Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

The box that plugs into the phone line...

Yup, got one of them, it's a Voyager 100. They sent me a Belsen (?) Home Hub Pack once, it's a wireless thingie, but God knows how to set it up, I just gave up.

So, this Voyager thingie has 3 green lights on it, Left, Middle & Right.

L is on all the time, but when the line drops, M only flashes on & off. To get a connection, L & M need to be on all the time, & R flashes on & off.

It drops out several times an hour, & can take 10 or 15 minutes to come back, & the PC is VERY sloooowwww.

[tikay]

Most other ISPs aren't much better...

Well, I assume whoever I use, it still comes through the same BT Line, so changing is not an option, except to get better (or even some) Customer Support.

[DesD]

Des Duffy sent me this, with the heading "Tut-Tut Tony".

I agree - what a splendid Trophy.

......sigh, I better start writing up my notes for the tribunal    but not before I post the guilty follow up 'damn, I hope he didn't see that' picture  

[Bongo]

Most other ISPs aren't much better...

Well, I assume whoever I use, it still comes through the same BT Line, so changing is not an option, except to get better (or even some) Customer Support.

With line problems it would only come back to BT anyway...

Your other options would be cable via Virgin (if offered in your area) or an ISP who will unbundle your phone line (if offered in your area)...

[tikay]

Des Duffy sent me this, with the heading "Tut-Tut Tony".

I agree - what a splendid Trophy.

......sigh, I better start writing up my notes for the tribunal    but not before I post the guilty follow up 'damn, I hope he didn't see that' picture  

That's even better Des! Now, tell me, do I look innocent in that, or what?

And NO PRIZES for guessing what I was thinking in this one.

[tikay]

Most other ISPs aren't much better...

Well, I assume whoever I use, it still comes through the same BT Line, so changing is not an option, except to get better (or even some) Customer Support.

With line problems it would only come back to BT anyway...

Your other options would be cable via virgin (if offered in your area) or an ISP who will unbundle your phone line (if offered in your area)...

Precisely. I'm stuck with Bloody BT. Can't believe I have 3,000 Shares in that piece of shite. I like to buy Shares in Companies I respect, for their Product, Service, or whatever. I got them when they were Privatised, & purchased 2,400 more in the open Market, straight after, thinking that the Internet would be the way forward. Not realising, that as BT ploddded along, others would stealthily move in & make them look the uncaring, & utterly incompetent fools they are.

[tikay]

And so to the dtd Weekend, & what a place that is. It's just daft when folks compare it to regular UK Venues, because they are different things, entirely. And there is a time & place for both, they wll co-exist for a very long time, & we just need to understand that no Cardroom on Earth can do it like dtd do it. So the regular venues will continue as is, and I will still use the ones I like, but I hope they learn the simple - & in many cases, free - lesson, that they too can be much better, at no cost. Starting Events on time, for example. It costs NOTHING, but conveys a professional approach. Why should we arrive on time at a venue & then be kept waiting for half-an-hour? dtd Events start smack-on-time, & that's not a difficult trick, really, it's not.

Next week it's the Walsall Fessie, & I love Walsall, & the Staff are terrific, but get a Tourney away on time? Or keep the Breaks to their scheduled duration? Never been known. Never, ever. Will next week be any different? Let's hope so.

Cash-Games, The "queuing system" at dtd is faultless, & simple. It's not difficult. Venues can make good money by filling Cash-Games - Luton charge £9 per hour - good value that - and with 8 to a table, that's £72 per hour, for, say, 8 hours per night, = £576. For one Table, minus Dealer Costs. Multiply that by 4 Tables, & you have got over £2k per night, £14,000 per week, or £700,000 per annum. OK, now deduct Dealer Costs, overheads, da de da de da, & they are left with a tidy profit.  But do they show the slightest interest in this revenue stream? Sadly not.

dtd had teething problems with the way the Cash Game players were exploiting the "move anywhere, any time" rules, (it was designed fior grown-ups...) so they implemented new Rules, & said, "these are the new Rules, mess with them & you are out". Meanwhile, down at my much-loved Luton, the arguments on Cash-Game protocol continue night after night, & players are allowed to mock others openly about it. Anyway, Luton say they have introduced a new "no tolerance" Policy, & if they have, & they implement it (one guy has been suspended for 3 months already), good for them. dtd have quickly shown the way here - "look, these are our rules, & we like a nice atmo, so mess with us & you are toast, pretty damn quick". And that's what Poker in the UK has badly needed for years, someone to say, "look, it's a fine game, but if you bring your oaf-like manners here, we ain't having it".

