Amateur Poker Association & Tour
Poker Forum => General Discussion => Member Blogs => Topic started by: AceOnTheRiver on December 09, 2011, 17:27:22 PM
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AS I ENTER MY FORTIETH YEAR.
(seriously!) It"s time to share some thoughts, observations and exploits with a community that simply puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.
I don"t know where this blog will take us because we don"t know what the future holds. I know what I"m doing tomorrow, I have a vague idea of what I"m doing next week and 2012 already has a few key dates marked out (it will have a few more once DES gets his fecking 4r5e in gear ;)) but essentially the future, like this blog, is unwritten!
Having said that the 3-part title should set some expectations as to what the more dominant topics might be:
"The Saint" refers to my passion for the Northampton Saints rugby union team and a wider interest in the oval ball game including the current farce that is England Rugby and the RFU. The Saints have taken me on an emotional rollercoaster recently having been involved in 2 of the greatest European Cup games in history in the last 8 months. and losing them both :(
"The Brewer" refers to my job with one of the UK"s biggest brewers. I like my job very much. It has its challenges, its politics and its stresses like many other jobs, but even when we are up against it, I reflect that there are many tougher environments I could be in. What"s more, I get a constant supply of free beer and around 30% of my meetings take place in pubs ;D
"The River" refers to my nickname on here and various online skins. If you are an APAT regular reading this, then there is a 98.4% chance that you already know the reason my nickname is "AceOnTheRiver" so I will not tell that story again just now, although I am sure it will come up at some point.... Funnily enough for a Poker Forum, I intend to do some blogging about Poker.
Other themes you can expect are reviews of general service, both good and bad (although mostly bad, I live in the UK after all) and a number of ultimately unsuccessful attempts to lose weight.
I am starting this blog from my local pub due to the fact that there is a major renovation project going on in my house leaving me without broadband, a desk or anything to sit on. I"m no fan of DIY but this project has been a long time coming and whilst I am sick of my current living conditions the end is nigh and the result should be worth it.
In the meantime, I am off to my works Christmas do and I don"t intend to be sober again until I am a year older.
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Happy Birthday when it comes.
Looking forward to the blog.
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I get a constant supply of free beer and around 30% of my meetings take place in pubs
Jeez you run good.
Looking forward to this immensly
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Looking forward to keeping abreast of your exploits JP. Happy birthday for tomorrow?
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I get a constant supply of free beer and around 30% of my meetings take place in pubs
Jeez you run good.
Looking forward to this immensly
Not really, I"m assuming JP works for Carlsberg as they have a MASSIVE brewery in Northampton...and that means he probably has to drink it, unfortunately.
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thanks for the reminder mate, i need a beer!!
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I get a constant supply of free beer and around 30% of my meetings take place in pubs
Jeez you run good.
Looking forward to this immensly
Just this +1
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This blog could be a cracker!
Happy Birthday young man, hope to see you in Brighton
Ian
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Really looking forward to this one. Good luck with it JP.
thanks for the reminder mate, i need a beer!!
You needed a reminder? What weird alternative universe have I entered?
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Happy Birthday JP, I"ll buy you a pint if I get to Brighton mate. Well done with the Movember campaign as well, nice work 8)
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Happy Birthday JP!!! Hope you have a fab day!
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Happy birthday JP
Best I could do mate.. wrong sport I know for starters ;)
(http://coolest-birthday-cakes.shippony.com/images/theme/sports/football/football-birthday-cake-28.jpg)
(http://beerblotter.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/beer_mug_cake.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8wczfNTRaSw/SIlIefop97I/AAAAAAAAAJE/6cda60j6lQE/S660/river+cake.jpg)
x
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Thanks for the encouraging responses and birthday wishes.
@Phil: Quality as always.
Although one brand amongst the wide portfolio I work on seems to be getting a bit of stick............. from someone who doesn"t even drink beer FFS :o
I"m finding the current lack of broadband at home annoying. I hope to have it sorted for New Year but I will update the blog remotely in the meantime.
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Very much looking forward to reading your blog JP, and I think a corporate brewing sponsor is just what we need around here ;)
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Very much looking forward to reading your blog JP, and I think a corporate brewing sponsor is just what we need around here ;)
I am quite willing to take one for the team and be an official taster for the entire portfolio 8)
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Very much looking forward to reading your blog JP, and I think a corporate brewing sponsor is just what we need around here ;)
I am quite willing to take one for the team and be an official taster for the entire portfolio 8)
lol...
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Very much looking forward to reading your blog JP, and I think a corporate brewing sponsor is just what we need around here ;)
I am quite willing to take one for the team and be an official taster for the entire portfolio 8)
I"m happy to be his back-up.
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I am quite willing to take one for the team and be an official taster for the entire portfolio 8)
I"m happy to be his back-up.
Seriously you two... how much beer do you think we actually brew?!? ;D
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LOL @ Dawn on MSN
(7:43:23 PM) Ger: Fair point I think
(7:44:53 PM) Dawn: well yeah
(7:44:58 PM) Dawn: but brew more imo
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Very much looking forward to reading your blog JP, and I think a corporate brewing sponsor is just what we need around here ;)
I am quite willing to take one for the team and be an official taster for the entire portfolio 8)
I"m happy to be his back-up.
well you 2 need supervising. im in.
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(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd459/JP_Round/BenFoden.jpg)
Better than a link ;D
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/16151002.stm
I think this man deserves an enormous amount of respect for what he"s given to the game. I also think he has made this decision at the right time.
People talk about his kicking game a lot, primarily because of how good he was in that World Cup winning team, but there was a lot more to Jonny than that left foot.
Was he the best all round #10 in the world? No! Naturally the English media tried to portray him as such but the key with Jonny was that he continuously strived to be the best he could possibly be whereas many sportsmen have the talent but do not fulfill their potential.
Something often overlooked was his defensive qualities. For a relatively small (short) rugby player, he tackled with passion and ferocity all over the park contirbuting in no small part to the length of time he spent injured.
I had never seen JW play in the flesh before England won the World Cup and given the fact that he spent a couple of years injured following the 2003 campaign, I thought that I never would. But then I saw him play against Scotland in a 6 Nations game around 2006 or 2007 and everything went for him, he controlled the game, kicked everything and scored a try in the corner (which shouldn"t actually have been given as he was in touch but it was that sort of day for him).
I remember saying to Luke that day "We have been in the presence of genius today"
Myself, Luke & Matt went to the 2007 World Cup in France and Jonny was missing for the first 2 games but back for the rest of the tournament and made one hell of a difference. There were other factors at work so it wasn"t all about Jonny, but he was a significant factor.
Thanks for everything Jonny and good luck for the future!
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Ah yeah I remember Craig Logan, he was the drummer in Bros ;)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lsK1SqnD_JQ/Tto43Tl1qhI/AAAAAAAAuPU/fnqo0YrK_wQ/s512/IMG_9648.JPG)
(http://threemenonabike.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AledJones_big.jpg)
[/quote]
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Ah yeah I remember Craig Logan, he was the drummer in Bros ;)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lsK1SqnD_JQ/Tto43Tl1qhI/AAAAAAAAuPU/fnqo0YrK_wQ/s512/IMG_9648.JPG)
(http://threemenonabike.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AledJones_big.jpg)
[/quote]
He has let himself go a bit hasnt he?!?!
