lil dave's lil life

[SuuPRlim]

Post-Post-Paphos Spin up

So up to the last point I was fresh off the back of a nice little upswing, I'd managed to turn a +'d overdraft, maxed out credit card and a second hand table tennis table into 10,000 pounds cash and a nice new watch, life is good.

As I think about it, I only start to really appreciate how lucky I got during that month I don't know exactly how my life changes if I dust the 150 off as I'm supposed to on night one...actually it might change drastically as it was that spin up which got me "on the scene" as it were with the Leeds poker life, and the money came in useful later on, in fact that one month might have been the luckiest I ever have/ever will get...these things seem so small and entitled at the time don't they...

So what next? I've got momentum, confidence and better than all that, money...what do I do? Very simply, I banked the money, and got a job.

BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING!

This wasn't any old kind of job though, and had been in the pipelines for a while. When I was at school I worked in a Seafood/Fish and Chip Restaurant in harrogate, and the Owner - Graham, was one of if not THE best front of house restaurant operators I've ever seen, from the first minute I met with him I was in absolute owe of him, the way he swanned around and spoke to everyone, and everyone he spoke to felt like they were the most important customer he ever had in the building. People complained, 30 seconds with Graham and they'd be laughing, shaking hands and leaving tips.  Whatever he did, he could charm his way out it in no time at all, a really impressive guy. I left working for him in the start of 6th form but we kept in touch, and he rang me out of the blue one day to say that he's sold his restaurant and will be using the money to buy and sell takeaway's and restaurants, and he would like me to come on board as his "right-hand man" (nice way of saying run-around boy) hours would long, days off would be rare and I was to be on call 24/7 almost. Goes without saying I jumped at the offer, and couldn't wait to start.

So poker took a back burner, actually I barely played in the next year, it was this year actually though, during a rare trip to the Alea casino to play a small comp that I met, for the first time, Middy and Jones as far as the job goes, I absolutely loved it, if I could click my fingers and go back I'm pretty sure I would, working closely with Graham I learnt tons about life (a little less about business than I might!) but I learnt how life actually works, and what you need to do to get along in life. Money was actually good too, I was working 70 hours a week and never really had any time off but got pretty well paid for a 19-20yr old and as I got more experience I was taking on more and more responsibility and got some nice bonuses. Moved out of my parents almost straight away after getting the job at 19 and life was pretty good.

I was just turned 20 and the plan was for me to invest 8,000 (the remains of my "savings" into the next shop we were buying, a nice shop in Greengates near bradford, also we were about to open a new restaurant in whitby in which I got a tiny % in exchange for not taking a pay-rise I was due. Unfortunately the shop deal fell through at the last minute which was a huge shame, but it turned out to be a big coup for me, as by the end of the yr I ended up buying it off the people who bought it in our place for 20% less than they paid for it, with the help of a school friend of mine who loaned me half the money, and selling it for an OK profit by the springtime. After the first year the restaurant was the third best performing in Whitby behind Magpie and Trenchers (taking big big money) and this persuaded Graham decided to split his businesses up, selling the vast majority of his units, now it was only focus on a few places (mostly the restaurant) and stop the plans of expansion, this wasn't really for me, so I committed to another summer in Whitby the following year and then we part company and I look for a new path in life. I was very sad to leave Graham as working for him every day was a real joy, it was stressful and VERY tiring, but every day was just so exciting. We've remained good friends to this day and we have lunch or dinner once a month, which is real nice.

The next summer in whitby was a real disaster, in the winter time I'd been doing free-lance "consultancy" work mostly with Grahams friends and getting paid absurd money for it - 200 pounds a day - I'd flipped the shop in greegates quickly and was playing a little here and there in Faz's game and absolutely carving it up, I had by the time the next summer rolled around, about 35/36,000 in cash, i was still 20 and not yet to turn 21 until July so whilst all my friends went to Vegas I could only stay home, I didn't really mind this so much as actually I really really enjoyed working in the restaurant, was a chance to work with Graham again (me and him really are a dream team working restaurants together) and i had said I would, and I like to be a man of my word...

Unfortunately, my dark side came to the surface this summer and I started betting on the World Cup...this was my first real blow-up in life, and what a fucking blow-up it was

[Simon Galloway]

from the first minute I met with him I was in absolute owe of him,

Spoken like a true poker player.

[AlunB]

 

[I KNOW IT]

Really enjoying this diary.  Can you tell Loz Gosney that Craig Wildman said hello and can you pm his phone number as I've lost it ( obviously ask him first ) and tell him he needs to get his ass over to China to see me, a few guys from Leeds come into my bar .
 Also ask him about his rail when he won his bracelet and who was most vocal lol. That was possibly the first infamous British rail at the WSOP.
Keep posting

Also need to get to sleep as I'm taking all my staff white water rafting in 3 hours.
#gettingtoooldforthisstuff

Lawrence has shared some stories about his WSOP rail lol, not too many I would be thanked for posting on here

Bar in china!? Awesome, where abouts and how long have you been there?

