Pokerstars.com EPT Prague: Day 1A - Interactive

[tikay]

Early in this Update, Floppy said this.......

"......But part of this update comes in the form of an announcement, that, as of next year, we'll be reducing the number of EPT updates that we do. The simple fact is that the vast majority of blonde's expenses go on live updates and with the dusk til dawn sponsorship (which everyone was incredibly grateful for and we hope we've given value for money in return) now ending, the truth of the matter is that blonde simply cannot afford to cover all the EPT's as more and more are introduced. (11 this year and they're looking for number 12 next year). We'll still be covering some of them and Copenhagen and the Grand Final in Monte Carlo will certainly be covered, but as for Dortmund, San Remo and Warsaw, their futures with regards to the blonde updates are much more up in the air......"

Let me enlarge upon this:

Our largest expenditure in blonde - by a long way - is on Live Updates, & we are, rightly I feel, proud of them, their interactivity, humour & community feel are as good as it gets, even though, technically, we lag behind the deep-pocketed big Sites who have some lovely bells & whistles. They will, by the way, always remain "free to view".

We run blonde with extreme financial prudence - we have never borrowed  or had an overdraft, & we never will.

So until we find replacement Sponsors following the successful 12 months we had from our good friends at DTD, we are being cautious in the planning of our 2008 Update Schedule. We have to - sending Updaters to Prague & Monte Carlo & The Bahamas is well expensive, even though we don't pay the Updaters anything like they deserve. And, oddly, we find that our traffic is very high for most Domestic Updates which are, of course, cheaper to cover.

We have already decided to cover almost all of the blonde Festivals in Ireland in 2008 - there are about 4 scheduled so far.

We are, in fact, still developing our own Update bells & whistles, to create Updates which are, if not technically up wth the Big Boys, still good entertainment. This in itself shows our long-term committment to blonde Live Updates.

So, it's still very possible (probable I'd say) that we will cover all the 2008 EPT's & such-like, but it just depends on what Sponsorship packages we secure. We are talking to numerous parties on this, & it's late in the day because we were unsure what route, if any, DTD wished to take with us in 2008.

We will NOT be covering the WSOP or WPT again, in the near-term, but that's nothing to do with money, it's because they just treat us, & more importantly, our Staff, badly, & expect us to pay them fortunes for the right to part-Update their Events. They can whistle. We are free-to-view, & so should they be.

So, bear with us while we negotiate our 2008 Sponsorship Deals, & maybe the EPT's can all still be covered by blonde. I hope we can.

In the meantime, a big thanks to DTD for their invaluable support in 2007, & also to all of our Updaters who, without exception, have been magnificent.

I hope this fully explains our caution in scheduling our 2008 Update Schedule.

Now, lets get back to Prague, & enjoy!

[NoflopsHomer]

People who Benjo kinda looks like (part 47):

Today, it's Luca Pagano

[lvsanta]

Thanks Homer,

Always great.

[kinboshi]

Great updates Snoops and Chili

[NoflopsHomer]

Jean Philippe Rohr is feeling like this:



He held against Ole Hausner's all-in re-raise with

Board:

[Chili]

Jeff Kimber 12,300




Thomas Dunwoodie  6,200

[KpHs21]

Yeah nice work guys, never looked at this forum be4 but I'm going to do it more often now!!:)

[Chili]

Yeah nice work guys, never looked at this forum be4 but I'm going to do it more often now!!:)

Nice one, you know it makes sense 

[Zpaceman]

Hi,

I just checked-in and great updates so far.

Can you do me a favour and see if you can find if fellow Brit, James Finigan, is still in and how he's doing (photo would be good too - he answers to the name Jim or Jimbo). You had him on the alphabetical list in an earlier post.

Cheers,

Stu

[LLevan]

During the lulls in the proceedings perchance a few more pics from last nights party................PS a big thank you once again to Blonde for the best updates online and hopefully a new sponsor can be found asap.

[NoflopsHomer]

Jeff Kimber 12,300

Add 3,100 to Jeff Kimber's stack. He's just knocked out Julian Thew with A-T against Fives. Ace on the flop.

Johnny Lodden is OUT. Ace King against Nines, an Ace and a Nine on the flop.

Dave Penly bets 1,100 on a . His opponent in seat 2 makes it 3,000. Undeterred, Dave makes it 6,700 and elicits a fold from his opponent.

Rolf Slotboom is squawking on table 17. His opponent has just bet 1,000 on a board. "I'm folding the best hand here," he said, "Don't show me a bluff! Don't show me a bluff." He mucks the .

"I'm a chicken! A chicken!" shouts Rolf to anyone who is listening.

I don't think he's a farmyard animal, but he's clearly left this planet.

[Chili]

I have just done a hunt for big stacks and found these lucky/skillfull fellows:

Martin Wendt - 40k


Rob Hollink - 38k


Don't know but looks scary - 53k


Luigi Rizzi  - 43k

[dino1980]

We will NOT be covering the WSOP or WPT again, in the near-term, but that's nothing to do with money, it's because they just treat us, & more importantly, our Staff, badly, & expect us to pay them fortunes for the right to part-Update their Events. They can whistle. We are free-to-view, & so should they be.

It's a real shame what has happened with regards to the WSOP and WPT coverage and selling off the coverage rights to one media outlet will IMO hurt poker in the long term. I am relatively new to the poker industry, but there used to be a saying something along the lines of 'what's good for poker is good for poker'. And I can remember as recently as the 2006 WSOP there being a really good camaraderie between the updaters and the sharing of info, the sort of atmosphere that still exisits in the press room at the GUKPT events.

But it seems, in America at least, Bluff, Cardplayer and Pokernews, by proxy of Bluff selling the updates, have become embroiled in a poker turf war. When it comes to big events such as the WSOP this hurts British poker fans as these sites for the most part seem to focus on American players. For instance i'm fairly sure Skalie barely got a mention at the WSOP main event until they were near the final table.

End rant.

[LLevan]

We will NOT be covering the WSOP or WPT again, in the near-term, but that's nothing to do with money, it's because they just treat us, & more importantly, our Staff, badly, & expect us to pay them fortunes for the right to part-Update their Events. They can whistle. We are free-to-view, & so should they be.

It's a real shame what has happened with regards to the WSOP and WPT coverage and selling off the coverage rights to one media outlet will IMO hurt poker in the long term. I am relatively new to the poker industry, but there used to be a saying something along the lines of 'what's good for poker is good for poker'. And I can remember as recently as the 2006 WSOP there being a really good camaraderie between the updaters and the sharing of info, the sort of atmosphere that still exisits in the press room at the GUKPT events.

But it seems, in America at least, Bluff, Cardplayer and Pokernews, by proxy of Bluff selling the updates, have become embroiled in a poker turf war. When it comes to big events such as the WSOP this hurts British poker fans as these sites for the most part seem to focus on American players. For instance i'm fairly sure Skalie barely got a mention at the WSOP main event until they were near the final table.

End rant.

The beauty of updates on Blonde aside from their being the best is the ability to interact with the updaters and request copious amounts of norkage on occassions.

[Chili]

During the lulls in the proceedings perchance a few more pics from last nights party................PS a big thank you once again to Blonde for the best updates online and hopefully a new sponsor can be found asap.

I seriously don't have anymore from the party i'm afraid - apart from one with me & the SikTilt boys, not quite what you hand in mind I know but tough 

Bizarely this photo just came out red all by itself.