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A BUNCH OF IDIOTS PLAYING 5-CARD DRAW.
In 1996 I left an average University with an average degree in a subject which is largely hard to apply to the "real world". I could have used my degree to become an actual economist but I couldn"t possibly have done a better job than the current bunch :o
So, I did what most graduates were doing back then and got a job in a call centre whilst I looked for a "proper job". I ended up spending just over a year there and often reflect on the fact that the work was stress-free, we had a bit of a laugh and I never took my work home with me and wonder why I ever left.. And then I remember the £8.5k basic salary and quickly stop reflecting!
But while I was there I met some great friends who I will keep for life. We have been drunk together countless times, attended weddings, christenings etc. and had several golf holidays and weekends as mates.
Back in "97 we started playing poker.
You may have gathered from the title of this entry that we didn"t really know what we were doing. We had a basic idea of poker. We knew you needed to make a 5-card hand and we knew the hand-rankings. although we still have a quarterly home game and to this day Jamie has the hand rankings in front of him when we play which is possibly the biggest tell in all of poker. "OK, Jamie"s looking at the rankings. He"s got a flush or a straight" :D
Where we really struggled was the betting rounds and with no actual knowledge but plenty of assumed knowledge coupled with people not wanting to admit they didn"t have a clue, we sort of made it up. Hands could last ages as several 10p, 20p & 50p coins made their way into a ceramic pot in the middle of the table until someone eventually said "ok shall we have a look now?" Shocking looking back on it, but it was, and still remains, more about the friendship and a good night out than the poker.
Whilst the poker has changed over the years, the basic format remains similar which is in essence; Turn up at host"s house between 7pm & 8pm on a Friday night, go to Local Pub for 2 hours, Return and Play Poker for 2 hours, Eat something Prepared by the host (must be home made) usually Chilli, Continue into the small hours until the last 2/3 players call it a night, sleep in various spare rooms, on couches, on floors etc. Games are £10 SnGs, 1st one out becomes the dealer which passes on with each elimination. We usually get 3/4 games in and have a side pot for "best shown hand of the night".
I am the only one who has "pushed on" from this group (stop laughing), one of the lads did play APAT Coventry in 2010 but has subsequently moved to South Africa and another has played a couple of casino tourneys but while everyone"s game has improved (except Jamie"s) I am the only one who really knows what he"s doing (I said stop laughing). I love this game, it"s where I started and I hope to always be playing it. The poker is largely irrelevant; it"s the social glue we use as an excuse to get together, like the golf is and if you think I"m bad at poker you should see me play golf :-[
Around 2002 one of the lads discovered NLHE on TV and taught the rest of us. Initially the 10ps & 20ps and the ceramic bowl remained but over time, poker chips were purchased, then some felt followed by a full-on poker table so the game at least looks more professional now.
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Just :D at almost every paragraph there. When you introducing Jamie to APAT then? ;)
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When you introducing Jamie to APAT then? ;)
I"ll give that some thought. They will make happy bedfellows I"m sure.
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When you introducing Jamie to APAT then? ;)
I"ll give that some thought. They will make happy bedfellows I"m sure.
Bedfellows...................Don"t mention that word to Tompkyfish ;D
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Good luck JP. I"m looking forward to watching the Bath game with Mr Smyth, although there"ll be a considerable amount of "noise" to tune out ;D
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I do not see how you will beat Quins
A side with more of a clue than Bath would have done you today, they lacked any sense of a good kicking game and attacking structure
Happy Xmas though.
Up the Tigers and the Blues, lol
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Merry Christmas Tighty
I think a team with more of a clue than Bath would have changed the whole dynamic of the game as that really was Men vs Boys in the 1st half. We were good and things were clicking for us, but they were awful and we really should have secured the bonus before half-time, thinking of the break by James Downey aka Gandalf in particular.
The 2nd half was frustrating and disappointing to say the least, although it was encouraging to see us camped on their line for a few minutes with a 2 man disadvantage which effectively nulled their mini-comeback.
Re Quins, we may not be the best team in the league, but I think we are favourites against anyone at home. Doesn"t necessarily mean we win though.
Need to deal with the Falcons first.
Any views on the ref yesterday, having the benefit of TV & a lack of bias?
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Any views on the ref yesterday, having the benefit of TV & a lack of bias?
He wasn"t biased - he was equally useless to both sides, frustrating to watch
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Any views on the ref yesterday, having the benefit of TV & a lack of bias?
He wasn"t biased - he was equally useless to both sides, frustrating to watch
My various comments yesterday were slightly tongue in cheek, I don"t believe any ref in Premiership Rugby is biased, but I do believe this particular ref is terrible.... and we have "history"
btw the bias referred to above was my bias - I am interested in the nuetrals" view. James Downey"s Yellow in particular seemed harsh.
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If I recall the ref was trying hard to be a ref and failing miserably. Downey"s yellow was marginal in the extreme but part of a growing trend to help the attacking sides in goal line situations when the scrums are becoming unmanagable. (however Manoa did deserve his)
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Saw nothing biased about the ref at all, picky on both sides
In general, the current scrum laws are a significant blot on the game. Takes a lot of time out of the 80 minutes and I am convinced no refereee I see has a clue, particularly when it comes to deciding how to award penalties
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POKER ASPIRATIONS FOR 2012.
Play more
Play some big online events (e.g. Sunday Million, Sunday Warm-Up etc)
Play a DTD Monthly Deepstack
Play a Chezger Live Deepstack (nudge nudge, hint hint)
Improve upon 7th Place in an APAT Main Event (Hold "em)
Win Something
In the very short-term these aspirations are hampered by the current massive renovation project taking place in my house which has taken ALL of my money with still a 5K bill to be settled with the builders plus not inexpensive things like carpets, sofas and dining table / chairs still to be purchased. Some of these can be acquired via deferred payment options either with or without a 15 month interest free credit card, but some require paying for now.
Other than that the building work has left me without a telephone line and therefore no broadband. I"m very keen to get this sorted in the next week so I can play some online.
Outside of Poker, I really want to get myself into a better employment situation but ideally without changing my employer and lose 2 stone (more on that later).
All the best in 2012 everyone
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POKER ASPIRATIONS FOR 2012.
Play more
Play some big online events (e.g. Sunday Million, Sunday Warm-Up etc)
Play a DTD Monthly Deepstack
Play a Chezger Live Deepstack (nudge nudge, hint hint)
Improve upon 7th Place in an APAT Main Event (Hold "em)
Win Something
In the very short-term these aspirations are hampered by the current massive renovation project taking place in my house which has taken ALL of my money with still a 5K bill to be settled with the builders plus not inexpensive things like carpets, sofas and dining table / chairs still to be purchased. Some of these can be acquired via deferred payment options either with or without a 15 month interest free credit card, but some require paying for now.
Other than that the building work has left me without a telephone line and therefore no broadband. I"m very keen to get this sorted in the next week so I can play some online.
