Poker Forum => General Discussion => Member Blogs => Topic started by: Des on June 01, 2012, 11:42:51 AM
Title: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 11:42:51 AM
20 May 1989
It was a Saturday and I remember it being particularly hot. I was on a passenger bus, somewhere in the middle of Ireland, on a journey that had started in London a day earlier and would end on the West Coast of Ireland sometime later that night.
I was sweating hard and felt sick to my stomach. It wasn't the sick feeling you might have after a dodgy meal or a heavy night on the town, it was a feeling akin to having the weight of the world on my shoulders. I didn't like it, but it wouldn't be shifted.
I'd lived in England for the two years prior and I was moving back to my hometown Westport. I was leaving behind a good job and friends; including a girlfriend who I was very close too, and that and a lot of other stuff was weighing heavily on my mind.
The bus rolled on, and it seemed that each of the driver's actions swayed me from side to side in my seat, leaving me unable to sit still or rest. The ventilation seemed non-existent and I remember seeing my sweat glisten as I stared at my reflection in the window.
It was a different age for mobile entertainment and all I had was a little portable radio which allowed me to catch fragments of the Liverpool and Everton FA Cup Final which was playing out as the bus lurched from small town to small town. Football was a rarity on TV back then and missing this game was just one of several things troubling me.
I remember a particular moment on the journey, catching a glimpse of my father in the seat behind and despite the heat and conditions he seemed happy, as always. He was wearing a suit and a tie; something he didn't often do, and I remember thinking he was mad in this heat. I didn't want to bother him, so I'd sneak an occasional glance in his direction out of the corner of my eye to make sure he was okay, without feeling the need to say anything.
You see my father had died a week earlier and I hadn"t expected to see him again.
I can't remember exactly when on the journey I stopped seeing him. I didn't look back often fearing a moment he wouldn"t be there. I"m not a religious man and I certainly don"t believe in ghosts and the like, but I've never forgotten how this strange little emotional trick calmed me in the face of everything I was feeling on that day.
I never did see my father again. He died on the 13th May 1989, a week after his 53rd birthday and 6 days after my 21st.
I walked up the steps and stood on the porch A woman I didn"t recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door I told her my story and who I"d come for She said "I"m sorry son but no one by that name lives here anymore" My Father"s House - Bruce Springsteen
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Paulie_D on June 01, 2012, 11:47:57 AM
A Des Blog.
I love it! More please.
Hang the confidentiality agreements...we want the scoop on the inside workings of Sky Poker! ;D
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: technolog on June 01, 2012, 12:57:33 PM
Lovely first post.
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 13:12:28 PM
I guess that"s as heavy an opening blog post as the forum has seen! :)
Welcome to my blog, which will predominately focus on APAT past, present and future, with the addition of some other personal and work related stories along the way.
For those of you who don"t know me, I originated the idea for APAT back in 2005 and am an ex head of poker and head of commercial at Sky and an ex retail buyer at Woolworths and the Argos Retail Group.
I have a son and two daughters who live in London with my ex wife. My son Michael has just finished Uni and he will start with Deloitte in September, specialising in the technology and media sectors. Rebecca and Grace are into lots of different activities like acting and dancing. I live in Wales with my partner Sian and her young son Ieuan. We"re about to have a baby boy ourselves in the next few days and we"re very excited and looking forward to our new arrival. I"m expecting my ex and daughters up once Sian has the baby, so it"s likely we"re going to resemble something between the Brady Bunch and the Addams family.
I"m a passionate Liverpool and Sprigsteen fan, love F1 and business and am very much looking forward to working with the APAT team and members to deliver a new chapter of APAT in the near future.
Finally, I do say "soon" occasionally.....it"s inevitable at times I"m afraid, but I did resist the urge to call this blog "coming soon"! :D
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: mporter123 on June 01, 2012, 13:36:19 PM
Blimey, looking forward to reading this, what a touching first post.
How did you get from working in purchasing into the poker industry?
Thoughts on Ginger people in managerial positions?
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Paulie_D on June 01, 2012, 13:36:46 PM
Blimey it was back in 2005 wasn"t it?
I was with the London Poker Meetup in its glory days at the time and I seem to recall meeting him and asking him a bunch of us around a poker table (possibly at home game, probably in the Bexleyheath area) whether we’d turn up to a deep stacked, dealer dealt tournament in a casino for around £75.
