Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[TightEnd]

"Oligarch" stems from a Greek work, & means "ruler of a community or faction" if I understand it correctly.

But that does not seem to be it's common usage.

Can anyone explain this? - why "oligarch" is only used for Russion zilionaires?

you have misunderstood. an oligarchy is a community, society, country, whatever ruled by a small group, usually the elite. an oligarch is one of that group of rulers.

the collapse of communism in the soviet union effectively led to the region being run by a select group of mega rich businessmen leaving russia and other ex soviet republics as effective oligarchies meaning that the zillionaires were oligarchs. there's was no change in meaning.

as the countries get rid of corruption these people will no doubt continue to be called oligarchs despite not having the power. that's the point at which the meaning of the word will change

But why, in my little world, do I only see it in relation to Russian millionaires?

Is Mugabe not an oligarch?

he is "elected", oligarchs are not

"a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers"

[gatso]

But why, in my little world, do I only see it in relation to Russian millionaires?

Is Mugabe not an oligarch?

he is "elected", oligarchs are not

"a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers"

that's true but not a strict definition. it's more to do with who does the electing. as an example, the south african under apartheid was elected but the country could be considered as an oligarchy as it was ruled by a small segment of society (the whites).

you only hear it with relation to russians/ex soviets as no other countries (that I know of anyway) are currently regarded as oligarchies

[tikay]

"Oligarch" stems from a Greek work, & means "ruler of a community or faction" if I understand it correctly.

But that does not seem to be it's common usage.

Can anyone explain this? - why "oligarch" is only used for Russion zilionaires?

you have misunderstood. an oligarchy is a community, society, country, whatever ruled by a small group, usually the elite. an oligarch is one of that group of rulers.

the collapse of communism in the soviet union effectively led to the region being run by a select group of mega rich businessmen leaving russia and other ex soviet republics as effective oligarchies meaning that the zillionaires were oligarchs. there's was no change in meaning.

as the countries get rid of corruption these people will no doubt continue to be called oligarchs despite not having the power. that's the point at which the meaning of the word will change

But why, in my little world, do I only see it in relation to Russian millionaires?

Is Mugabe not an oligarch?

he is "elected", oligarchs are not

"a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers"

Well, your inverted commas say it all - Mugabe was not "elected" at all.

And thanks to gatso, too, but I'm still not quite getting this.

Let's use another example - the ruling families in Dubai, or UAE, or Kuwait. Are these not oligarchies, ruled by oligarchs?

Or several small South African countries, where the Military rule?

[tikay]

Snat's reply on the Coren debate tickled me pink, particularly this bit....

Dear Giles

you are of course quite right about the changing of your copy and we apologise unreservedly for our error and any distress this may have caused you.

yours sincerely etc, etc.

Which would, of course, have caused Giles to self-combust with indignation!

[gatso]

Let's use another example - the ruling families in Dubai, or UAE, or Kuwait. Are these not oligarchies, ruled by oligarchs?

Or several small South African countries, where the Military rule?

each emirate within the uae of which dubai is one is a monarchy

the south african countries are probably classed as military dictatorships

[gatso]

and btw blonde would be considered a gerontocracy

[tikay]

and btw blonde would be considered a gerontocracy

Uncalled for.

Anyway, Tighty runs blonde. He is Mandy.

[tikay]

This Post was made on the Sky Poker PTP thread......

none of my biz, just being nosey, was wondering if tikay could do this on blonde or is he only allowed to promote sky now? just seems a bit strange that if you wanna play tikay off the telly you can find him at luton, DTD or online at sky but not actually on his own site. or so it seems anyway, could be wrong obv

Such a complicated question, actually, though the straight answer is very easy. Yes, I have, could, & would do it on blonde.

But we need to go a bit deeper than that.

First, I've not replied on the Sky Poker PTP Thread, because I think that would be unfair, both on Sky Poker, & on Rich, who cut a deal with Sky to help promote Play The Presenter (PTP). It's a commercial deal, though only a small one, so I hope you understand why I don't want to get too heavy or personal on that thread.

blonde needs deals like that, as we don't generate enough revenue via our Cardroom. So, as you have already worked out, there is a bit of Catch-22 about all this!

More....

Right, let's get back to this.

Would I do a blonde version of PTP?

Well, I've played on blonde a good deal, & have no issues with doing so going forward. So the answer is YES.

But it's not that simple.

Let me try & put the whole thing in context, because it's not as straightforward as you may imagine.

I retired from a very heavy workload which had lasted all my life, & suddenly I had nothing to do. Lovely. For a few weeks. But I was in a vacuum, & vacuums are hard to maintain.

I ran around playing poker like a hungry kid in a sweetshop, & life was grand.

Then I started writing Tourney Reports on Hendon Mob, & Poker Magazine articles. Easy, & enjoyable.