Outside of Poker, I really want to get myself into a better employment situation but ideally without changing my employer and lose 2 stone (more on that later).
All the best in 2012 everyone
busy i see tho! lol ;) ;)
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busy i see tho! lol ;) ;)
If you"re referring to our twitter chat, I said I was in the office...... I didn"t say anything about working ;)
Anyway, I"m off home now to my barely furnished, part-renovated, hardly-heated, broadband-less house.
Can"t wait
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Quins match will be a close one, looking at the head to head stats (apart from the wins - 15-11 to Saints) it is suprisingly close in all areas of the 27 matches. Will be a cracker to watch I think.....
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IN OTHER NEWS...
It"s going to be quite an exciting week at work.
On Monday we have our annual awards for performance, Colleague of The Year, Greatest achievement etc. and I am part of a team of 4 which has been shortlisted for "Team of The Year" which when your company employs 2000 people in the UK, is quite an honour!
Naturally I want us to win, but even if we don"t we have already had the recognition and it must also be very difficult to judge the winner as it"s not easy to compare one team with another because of the vast differences between our tasks.
It reminds me of a clip from the Mercury Awards a few years ago when the winner, commenting on the diverse types of music on the shortlist, said something along the lines of "It"s like a bizarre competition between an orange and a pot plant and a spaceship and someone decides which is best".
Apart from being on the shortlist, it will be good to catch up with everyone at the event and have a few beers in the evening. On Tuesday we have a sales conference where I will present to the salsforce.
Then on Wednesday night I fly out to the Head Office in Copenhagen for a 2-day workshop about UEFA Euro 2012. I have been with the business for over 7 years and never been to Copenhagen so I am very much looking forward to this!
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Best of luck in the "team of the year" judging JP and in Copenhagen!
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Best Of Luck JP, but sure you won"t need it for either event. I"ve heard Copenhagen is a fantastic place ;)
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Good luck JP, and enjoy Copenhagen... if you see Gus say hi from me.
ps Hope the house is getting there as well mate and to see you soon x
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;D ;D ;D ;D
Winner Winner
I"ve got to run - evening event starts in 1 minute so I have to go.
Outside chance of drunken updates in 6 hours ;D
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;D ;D ;D ;D
Winner Winner
I"ve go to run - evening event starts in 1 minute so I have to go.
Outside chance of drunken updates in 6 hours ;D
Was it ever in doubt ? Nice one
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Alas, no drunken updates.
I staggered back into my hotel room around 1.30am "nicely drunk" but the only thing on my mind was sleep.
As per my very brief post yesterday we won the "team of the year" award and I"m very proud of this :)
In true corporate fashion though, the message at today"s 2012 launch was "forget the past, work even harder" :(
Copenhagen tomorrow, which I"m looking forward to... I am knackered though.
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I then positioned myself quite strategically opposite my colleague Mari from TALLINN
Hmmm Tallinn 8)
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbKGKbEksnPEa52ll0H7OcPCCKhQCz49jlNmhmXc-iFHkQK_rQig)
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Something happened earlier which reminded me of something which happened on the Copenhagen trip...
NB - On this flight you leave your hand luggage at the steps of the plane and they give you a ticket and collect from a trolley by the side of the plane when you land. This is important to the story!!
We all disembarked the plane and boarded that little bus that takes you to the airport. My 2 colleagues and I stood there for 20 minutes with the bus stationary. Obviously there was a delay but there"s not much you can do so you wait patiently.
Eventually a women gets on (she was cute actually*) saying; "sorry everyone, I"m really sorry, sorry"
I shrug thinking "whatever" sure it"s not your fault etc, the bus gets going and she starts to explain what happened...
I"ll give you the summary:
She pointed at a bag and the crew member got it. He looks at the ticket. it"s not her bag so she keeps looking. The rest of the passengers get their bags and get on the bus. the bag she tried to claim is still there.
So, for clarity, there is one fecking passenger and there is one fecking bag which looks exactly like her bag and we wait on the bus for 20 minutes.
DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE THE WRONG FECKING TICKET???
After 20 minutes, someone says; "shall we look inside?"**
FMMFLFFS!!
*D"ya know what? She wasn"t that cute
**although probably in Danish
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Welcome to the aquarium, you can check out but you can never leave.......
I know I know.. just making some observations ;D
So, onto the Rugby
Last week saw a very pleasant 2 from 2 for my teams with the unexpected result in Paris + Saints" SF win vs Scarlets who are always a threat and always play good rugby.
Same again please lads:
England will be slight favourites vs. Ireland but the Irish will be up for this, I think (hope) we will edge it.
Then tomorrow Saints play Leicester in the Final of the Anglo-Welsh cup. An east Midlands derby... in Worcester. Heart may be ruling head here but with the Six nations call ups I believe our squad is deeper than their squad and we will win by a nervy 5-points.
EDIT: Just seen the Leicester team and I am not so sure ???
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LUCKBOXING IN CARDIFF.
I have been keen to pick this blog up but a combination of workload and server issues have been stopping me. However, my good fortune last weekend compels me to write, not least before I forget all of my good luck and start to believe I can actually play the game ;)
I cut it fine to get to Cardiff but found the hotel right next to the casino and was in with a few minutes to spare for handshakes and various re-acquaintances.
By now I find my chances of being seated with friends in APAT events pretty high and this was no exception with Chen Tam on my table and James Barber was eventually seated to my immediate left, once he had dragged himself out of Dan Owston"s bed ;)
The early levels were largely uneventful and the theme seemed to be that I would increase my stack by about 2,500 over a number of hands. then give all that profit to Chen in one hand. This was repeated 2 maybe 3 times.
I was soon moved to the next table to find the players to my left in order were Rodders, Asa & Tony Richards. Tony Trip (quiet as ever) and SusiePea were also on this table. I got involved in a couple of hands with Tony R early doors winning one and losing one, then I 3-bet Tony T"s raise & Susie"s call with QQ to take down a small pot but after this I went incredibly card dead & couldn"t find any spots for what seemed like an eternity.
However then came the hand which changed my momentum.
A new player to the Table had brought a significant stack and he opened from the Hijack. I had 77 and flatted, Asa came along from the BB. The flop was Axx 2-diamonds and it was checked all round. The turn was a brick and this time the original raiser bet. I still like my hand and call, Asa gets out of the way. The river is 10d putting a possible flush out there and my opponent bets around 4.2k into a pot of around 12k. Now I"m quite confident he doesn"t have the A and if he had a 10 I"d expect him to check call so I like my hand. The flush is possible but the price made the call feel correct. I called and he mucked saying "Jack High".
Soon after I flatted in late position with AK (I had been bet off a couple of pots by the raiser so didn"t want to 3-bet) again Asa came along but this time a shorty shoved 11bbs. The original raiser folded, I called and Asa folded. Shorty has QQ so off we go; there"s an Ace in the window and I"ve gone from 18k to 40k plus in about 4 hands.
Not long after this the table was broken and I started to get a nice run of cards at my new table with a set of Queens for a modest pot and a set of 9s to knock a player out and chip up, plus a hand against Jason Kemp similar to the 77 hand above only this time I raised the button with 88, he 3-bet the BB and I called. He bet flop & river on a 10-J-3-4-6 board. I called and he had A-3 for bottom pair.
