Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Claw75]

A readers request.

Piece of music by a band beginning with "C".

Coft Cell.

lovely thanks. and fyl.

[tikay]

Trying VERY hard to get an hour a day on here, most days anyway, in 2011. It's only the 6th January, & I'm struggling already, I have such a backlog of stuff to handle, & I'm getting deeper & deeper in the hole.

Ralph - I forgot to reply to your "Torch" question. In truth, my head was in such a mess, I was actually traumatised I think, & I was not thinking straight. If it had occurred to me to ask, I most deffo would! The meal was absolutely magnificent, thank you.

I said nothing about the enormity of my prob at home? True. I never let on how bad things were at home, same reason as above, plus I tend to go into my shell when I have bad situations to handle. I never told anyone, in fact, not even Tom, which is ridic. I can't really explain that peculiar mindset, but it is what it is. I am accountable to myself for everything that happens to me, I don't do the "woe is me, how unlucky am I?" shit, & I don't like spreading that load to others. I'm also a bit peculiar. Maria only found out yesterday, & she was mortified, "why didn't you tell me?". I can't really understand it myself, it's just how I am.

Someone quite close to me mentioned "the flood" a day or two ago, & I unaccountably burst into tears at the enormity of it. Just tiredness, I think, & I'm carrying quite a load right now, one way & another, plus I'm not feeling so good.

All is fine & dandy, though.

Spag Bol recipe, & my Diet?

Diets are very person-specific, & how we do them is ditto.  What works for me might not work for others, but I'm buggered if I will allow anyone, ever ever ever, to sermonise to me about the virtues of Diet Books, Atkins Diets, & all that claptrap. Less & better, that's it. And there are no short-cuts, & why should there be? A little pain for a lot of gain, & those who cheat will fail.

I'm not living at home right now, so I have to make do with shop food, mainly M & S stuff, but when in residence at home, & Dieting, I rotate my one daily cooked meal.

1) Steamed cod, & peas. As big a piece of cod as I can buy, the bigger the better, & it takes but 2 or 3 minutes to steam cook. Add lemon juice etc, it's perfect. No other meals needed, but grazing on Ryvita etc is fine.

2) Spag bol. The key is LEAN mince, it must be low-fat. That, & as much spaghetti as I can eat (when cooked, pasta is mostly water), add a small tin of chopped toms, some Worcestrer Sauce, an Oxo Cube, job done.

Based on those meals, & sensible grazing (Ryvita, & fruit by the shed-load, as much as I can eat) I can exist comfortably on 1,000 to 1,250 cals per day without suffering energy loss. Weight loss rate varies, but a stone per month is not even slightly ambitious.

I might be able to get into Boots today, & buy some new scales. If so, the Diet will start tomorrow.

I'll use the usual technique, too - buy a Snickers Bar & take it with me everywhere, just to spite refuse to eat it. Mad, but it works for me.

Hope you are well.

[tikay]

Absolutely thrilled with the turn-out for the Sky Poker blonde League last night. Very little negative stuff, too.

The site is designed for recreational players, & is perfectly fit for purpose, it will never be 'Stars or Tilt, but one or two folks can't work these things out & chip away with dumb comments.

I thought the vibe & atmo was absolutely terrific, so much like it used to be here years ago. The "regular" players comprise 80% to 90% of all Online Rooms, & the blonde player profile is no different.

The tricky bit is to try & keep that momentum going.

I think we are going to do some SNG league-based stuff, & some cash fun, just gotta find a formula that ticks all the boxes.

But for now, a superb start, & my thanks to everyone who played last night. You can make a difference just by playing next door once or twice a week. It's a blunt truth, but that's how it is.

I feel I have slightly betrayed DTD. I love those guys & that place so much, & badly wanted the DTD Deal to work, but Rich puffed & puffed until he was blue in the face, & people could not manage an hour or two a week on there, so that was that. I regret it very much indeed, but I have no regrets, if that makes any sense. Rich did the work, DTD & I threw money at it. We could have done no more.

The coming weekend, with a £300 Deepstack scheduled, but no Update (well, no blonde Update) will seem very peculiar, but we can't look back, it's over, & that's that. If the Updates are done elsewhere, every single blonde will folllow them, it's a fact of life. Whether they'll "pay" by playing DTD Online is another matter.

I hope everybody knows that I wish DTD the very best of fortune. Bit like parting with a girlfriend, really, I still keep thinking "what if", & I'll be very jealous if DTD end up in bed with another suitor.

[tikay]

I head home today, which I'm dreading facing, then tomorrow, onwards to Newcastle for the SPT on Saturday.