Wendy & I parted company around this time, & I needed work as a medication, to ease the pain.

Next, Dave Colclough approached me, would I liike to join with him & Rhow in starting blonde? Love to.

Then came TV work, first for Sporting Odds, then Wm Hill (Poker 425), next was Poker Night Live, & finally, Sky Poker asked me to do some stuff with them, which kind of included Poker Week.

Parallel to that, there was this guy who kept pestering me to become part of the APAT start-up.

So, here's this retired old fart, time on his hands, well-versed in Property Maintenance, shopfitting for Aldi & Sainsbury, & a sort of construction industry Mr Fixit, but suddenly finds himself up to his neck in poker.

We move forward.....

[tikay]

blonde became a major headache for me. The other major, founding, Shareholders, & myself, had very different business philosophies, & "differences" arose. It's not important (to this question) who, if anyone, was right or wrong. It became acrimonious. Very. I'd stuck a lot of money into blonde to keep it afloat, pioneered interactive Live Updates, all at my own expense. The other founding Shareholders decided to become, as to running the place, "passive", except for sporadic intervention. So there I was, stranded, up the creek without a bloody paddle, & there was just me. Later, Rich came along, thank God, & another Shareholder became involved briefly. All very complicated, worrying, & a right bloody headache which I did not need, or, I felt, deserve. But if I "walked", the place closed down, end of story.

I wanted to help keep blonde going, I love the place, for all the pain, but it was beginning to become difficult, financially.  I vowed we would never have an overdraft, & never borrow. Vow kept. Just. If we look like we might run up debts we cannot pay, I'll close it, or resign my directorship, & sell or give away my Shares. I will not, never ever, be party to a bankpuptcy, or unpaid debts. Better to shut up shop before that happens, & that remains my view. So we struggled on, always just about surviving. Our Cardroom was key to our survival, & I did everything I could to help the thing grow.

This brings us to the autumn of 2006. I was struggling to hold blonde together (this was pre-Rich, & pre Kev as Cardroom Manager, but post-the Shareholders leaving me on the bridge alone). A full-time headache, my retirement in shreds, & to put the tin hat on that lot, not a single penny of income from blonde, be it in wages, expenses, dividends, nothing. But a responsibility to the other Shareholders to make the thing viable. 

What a fine mess I got myself in, eh?

Enter, right out of the blue, an e-Mail from a guy called Mark Robson.......

[tikay]

"Would you like to come & have a chat, we are interesed in you working with us, we are starting a Channel dedicated to a poker site".

So went that very first contact from Sky Poker, from Mark Robson, aka blonde Miami Vic these days.

I bumped into a guy in Luton last night, never met him in my life, & he came up, shook my hand, said "hi tikay, I love watching you on Sky Poker, but how did you get that that gig, you lucky bugger". He was not wrong. But I also told him "yes, I got bloody lucky, but I worked harder than you can ever imagine to optimise that bit of luck". And I have.

But after Mark Robson got hold of me, & I'd been to see him, I had a decision to make. This looked a great opportunity. Sky do Poker? Wow. Sky don't fail at much, I thought.

So, under the Terms of my PNL Contract, I went & saw the PNL Suits the next morning, & explained I'd been offered some work by Sky. "Make a choice" they said. What? "Them or us, not both". Err, thanks for everything, take care. 6 months later they invited me back, I accepted. Two months later it closed down!

So, the Sky Poker adventure began for me. It was a huge contrast to my blonde situation. I got paid. I interacted with other folks, all the time. Mostly youngsters in the office at first, teaching them to play the game, all sorts. And without the pain & responsiilities of blonde

I worked hard, gradually fnding opportunities there. The consultancy Contract was first, then the TV Analyst Contract, then the"Offline Ambassador" role (what a title!), the Vegas trip, & now the PTP Contract.

We had to tackle my relationship with blonde, & we did. They agreed that my Contracts, which require me to promote the Sky Brand, & no other brands, & not do work for other Sites any more, excluded my work with blonde & APAT. I asked for those two exclusions, they readily gave them.

It just grew & grew. I love the work, I love being in Feltham, & adore being in the Studio. It's the show-off inside me I guess. And my income from Sky grew with it. Not big sums from anything, but a lot of little sums all add up to a lot. I earn more now than when I was working "properly". Bizarre.

My profile within the Sky Poker Community is totally different to my blonde profile. I've never misled or lied to anyone about my achievements in poker, & I'm fully exposed here on blonde, everybody knows my abilities & limitations at a poker table. The blondes, if placed on a performance matrix, would be more "poker serious" as a group, whereas when Sky Poker began, they/we appealed to the "poker curious", though the beginnings of the move upstream has already began.

So, at Sky Poker, when we began, we were talking to people who knew nothing of the pro poker circuit. Somewhow, I found mysef as one of their Analysts, helping with Sky RoadShow days, going to Vegas, promoting the Brand, wrting the Blog, & just generally doing odd jobs for them.