David Langley is out
AQ lost to 99
KK on a Q-J-9 lost to A-J, J on the river versus JP Round
Now I"m happy to be a luckbox but this is the one hand I where I want to set the record straight as it reads as though I got it in on the flop holding second pair whilst against KK. The 2 key inaccuracies are, the chips went in on the river and we never saw my opponent"s hand.
My opponent in this hand seems a really nice guy and despite never having met him before, he wished me good luck on day 2 both on my twitter account and in person. He was written on his own blog about having KK, however I will never believe he had KK in this hand.
I"ll report the facts hand as accurately as I can
The opponent opened from MP for a standard 2.5x I have AJ on the button and call (IIRC one of the blinds came along??)
The flop is QJ9 2 diamonds. Original raiser bets 4k and I call. Turn is a brick, another 4k and I call. River is a J, bingo, but it is the Jd I look at the opponent ready to make the call when he bets but when he shoves all in I wince. I winced "cause this guy had a massive stack not long ago and was CL with 140,000, however I hadn"t realised how much of his stack he"d lost and it"s around 25k to call. Once I realised the size of the bet I quickly called. He mucked stating, "It"s yours, you got it" and pushed his cards into the muck face down. When I turned my cards over he claimed to have had KK? Maybe I"m not at the right level but if I get called holding KK on a Q high board, even if it"s a paired board with 3 diamonds I am not snap mucking face down?
Anyway this gets me to 130,000 (I never had the 180k reported on the updates. I stay out of trouble for the remainder of the day and I finish the day 2nd in chips with 118k
I"m in serious danger of a tl:dr so will leave this post here and come back for day 2
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Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Just binked the APAT league game ;D
Prior to tonight I had contributed NO POINTS to my new East Midlands team so they were due
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Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Just binked the APAT league game ;D
Prior to tonight I had contributed NO POINTS to my new East Midlands team so they were due
LUCKBOXING IN CARDIFF ONLINE ;D ;D ;D
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Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Just binked the APAT league game ;D
Prior to tonight I had contributed NO POINTS to my new East Midlands team so they were due
WP!
This is purely down to your visit last week.. its the clean air up here clears the head, tunes the brian brain.. ;D
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Fantastic poker week JP, very well played again mate ;D
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Nice one JP
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Pro ;)
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A TRIP TO STOCKTON...
Again I have let this blog slip but what better inspiration to get going again than a trip to see APAT's very own Stockton Massive.
A couple of my clients are in the North and due to expanding my team recently at work I can spend more time with said clients. Given how busy we were in the first half of the year with Euro 2012, I also have a shed-load of holiday left to use by December so when the meeting was made for last Thursday I booked Friday off and made arrangements to kip at Phil"s.
On arrival at Phil"s around 4pm I had to finish off a little bit of work but was informed "Stu and Matt have ben in the pub for a while" We shortly joined them in The Eagle where it all started for the massive years ago (a good Carlsberg stockist too - well done lads). Any vague hopes of a quiet one were quashed when pint #4 came accompanied by a Jagerbomb.
The "home" game took place at the Stockon G with 13 or 14 runners; TC, Matt & Stu (obv) plus APAt bloggers Brian Harland & Dave Amos, Dave"s daughter Lucy, Gary Palmer and a handful of others including some poor lad called Fiddy who got dogs abuse from Stu all night, mainly "cause he has a nose like Christopher Moltisanti from The Sopranos... but he took it all well.
This is a £10 single re-buy and Stu kindly donated his first stack when an Ace on The River gave me a set (I was always ahead though obv). Most of the rest of the night is a lager induced blur of laughter and binkage highlighted by a 3-way all in with about 7 players left when I shoved AT, Dave re-shoved AQ and a third player re-re-shoved AK.
886 Flop "I"ll take a 6 for the chop" says I. The dealer obliges with a 6 on the turn... which i then followed up by a 10 on the River. BINK!
I really enjoyed the chat with Dave (Pokerpops) and we discovered quite a coincidence which you can read about on his blog.
Eventually I got Heads-Up with the Stockton Rock, a battle that lasted quiet some time:
Stuey really enjoyed the intricacies of our HU battle with lots of post flop creativity despite the shallow stacks [ ]
Stuey was reflective and appreciated the fact that the £30 difference in 1st & 2nd was really worth playing for [ ]
Stuey was massively tilted by the fact that we wouldn"t just ship it in with 5-high and get the game finished [ x ]
I won fwiw
On the way home I acquired by first ever Parmo (cariologists on standby) which was enjoyed with a Carlsberg back at Phil"s.
Great hospitality from Mr TC as ever. Can"t wait to go back.
NB - Bonnie is a Magnet #justsayin
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A TRIP TO STOCKTON...
Great hospitality from Mr TC as ever. Can"t wait to go back.
NB - Bonnie is a Magnet #justsayin
Pleasure mate.. make it Thursday and Friday next time and we"ll properly do the liver some damage.
ps Bonnie now wondering why I"m taking her for walks down Yarm on an hourly basis ;) x
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Istanbul...
I"ve just got back from a week in Istanbul, a great city with loads of history. It has to be said that certain parts of the city are in a state of disrepair; Istanbul has been through many battles and sieges throughout the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire & WWI, however it is still Cleaning up after the visit of some Scousers in 2005.
I am not overly travelled but I have racked up a number of European cities and towns including Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Budapest, Riga, Tallinn (oh my), Donetsk, Wroclaw & Copenhagen (obv) with Bratislava to be added the weekend after next.
I will not rush back to Istanbul because there are many other places I want to visit, but I would encourage a visit if big historical cities are your thing- its a very bizarre thing to change continents without leaving a city!
Where we stayed was touristy but without being overly westernised, with many traveller / backpacker types in the vicinity so every other building was a restaurant with the owner trying to pull you in off the street to get your money and every building in between was a carpet shop with the owner trying to pull you in off the street to get your money.
I loved the food there with the schoolboy snigger inducing "Testi Kebab" being the local delicacy. The other thing I would recommend for anyone who does go would be a trip to the Princes Islands about an hour away by ferry. The islands are a paradise of cafes and beaches. motorised transport is banned and tourists travel the island by pony & trap... Which is ironic because as a side effect this is exactly what the islands smell like!
Americans Abroad
Travelling Americans carry a certain reputation and in my experience I sincerely believe this to be harsh, having had many discussions with Americans where they have showed knowledge and intelligence... But there"s always the minority who let the side down, like the guy we heard in Florence one boxing day (and I swear this this true) saying to his wife "No Honey! I"m tellin ya! Those statues are not plastic! They"re marble!"
Well I"m afraid another one let the side down last week. Istanbul is the most Islamic city I have ever been to by a long way and around 4 times a day there there is a "call to prayer" over loud tannoys all over the city. The city doesn"t come to a standstill exactly but people head into the many Mosques, Musicians stop playing and whirling dervishes stop.......... well, whirling.
