No excuse for poor play -

[El Sid]

I played a hand badly at Dusk till Dawn yesterday (many of you will say: "What's unusual about that?") But there's no excuse for acting out of turn, and a lapse in concentration, on my part, cost me my tournament life, in what would have been an easy hand to win, if played half properly.

I won't go into the intricacy of the hand itself, as one of the preceding hands had a great bearing on the hand in question, as my worthy opponent had been set on the road to tilt by another player who called his raise with nine deuce and hit a straight, losing my opponent Waheed Ashraf a large pot.

Cause and effect (the heartbeat of poker) still had a further part to play, as, when I left the poker room and was standing outside telephoning the missus, something unusual was about to happen. But more about this later, as we have to go back fifty five years to appreciate the infinite subtlety of cause and effect.

At the age of twelve, I took a trip to Ellison's joke shop in Holborn with express intention of buying a book on ventriloquism; this is the kind of thing boys did then, as there was no internet poker or porn. When I reached the counter of this amazing store, I noticed that alongside the book on ventriloquism there was a book on hypnosis, and I was thrown into a dilemma of which one I needed the most, the fact that a ventriloquist needed a dummy, (beyond my financial reach) swayed me in the direction of the book on hypnotism which cost 3/6d - seventeen and a half pence to those of you under 35.

As a boy I couldn't master the art of hypnotism and, it wasn't till much later in life when a serendipitous meeting with Richard Bandler (in my opinion the greatest living hypnotist) had me mastering the art. If you go onto Utube, you will see how easily and effortlessly Bandler places people into the altered state of mind, which is hypnosis. I was fortunate to have been taught by the best. For those of you not conversant with Bandler, he is the father of Neuro Linguistic Programming, the recognised treatment for phobias of every kind.

So, back to Dusk till Dawn, and yesterday, it's five minutes after I'd committed Hara Kiri at the poker table, and I'm standing outside the poker room, When out comes Waheed Ashraf, dying for a cigarette. I immediately apologise for acting out of turn, and we shake hands, at this moment, I can't help myself, and I act out of turn again. There's a move in hypnosis known as the handshake induction method, I could not resist it, and although I had given him all of my chips, I decided I still owed him a favour: "You will win this, you will play like you've never played before" I threw in a subliminal line that I can't repeat and released his hand from mine. "I will win this!" were Waheed's last words to me as he threw away his half smoked cigarette and couldn't get back to the game quickly enough. Well done Waheed, I think you're going to win a lot more tournaments in the near future.

Also, thanks to Tikay and Tight End for your kind words.

[RED-DOG]

NURSE!

[Ant040689]

Just shows you the power of self belief after hypnosis. I'm a believer.

Would have been amusing to have had the man have to conduct a ceremonial dance after every hand won as a sort of fee for you helping him out. No come to think about it i doubt he would not have been allowed to finish the tourn.

If I had hypnosis powers I would pretty quickly turn to the darkside for japes.

[tikay]

You are very welcome Sid, & I was pleased to bits to bump into you again yesterday.

As you know, Tighty & I did a job on you, urging you to write more, & that's a grand example of your lovely style, a really terrific & enjoyable little tale, thank you very much.

As the youngsters say, "post more".

[mouth]

That's sweet.

A happy ending delivered by the power of your hand.

[RED-DOG]

That's sweet.

A happy ending delivered by the power of your hand.

Behave.

[tikay]

Caroline!

Please. Sid is a refined gentleman.

[RED-DOG]

You are very welcome Sid, & I was pleased to bits to bump into you again yesterday.

As you know, Tighty & I did a job on you, urging you to write more, & that's a grand example of your lovely style, a really terrific & enjoyable little tale, thank you very much.

As the youngsters say, "post moar".

FYP

[tikay]

You are very welcome Sid, & I was pleased to bits to bump into you again yesterday.

As you know, Tighty & I did a job on you, urging you to write more, & that's a grand example of your lovely style, a really terrific & enjoyable little tale, thank you very much.

As the youngsters say, "post moar".

FYP

Oops, sorry met.

[jakally]

You are very welcome Sid, & I was pleased to bits to bump into you again yesterday.

As you know, Tighty & I did a job on you, urging you to write more, & that's a grand example of your lovely style, a really terrific & enjoyable little tale, thank you very much.

As the youngsters say, "post moar".

FYP

Oops, sorry met.

I love this little exchange.
Must be something in the air today, as I've only just finished chuckling at a genius post from Herbie, in Cos's diary.

[smashedagain]

[tonytats]

 there was no internet poker or porn

What on earth did u do with your time then ?

[kinboshi]

That's sweet.

A happy ending delivered by the power of your hand.

Genius.

[EvilPie]

That's sweet.

A happy ending delivered by the power of your hand.

Genius.

[celtic]

That's sweet.

A happy ending delivered by the power of your hand.

Genius.