I should start by apologising for the extremely annoyed rants in my last blog. Although I obviously have a very opinionated view of music, it's not my place to bash artists who are out there doing their thing (even if it is completely shit).
April has been really great poker-wise, I'm up about about $8k playing 180 mans on stars. It's not just the winning that feels great, but playing well (while maintaining supernova pace) and being rewarded by running well really helps to get you out of bed in the morning instead of living my usual lazy lifestyle.
On top of that I'm up about £5k playing live poker from 2 visits to the International. The slight sour note is that I came 13th in the Cash Race final for £750 having had the chiplead with 13 left (cue standard JoeJoe tournament blowup story). I did however swap 10% with Mike Piper who won the whole thing for £15k. The Saturday after I decided to play the £150 (or the Guper as I'm christening it) and ended up chopping it heads up for £2.6k.
Despite running really well live over the last two visits, my taste for it was very much spoiled and I don't know if I'll be playing many live tourneys with less than a £300 buyin in the foreseeable future. Firstly, upon my arrival on Saturday a friend told me that someone who I considered at the very least a well wisher had gone around telling people that I had intentionally dumped chips to Mike P in the Cash Race final. Despite how absurd the idea of me dumping my chips to someone who I have 10% of is, it's also a very serious allegation to be making and even entertaining the idea is highly insulting.
The other situation came up at the final table of the Guper (I'm going to keep on calling it the Guper until it sticks by the way), in which I was berated by 4 players for completely nonsensical things. Firstly, when I refused the ridiculous 'let's do a deal for 10th place' notion, 4 middle aged men started having a go at me. The pick of the insults was, 'You look like the sort of person that wouldn't give a starving man food!'. The second instance was from one of these middle aged guys, who seemed to be really upset after I raised 22 in MP1 then called his 8bb HJ shove. Apparently deuces is not a 'calling all in hand'. I tried to calm myself, try my Angelo-Esq breathing exercises, but he kept on berating. Eventually I couldn't help myself and said in my nicest possible voice, 'You know sir, it's very bad business of you to educate the fish. I'd carry on letting me make these terrible mistakes if I were you.' Obviously that didn't stop him, and in retrospect I should have kept my mouth shut, I don't want to be the sort of person who takes satisfaction from making someone else look a fool.
The fact that they didn't let their points go and kept on having a go really irked me but I've learned in my 5 years of poker to deal with the fact that people cannot think logically when it comes to money. However unpleasant the situation was, it truly means that if I want to, I'll be able to make a living from these kinds of people for the rest of my days.
Life is pretty great away from poker at the moment. I'm moving to Brighton on Monday (I had to push it back a week because I got ill and Hannah offered me a lift) for about 3 months before Vegas. Although I'm really grateful that my parents put me up; or put up with me for so long, I'm really grateful that I am getting out on my own.
I'm probably going to take tomorrow off poker, as I've got Chess with Tautvydas at 5 then Mum is having loads of Lib Dem friends and colleagues over to watch the Prime Minister's debate.
Laters tater
xoxox
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Monday, 5 April 2010
A completely non poker related rant
So I just watched 'the greatest songs of the noughties' and I can't help feeling incredibly disappointed. Apart from it obviously being a very poor decade musically, the list of songs that the channel 4 viewers decided topped the last ten years left a very sour taste. For those of you who missed it;
20. Leave Right Now- Will Young
19. Ruby- Kaiser Chiefs
18. Valerie- Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse
17. Viva La Vida- Coldplay
16. Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand
15. Mercy- Duffy
14. Patience- Take That
13. Stan- Eminem
12. I Don't Feel Like Dancing- Scissor Sisters
11. Hey Ya!- Outkast
10. You're Beautiful- James Blunt
9. Can't Get You Out Of My Head- Kylie Minouge
8. Crazy In Love- Beyonce
7. Rule The World- Take That
6. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
5. Rehab- Amy Winehouse
4. Sex On Fire- Kings Of Leon
3. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor- Arctic Monkeys
2. Mr. Brightside- The Killers
1. Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol
To be fair I completely agree with songs 9, 6,4, 3 and 2 being included in the list because apart from all being decent songs in my humble (lol) opinion, they were huge in the charts (especially Kylie, Gnarls Barkley and the Arctic Monkeys).
I wasn't exactly expecting a spectacle of all the songs I like released by far and away the best and most interesting artists of the decade simply because most of those bands haven't had much success in the singles department. I was shocked to see a list this bad though.
If you're a pop fan, would you not have expected something more like Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, or Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid20, perhaps Where Is The Love by the Black Eyed Peas?
Possibly you're a hip hop fan, and while I'm the first to admit that I don't know my Puff from my Diddy, one Eminem song probably does not fit your description of a fully musically representative poll. From the more commercial side of things perhaps 99 Problems by Jay Z would have fit in this list nicely or maybe you liked Dry Your Eyes by The Streets.
I think the biggest injustice in this poll is that somehow very average bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs as well as a simply awful contribution from James Blunt when Jonny Cash's cover of Hurt lies in no-mans-land.
It strikes me that unless you're a Snow Patrol fan(and let's face it, who really is?)you're unlikely to be satisfied with the contribution that the great British public has provided us. Instead of mourning this list, lets remember that this decade wasn't a complete waste of time; Radiohead released four world class records, as did Muse. Pink Floyd reunited for an amazing gig at Live8 and music lovers in the UK showed Simon Cowell that he can't buy the Christmas number one anymore, he has to actually put out decent artists from now on.