In fact, it must have been sometime after October 2005 because I think I’d just bought the Audi and ran him and a couple of others to the station afterwards.
The best we could manage at the LPM was a £50 deepstack, self-dealt about once every couple of months and that was in the backroom of a working man’s club.
I believe we snapped his hand off at the thought. ;D
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Mikeyboy9361 on June 01, 2012, 13:39:33 PM
I look forward to reading this Des, that first post was great. I was at that Cup Final!
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: fandango on June 01, 2012, 13:40:28 PM
Fantastic... Looking forward to new enstalments, obv coming "soon".. Just out of interest will the latest edition to the Duffy family be a Welsh or Irish rugby supporter???
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Sef on June 01, 2012, 13:44:56 PM
A powerful first post. ;) Looking forward to the rest
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: SirPercival on June 01, 2012, 13:55:10 PM
The APAT forum just gets better and better.
Really looking forward to the rest of this.
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 13:58:29 PM
Quote
How did you get from working in purchasing into the poker industry?
I made a deliberate move into betting and gaming at Sky just after APAT launched as I knew I would need gambling industry contacts and knowledge to build APAT as a product. It"s a decision I"ve never regretted.
Quote
Thoughts on Ginger people in managerial positions?
Absolutely no problems as long as you don"t piss them off too badly. We can be very hot headed despite our calm exterior! ;)
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 14:08:32 PM
I was with the London Poker Meetup in its glory days at the time and I seem to recall meeting him and asking him him asking a bunch of us around a poker table (possibly at home game, probably in the Bexleyheath area) whether we'd turn up to a deep stacked, dealer dealt tournament in a casino for around £75.
In fact, it must have been sometime after October 2005 because I think I'd just bought the Audi and ran him and a couple of others to the station afterwards.
The best we could manage at the LPM was a £50 deepstack, self-dealt about once every couple of months and that was in the backroom of a working man's club.
I believe we snapped his hand off at the thought. ;D
That was in late 2005 and it was helpful to use the LPM as a sounding board, but if I remember correctly, I was as secretive then as now and very few knew what was coming until we launched in August 2006.
I will tell the APAT story in some form of chronological order, as it involved bringing in key people like Rich and Tikay, before doing deals with PokerStars and Grosvenor, which were ground breaking at the time. Stories around the launch alone could take days to tell and the drama and reaction to it all was very intense at the time. But more of that later when I get a proper period of time to write.
ps - FYP :)
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 14:10:45 PM
Fantastic... Looking forward to new enstalments, obv coming "soon".. Just out of interest will the latest edition to the Duffy family be a Welsh or Irish rugby supporter???
This has quite possibly been my toughest negotiation to date. I"ve had to think far more fairly than I normally would. I can"t find my way to answer the question though. ::)
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: bear21 on June 01, 2012, 15:14:06 PM
Only one answer to that born in Wales Support the welsh -sorted lol ;D
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 15:54:04 PM
I"ve just sent an email to the Gaming Director at Caesars Palace to discuss repeating the APAT North American Amateur Poker Championship again, later in season six - probably January or February.
I don"t necessarily expect a UK contingent to go this time, but with the US market on the verge of opening up it would seem to make sense for APAT to maintain our presence there to build on what we did in October.
Plus having had the experience of running an event there, I"m sure there is a lot we could do to really create some local hype around any potential event this season.
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Paulie_D on June 01, 2012, 15:59:18 PM
Hmmm...now you tell me.
Lucky I haven"t booked December yet. ;D
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: PHIL_TC on June 01, 2012, 16:25:51 PM
Great post first Des, look forward to reading more... any errrrm technical staff required in the January / February trip?.. ;)
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: ian.ski309 on June 01, 2012, 16:30:33 PM
The first post has me hooked. Looking forward to seeing this blog develop :)
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: AAroddersAA on June 01, 2012, 17:58:58 PM
I"ve just sent an email to the Gaming Director at Caesars Palace to discuss repeating the APAT North American Amateur Poker Championship again, later in season six - probably January or February.
I don"t necessarily expect a UK contingent to go this time, but with the US market on the verge of opening up it would seem to make sense for APAT to maintain our presence there to build on what we did in October.
Plus having had the experience of running an event there, I"m sure there is a lot we could do to really create some local hype around any potential event this season.
I think you would get a UK contingent.