And another one bit the dust this weekend at dtd, which was a bit sad, as I like the bloke, but Rob has set his stall out clearly - "if you don't like my Rules, or my Staff, or how we do things, tough, because I ain't budging".

Rob gets a bit cross with me sometimes, over our tolerance at blonde, which is odd, because some Members think we are too intolerant. But he takes the view, "look, blonde is a free Forum, & if you don't like it, why are you there?".

Anyway, I digress, I was talking about the dtd weekend before I went off on one.

So, I arrived early, full of hope & anticipation of a glorious weekend. Comfy, warm, venue, beautifully structured Tourney, run like clockwork, a room full of blondes, & almost all of my close friends, what more could I wish for? Not much, really.

I hooked up with Red, Chili, Compo, Bookiebasher, Claw, Iron, Tantrum, Kev, Floppy, & a few others, & Ding arrived a bit later, as did Karabiner, in his case on Sunday. Cone-Head was there, he's such a top bloke, Steve Holden, Lord Wernick, Bling Bling Jonas, Alan & Ben Vinson, the Blackpool Raiding Party, led by Ariston, Shaf, Quantify & Co, & all of my old Gala Notts muckers who have moved across to dtd now. Lord Gosney, too, & Monty Burns. Value there was not, but fun there was.

All I needed now was to run deep in the Tourney. I don't go into these things expecting to win - that's just nonsense, variance & luck being what it is - but I just aim to have a ball, run deep, & if I get lucky, well, that's Bonus Time.

I was, naturally, a bit worried about our Updates, after last month, but I worried needlessly - they were very well received. Anyway, more on the Update, & lots of other tit-bits, later, first up, my Tourney Report.....

[snoopy1239]

Our BT line is constantly cutting in and and out and it's a nightmare if you're in a tournament or something. What's more scary is the customer service, it's incredible that we put up with a help-centre that can barely speak English.

[taximan007]

I feel sickend for him  at the decision he had to make there. One can only imagine his thoughts as he let go.

It's just beyond comprehension, the decision he had to make. And how brave was the Dad to actually let go of his child? There is no word as to whether the Father survived. Most on the toip floor did not.

According to the CNN news I watched here both the mother and the father of the child survived the fire.

[tikay]

I feel sickend for him  at the decision he had to make there. One can only imagine his thoughts as he let go.

It's just beyond comprehension, the decision he had to make. And how brave was the Dad to actually let go of his child? There is no word as to whether the Father survived. Most on the toip floor did not.

According to the CNN news I watched here both the mother and the father of the child survived the fire.

Oh, thats just wonderful news. I wonder if they will show the kid, when he grows up, the footage?

[tikay]

So, the DTD Main Event, & this was my starting Table.

1 Me
2 Nick "Redbull" Hicks
3 Jay Bradley
4 Neil Giblin
5 Waheed Ashraf (Wadey)
6 Rookie
7 Des Jonas (bling-bling)
8 Steve Holden
9 Andrew Woods (woodsey)

And how do I know that, given my Memory? Well, DTD gave our Updaters an A4 sheet of paper, for each table, upon which was a graphic representation of the table, with names against every seat. And they Updated these at EVERY Break! blonde have Updated everywhere, and we've never had THAT before. No excuses for us in our Update, then. After the hoohah last month, many thanks to DT for recognizing the difficulties the Updaters faced, & coming up with a solution.

Anyway, my starting Table was gonna be interesting. I had Steve Holden to my BB, Woodsey to my SB, & Des in the Cut-off, with Nick Hicks on Sentry Duty to my left. Get round that lot!

I could cope with Steve Holden, even though he's mega-aggressive, & stole my BB every round. I just re-pop it every few rounds, & we are back where we started, & if I find a hand, I'm gonna get paid. I got him off A-Q with A-Q, but mostly, I just stood back & let him steal, I had no material to work with, & I was not bothered - these are marathons, not sprints, & it makes no sense, with my skillset, to go to war early with marginals.

Woodsey is cute, too, but he had the problem of Des & Steve on sentry duty, so he was, by his standards, fairly quiet, & did not mess with me much, though usually, Des or Steve had made the pre-emptive by the time it reached Woodsey. He & I chopped the Luton £750 a while back, & I much respect his game.