Thank you for listening to my rant. All feedback is appreciated.
xoxox
20. Leave Right Now- Will Young
19. Ruby- Kaiser Chiefs
18. Valerie- Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse
17. Viva La Vida- Coldplay
16. Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand
15. Mercy- Duffy
14. Patience- Take That
13. Stan- Eminem
12. I Don't Feel Like Dancing- Scissor Sisters
11. Hey Ya!- Outkast
10. You're Beautiful- James Blunt
9. Can't Get You Out Of My Head- Kylie Minouge
8. Crazy In Love- Beyonce
7. Rule The World- Take That
6. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
5. Rehab- Amy Winehouse
4. Sex On Fire- Kings Of Leon
3. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor- Arctic Monkeys
2. Mr. Brightside- The Killers
1. Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol
To be fair I completely agree with songs 9, 6,4, 3 and 2 being included in the list because apart from all being decent songs in my humble (lol) opinion, they were huge in the charts (especially Kylie, Gnarls Barkley and the Arctic Monkeys).
I wasn't exactly expecting a spectacle of all the songs I like released by far and away the best and most interesting artists of the decade simply because most of those bands haven't had much success in the singles department. I was shocked to see a list this bad though.
If you're a pop fan, would you not have expected something more like Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, or Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid20, perhaps Where Is The Love by the Black Eyed Peas?
Possibly you're a hip hop fan, and while I'm the first to admit that I don't know my Puff from my Diddy, one Eminem song probably does not fit your description of a fully musically representative poll. From the more commercial side of things perhaps 99 Problems by Jay Z would have fit in this list nicely or maybe you liked Dry Your Eyes by The Streets.
I think the biggest injustice in this poll is that somehow very average bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs as well as a simply awful contribution from James Blunt when Jonny Cash's cover of Hurt lies in no-mans-land.
It strikes me that unless you're a Snow Patrol fan(and let's face it, who really is?)you're unlikely to be satisfied with the contribution that the great British public has provided us. Instead of mourning this list, lets remember that this decade wasn't a complete waste of time; Radiohead released four world class records, as did Muse. Pink Floyd reunited for an amazing gig at Live8 and music lovers in the UK showed Simon Cowell that he can't buy the Christmas number one anymore, he has to actually put out decent artists from now on.
Thank you for listening to my rant. All feedback is appreciated.
xoxox
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Failure and new oppertunities...
Well it's certainly been a bit of a hectic month, and not all for good reasons I'm afraid. I'm very sorry I haven't been able to blog to update my challenge, but to be honest it's because it's been so far from my mind.
Basically the challenge was going swimmingly, I was up to $1200 after about 10 days, which is more than on course to reach my target, then I had a personal issue (which i'm afraid I can't really discuss on the internets), and I had to take a week off, essentially making the challenge impossible. In the time since then I've made about $3k playing sngs but I'm still well short of the 10k. Obviously i'm upset that I decided to put my mind to something and I couldn't complete it, but occasionally life throws banana skins. To be honest when push comes to shove, we play poker so we can live our lives more easily, we don't live simply to play poker. All of my bets have been payed and I hope you'll give me the pleasure of booking some action the next time I try something this crazy.
For those of you who don't know about my family, my Mum (who literally just turned 55, happy birthday Ma!) is standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Watford in the UK general election in just over a month, so it's safe to say that things have been manic for her and my Dad. I'm trying to remain as non politically affiliated for as long as possible, not because I don't think the Lib Dems are the best of the three major parties but because I have issues with the populist ways all three do business.
The only other major piece of news is that I'm going to be moving out of Watford in about 2 weeks to go and live with Lizzie in Brighton for a few months until Vegas. It's primarily to help one of her flatmates out, but I think it'll be a super fun experience, that is if Lizzie doesn't kill me in her pre-exam hysteria or I don't TC myself to death in the haze of post-exam celebration.
That's just about it for now, sorry for being such a shit blogger.
Loves and hugs
xoxoxo
Basically the challenge was going swimmingly, I was up to $1200 after about 10 days, which is more than on course to reach my target, then I had a personal issue (which i'm afraid I can't really discuss on the internets), and I had to take a week off, essentially making the challenge impossible. In the time since then I've made about $3k playing sngs but I'm still well short of the 10k. Obviously i'm upset that I decided to put my mind to something and I couldn't complete it, but occasionally life throws banana skins. To be honest when push comes to shove, we play poker so we can live our lives more easily, we don't live simply to play poker. All of my bets have been payed and I hope you'll give me the pleasure of booking some action the next time I try something this crazy.
For those of you who don't know about my family, my Mum (who literally just turned 55, happy birthday Ma!) is standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Watford in the UK general election in just over a month, so it's safe to say that things have been manic for her and my Dad. I'm trying to remain as non politically affiliated for as long as possible, not because I don't think the Lib Dems are the best of the three major parties but because I have issues with the populist ways all three do business.
The only other major piece of news is that I'm going to be moving out of Watford in about 2 weeks to go and live with Lizzie in Brighton for a few months until Vegas. It's primarily to help one of her flatmates out, but I think it'll be a super fun experience, that is if Lizzie doesn't kill me in her pre-exam hysteria or I don't TC myself to death in the haze of post-exam celebration.
That's just about it for now, sorry for being such a shit blogger.
Loves and hugs
xoxoxo
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