Tikay
I can't reply to the other thread on the staking forum.
I am playing the betfair event at the fox.
I don't see any harm in contacting betfair direct to see if any tickets are available, as direct buy ins were available for a time on the site and there have been a few returns advertised on the betfair forum. No shows are inevitable at games like this.
The contact address I was given was
PokerEvents@betfair.com.
I'd also add that betfair used to be pretty bad at looking after the existing smaller punters, but now they organise community games for them and that is exactky how I qualified.
I didn't get an invite to the special 30 seat guaranteed, but that was probably for high rakers/sports bettors or lapsed accounts as you suggested. I don't really have much of a problem with qualifiers for any of these, despite raking a chunk over the years.
As someone stated on the other thread, it is a 2 dayer, though it is scheduled to finish at 9pm on sunday.
Doobs
Thanks Doobs.
I appreciate the help.
As I said, I only have to ring Joe Legge up & ask for a Seat, & I'm sure he'd squeeze me in, but it seems kind of wrong to beg a favour, or impose myself on him. I know what it's like to wear those shoes.
Joe was the first
fool guy ever to employ me as a Site Ambassador/Pro, that was at Sporting Odds, & we had 2 very successful years, Onsite, & Live, I did all sorts of stuff, got paid a bloody fortune, & adored it.
Prior to that, I had done some work for Wm Hill as a TV pundit, Ambassador, Live Poker Host, etc, but it all ended a bit awkwardly, & they ended up owing me (still do) a great deal of money - into 5 figures - which they never paid.
So, now with Joe, we travelled to Sporting Bet Events all over Europe, & had an absolute ball. I got to know Mark Blandford via Joe, & we became good friends. Mark founded Sporting Bet, & back in 2008, sold a small % of his shares in Sporting Bet for £6 million I think. Mark & his wife own a few Racehorses, & Greyhounds, & really enjoy their wealth. He's an entrepreneur really, & still dabbling in all sort of stuff. I also first got to know "The Mole" via Sporting Odds.
Joe's line manager at Sporting Odds then moved on, so Joe was next out of the door, & his successor canned me pretty much straight away "we'll let you know when we need you". Fair enough, can't complain really.
Within weeks, Joe had turned up at Virgin Poker, & was soon on the blower. I accepted his generous opening offer, & I acted as a Consultant, & Host/compere for the first 3 or 4 Virgin Poker Live Events.
By then, I was with Sky Poker, & then, not unreasonably, Sky Poker said "we want exclusivity," so I had to quit the Virgin stuff. But in my deal with Sky Poker, they paid me what Virgin paid me just as a "retainer", for exclusivity, I did not have any additional duties as such. I already had 2 Service Agreements with Sky Poker by then, (TV Channel Consultant & on-screen Analyst) so my feet were already under the desk so to speak. If I was gonna put all my eggs in one basket, then may as well go the whole hog. Given my time of life, "ability", etc, it worked out perfectly, & I was incredibly fortuitous. I worked hard, mind, still do, incredibly so, but still very lucky.
Meanwhile....Joe ended up at Betfair, who eventually became last season's APAT Sponsors. Fancy that.
Treat people well, give them good value, don't mess them around, & it's amazing how much can come out of it.
Anyway, I guess the whole point of that rambling tale is that I've been very lucky these last few years to find a career in poker, & to some degree, Joe Legge was partly responsible for that, ditto Phil Quayle ("bobby1" on here) at Wm Hill. I must stress, my financial issues with Wm Hill were nothing to do with Phil.
Some people reading that will think "wtf?", & who can blame them, I'm not exactly Tom Dwan or Sam Trickett. But the record seems to suggest that I can get a decent bluff through....
Good luck at Betfair Live, at The Fox tomorrow.
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