I'll side-step the white water rafting topic for now unless you have some pictures?

Ofc I will do that.

I run a Sports Bar in Shenzhen , China.
 Which is 40 minutes ferry ride from Hong Kong and 1 hour from Macau.
I've been here just over 2 years now .
I was previously a card room manager in a casino in Goa , India for 4 years .
If you are ever in this neck of the woods come and visit . 1st drink on me 😄

[SuuPRlim]

As I gotten a little older things have changed, now I have financial commitments and have seen so many downswings and upswings that my attitude is completely different, now I don't embrace going broke anymore, as I once did, I'm actually pretty scared of it and it's certainly true that each time you go down and come up your resilience is damaged a little. The money is so much more real now too than it used to be, and I guess I'll never be the same gambler as I once was (utterly fearless) which is kinda sad but this is life.

Just reminded me of this. Still one of the best things I ever published at PokerPlayer http://www.pokerplayer365.com/news/features-news/dave-lildave-nicholson-thinks-that-poker-is-the-best-way-to-solve-this-countrys-economic-issues/

oh yeah! that was good,man sometimes im clever

Hi Alun, <3

[RED-DOG]

Really enjoying this diary.  Can you tell Loz Gosney that Craig Wildman said hello and can you pm his phone number as I've lost it ( obviously ask him first ) and tell him he needs to get his ass over to China to see me, a few guys from Leeds come into my bar .
 Also ask him about his rail when he won his bracelet and who was most vocal lol. That was possibly the first infamous British rail at the WSOP.
Keep posting

Also need to get to sleep as I'm taking all my staff white water rafting in 3 hours.
#gettingtoooldforthisstuff

Lawrence has shared some stories about his WSOP rail lol, not too many I would be thanked for posting on here

Bar in china!? Awesome, where abouts and how long have you been there?

I'll side-step the white water rafting topic for now unless you have some pictures?

Ofc I will do that.

I run a Sports Bar in Shenzhen , China.
 Which is 40 minutes ferry ride from Hong Kong and 1 hour from Macau.
I've been here just over 2 years now .
I was previously a card room manager in a casino in Goa , India for 4 years .
If you are ever in this neck of the woods come and visit . 1st drink on me 😄

How did it happen though Craig? How did you come to be running a card room in Goa?

[pvas2]

Really good read! I've never experienced this side of poker or gambling really but reading about it I can feel your ups and downs. I'm not sure I could handle them though!

[celtic]

Come back and tell us about the blow up ffs.

[SuuPRlim]

The Big Blow-Up

Life was, in the lead up to summer 2010 pretty bloody good, I was living in a pretty nice place with my friend from school - the same who had leant me the money for the shop, which made us both a few quid - used to go out drinking, eating lunches, enjoying myself every day, did very little work and managed to have plenty of money all the time, I really did think I had life absolutely solved at this point.

Come the summer, all my friends when to Vegas, which I was ofc pretty jealous off, having been an avid follower of the "Shrewdies on Tour" blonde thread, the protagonists of which had since become friends of mine, and an intrinsically degenerate personality a full summer in Vegas was ofc a dream of mine. I was however as I said looking forward to working in the restaurant, and we had the world cup to look forward to also so overall I wasn't too downhearted, or so I thought.

Having heard from the offset that all my friends were crushing it out in LV (this was flushy's bracelet yr if you remember) I really got an urge to win big too, I wanted to share some stories of how I had X win and Y success above and beyond "sold some great fish" or "had some really happy customers" I'd never really had this urge to compete with everyone before, naturally I'm fairly noncompetitive in general but for some reason I had developed this ego where because my life had been so great last 6 months, I really didn't want people to be saying "won $xxx,xxx and then had this sick night out cost $xx,xxx whilst lil dave was at the seaside serving calimari to tourists" utterly ridiculous and embarrassing mindset to adopt but this is what happened to me, a small amount of success by the age of NEARLY 21 and now I think I'm sort of massive deal... What a clown.

So I took to gambling on the world cup, which I without a doubt would have done anyways, but I decided I wanted to win kinda notable money on this world cup, to compete with the kind of monies people are winning in LV. SO kicked off big, kicked off losing, to kicked in bigger and bigger and by the semi finals I had 2,000 of a net worth of about 2,000 in play on a Holland/Germany double... I remember working the restaurant whilst the Ger/Spain game was on and must have been the worst days work anyone has ever done, was a header from Puyol I think in like 70~ minutes which gg'd me. I do remember the feeling quite well, was that churning gulping feeling in your stomach that only gambling can ever give you, never really had it before, a few times on roulette but nothing like this, I'd had it plenty this summer too, you cant help but dwell on the moment before you gambled the money and wish you didn't - but then I guess you'd only gamble it on something else!