Des played an amazing game, & he's just wonderful table company, & teases me merilessly. "You still alive over there old Man?"......He seemed fairly tight, & had the goods when he had to show, but he's tightened up a lot in the last 12 months. But he don't miss a trick, & when the BB moved in on him, admittedly not for much, but enough, Des beat him into the Pot with A-2, & oppo showed even worse. Some rapido call, that.

The real worry was to my left - Nick Hicks, he has terrific game, & I was very wary of him throughout. On the odd occasion when Des, Steve or Woodsey allowed Nick & I to play a hand in our Blinds, Nick Raised it every time. So I was in a bit of a spot, really. But Nick was with me in one sense, Steve Holden & Des were raising us to death, & at that stage of the Tourney, it's best to take cover from the storm & await calmer waters. Short of a really bad play, or a set over set jobbie, there's no excuse to depart these things early, though I recognize that some players go for the big stack early, & this serves them well later. I wish I could, but I can't, so best to work with the skills I have, which is to duck & dive & connive & dodge bullets early on.

Neil Giblin was the surprise packet at the Table, very aggressive with so-so hands, his game is very hard to combat, & he ran up a nice stack before meeting with a bad collision. I shared a Table with Neil at DTD a few weeks back. It was clear he knew me well, but I was struggling to recall where I knew him from - it was not poker, but where? He had reminded me on that earlier occasion.

"You don't remember me, do you Mr Kendall?" (Mr Kendall was a clue, but I never clicked).

"Err, yes, I do. Well, no, not exactly" I stuttered.

"From Ormonde Fields Golf Club, when you were Captain". (Ah, hence the Mr Kendall bit - VERY stuffy am Golf Club Protocol).

"Oh yes, of course, I remember now".

"Do you recall your Captain's Day Mr Kendall?" says Neil.

"Please don't call me Mr Kendall, but yes, of course I remember my Captain's Day".

"OK Sir (!), so you remember what happened that day?"

"Err, specifically....?"

"Specifically, you Banned me & my 4 ball for a misdemeanour on the course".

"I did?"

"Yes Sir, you did".

"Oops".....

Ah well, such is life, there are no hard feelings, & Golf Committeees being what they are, Bans happen a lot in Club Golf. Poker has much to learn from Golf.

More soon...

[tikay]

I Passed like a good 'un for the first 3 or 4 hours, & the only hand I saw was AQ, which I got Steve off the same hand with. 9-2, 9-3, J-4, hand after hand, & not so much as a suited connector.

That's just fine with me, I do patience all day & all night, but with Steve Holden murdering my Blinds, & no free flops ever, it started to get inside my head a bit. "These guys must think I can't play, I've barely played back once", was my thinking. But I just had to wait, the cards &/or situations would come when they were ready, & not before.

Then, oddly, Steve limped on my BB for once, & the warning signs went up immediately in my head. Why was he limping all of a sudden? The last time he limped I was still working. I had a suited Ace - my first of the Tourney, 4 hours in! Anyway, I flopped 4 to the flush, allowed Steve to Bet, he never let me down, & I smooth called. I flushed up on the Turn, ditto, ditto. Incredibly, it now pairs on the River, & immediately I thought back to his weird pre-flop limp. He's Housed up, I KNOW he has, the bugger. I check, he bets like, just over half the Pot, & of course, I should Raise it up here. But if I do, I suspect he may re-pop it, & I'll be stranded. We chat, "you got the flush?", "might have, have you got the House?" kinda thing - all stuff & nonsense of course, but I knew Steve knew that I was playing scared of the House, & he could easily outplay me here by re-popping. So I wimp out, as per, & just flat-call, & Steve showd the J flush. As it happens, I got almost as much as I could off the hand, but I did leave a bit behind I fancy. Steve moved shortly therafter, to be replaced with a Chinese Gentleman, & Des made short work of him. "Yellow blokes can't beat black geezers you know, & I'm very big, & very black".....

Somehow, after 6 or 7 hours, & with not a single hand, I had survived, about half-average, but no worries, that's plenty with this structure.

And then my Table broke, & I moved to a table where I had a chance to dance.

[Rookie (Rodney)]

Tell us about your hand where you passed 10 10 in the big blind to a cut off raise from Des ?

