Poker Media Mid Life Crisis

[iRaise]

Some great improvements there, have you sacked target numbers and just going on feeling now? (I think for the majority of people this is a much better way)

[DaveShoelace]

Some great improvements there, have you sacked target numbers and just going on feeling now? (I think for the majority of people this is a much better way)

Pretty much yes. I do have an eye on my weight, but not so much. I know 14st-ish is what gets me into my fancy suit and 13st 7lbs is the weight I was when I was probably in my best shape 10 years ago, but other than that I don't have any goals like that. My 2014 goal is actually to implement ten good habits that stick (stuff like drinking more water, not looking at technology an hour before bed etc) rather than any sort of aesthetic goal.

[Tal]

Think you should ditch the gym for a chair.



(Far too good not to share!)

And this is something you've probably seen before, but seems right up your Straße:

[Tal]

On Victoria Coren-Mitchell's Twitter. Just incred.

[DaveShoelace]

I'm a bit of a miserable bastard about Xmas but in hindsight anything that forces me to sleep more and spend time with family and friends can't be that bad.

Walking the dog on Christmas Day morning  is the best, because the only people in the park are other dog walkers. Lots of fun for the mutt and no Homo sapiens ruining anything.

I'm quite pleased I have somehow managed to go to the gym three times this week which will go some way to fixing the fact that I ate like a pig all week. However my pull up challenge is not going well and I still can't manage a proper single pull up.

Off to Norfolk tomorrow to see the in laws, thank god for the iPad.

[Tal]

Were you an Adam and Joe fan?

This was my favourite of their parodies:



Saving Private Lion was funny, though, too.

[DaveShoelace]

I was never a big fan actually. I quite liked the characters they did who shouted 'facist' at people.

[DaveShoelace]

This was our first year in our new house. The one really amazing thing about it is we have the most fantastic view of the City. We are about 3 miles from the center and we are about as high up as it gets. So last night at midnight we had the most amazing view of the fireworks. Myself, the wife and the dog all sat on a stool and watched them for 20 minutes at midnight. The dog was so fascinated he spent most of the night staring at them:

Click to see full-size image.

[DaveShoelace]

Afternoon Ya'll

I'm not into New Year resolutions, but it is impossible not to look towards the future at the start of a new year. I've set myself three goals for 2014.

1) Improve my copywriting skills: Boring worky one.
2) Implement more small 'keystone' habits: I made a lot of small low effort changes this year that had a big impact. I started standing instead of sitting at my desk, I stopped eating bread, I stopped looking at technology an hour before bed, I developed a few easy systems to make sure I drink more water etc. Rather than making some lofty goal, I want to implement more of these easy to do high leverage changes to improve my health and to ensure I stay in better contact with friends & family.
3) Finish my first solo book: I've been threatening to write a book with the working title 'Poker's Greatest Prop Bets' for years now, but a few months ago I decided to finally do it. I have since written eight chapters of it on the quiet and I intend to finish it the first half of 2014. As the name (which will probably change) suggests, it is a non fiction book charting all the funny stories of poker player proposition bets (Amarillo Slim stories, the man with the boobs, Huck Seed stories etc etc). Now is a good time to go public to give me an extra burst of motivation.

Story books in poker traditionally don't sell massively, but this is the sort of thing that always has the potential to have a mainstream appeal too, so as a result I am writing it with non poker players in mind. It is one of those few things where I will not really mind if it doesn't do particularly well, as my main reason for doing it is because I have been saying I might do it for years and I want to shit or get off the potty.

With that in mind, if any of you lot know of any funny prop bet stories I might not have heard about before, I would love you to post them here. Doesn't even matter if its unsubstantiated, I am doing a lot of research for it so it will be something for me to work on.

In other news, my mini challenge of doing 10 pull ups by the end of Jan is likely to fail, still can't do one complete normal one but I have made some improvements on the assisted pull up machine, so I'll set a secondary target of at least being able to do a couple.

[Tal]

Not exactly Amarillo Slim's hustles or staying in a bath for a month, but do you remember Bernie Slaven? He said if Middlesboro beat Man United, he would bear his bottom in the local department store window. They famously won 3-2 and he did as he said he would...

http://www.bernieslaven.co.uk/magic-moments/

[vegaslover]

Afternoon Ya'll

I'm not into New Year resolutions, but it is impossible not to look towards the future at the start of a new year. I've set myself three goals for 2014.

1) Improve my copywriting skills: Boring worky one.
2) Implement more small 'keystone' habits: I made a lot of small low effort changes this year that had a big impact. I started standing instead of sitting at my desk, I stopped eating bread, I stopped looking at technology an hour before bed, I developed a few easy systems to make sure I drink more water etc. Rather than making some lofty goal, I want to implement more of these easy to do high leverage changes to improve my health and to ensure I stay in better contact with friends & family.
3) Finish my first solo book: I've been threatening to write a book with the working title 'Poker's Greatest Prop Bets' for years now, but a few months ago I decided to finally do it. I have since written eight chapters of it on the quiet and I intend to finish it the first half of 2014. As the name (which will probably change) suggests, it is a non fiction book charting all the funny stories of poker player proposition bets (Amarillo Slim stories, the man with the boobs, Huck Seed stories etc etc). Now is a good time to go public to give me an extra burst of motivation.

Story books in poker traditionally don't sell massively, but this is the sort of thing that always has the potential to have a mainstream appeal too, so as a result I am writing it with non poker players in mind. It is one of those few things where I will not really mind if it doesn't do particularly well, as my main reason for doing it is because I have been saying I might do it for years and I want to shit or get off the potty.

With that in mind, if any of you lot know of any funny prop bet stories I might not have heard about before, I would love you to post them here. Doesn't even matter if its unsubstantiated, I am doing a lot of research for it so it will be something for me to work on.

In other news, my mini challenge of doing 10 pull ups by the end of Jan is likely to fail, still can't do one complete normal one but I have made some improvements on the assisted pull up machine, so I'll set a secondary target of at least being able to do a couple.

Good to hear you finally getting on with book again Barry. Are you keeping it to just poker or adding some other gambling props? Mainstream audience might go for it more if it isn't just about poker.
I'm sure I have another book or two about older gambling props/scams. Will take a look and see if I can find anything for you.


For pull ups do you use the lat pull down bar/machine? Will help to build up strength in this area.
Also try just holding onto the pull up bar and trying to hang there as long as possible, builds up the stamina needed for holding up your body

[DaveShoelace]

Good to hear you finally getting on with book again Barry. Are you keeping it to just poker or adding some other gambling props? Mainstream audience might go for it more if it isn't just about poker.
I'm sure I have another book or two about older gambling props/scams. Will take a look and see if I can find anything for you.

For pull ups do you use the lat pull down bar/machine? Will help to build up strength in this area.
Also try just holding onto the pull up bar and trying to hang there as long as possible, builds up the stamina needed for holding up your body

Right now just poker, because I think it is an interesting side story that people who engage in battles of wits and gambling have prop bets as such a significant part of the culture. I think its just funny that in any other walk of life arguments are settled the normal way but in poker they are settled with silly wagers. That said if I uncover some really interesting stories I may have to extend it to all gamblers.

[RED-DOG]

Hey Baz, what does a proper pull up entail?

[DaveShoelace]

This

[RED-DOG]

In my imagination I could do several of those, but the reality might be a little different.

I'll give it a try as soon as I find something to hang from.