, but some technicalities with NASDAQ & Toronto Stack Exchange (TSG are listed on both) meant that TSG had to make an announcement right away, therefore SB&G had the same problem.

It really deflated me at first, I was totally shocked. Excited, & pleased for The Business, yes, but on a personal note, I was devastated.

Monday arrived, & a series of presentations were made by Richard Flint to all the Staff. There are 2 Offices in Leeds, 1 in Sheffield, another in Hammersmith, plus Germany & Italy, & presentation to all of them were made in person by Richard Flint or one of the Board Members. All of them were streamed, so I was able to watch the lot.

Meanwhile, on the Saturday, as the news broke, I had "my" players to look after, Next Door.

What do I tell them? 

More follows....


 

[tikay]

As news filtered though on the Saturday, all of the Poker staff (there are only a handful of us, as Central Management takes care of a lot of stuff such as CRM, G-Ops, Finance, Security, Accounts, Data etc) were chatting on our private Slack Channel.

So I said to my boss "WTF am I supposed to tell the players?"

He gave me the best answer ever.

"We genuinely don't know how it will pan out yet, so just play it with a straight bat".

Exactly what I needed, so that's how I handled it. BAU for now, just carry on as we are, & as soon as we know more, we'll tell you".  

Meanwhile.....

[tikay]

Within minutes, threads began appearing on the Forum Next Door.

Exactly what I expected, too. "The end is nigh", "More Rake is Better", & so on. Poker players are nothing if not predictable.

And now it got funny, as these 3 statements were posted by the same person, presumably 100% oblivious to the irony of his words.

About time too, Sky Bet are a shower of shit & can't be trusted.

'Stars are a shower of shit, & can't be trusted. 

First thing 'Stars will do is close the Forum.


I still think about those 3 comments every day, & have a little smile to myself. Not hard to understand why Poker Sites closed their Forums, is it?

Anyway, we shall see.

For now, it's BAU.

I'll do my job as well as I can, for as long as I can, & I'll look after "my" players as long as I can. The rest is outwith my control.   

So there it is. If Barry or Pleno, who both asked questions, want any more background, just ask. Please bear in mind some stuff about the takeover is not for public consumption yet. Interesting times, a real case of don't know whether to laugh or cry.

OK, now I can get the Staking Thread sorted, my OCD has given me the green light.

[tikay]

My Vegas Poker Schedule follows next for those who fancy a bit of vicarious Vegas action, rather late I'm afraid, but, you know, this & that got in the way.

As always, it's indicative only.

Making Day 2 (I'm nothing if not optimistic), tiredness, health, whatever, might mean changes, but buyers will be buying a % of total action played, so it makes no odds if I play a little less, or more (2nd bullets etc) than the schedule.  

One of the bigger events will be the $1,500 Mixed Omaha jobbie on 16th June. It starts at 3pm at The Rio, but Gill arrives that day & I'll be meeting her at the Airport. I'll not play the event if her plane is badly delayed, as I want to be at the Airport, obv, & I'll only play if she is OK to be on her own on her first afternoon/evening. She's fine on her own in Vegas, but unless she is 100% comfy, I'll have to give it a miss. So that one is a 50/50 jobbie at the moment.

We will use today's "spot" for the £-$ rate, 1.33.

Dividends (if any....) will be repaid at spot on the day I pay them, which will be within 14 days of my return home.

I fly out on Thursday, & the first Event will be a little $365 affair on Saturday June 2nd.  I'll close the sale of action at 4pm local on Saturday, which is midnight Saturday in the UK.

You can buy any amount you wish - 0.5%, 1%, 2.%, 2.5%, 5%, or a round number (£50, £100 etc) whatever you wish.

My regular buyers, my season ticket holders if you like, are all guaranteed whatever they wish.

Generally, I cap it at 50%, but what with this & that, I'll be surprised if I shift half of that this year, so I don't think I need to worry too much about selling out.

I still play a bit of poker, & my head seems to be in OK shape, & physically, I'm in far better nick than this time last year.

Finally, here's what is known as a masterpiece of understatement;





Perhaps, more realistically;

Click to see full-size image.