I enjoy the SPT weekends enormously, but they leave me mentally & physically drained for days after.

The pre-start stress levels are pretty high, as there are always moans & groans about seat availability. Every Event could sell-out twice, so it's awkward. We try to be as fair as we can, but sometimes Rules need bending, they just do. We've had a big problem at Newcastle, as so many want to play it, so it all got a bit hot.

I have an allocation of seats for every SPT to allocate &/or donate as I see fit. I do so using my own moral & business code, & I tend to get a bit uppity when some ill-mannered oaf tells me what I can & can't do with Sky Poker's seats. For every Seat I give away, £100 goes into the Prize Pool. End of story afaic. "Oi, what about a seat for me, it's not fair, you have no right?" is not optimal.....

I fully expect some heat this weekend, as I've looked after a few people, who as far as I am concerned, ticked the right boxes. It's mainly, & usually, "regular" players who are in a hole, or had some misfortune. If I need to defend that, so be it. Sky Poker know my line on this. I won't be telling any porkies as to who got Seats from me & how.

The Newcastle leg of the SPT also gets a bit "beery". Marv. But I have a lot of good pals up there, too, with whom I've pokered for 10 years or more.

For the first time ever, I'm scheduled to actually play the event, which will be a novelty, though if there is any serious grief over seat allocation, I'll donate my seat, I can't be arsed with all that nonsense, I really can't.

Should be a good weekend, if we can avoid controversy over lack of Seats.

I plan to head South on Sunday morning, bright & early - maybe 7am - to kick on with sorting out my house. I might go to DTD in the afternoon, or Luton in the Evening, or just swerve both, as Sunday will be a very big night Online for SP, with the TSP Finals taking place.

Our very own Jakally is in with a shot at winning Membership of Team Sky Poker, so good luck to him on Sunday evening.  I cannot show bias, but......

[tikay]

My Bank rung me yesterday morning. They do from time to time, I have something called "Personal Banking", which sounds a bit precious, but it's not.

I get a few dubious priveleges from Private Banking, some good, some not so, but it has one golden advantage - I can ring my bank & speak to "my man" any time, any day. Sounds odd that, but I spent 20 years trying to ring my bank & going through 27 bloody "Press 2 for Option 7" nonsense. For that alone, it's worth it. 

So, my man - or on this occasion, his Deputy, rung me yesterday morning. I was not in the best of moods, & am particularly sensitive about Client-Service Provider relationships.

"Mr xxx will see you next week Tony"

"He will?"

"Yes"

"It's a 200 mile round trip, why does he need to see me?"

"He can advise you how to better invest your cash"

"He can?"

"Oh yes. You have £x in your current Account, he could advise you about that, it's not very sensible, you know".

"Thank you for that".

"You could inverst in some Shares if you wished, you know, it's quite a good thing to do"

"I already did - you hold all the Share Certificates, & have done for 30 years, & you tried to charge me £10 per share certificate per annum to store them safely".

"We did?"

"Yes, you effing did" I said, starting to lose contiol now.

So this spotty 23 year old wants me to drive all the way to Loughborough so he can advise me on my money.....

I said "You can come down to see me in London if you wish".

"You don't understand, Sir, we can't do that sort of thing, it's not cost-effective".

I do understand, my good friend, believe me, I do. 

[tikay]

An hour later, phone rings again.

"Natwest Bank here Sir, can we have a word?".

I just about contained myself.

"YES, if it's quick".

He said he was from Bank Security, & asked for validation, which I grumpily gave, almost under duress.

Then he said he wanted to check some of my Card transactions.

10 minutes later, after he had reeled off 5 transactions - all "immediate" (i.e., by telephone) I had made yesterday, I knew I was in trouble. I had not made a single transaction. My cards have all been "compromised", & a good bit of money charged to them, with an unknown amount possibly in the pipeline.

Fuck, I don't need this, I thought, not right now, please.

But the geezer was calm, & nailed it. "Don't worry Mr Kendall, we will reimburse the funds immediately, by this evening, cancel your cards, & send you new ones in the post tomorrow".

How good is that?

PS - Having been grimmed by Tighty for £470 on Monday, I'm thin on cash, & don't have any cards right now. Wiiiii, I'm poor! It'll do mer good to be skinto again. I've been there before. More than once.....

[TightEnd]

I hasten to add, I did not grim him

In fact, I gave him £142.50 first, before I asked for the other funds for an unforeseen business circumstance.