Now it"s not the most tuneful thing in the world but that"s hardly the point and I feel visitors should certainly respect it. However on one occasion we were passing an American couple as the 5pm call was ringing out, to which the male of the couple exclaimed loudly "I"ve had enough of that f****** noise! Enough already" followed by the incredible "can"t they just stop while we"re here?" (sigh). I really hope he asked some locals that question.
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Ugh. They"re the reason I wouldn"t dare travel to a Muslim area. Pity, because I think it would be interesting, but it only takes a couple of ignorant Yanks to ruin it for the rest of us.
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Pity, because I think it would be interesting, but it only takes a couple of ignorant Yanks to ruin it for the rest of us.
You really shouldn"t refer to George H Bush & George W Bush like that. ;D
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It"s often the vocal minority...
So, first day back at work today and I have to go to an awards night for one of my customers, a chain of city centre bars. Essentially it will be full of young, pretty people drinking Jaegerbombs and making a lot of noise! I will be making my excuses as early as possible.
It"s black tie.
The DJ is in the car but having piled on the pounds both before and during my recent holiday I am fearing a "Ger in Vegas" style fail when I get to the hotel.
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Pity, because I think it would be interesting, but it only takes a couple of ignorant Yanks to ruin it for the rest of us.
You really shouldn"t refer to George H Bush & George W Bush like that. ;D
Ah no...don"t include them, bless. They can"t help it. They"re from Texas. ::)
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The DJ is in the car but having piled on the pounds both before and during my recent holiday I am fearing a "Ger in Vegas" style fail when I get to the hotel.
It"s on and with relative ease... Must"ve bought it in one of my chunkier phases (or stretched it out over the years)
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it will be full of young, pretty people drinking Jaegerbombs and making a lot of noise!
Just like the Eagle a few weeks back then.. you"ll be in your element ;D x
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it will be full of young, pretty people drinking Jaegerbombs and making a lot of noise!
Just like the Eagle a few weeks back then.. you"ll be in your element ;D x
Funny how 1 word of difference can mean a world of difference!
Last night"s checklist
1 x glass of sparkling stuff on arrival
1 x pint San Miguel
2 x bottles Mahou
2 x ridiculously large glasses of Rioja
1 x Large GnT
3 x Jaegerbombs
And I was having a quiet one!
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CHEZGER 2012...
Many blogs on here do / will feature reports of the above so I"ll try to be brief.
Checked into the Wirral Eastham Travelodge PRISON, a place which can only be described as a destination where loneliness goes to self-harm, at 7.30pm on Friday night and jumped in a taxi just in time to start the game at the Aquarium.
If you read Ger"s blog you will know that the aquarium is essentially a procession of bad play and out-draws... and I clearly read the manual and busted with AJ v KJ AIPF, K on the turn.
A good laugh and a few beers, then back to Ger"s for a good laugh and a few beers.
Saturday saw a warm up session in the pub with various APATers then the tourny at 5pm. My table included the wee man, Laxie, Adam, Andy Kingham & Asa plus some locals. I raked in an early 15k pot rivering the nuts vs top 2 (I was dealing ::)) then gave a load back when the oppo flopped 2-pair vs my AA. I paid all three streets but could have lost more.
Much laughter and donking and merriment and we are down to 2 tables. Adam Sharples had had a particularly golden period so it was no great shock when my 4-bet QQ shove was snapped off by Aces and that was all she wrote. A bit of a sit n go with Phil TC, Stu, Rob S & some locals but I was all pokered out by then and returned to the prison for an early night (at 2am).
Ger you are a legend. Thank you for letting me play in this!
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Checked into the Wirral Eastham Travelodge PRISON, a place which can only be described as a destination where loneliness goes to self-harm
Refund Shipped... It"s been a good day ;D
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Northampton Saints 24 - 15 Glasgow Warriors
I hate missing APAT events but often they can clash with big Saints fixtures and decisions have to be made. These are done on a case by case basis and with Saints hosting Glasgow in the opening fixture of this year"s Heineken Cup I had to give APAT Scotland a miss.
Last night following updates and tales of drinking I was wondering whether I regretted the decision...
At 0 -15 down after 35 minutes I was definitely regretting the decision.
But the boys turned it around in the end and picked up the Bonus Point along the way, so happy days
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What dignity??
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I can fill in one blank ... O"Sheas
We were originally due to meet in another Irish Bar but it was closed. I, on one of my usual wanders, was looking for the crowd and walked through an empty O"Sheas andhad a brief but lovely chat with aforementioned Fiona ... I said I would find my "small" crowd and bring them all back later.
I spent the rest of the holiday apologising to her for this ;D
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Sometimes I"m glad I don"t really drink ;D.. Emma would love this kind of poker trip!!.. Maybe if I"m lucky and bink a small win I might "treat" her next year ::).. Sounds a pretty epic trip!
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Sometimes I"m glad I don"t really drink ;D.. Emma would love this kind of poker trip!!.. Maybe if I"m lucky and bink a small win I might "treat" her next year ::).. Sounds a pretty epic trip!
we"ll get you into where you need to be, by hook or by crook :)
seriously though, casino access was good and all hotels cater well for chairs. Vilamoura is also very flat which I assume helps.
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[/quote]
we"ll get you into where you need to be, by hook or by crook :)
seriously though, casino access was good and all hotels cater well for chairs. Vilamoura is also very flat which I assume helps.
[/quote]
Sounds fun ;D.. dunno if i could stomach the scene of Stu taking a dump on the streets though lol
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Or... How to destroy Sales in three easy steps!
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/jagermeister-vies-to-break-from-party-perception/4004784.article?cmpid=MWE01&cmptype=newsletter&email=true&ern=B7DEDA9ADDEE143ED7D966F64F9E9AF5
Good Luck with that!
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The APAT poker trip, THAT"S THE APAT POKER TRIP, to the Algarve (cont.)
Saturday
We struggled across to the casino and it's fair to say my pre-game prep might not have been the best. However I found that not being able to get involved in the conversations at the table helped my concentration so I sat back, listening to music and following the action. I was in seat 4 with a real LAG player in seat 2 and a complete fish in seat 10, but the rest were pretty solid. The first hand I got involved with was calling seat 2's raise with 9To; I hit middle pair on the flop and trips on the river, when LAGgy fired his third barrel of 525, I min-raised. He 3-bet to 2750 so I made a relatively tight call and my trips are good. The deck continued to smack me in the face a little and I chipped up to around 18k (from 10k).
Then I went through a phase where 3 consecutive raises in position; all with real hands (AQo, AJs, 77) were 3-bet and in all 3 I called, missed and folded to the c-bet making a dent to my stack.
Seat 2 by now had been replaced by James, from the infamous aquarium, who had played pretty tight before raising my button to 900. I have AKo and make it 1800 with the intention of folding out the blinds but keeping James in the hand which happens.
The flop is QQx and we both check. He quickly leads for 1000 on the K turn and I call. When he bets 2750 on the brick river I am reasonably sure that we have the same hand or, as I said at the time, he's "got very lucky with a queen". I call and he flips Q5 (sigh).
