Comedy thread on 2 plus 2 about UK players

[Royal Flush]

i dont know who the best player is but these guys will give you an idea of the 2nd best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6o4b0EpK7Y

note the semi-rubdown from mr martin and a drunk flushy.

lol fun times

[AlexMartin]

i dont know who the best player is but these guys will give you an idea of the 2nd best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6o4b0EpK7Y

note the semi-rubdown from mr martin and a drunk flushy.

lol fun times

lol why am i always in videos with you? The one on a world of poker is funnier imo.

[fatshaft]

bluescouse is one of the best from the UK apparenty......You read it here first. Well, second.

That post was pretty uninformed, but a lot of the rest of it seems pretty spot on. Where's the comedy value?

Hi Mr Shaft Sir,

I'm not clear if that's aimed at the Thread Title, or my Post, but,.....

Mr Kendall Sir, 

It was more the thread title. As a group, the UK are pretty damned poor which was the main strand of the thread, which I'm sure you'd agree? Just look at how bad Sky, Betfair, and the now defunct Wagerworks network were for playing standards as a rough guide to our collective incompetence, or indeed just play a cash game in any UK casino.

Certainly if I'm surrounded by a table of Brits, I'm not logging off anytime soon, although in fairness, I'd be moving to the next table if it contained only Russians, French, Irish and Italians. I would have said Germans as well 3 months ago, but something is going badly wrong there, and they seem to be learning at a ridiculous rate.

Conversly, a table of Fins or Norwegians and you won't see me for dust.

Of course you can't call every player based on where they are from, but before I have evidence to the contrary, I'll assume they adhere to their national stereotype.

(this is just an opinion, not a fact )

[relaedgc]

LOL I just spoke to Nick Hicks, who told me that a week or two before Rob Akery won it, Ozzy one of the Notts Gala regulars also won the sunday million outright, no deals. I was absolutely gobsmacked it has to be said, but well done to him, he did what most of us dream of............

one of the Luton kids won this last November.

who?

seb?

best of blonde.

Rofl.

[action man]

i dont know who the best player is but these guys will give you an idea of the 2nd best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6o4b0EpK7Y

note the semi-rubdown from mr martin and a drunk flushy.

lol fun times

lol why am i always in videos with you? The one on a world of poker is funnier imo.

link?

[byronkincaid]

I've also been scratching my head about the extract below, Posted on blonde (we do quirky, too....), by the deservedly esteemed "Geeforce", a man who knows exactly what he's talking about, I'd say, certainly he moves at Levels I have never been good enough to even aspire to.

but those tht do tend to leave the tilt and stars games alone as there is little need 2 play in games where 90%of the players are overall winning 1s

I just have a (small?) mind that works in weird ways, but I'm really trying to come to terms with what that means - a Site where 90% of the players are overall winning. The other 10% must be doing a bomb......

Just ignore me & my warped sense of humour, but it did amuse me.

high steaks games != whole site imo

[tikay]

bluescouse is one of the best from the UK apparenty......You read it here first. Well, second.

That post was pretty uninformed, but a lot of the rest of it seems pretty spot on. Where's the comedy value?

Hi Mr Shaft Sir,

I'm not clear if that's aimed at the Thread Title, or my Post, but,.....

Mr Kendall Sir, 

It was more the thread title. As a group, the UK are pretty damned poor which was the main strand of the thread, which I'm sure you'd agree? Just look at how bad Sky, Betfair, and the now defunct Wagerworks network were for playing standards as a rough guide to our collective incompetence, or indeed just play a cash game in any UK casino.

Certainly if I'm surrounded by a table of Brits, I'm not logging off anytime soon, although in fairness, I'd be moving to the next table if it contained only Russians, French, Irish and Italians. I would have said Germans as well 3 months ago, but something is going badly wrong there, and they seem to be learning at a ridiculous rate.

Conversly, a table of Fins or Norwegians and you won't see me for dust.

Of course you can't call every player based on where they are from, but before I have evidence to the contrary, I'll assume they adhere to their national stereotype.

(this is just an opinion, not a fact )

Thank you Mr Shaft for a splendid reply - may I call you Fat?

I'm not convinced we are "poor" at poker as a Nation, but that's just a hunch really, I have no specific information one way or the other. I guess our poor record in the WSOP is a clue, though that's a pretty thin sample in the grand scheme of things, & these days the whole WSOP series has been debased by poor structures. I do - again just a hunch - fancy some of our Omaha players are up with the best, but again, it's just a gut feeling.