Or did i misread as you flashed it to me ?

[tikay]

So, the Tourney moved into the early hours of Sunday, & the atmo was just wonderful.

The Breaks were 10 minutes, & a 10 minute break at DTD lasts exactly 10 minutes - to the second! It's amazing how fast players learn this, if they are not in their seat, tough luck. Not one Venue in the UK sticks to scheduled Break durations, but I've ranted enough for one nght, so I won't go on about it any more. Much.

So, my new Table. Lord Wernick - fine, I can cope, Magic Sami - he is a good player, & you can get him off hands, & Pete Linton. Now, Pete is dangerous. He's totally unpredictable, & unreadable. There's just no point trying to make moves on Pete, & I don't bother trying. I watched as he insta-called all-in with A-5 against A-K from a Rock, (claiming he had the odds, & maybe he did), & Housed up with the Fives! And I'm thinking, this boy will bust out in 10 minutes, or win the damn thing outright. He ain't got to the Chapter on gears yet, & he's in every hand. Once he refines his Game, & if he'll take good advice, he could be anything, a new Roland even. And maybe taking good advice will harm him, as he has the youthful arrogance in his ability, which, really, is a lovely thing to behold. I just find it an odd thing to watch, though, when Wernick tried to help him, but Pete knew better, & argued back. That's Micky Wernich who busted 7th, & Pete who won the thing, so he can say "don't worry about me, I'm OK lads". He made some breathtaking calls, usually as a 40/60 shot, & you can't - maybe should not? - train this into players, they either have carefree gamble or they don't. He must work oin his Bankroll Management, but if he does, watch out for the boy, he has balls & losing holds no fear for him.

Meanwhile, unless I find a money tree, I continue to plod along at my sedentary pace, but I enjoy my poker as much as anyone, & I won't be changing my style.

I had no notion of "I'm gonna gamble, I'm not coming back with a short stack", but suddenly, situations arose a lot, several squeeze plays worked nicely, and as I had no "image" on this Table,  I could get them through safely.

But I had an accident, lost most of my stack, & suddenly it was push-time again, this in the last Level of Day One. OK, we go to war, & I pushed & shoved for a few rounds with ease, but I never found a caller, so had to stay busy. I almost got to the stage when I thought I'd deliberately take Pete on, as I knew he'd give me a sporting gamble.  But then I made one move too many, UTG with K-J (no, not very bright that, now was it?), & I got looked up in mid-pos. Worse still, Colin was sat behind the shover, & he decided to come along for the ride, all-in too.

Shover had Queens, giving me 3 outs, & Colin had the optimistic K-T suited, so make that two outs now.....

But the flop was an eye-opener, Colin was rewarded for his bravery with a flopped flush, so my up & down straight draw was dead in the water, but QQ man had the set, & the turn improved him to quads, so that was that.

What a great comp, though!

I have to offer Sky my availabilty 2 months in advance, & I've done so already for March & April, so it's in the lap of the Sky Gods as to whether I get to play this comp for the next 2 months. But after that, God willing, I'll leave this weekend free every single month, because this Comp is as good as it gets for my game, anywhere in the world. Right buy-in, right place - 10 minutes from home - & most of all, lovely people, & a well run venue. Bliss.

[tikay]

Tell us about your hand where you passed 10 10 in the big blind to a cut off raise from Des ?

Or did i misread as you flashed it to me ?

No, I did have T-T.

I mused over it for an age afterwards, but I was happy enough really. Des had, surprisingly, been playing very tight, & had shown monster Premiums time after time, & was very deep-stacked by now. I just decided - maybe wrong, but you have to go with "feel" in these things, that I could find a better spot.

I was out of position, & faced with the "smooth-call or Raise" decision, & I could not decide what was best. My stack was just about manageable at this stage, but playing this hand wrong could cost me half of it. And I just decided I could find a better spot, really. That's code for wimped out, I suppose, but dodging bullets is my style, I like uncontested Pots, at least when & while my stack permits, where I Raise first & they Pass. I win most of them.....

I could smooth call, & he may well bully me out if the flop came bad, or I could R, & he'd set me in. At that stage, I sure ain't busting with Tens. And therein lies both the strength & weakness of my game. Mostly the latter. I can Pass Tens all day, if I feel it's right.

"When in doubt, don't", it's just my thing.