Dinner break and I have a good chat with Don L, SusiePea and the Tams knowing I am coming back to around 10 BBs. I get it in twice in succession, the second time with ATs, Seat 9 with a big stack quickly calls while seat 10, who has replaced the previous fish and played pretty tight looks like he's thrown up in his mouth a little.. he eventually folds as do the rest; I point to him and ask "Jacks?" "Not Quite" says he! "Tens?" He nods. "That's bad for me". Even more so when my opponent flips AJo. However I flop the flush-draw, turn a gutshot and get there on the river.
My exit is uneventful really; I have tangled with seat 5 throughout the day; He had raised UTG when I shoved and he folded AJ face-up (I had AQ, told him but didn't show) and the same thing happened vs another opponent against him. So when I look down at AKh UTG with 11BBs I naturally shove, he calls fairly quickly with AQ and there is a Queen I the window and that's all. A good game with good people, thoroughly enjoyed.
To be concluded...
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What dignity??
Fair Point!!
I can fill in one blank ... O"Sheas
We were originally due to meet in another Irish Bar but it was closed. I, on one of my usual wanders, was looking for the crowd and walked through an empty O"Sheas andhad a brief but lovely chat with aforementioned Fiona ... I said I would find my "small" crowd and bring them all back later.
I spent the rest of the holiday apologising to her for this ;D
That explains it. I take it you are on their black-list?
I may have known that already and forgotten due to the moderate responsible intake of alcohol
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WHY DO I DO IT...?
To commence this week of poker at the end of which I will have the proud pleasure of captaining one of the England teams in the Home Internationals tournament, I decided to get some additional live poker in by returning to where it all began for me, Aspers Northampton*..... and I was regretting it within minutes!
Some players from this scene have really pushed on with their games and a couple are well known for deep runs at DTD and one has Final Tabled a WSOPE event and cashed in an EPT... and some of those players were on the cash table as they are most nights.
But for others, it"s like poker doesn"t exist outside of that room and therefore doesn"t evolve; multi-limped pots, 8x Pre to open, limp-calling the aforementioned 8x etc. etc.
I will play Aspers Northampton again, but I WILL NOT** play any more chep midweek tourneys. I must make the effort to get to DTD or Luton or further afield.
Highlights of tonight were:
The (playing) dealer who pauses dealing the turn card to look at a photo on his mate"s phone***
The other (playing) dealer who, as me and the seat next to me return from the loo & a smoke respectively as our cards are being dealt, long before the last card is dealt, allows us both too look at our hands, him to raise, me to count out chips to call... then to be told we can"t play the hand as we weren"t back in time****
The guy who never thinks it"s his responsibility to put his blind or ante in
... and the piesta resistance, when I have 8BB on the button and peek at Kd that"s enough for me to shove. He takes an age to call (he"s not savvy enough to be trying to get the BB to call). "What to you have then?" "I"ve only seen that one" and flip Kd, he look disgusted and shows a Q, I flip the blind card 3d (cosmic!!) and he eventually flips.... another Q.
If I ever wanted to suck out on a player it was now, but it was not to be.
*Well it actually began in Gala, but that has closed and all of the players are in Aspers, as well as the TD.
**OK, maybe around Christmas when I fancy a beer as well
***It"s churlish to criticise the player dealers as they volunteer to do it, it can just be a bit frustrating when you"re getting short and are in a double up or go home type of mood
****Incredily, Would be raiser would have flopped a set of Queens, I would have flopped the nuts holding KJ, He would have rivered the boat and we both would have gone broke to the SBs bigger boat.
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3 MORE SLEEPS...
I can"t wait for the Home Internationals. It"s always good to get to an APAT and share a laugh with everybody, but taking part in the team event will be unlike anything I have ever done before...and I am very proud.
I have got some distance to cover in the meantime though. Once I have finished this post and had a cup of tea I am heading to Blackburn for an early meeting with a client tomorrow morning, back to Northampton then Birmingham on Thursday, which for me is halfway to Stoke, however my Uni mate from North Carolina is making his annual work trip to London this week, so I will be heading down to London Thursday evening for a few beers with him and other Uni mates.
See you all in Stoke :)
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Happy birthday JP, big one today I know.. enjoy it mate. Love you x
(http://www.fg-a.com/birthday/1-happy-birthday.jpg)
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Happy birthday JP, big one today I know.. enjoy it mate. Love you x
(http://www.fg-a.com/birthday/1-happy-birthday.jpg)
I had to double check that myself Phil, he doesn"t look a day over 40.
Happy 50th JP, life has treated you well. ;D
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Happy birthday - had to look a few times as shocked at the age!
Enjoy ;)
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Happy Birthday JP
One of lifes "Good Guys"
Ian
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Happy birthday JP!
As someone who"s approaching the same milestone I must say you"ve worn quite, errrrr, well. Ish.
xxx
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Happy Birthday JP
One of lifes "Good Guys"
Ian
Couldn"t have put it better myself - Happy Birthday JP!
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Happy Birthday JP
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Happy Birthday my good friend..
Emma sends a huge hug and a big smacking kiss :-* :-*
Enjoy your day xx
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Thanks for all the kind Birthday wishes!
You are all SODS... ;D
...except for Carl & Emma, Don, Shaz & Ian
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Blimey. Would"ve been cheaper to throw the big party. :D
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Observations on my trip to Prague...
Prague is a beautiful city; particularly so in December
Prague is bloody cold; particularly so in December
There are a lot of pubs with microbreweries inside. JP likes this.
Czech people are pretty cool
The Czech word "Tam" means "to push". Coincidence?
Despite a previous successful encounter with them, on this trip Wizzair have been pretty pants!!
In a bookshop the word the Czechs use for the Thriller section is "Thrillery". This amuses me.
I would recommend Prague to anyone. Just wrap up warm and choose a different airline.
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In a bookshop the word the Czechs use for the Thriller section is "Thrillery". This amuses me.
Not many people go to Prague and spend time in a bookshop.
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the only downside was the fact that it was probably the worst Saints performance I have seen it many years, albeit against a very good Ulster team (we have the return fixture on Saturday and I fear the worse).
Well I really did not see that coming; Ulster 9 - 10 Saints.
Ulster will probably still win the group and progression to the QF looks unlikley but a massive dose of pride was restored tonight
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So I get one of those "news about your ticket" emails from the National Lottery and I log into my account expecting the usual £3 or £5 but I have the pleasant surprise of £58.10 (very nice). However on further inspection this was for matching 4 numbers (no stars) in the Euromillions.
The Prize for matching 5 numbers (no stars)....?
£26,000
Meh!
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I got a similar email this morning, however my big win was £2.50 ::)
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AND SO IT BEGINS...
I have entered 2013 with a bit of a whimper, following a very quiet Christmas where I just chilled out and a very nice New Years Eve with friends.
To be honest I wasn"t really looking forward to going back to work but the first three days hae been quite enjoyable. My workload has been ridiculous over the past few years but my team expanded around a year ago and the additional resource seems to be paying dividends.
On the poker front I will be playing much much more this year, partiularly online as the point above will free up more evenings, and with the help of a new APAT staking licence along with a bit of satellite Run-good, I hope to play some bigger live events.