The feeling this time, just a little different as this was the end of my money, since coming home from Cyprus I'd managed to salvage a desperate situation and turn it into a fantastic one, and then in one needless summer of ego driven degeneracy I had blown it all, pretty gutting, and obviously I can't tell anyone either, just have to soak it up and suffer the consequences of my stupidity myself - I really wish more people did this btw! Now though, I have some bigger problems, firstly I have zero money, and been paid in advance for the summers work so I now need to work that off, when I get home I will have no where to live and my mum and dad (who have no idea at this point about me and gambling) remain under the impression that I am doing very well, there is no plausible way I can tell them that I now have zero money so going to them is not an option. I could stay on and work for Graham but he had no use for me really now, and no money to spin up meant that really getting a job was the only real option for me...

However, as seems to always happen to me...I got bailed out, just as things seemed to bad to contemplate, I got a lifeline! Matt Frankland (Franky) who has long been one of my best friends offered to stake me online for HU-PLO on FTP, and even offered me to come and stay - rent free - in his house, I didn't get a room (although I got a bed quite a few nights) and slept on the floor of his office/attic on the mattress from a futon, it wasn't living the life of luxury, but I don't think I've ever appriciated a mattress on a floor as much in my life. I'd love to say that the staking went well, and I crushed, got back on my feet and repaid Frankie's faith and friendship with lots of money...but unfortunately my head just wasn't right, I ended up losing about $14k for Franky, and after three months of rent free attic living Franky went on a bad DS himself and had to cut me off - which given I was likely not playing winning pokers right then was defo the right call. Real shame I never got to actually repay him for any of this, although he is still one of my best mates and I'd crawl over crushed glass for him, could never qiute put into words how grateful I was for what he did for me.

Now approaching Xmas and with the conditions really looking pretty grim (no money still, no where to live still and net worth spiralling into negative) I really needed to try and sort myself out. This was a fucking miserable time, I'd had a big falling out with my mum and dad and the prospect of a busto Xmas on Frankies attic floor seemed very realistic, I remember a great day I had this December though, Salfi (who is not so popular on blonde I believe?) was talking to me on FB and, unusally for me I opened up a bit about just how miserable I was, 2 hours later knock on the door, Salfi there and he whisks me off to the German market for the evening, pays for the whole evening, dinner/drinks etc and by the time I get home morale is 50x increased, genuinely one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.*

So time has come for (yet another) bailout, and this time it comes in the form of Jamie Sykes, fresh off the bat from a Sunday Million win he suggests we move in together, he offers to front the security deposit, put up 50% of the rent in advance and loan me a bit of money, we pick a pretty ridiculous penthouse apartment RIGHT next to the casino and now somehow the broke lonely figure on Frankie's attic floor is living in a penthouse apartment in Leeds, not exactly sure how I manage to pull these things off lol, Graham-esque life survival skills on top display

I put onto ipoker 600 pounds (of money that wasn't mine ofc) and of the next 10 weeks I played nearly 160,000 hands of 25c/50c ($) PLO, I remember very clearly (I can't find the graphs) that after 75,000 hands I was losing $400, I was so depressed at this point - which is not ideal when you're on the 18th story! - as I just felt like poker was not going to work, and I couldn;t think of anything else to do...once again just as life seems destitute I went on a huge upswing, and the next 85k hands I absolutely crushed - don't remember figures, and was playing 50c/$1 and $1/$2 by the spring time and never looked back with online poker (well I never looked back for a few years!) I'd gotten back into the scene in Leeds, with the help of Stu Rutter (another nicely timed bailout!) who had agreed to back me in live cash games and by the time the summer of 2011 rolled round I was relatively out of the hole (paid back Jamie/Franky/Rob) and guess where I was heading??

Las FREAKING Vegas baby!

Things just always seem to work out for me. I'm a very lucky guy.

[jakally]

Love reading this stuff David. Thank you.

[BorntoBubble]

What a run you had, of friends not poker ability may i add

[SuuPRlim]

What a run you had, of friends not poker ability may i add

Only the exceptionally talented, and the incredibly lucky, can make it through life with no-one's help! No shame in taking the help, but if you don't make good on the help you get, and appreciate it then there is shame in that...

Like I say, i'm a lucky guy I managed to show everyone who put faith in me though that they were right to do so, this makes me pretty proud

[celtic]

You have incredible friends.

As you are going to be talking about Vegas 2011, if you were not planning on mentioning the middy rail and the night out after, then please change your mind and see what, if anything you can remember.

[SuuPRlim]

Ahhh yes, the night out after the middy final ... Was a cracking night, we had a bloody good time

#brummieboy

[WhitePony84]

The Big Blow-Up

I remember a great day I had this December though, Salfi (who is not so popular on blonde I believe?) was talking to me on FB and, unusally for me I opened up a bit about just how miserable I was, 2 hours later knock on the door, Salfi there and he whisks me off to the German market for the evening, pays for the whole evening, dinner/drinks etc and by the time I get home morale is 50x increased, genuinely one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.

I used to play with Salfi occasionally, he had a frank and honest diary like yourself that was an interesting read. Never knew him well but he seemed like a nice guy (probably because he was taking money off me).