Vegas, but no Aftermath - Diary

[arbboy]

who did you used to speak to day in day out about poker keith? Have you ever hired a coach?

I think its impossible to really be very good without being surrounded by very good players and bouncing ideas off each other. I think thats one of the reasons young people do well. Its because they have 10 other guys who don't have jobs and have a lot of common ground that are able to bounce ideas off. If you're a 50 year old male its tough to get in those circles I guess.

 

You beat me to it Alun!  Looking forward to the response!

[Marky147]

Very interesting stuff, and a great breakdown of how a pro sets things out, Mark.

I keep records of my bets, and tally things up at the end of each week to see how I've done, and then keep a running total.

Even though I'm only a rec punter that splashes about, I should keep a note of everything I spend, and then I might stop randomly clicking buttons on Amazon & Ebay... The local Curry house might go skint though

[pleno1]

haha i was just using it as an example.

[The Camel]

who did you used to speak to day in day out about poker keith? Have you ever hired a coach?

I think its impossible to really be very good without being surrounded by very good players and bouncing ideas off each other. I think thats one of the reasons young people do well. Its because they have 10 other guys who don't have jobs and have a lot of common ground that are able to bounce ideas off. If you're a 50 year old male its tough to get in those circles I guess.

I spoke to virtually no one. Talked to little to Dr Fells from Pokerstars and Iftaarii (Jonathan Jaffe) but only about the occasional hand, never in depth theory.

Never hired a coach. Never even considered it tbh. In fact I doubt there were any HU SNG coaches around when I was playing. I was almost certainly one of the top 3 winners of HU SNGs on Pokerstars back then, so who would I have hired?

In fact someone offered me $200/hour to teach them how to play the games. Did a test for an hour, found out I totally wasn't suited coaching and scrapped the plan. Most of my play was *feel*

My big strength was adapting to new conditions quickly.

If you look at my Sharkscope graph there are two distinct nearly vertical upswings. The first one can be almost linked to the day of Pokerstars introducing HU SNGs and the second one was when they introduced turbo HU SNGs.

I just got very good at both games very quickly before the field caught me up and eventually overtook me.

Maybe if I had studied and/or got a coach I would have stayed ahead of the game!

[The Camel]

Our cat died tonight.

Ridiculously upset. I never had any pets as a child and it wasn't until I moved up here that I understood the bond you have with an animal you care for.

I loved that infuriating cat. RIP Jackie.

[bobAlike]

Sorry to hear that Keith. Being a fellow human who is currently owned by a couple of cats I can totally sympathise with you.

[Marky147]

Have lost a couple dogs that I had from a few weeks old, and it's heartbreaking, as they really do become part of the family.

Sorry to hear about, Jackie.

[tikay]

Our cat died tonight.

Ridiculously upset. I never had any pets as a child and it wasn't until I moved up here that I understood the bond you have with an animal you care for.

I loved that infuriating cat. RIP Jackie.

That is too bad, Keith. It's ridiculous how we get so attached to pets, but we just do, all of us.

Was Jake upset, too?

What sort of cat, tabby, tortoiseshell, Siamese? (Can't see you having a Siamese).

Tabby's are amazing, so much character. Tabby's OWN households.

There seems to be some fixation with the letter "K" in the Hawkins household.

Keith

Hawkins

Kath

Jake

Jackie

Team Special K?

RIP Jackie.

[The Camel]

Our cat died tonight.

Ridiculously upset. I never had any pets as a child and it wasn't until I moved up here that I understood the bond you have with an animal you care for.

I loved that infuriating cat. RIP Jackie.

That is too bad, Keith. It's ridiculous how we get so attached to pets, but we just do, all of us.

Was Jake upset, too?

What sort of cat, tabby, tortoiseshell, Siamese? (Can't see you having a Siamese).

Tabby's are amazing, so much character. Tabby's OWN households.

There seems to be some fixation with the letter "K" in the Hawkins household.

Keith

Hawkins

Kath

Jake

Jackie

Team Special K?

RIP Jackie.

She was a tuxedo cat. (Never knew black and white cats had that moniker, but according to wiki they do)

We didn't name her, the previous owner did. We got her "for a week" over Christmas 2012 from social services when her owner, who was in the early stages of dementia, moved from her house to a nursing home.

Social services took her to be reunited with her owner after she had settled in and she looked aghast when she saw Jackie being returned to her "what on earth have you brought me that thing for? I thought I'd seen the back of it".

So without asking to see if we wanted her, social services returned her to us.

I think Jackie's previous owner had possibly mistreated her, because for the first couple of months she was terribly timid, running away and hiding whenever we came near her.

But once she realised she could trust us, she was an amazing characterful cat. She loved Jake and always wanted to be part of whatever he was doing.

Already the place is far quieter.

[EvilPie]

RIP Jackie

Every time I hear of someone's pet passing away it makes me think of my Ronnie and his ever approaching mortality. I could cry just thinking about it!!

Why do they have to be so amazing!! The little bastards!!!

[engy]

Never been a cat man but totally sympathize Keith. Always dogs for me so know how heartbreaking it will be

[Junior Senior]

Sorry to hear that Keith. Like Matt, I get so upset when I hear of anyone losing a pet, they really do become a real part of the family.

We have two black and white cats obtained from the RSPCA. They are the most loving animals you could possibly want. I can't even begin to imagine how upset we would be to lose one. I really feel for you.

RIP.

[Omm]

Sorry to hear about your cat Keith. It has reminded me of my cat, I unfortunately killed it by accident, she was under the car wheel arch on a cold day, I got in the car to go to the doctors and she couldn't get out in time and went under the wheel, I looked in my mirror and realised straight away what I had done, still can vividly remember what she looked like when I had to pick her up and drive her straight to the vet, she had died instantly. Pretty tough telling the missus and the kids still don't know to this day( obviously know she is dead but not how).

Pets give so much love but it's heartbreaking when it's their time to go.

[tonytats]

The best way to get over the loss is to get another one - or in the case of cats get 2 they will be company for each other
Plus there's always cats that need homing so you will be doing a good turn as well
I/we have had 2 for ages even if one dies / goes missing we get another they are no trouble

[The Camel]

A very pretty young lady called a "rare ray of sunshine at the poker table" tonight.

Assuming the 1/12 shot that she was being sarcastic wasn't a winner, I am recording it here for posterity.