But the Debate was about "Online" really, or I think it was. Only a fool would accept Online Stats at face value. Some players have "records" which suggest they are well profitable, but I don't buy that at face value I'm afraid. Players operate under multiple aliases, & also "trade" Seats deep in Comps, as we both know, (a practice which Betfair seem to actively encourage). If - hypothetically - bluescouse's Online record suggests he's, say, $200,000 to the good, do we know that includes, perhaps, other aliases, or when he plays on Networks which do not have "tracking". He could be $1,000,000 up, or $500,000 down - there's just no way of knowing. I know of dozens of prominent Online players - huge names, some of them - who allow other players to use their account, & vice-versa.

You suggest, by way of evidence, that we only need to look at the standard of play on Sky Poker, amongst others. (Note I have vested interest here - I work for them). I don't think the standard of play on Sky Poker can be in any way used as evidence that UK players are not up to the mark Internationally. Why so? Because, at present, Sky Poker do not lay "nosebleed stakes", so I can't see the correlation. They are offering WSOP Packages though, & it'd throw the cat amongst the pigeons if one of them went deep, eh? And what would it prove if one did? - it might be a 'Stars player, attracted by the "assumed" value!

You mention Live Cash, & there I'm with you. The standard of play IS horrendous, but it's the same all over the world I think. Play Live Omaha Cash & you are confronted by many of the folks playing 4 card Hold 'Em, it's hilarious to watch. but luck being the massive factor it is in poker, & even more so in Omaha (short-term), they can be dangerous. We have good & bad Cash players in the UK, sure, but surely, so does everyone? Vegas is the proof of that.

I just don't see how we establish it beyond reasonable doubt. My gut feeling is that it's just plain wrong to assume a player is good or bad because he's, say British or German.

I am still tickled pink by that 2+2 thread though. Some of those guys live in another world. Which could, I suppose, equally apply to me.

Let's have more of your Posts on here - you debate good.

PS - Desperately tried to include the phrase "crushing the nosebleed stakes" somewhere in there, so I could be deemed down with the kids street-talk, but failed miserably. A spotty 12 year old threw it out in conversaton at my table in Manchester-G last night, & the coffee went spluttering everywhere. Completely whooshed Alan McLean & C T Law, too, who have amassed over $1,000,000 of winnings between them. But as with Online, so Live, & we know those two have "made" over $1,000,000, but we have no idea what they've lost, have we? The Poker Industry just has no way of measuring profit or loss properly. But the long-term survivors survive, & so they must be winners. Plenty of Brits can lay claim to surviving, but even more have disappeared, sunk without trace. It's the same everywhere I fancy.

[fatshaft]

Tikay, I won't quote you as it's a bit long. But your points also ring true. It's hard to tell which side is right. The =4 thread has sort of become a bit of everything now.

However, the point that does ring true, and I think also hides some of the big UK winners from view, is that we don't go around bragging about it like some do (another stereotype there), and this is partly because we're not American, and partly because many of the winners are a lot older than their American counterparts, and as I said on the =4 thread, we tend to get it quietly.

Let's have more of your Posts on here - you debate good.

TY Sir. My posting has increased a little recently since I realised after all these years that I could change the default colour scheme, which I found hard to read. 

[tikay]

Tikay, I won't quote you as it's a bit long. But your points also ring true. It's hard to tell which side is right. The =4 thread has sort of become a bit of everything now.

However, the point that does ring true, and I think also hides some of the big UK winners from view, is that we don't go around bragging about it like some do (another stereotype there), and this is partly because we're not American, and partly because many of the winners are a lot older than their American counterparts, and as I said on the =4 thread, we tend to get it quietly.[/u]

Let's have more of your Posts on here - you debate good.

TY Sir. My posting has increased a little recently since I realised after all these years that I could change the default colour scheme, which I found hard to read. 

With that, we are of one mind entirely.

Apologies if this seems rude, but we we know each other - "really" rather than virtually, I mean? I rarely get called "Mr Kendall" except by those who know me outside blonde, the quack at the Clinic, my Meals on Wheels Lady, or my Probation Officer at the YOI.

OK, off for my afternoon nap now. Sorry, Power-nap.

[superhans]

bluescouse is one of the best from the UK apparenty......You read it here first. Well, second.

That post was pretty uninformed, but a lot of the rest of it seems pretty spot on. Where's the comedy value?

Hi Mr Shaft Sir,

I'm not clear if that's aimed at the Thread Title, or my Post, but,.....

Mr Kendall Sir, 

It was more the thread title. As a group, the UK are pretty damned poor which was the main strand of the thread, which I'm sure you'd agree? Just look at how bad Sky, Betfair, and the now defunct Wagerworks network were for playing standards as a rough guide to our collective incompetence, or indeed just play a cash game in any UK casino.

Certainly if I'm surrounded by a table of Brits, I'm not logging off anytime soon, although in fairness, I'd be moving to the next table if it contained only Russians, French, Irish and Italians. I would have said Germans as well 3 months ago, but something is going badly wrong there, and they seem to be learning at a ridiculous rate.