[Claw75]

He said he was from Bank Security, & asked for validation, which I grumpily gave, almost under duress.

be careful about stuff like this Tikay. I'd never give out verification details to an incoming caller - ask for a number to call them back on and check it's legit first.

and being poor for a day til your cards come doesn't count

[tikay]

I hasten to add, I did not grim him

In fact, I gave him £142.50 first, before I asked for the other funds for an undorseen business circumstance

Lol, no, & I'm sure everyone, even xxxx (edited, I'm a man of peace) saw through that one.

It was rather clever how you did it, though. "Here's your £140 League Prize Money, very well done".

"Thank you".

"Now, I need £470, the taxman is on blonde's case, & I need the cash immediately".

"Sigh"

Respect Rich.

[tikay]

He said he was from Bank Security, & asked for validation, which I grumpily gave, almost under duress.

be careful about stuff like this Tikay. I'd never give out verification details to an incoming caller - ask for a number to call them back on and check it's legit first.

and being poor for a day til your cards come doesn't count

Thanks Claire - I made HIM do some "validation" first, too.

The convo has to start somewhere. Bit like when we were kids, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours".

I find High Street Banking to be an odious pain, but I think they manage Plastic rather well.

[tikay]

Diaries everywhere all of a sudden, & peeps getting all tilted about where they sit on the Boards.

It's January 6th, many will be gone by this time next month, so I don't understand the rush.

The good news, though - please suppress the groans - is that another new Diary is imminent.

It will not be in "The Rail". (All cheer)

It will not be in "The Lounge" (All boo).

But it will be somewhere on blonde. And, given his superb writing skills, & record for sticking at it over the long term, it'll be a must read. I'll await requests to move it to The Rail.

I think some of the Diaries have been, or could be, terrific, & so that's a big bonus, & blonde is buzzing right now. Amazing, though, how some can only see the downsides.

I have a view, but I'd best say nothing. In truth, it does not matter that much either way, does it?

Anyway, I said that the thread length would have a spread of 7-9 pages. I'm still a buyer.

[Laxie]

OK, now I'm a wee bit cross with ya too.  ("Join the que" says he) 

FFS!!!  You never get to play the Sky events.  You've got the chance and you were looking forward to it.  You already know there's possibly going to be grief over lack of seats for the event. 

A)  Even if you give up yer seat, there's still going to be people who aren't happy because they missed out.

B)  For the people who DO have seats, the chance to play next to 'Sky Poker' himself gives them a buzz. 

I say - don't be silly and give up your seat!!!  If not for yerself, play it for the other people who would like a chance to play at your table.

[MereNovice]

OK, now I'm a wee bit cross with ya too.  ("Join the que" says he) 

FFS!!!  You never get to play the Sky events.  You've got the chance and you were looking forward to it.  You already know there's possibly going to be grief over lack of seats for the event. 

A)  Even if you give up yer seat, there's still going to be people who aren't happy because they missed out.

B)  For the people who DO have seats, the chance to play next to 'Sky Poker' himself gives them a buzz. 

I say - don't be silly and give up your seat!!!  If not for yerself, play it for the other people who would like a chance to play at your table.

I think that you're being far too sensible there; he'll never grasp it.

[david3103]

An hour later, phone rings again.

"Natwest Bank here Sir, can we have a word?".

I just about contained myself.

"YES, if it's quick".

He said he was from Bank Security, & asked for validation, which I grumpily gave, almost under duress.

Then he said he wanted to check some of my Card transactions.

10 minutes later, after he had reeled off 5 transactions - all "immediate" (i.e., by telephone) I had made yesterday, I knew I was in trouble. I had not made a single transaction. My cards have all been "compromised", & a good bit of money charged to them, with an unknown amount possibly in the pipeline.

Fuck, I don't need this, I thought, not right now, please.

But the geezer was calm, & nailed it. "Don't worry Mr Kendall, we will reimburse the funds immediately, by this evening, cancel your cards, & send you new ones in the post tomorrow".

How good is that?

PS - Having been grimmed by Tighty for £470 on Monday, I'm thin on cash, & don't have any cards right now. Wiiiii, I'm poor! It'll do mer good to be skinto again. I've been there before. More than once.....

I had exactly the same experience with RBS last year although I don't profess to have any measure of 'privilege' in my dealings with them. The whole process was handled really smoothly.
My only gripe was that when some post arrived at the office which seemed to give a lead as to the identity of the perpetrator nobody seemed very interested

[mondatoo]

Where is the info for this weeks event please ? I tried googling it and also went on Sky poker site but couldn't find anything,is it a 1 day event ? what time does it start ? That's all a wanted to know really.