In the opinion of Sky Poker, (& not me!), they thought I'd be worthy of membership of the 5 person PTP Team. They really think that by me playing on the Site once or twice a week, it might attract revenue. I'm not so sure, but I'll sure as hell give it my best shot.

I helped trial it - it's very complicated to set up - & eventually we went Live this week. It was exciting, embarrassing & tiring. I did two evenings, 5 hours each, & followed that up with a Report to Head Office on how it had gone, the good, the bad, & the ugly. A long & complicated report, that took 2 hours to write.

So that's where I am, & how I got there, with Sky Poker.

So can I, would I, will I, do it on blonde?......

[The-Crow]

great story Tikay, is there a part 4 ?

[tikay]

great story Tikay, is there a part 4 ?

Sadly for you guys, yes, maybe a Five, too.

[The-Crow]

Ok, Your the real Star of SkyPoker m8,

most of them other analysts can put me to sleep in 10 minutes, talking technical.

The program is supposed to be entertaining and not just instructive.

You balance the job between humour and techical just right m8

Keep up the good work.   3 Gold Stars

[tikay]

My first Online Site was Paradise Poker, & I have been through the lot.

I settled on 'Stars for a few years, while I was still at work, & done well.

I moved on, to Blue Square, & then blonde, both on Tribeca, & I spent a year or so almost living on Ladbrokes, a site I like a lot.

But the lure of Live play, my real passion, mixed with the amount of time I now spend working in London, meant I wanted to play B & M as often as I could. So if I was not in Feltham, I'd be playing Live somewhere. It's what I enjoy, & it's what I do best - B & M Tourneys. The kids think I can't play, because I'm old school, but, you know, I get by better than most, because I've found the level at which I can have fun, & earn a few bob.

So, not much time, or chance, to play Online. I live alone, by choice, but locking the door & spending my declining years glued to a PC screen 7 nights a week does not appeal.

Sky asked me to do 4 or 5 nights a month, & get paid for it, so together with my passion to do my little bit to help Sky Poker succeed, makes their offer to me for PTP a no-brainer, so I accepted with glee.

Now, to blonde, & Byron's question, at long last.

Well, Kev & Tighty ask me repeatedly to play on blonde to help up the numbers, but I don't easily buy that story, that my presence would increase blonde revenue. On blonde, I am no more, & no less, than Kev, or Tighty, or any other blonde. Why would me playing on the Site increase revenue? Apart from my own rake, that is.

Kev & Tighty are not the types to blow smoke up my arse, not a bit, so it's hard to gauge whether it would help or not. If it would, & I had the right evenings free, I would, in fact I do, do so. Not often, very rarely in fact, but then I don't have many free nights at home, because I'm always out. Doing what I always wanted to do, when I retired - playing Live Poker, where I want, when I want, a free agent after a life in chains almost. Nothing will ever stand in the way of me doing what I want, when I want, I must emphasise that. I've reached the age where I can, & will, do what's right by me.

blonde? I love it, everyone knows that, & I'd do almost anything to help it survive & prosper. But do a comparision.

Sky is huge fun, I have almost no responsibilities, except to be on message at all times, & they pay me well to do something I love. And I get collateral work, fun work, just because I'm on Sky a lot.

blonde is another matter, & like any love story, it ebbs & flows. I've not been at all comfortable with some things at blonde this year. The constant battles with ex-Members is wearing, & I/we don't need it, or deserve it. They attack me constantly, all over the place, on blogs & other shite, & I just don't need that. I don't, or rarely, respond, sod that.

Instead of us Mods thinking creatively, we spend so much time battling ex-Members, & trying to keep the place straight. It's all so wasteful, such a negative thing.

So that brings a cloud over my blonde time. When it's cool, it's a dream place to chill, but when the eejits, especially the "ex-blondes" & the handful of rebel blondes waste so much of my & our time, (if you did but know even half the stories....) I get very down about blonde, I really do.

It's hard to see oneself as others see you. Kev & Rich say "play blonde, we need you, it brings business", but does it, would it, really? I'm extremely sceptical.

So, there you have it. I'd happily do a blonde version of PTP if I could be convinced it would attract revenue. But I'm not really sure it would. There are no contractual restrictions from Sky, although I must say, I will never compromise my situation at Sky, as they have been so good to me, I enjoy it so much, & I know how lucky I got getting the gig. Never look a gift horse & all that.......

And when Sky bade me farewell, & it's only a question of time - remember my age, & who wants to watch feisty & wrinkly old farts on telly? - that may well be the time to draw the curtains on my poker life, & go & get some of those items on the tick-list sorted. But, God willing, I can hang in there a Sky for a wee while yet.

Next case.

[Colchester Kev]

Sod the poker, What do you think of Harry coming to the Lane ?