I have also had the honour of being selected for the APAT forum team at the end of the month. I have been involved in APAT for 4 years so this means a lot to me and I am very grateful to Carl Pilgrim for the pick
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"The Tod" going wrong in The Baker"s Dozen...
I"m enjoying Curly"s charity tournament on Monday nights, after such a fun weekend I was really pleased when remembered I had one of these games on after getting back from work. Sadly, I have only been able to amass 1 point from the three games I have played and his weeks game ended in dramatic fashion.
A lot of APAT regs will know that J6 is known as the Tod. I don"t know why but APAT regular, fellow SWFC fan and all round good egg Tod Wood has an affinity with this hand!
This is not a hand I normally get involved with but in Monday"s tourney, UTG limped and the rest of the table folded to my BB when I am holding "The Tod". The flop is a glorious 6J6!!!! My only thought now is "how do I extract value". I can"t really remember the turn and the river except that I think a flush possibility arrived and we checked to the river at which point I lead out (obv) which lead to a series of raises and all the chips in the middle for my opponent to show..... JJ!!
Sigh! GG, ty,
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Excuse me Asa?
KK vs QT.
;-)
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SAINTS v APAT
Occasionally I have a clash between the above. I miss "standard" league games to play APAT events and I miss APAT events far away when there are really big Saints games; like not going to Glasgow this season as we had a Heineken cup game.
As things stand I have a clash on the Saturday of the WCOAP as we are playing our biggest rivals Leicester Tigers!
If we keep playing like we did today I shall have no such dilemma!!!
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SAINTS v APAT
Occasionally I have a clash between the above. I miss "standard" league games to play APAT events and I miss APAT events far away when there are really big Saints games; like not going to Glasgow this season as we had a Heineken cup game.
As things stand I have a clash on the Saturday of the WCOAP as we are playing our biggest rivals Leicester Tigers!
If we keep playing like we did today I shall have no such dilemma!!!
We"ll be in Nottingham on the Saturday...probably watching the match in some pub or other if it"s not on at DTD. ;)
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Awesome.
Subscribed.
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IS IT A BIRD...
I finally got round to watching Superman Returns at the weekend; if you haven"t yet you are not missing much. I had low expectations but the original films were such a part of my childhood I wanted to give this one a go.
In summary the film was underwhelming and a bit formulaic. I would ask what the point was if I didn"t know he answer was money.
However the film did leave me with 3 key questions:
Why, when superman flies into the flames of a jet engine, does his cape not catch fire?
Why, in this day and age of cameras everywhere, media coverage and data analytics are the public not finding several of Clark Kent"s discarded suits with Daily Planet post-it notes in the inside pockets by recent Superman sightings
And finally why, when Superman is muscling in to save the day, does Richard White not turnaround and say, "F*** You Krypton Boy, I was Cyclops in the X-Men and I"ve got some skills of my own"
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#whynotus
Off to the Saints this afternoon and every game left this season will be crucial (unless we lose so many of them that they become irrelevant).
Our current DoR, Jim Mallinder, has been with the club for 6 seasons including this one; initially the curve went up up up with promotion from the 2nd tier in his first full season winning every single game, season 2 back in the premiership we came 8th in our first season winning the European Challenge Cup (non Rugby fans, think Europa League of Rugby) which qualified us into the Heineken Cup, season 3; winning the LV Cup, 2nd place in the premiership and a surprsing SF defeat and Heineken QFs (the only English team to reach the knock out phase).
In season 4 we started to plateau, however when you are knocking on the door of top tier, progression gets ever more difficult. Heading the table on New Year"s Day we went on a succession of defeats, but we did have an excuse in that such was the progression of the players Jim had signed, developed or in some cases both (Tom Wood, Chris Ashton, Ben Foden, Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes) we lost a lot of our first team to the Six Nations period and we held on for 4th and another SF defeat. We did of course reach THAT Heineken Final where we took a 22-3 lead into half time but through a combination of bad game management, tiredness and an incredible 2nd half perfomrmance from Leinster managed to lose the game.
Season 5 had a lot of Season 4 about it, but as a fan I was prepared to acknoweldge the Rugby World Cup as a key factor and we lost 5 of the first 6 games during this period. We hung on for top 4 and another SF defeat.
This season we have definitely gone backwards. We have been less effected by internationals than before but have lost key home fixtures we would not have lost in the past. There has been some transition where we have had to replace our "8" and "12" who each returned to their Irish Clubs and were crucial to the team.
We are currently 6th. It"s crucial to reach Top 4 for the playoffs and last night we received 2 favours as 4th & 5th both lost. Given the fixtures we have left, if we do not beat London Irish at home this afternoon then I don"t think we will make those playoffs, but if you cannot beat the 10th ranked team in the table at home, then you don"t deserve to be in those playoffs.
As the players keep posting on Twitter... #whynotus
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Took a rare trip to DTD last night getting the feel for the place again ahead of the WCOAP at the end of the month.
Nothing much to report from the Super50 event; went out in the Mid stages shoving AK with 11BB in EP and ran into Queens.
The valets remain superb and I think Rose may be my new favourite :P
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HUMBLED...
That"s the only word I can think of to describe the feeling of being nominted for 2 APAT awards. I have been aware of the awards for the past couple of years, glancing at the nominations and acknowledging that they are deserved, so to have been placed among them this year means a lot..
Although I can assure you in one of the 2 categories my vote has gone to a good friend of mine instead ;)
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Carlsberg puts friends to the test!
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs1wMp84_BA[/youtube]
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Carlsberg puts friends to the test!
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs1wMp84_BA[/youtube]
Superb ;D
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I"d fkn throttle ya!
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A great couple of days indeed :D was lovely to see you and all the others :) xxx
to clarify, we have concluded that the plural of amos is amii (aim-eye) ;) xxx
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Sneaky Peak at the New TV ad for Somersby Cider, which first airs tonight around 10pm
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjMSjy00nUs[/youtube]
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Phil TC in 7-high bluff shocker
To be fair I thought floating the turn and leading out repping the flush would work a treat.. you were just showing off having the hand I was repping.. and a full house on top of it to boot ;D
Was a cracking first table though really enjoyed it and the banter was top notch. Sick day 2 though fella, was fully expecting a very deep run as you were playing the best I"d seen mate.. obviously those trips upto Yarm have brought your game up a level ;) x
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*cough* image rights!!!!
http://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/news/7199.php
Remember the camera adds several lbs
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*cough* image rights!!!!
http://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/news/7199.php
Remember the camera adds several lbs
Must have been a hell of a lot of cameras! :D
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Nice pic JP. Is the dickie bow bought from the club shop, home made or a lucky high street find?
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Nice pic JP. Is the dickie bow bought from the club shop, home made or a lucky high street find?
I love that tie it"s a wowser, really cool!!!
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Nice pic JP. Is the dickie bow bought from the club shop, home made or a lucky high street find? stolen off the clown you mugged?
FYP
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"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."
Gary Lineker, c.1990
"Poker is a simple game; a number of people shove chips around for several hours until Carl Pilgrim has all of them"
JP Round, 2013
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PMSL!!! Ha ha ha ha ha excellent, love that! :D
xxx
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"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."