Conversly, a table of Fins or Norwegians and you won't see me for dust.

Of course you can't call every player based on where they are from, but before I have evidence to the contrary, I'll assume they adhere to their national stereotype.

(this is just an opinion, not a fact )

But the Debate was about "Online" really, or I think it was. Only a fool would accept Online Stats at face value. Some players have "records" which suggest they are well profitable, but I don't buy that at face value I'm afraid. Players operate under multiple aliases, & also "trade" Seats deep in Comps, as we both know, (a practice which Betfair seem to actively encourage). If - hypothetically - bluescouse's Online record suggests he's, say, $200,000 to the good, do we know that includes, perhaps, other aliases, or when he plays on Networks which do not have "tracking". He could be $1,000,000 up, or $500,000 down - there's just no way of knowing. I know of dozens of prominent Online players - huge names, some of them - who allow other players to use their account, & vice-versa.

Well there is no way of knowing exactly how much he is up or down but Bluescouse blogs in detail about his wins and losses and all evidence suggests he's not making any of it up. The hands he blogs about are often witnessed by many people and I know for sure that he bought his house with poker winnings and has played several EPT events. At the end of 2007 he stated his aims for 2008 as "this year i want to win a £100k pot at some time as well as make more than i did this year (£155k or thereabouts)" so if you believe him, which I do, he made over £150k last year. The reason he had no bankroll left is he bought a £250k house with over half of it paid for outright and spent a lot furnishing it. Since then he lost the £25k he won late last year and around £20k borrowed money (quite likely to be money he won earlier and his parents kept safe for emergencies) and then won £10k in the last few days. At the start of 2007 he had a bankroll of £20k but had won a lot more than that overall. From all of this you can work out he's up way more than $200k.

[clarkatroid]

the real comedy is the lack of convincing content in this thread that opposes the general view on 2p2~(mine included) that the general standard of poker in the uk is down right appalling.

 also most the folk commenting in that thread are uk players also

[Jon MW]

the real comedy is the lack of convincing content in this thread that opposes the general view on 2p2~(mine included) that the general standard of poker in the uk is down right appalling.

 also most the folk commenting in that thread are uk players also

I don't think the UK standard of play is what was amusing, I think it was just the general level of uninformed comment.

Such as suggesting that the players that play on Sky Poker are representative of the country (and for that matter the suggestion that everyone in the UK plays on there).

That said, I didn't find it as amusing as I hoped it would be - but that was probably because of the lack of American input.

[Longy]

the real comedy is the lack of convincing content in this thread that opposes the general view on 2p2~(mine included) that the general standard of poker in the uk is down right appalling.

 also most the folk commenting in that thread are uk players also

I happen to agree with you, my experience of playing online that if there is a player from the uk sat with me, he/she is likely to be clueless.

I think there are number of reasons this has come about pointed on the 2p2 thread:

1. The "getting it quietly" culture has an effect and there are some Uk players who are making a decent living online.

2. Alot of people in the uk think poker = other forms of gambling therefore its a game of pure luck and therefore play accordingly.

3. Those who have got beyond number 2, often seem unwilling to work on their games enough to improve to be big winners.

4. We as a nation seemed to like to stick our heads in the sand and get all defensive when someone criticises us. Instead of thinking hang on how can we improve. As evidenced in this thread.

5. Mediocrity breeds mediocrity, you only have to play down your local casino once a week and you will learn next to nothing in terms of poker strategy but will hear a lot of misguided waffle about the game.

6. 2p2 is the prime strat forum(s) on the internet alot of people on Blonde (we are mainly uk) seemed to be put off by 2p2's attitude towards newbies.

I could go on, but very few will be listening.

[Claw75]

I could go on, but very few will be listening.

did somebody say something?

[ariston]

I'd class the biggest online players in the UK as milkybar kid, chufty, rayvon and maffews. the 150k Bluescouse won is peanuts compared to what the other 4 have won. I have witnessed daily swings of more than 100k for 3 of the 4 I have named.

does this make them the best? I class the best as the ones who do it consistanly. I certainly am not one of the best in the UK (not even one of the best in my street lol). My name was stuck in there for benno etc to take the mickey of and no other reason. As a MTT player though I don't think many UK players have had a higher pocket 5 world ranking than mine was a couple of years ago (when they counted satelitte wins into the equation). Being up there in the rankings meant nothing though as for every trip i won I had to make 10k or so expences money for the trip on top and I nearly always came back potless. Online poker however has been my living for the last  5 or 6 years and but for all the trips glory hunting I would be a lot better off. I managed to win a WSOP package last week and I now have 9 weeks to win another 10k to take out with me, pointless going with less- pressure's back on