Will be reading this blog with interest btw
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Des on June 01, 2012, 18:03:11 PM
20 May 1989 ... It was a different age for mobile entertainment and all I had was a little portable radio which allowed me to catch fragments of the Liverpool and Everton FA Cup Final which was playing out as the bus lurched from small town to small town. Football was a rarity on TV back then and missing this game was just one of several things troubling me. ...
You were on that bus the same time that I was sciving pushing trolleys in Tesco"s car park in Abingdon when I used to work two jobs/7 days a week. I"m often reminded of that day just like you have done here!
I"ve just sent an email to the Gaming Director at Caesars Palace to discuss repeating the APAT North American Amateur Poker Championship again, later in season six - probably January or February. ...
Please make it late-feb onwards or you right royally screw up our Vegas plans next year having already screwed them up with the WCOAP!!!
Deb and I both work in purchasing, and we never knew you did. Conversation for the future methinks. Looking forward to this blog a lot ;D
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: Cyntaf on June 02, 2012, 21:42:32 PM
Wow Des. First off, apologies as 53 is no age at all. This must have been one great guy, firstly looking at his off spring and secondly the fact that your looking for someone who is no longer with you. This was quite soon after and you sound as if you may have been a little delerious for whatever reason. I know exactactly where you are coming from and the memory/experience is as real as any other. God Bless. :-*
You starting this blog is phenominal. and I as many others look forward to it"s continuation. :)
Life doesn"t always run as we would like, however they are all experiences. Your Ex and Your children along with Sian, daughter and your newly expected arrival are all in the mix. These ingredients make for one hell of a future, which will be very fullfilling and happy. :) :)
You are a one off true gentleman and I am very pleased to have crossed paths with You on this very short journey known as life, and I, Leann and all the gang wish you the very best Des.
Paul Mac. Xxx
Title: Re: Thinking out loud
Post by: KarmaDope on June 03, 2012, 00:44:24 AM
I"ve just sent an email to the Gaming Director at Caesars Palace to discuss repeating the APAT North American Amateur Poker Championship again, later in season six - probably January or February.
I don"t necessarily expect a UK contingent to go this time, but with the US market on the verge of opening up it would seem to make sense for APAT to maintain our presence there to build on what we did in October.
Plus having had the experience of running an event there, I"m sure there is a lot we could do to really create some local hype around any potential event this season.
FFS.
Now I have to start saving. Hard. Cannot miss an APAT event in Vegas, end of.
Title: Re: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: Des on June 03, 2012, 01:31:51 AM
Title: Re: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: SirPercival on June 03, 2012, 08:33:38 AM
Been to Westport once and can"t wait to visit again.
Westport House was awesome!
When I was learning to count my mother taught me to play "Canasta". Wouldn"t know where to start now but I know that was the start of my love for cards, and games in general.
Title: Re: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: duke3016 on June 03, 2012, 10:43:39 AM
We played "45" in Clare - (we were always better) ;D
I am sure someone will google it and then still scratch their heads.
Title: Re: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: samuel_9 on June 03, 2012, 11:16:23 AM
love the blog des will be following this /20th may was my birthday that year
Title: Re: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: Fatcatstu on June 03, 2012, 12:34:42 PM
Title: Re: Thinking Out Loud
Post by: Des on June 08, 2012, 11:04:07 AM
We"re working on a fair few initiatives behind the scenes to run APAT in a more business orientated fashion, and I decided to put a little focus on the European Football Championship yesterday.
I set up a standard affiliate account with Bet-At-Home (http://affiliates.bet-at-home.com/processing/clickthrgh.asp?btag=a_69136b_5) in the morning and wrote an article previewing Euro 2012, publishing on the main site, forum and social channels.
We"ve popped some affiliate banners across the site, added a free sweepstake and a prediction competition; which Leigh has supported with a nice league table, and all of a sudden we"ve got a vibrant 8 page thread, with lots of members participating, which is a great win win scenario all around.
Through our affiliate link, APAT will earn a 30% commission on our members betting activity.
In reality the money made through this type of commercial activity is small, but it makes sense for APAT to service a need that some of our members have - providing that service generates member engagement, the potential for member value and the potential for a business profit. I believe our Euro 2012 activity ticks those three boxes.
If you haven"t taken part yet, then feel free to Get It Quietly (http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=11309.0).