Gary Lineker, c.1990
"Poker is a simple game; a number of people shove chips around for several hours until Carl Pilgrim has all of them"
JP Round, 2013
Classis ;D
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I don"t believe it. Someone has spelled "Accommodation" correctly on the internet. Look at that lovely cc and mm. I love you.
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Sounds like you had a ball JP.. and also including use of the word "erroneously". Happy Days.
North Eastern guide required please on how do you pronounce "MACHYNLLETH"? x
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I don"t believe it. Someone has spelled "Accommodation" correctly on the internet. Look at that lovely cc and mm. I love you.
That"s because I"ve read this John
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accomodating-Brocolli-Cemetary-Anybody-Spell/dp/0743270991
Sounds like you had a ball JP.. and also including use of the word "erroneously". Happy Days.
North Eastern guide required please on how do you pronounce "MACHYNLLETH"? x
I believe it"s "Mac-cun-cluff"... but "MAC" seems to suffice in conversations
If only APAT had some welsh members; they could set the record straight.
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Just caught up and read the Comedy reviews with great interest.
If you enjoyed Machynlleth you"d love Edinburgh.
Mrs 3103 and I have been to Edinburgh for the first few days of the Fringe every year for the last eight. Stewart Lee is one of our "must see" acts and we"re hoping to see Simon Munnery this year having seen some of his work on the Stewart Lee curated stand up show from The Stand Comdey Club in Edinburgh. It"s The Alternative Comedy Experience and features Munnery, Law, Christie amongst others. On Comedy Central and probably on Youtube too by now.
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The Fringe is on my bucket list... any tips on where to source accommodation etc.
I watched that show and really enjoyed it. What I didn"t include in my post was that Lee & Christie were in the yurt next to us and we had a good chat with them both on several occasions... My father & sister are both massive fans of his and are now extremely jealous.
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It"s a real shame that the game was effectively decided by Hartley"s indiscipline. I think we"d have still won against 15, but it would definitely have been a lot tighter.
As you say, Wayne Barnes though a well-respected ref has few fans and he"s never been seen as a friend to Leicester. However it was a hell of a call to make but I"m glad he did as it"s respect for the referee that separates rugby from football. I"d like to think I"d be saying the same if it had been a Tiger that had been sent off for dissent.
Here"s to next season. Let"s hope the East Midlands continue to occupy the top slots.
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Found out last night that Jessica Ennis, if fit (IF FIT?????), will be competing in Tallinn at the end of the month!
That"s JESSICA ENNIS in TALLINN!
I may spontaneously combust.
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Found out last night that Jessica Ennis, if fit (IF FIT?????), will be competing in Tallinn at the end of the month!
That"s JESSICA ENNIS in TALLINN!
I may spontaneously combust.
On it.
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6 and 9 FTW ;D
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I emptied the online accounts last night after the APAT games...
I"ve done this before and I"ll be back again, especially to play APAT champs and leagues etc, but at the moment I am just not enjoying it. My job doesn"t really allow me to play online during the week or a long session on Sundays so I think I would rather preserve the money I am wasting and focus more on live - when I have time I will play some satellites but that is unlikely in the short term.
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The Saint...
I love most sports, but for me the ultimate is the Rugby Premiership which started last night and for me starts today with Northampton Saints" first game of the season.
I am naive and optimistic like most fans and going into this season I have a good feeling; we have added Lions heroes GEORGE NORTH* & ALEX CORBISIERO to our team along with world class scrum half Kahn Fotuali"i. We have lost two front row monsters to the riches of the French league but they should be amply replaced by corbs and some developing talent in Mercey & Waller.
Predictions:
Today we need to Smash Exeter at home to lay down a marker. Exeter are a good side who will fancy a push for Top 4 this year but following this game we go to Quins then Glawster. I think we will win by 17. Whether we get the BPW depends on how the backs are clicking with our new backs / skills coach.
I have predicted the season to end as below:
Saracens
Saints
Tigers
Quins
Glawster
Bath
Exeter
Wasps
Sale
Worcester
Newcastle
London Irish
Bring It On!
*i may have mentioned this once or twice in Coventry
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Best of luck today JP. There seems to be an error in your predicted finishing positions though.
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Best of luck today JP. There seems to be an error in your predicted finishing positions though.
You think I should"ve put Tigers 4th?
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Best of luck today JP. There seems to be an error in your predicted finishing positions though.
You think I should"ve put Tigers 4th?
No, I think you meant to put Quins first ;D
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Best of luck today JP. There seems to be an error in your predicted finishing positions though.
You think I should"ve put Tigers 4th?
I hope not!
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Today we need to Smash Exeter at home to lay down a marker. Exeter are a good side who will fancy a push for Top 4 this year but following this game we go to Quins then Glawster. I think we will win by 17. Whether we get the BPW depends on how the backs are clicking with our new backs / skills coach.
Saints 38 - 11 Exeter
Marker laid.
Did I say we"d win by 17? Clearly a typo, I meant 27 :)
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How did North do?
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How did North do?
Pretty good. A couple of exciting runs and excellent in defence; the fans seem very happy he"s here. Proper test starts next week.
I"ll be cheering on Tigers in 10 minutes as they are the 2nd half of my hcp double (+15 I think) with saracens having secured the 1st half yesterday
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No, I think you meant to put Quins first ;D
How"s that looking after last Friday"s result Mich? ;D
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What, no visit to the pets graveyard at 3am ;D
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Well I think I can safely say that festivals of any type have passed me by. I have never been to a single one of any hue.
I thoroughly enjoyed your blog however, I have never heard of any of the names that you mentioned and when your fb page said you were in Portmeirion, I thought "oh that nice JP is having a week in Ireland, he"ll enjoy that". :P
Comfy beds and creature comforts FTW :D
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If i ever declare myself too old for festivals you can just shoot me.
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Go to download festival every year, best week of the year every time.
Except this year when that is likely to be Vegas :)
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If i ever declare myself too old for festivals you can just shoot me.
Different strokes for different folks Pops.
And Stu, I will never, ever, go to download*
*on my own $$$$
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If i ever declare myself too old for festivals you can just shoot me.
Download next year?
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If i ever declare myself too old for festivals you can just shoot me.
Download next year?
It"s possible. But Download falls between Wychwood and Glastonbury and if it comes to a choice Download is third on the list.
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when your fb page said you were in Portmeirion, I thought "oh that nice JP is having a week in Ireland, he"ll enjoy that". :P
wasn"t the fact that those FB updates were accompanied by "in Penrhyndeudreath" and "in Porthmadog" a bit of a giveaway :)
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Not To Pops
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You dont get much of anything on my blog at the minute...
But come on, i managed to use the word Faux on facebook the other day!
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Best of luck with the interview JP (http://blondepoker.com/forum/Smileys/default/pray.gif)
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(contrary to what Ger tells every barman we ever meet, I do not run Carlsberg UK.. Yet ;)).
Slay "em big man and I will be telling the truth one day ;D
The very best to you in this stage of your career - JFDI
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Thanks for the well wishes guys. There"s some serious competition for this but it will be good to put myself through the process in any event.
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Very best of luck on Monday!!! Keeping everything crossed for ya. :)