Regarding Wazz, I have already told him that he should stop bumping 3 year old threads - and he stopped doing so. And I have already warned him he is unlikely to sell his package when he gets to 300 posts.
He realises he probably won't sell, yet he is still posting. And he is making a proper effort with his posts, and offering insightful contributions - rather than just loads of one-liners trying to get to 300 posts real quickly. Also, I have been telling him how good Blonde is, and encouraging him to post on here, for ages - and I hope that this is at least part of the reason he is posting on here.
When Michael does finally get to 300 posts I might even provide a 'reference' for him if he puts up a staking thread. He has not asked me to do this, and I have not offered or discussed it with him (neither have I discussed with him what I am writing ITT). It will be a very honest reference though, and will include some weird/warts'n'all stuff as well. But my conclusion will still be that I would recommend buying action from him - as long as he doesn't take the piss with the price. If for no other reason that you always get an outside chance to be involved in something hilarious if he fucks up a la massagegate. He is a character, and he makes a lot of mistakes. But he is one of the good guys.
Tbh, even what has happened with the whole 300 posts thing sums Michael up in a way. He often accidentally ends up making himself look silly in some way, and this is just another example. It would have been so much better if he just took his time and made a few posts here and there, and slowly became a valued part of the community. He wouldn't have got to 300 posts before Vegas that way, but he should have accepted this rather than make himself look silly. But he always seems to get himself into trouble/controversy in some way. That is partly what I love about him though. He is good value because he is always prone to make a fool of himself. And I like that, and sympathise with it, because I am exactly the same!
I would still advise Michael to sell at either 1.0 (or maybe 1.1) though... because my personal opinion is that the mark-up situation is getting ridiculous ATM and it makes a great statement to sell your first couple of packages at zero or nominal mark up. I won't be buying either way, not because I'd consider him bad value but because I am not buying any action right now. I am so naused by staking/buying action at the moment that I have given up for the time being.
For reference, here is what I wrote a few years ago about Michael when the San Remo thing all kicked off. It provides a balanced viewpoint on him IMO, since it does not seek to excuse his mistakes and it makes clear the 'idiosyncracies' in his character.
guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.
This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."
Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?
I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes, I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".
I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.
The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.
BTW, he cleared the whole San Remo thing up as quickly as possible after the shit hit the fan. Everyone got paid. The reason for the
ridiculous delay (if I remember) was simply because he had to fill in loads of paperwork to get the Euros he won transferred into his English bank account. And he kept putting it off every day because it was a hassle, and could 'wait until tomorrow'. And he put if off till tomorrow for about six months! As someone who has in the past put off annoying jobs 'till tomorrow' for over a year, I can sympathise with this. It doesn't make it right, of course. Especially when other people's money was involved. But he didn't do it to rip anyone off - he was just lazy and clueless and incompetent. Bless.
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