Friday, December 31, 2010

DEC SPORTS PROFIT AND YEAR SPORTS LOSS

DEC

NFL -75
Football 350
Horses 135
Darts -290
PROFIT 120

Would be delighted with that every month.

Year Results

J -810
F 2570
M -240
A -2060
M -1585
J -1455
J -415
A 750
S 165
O -245
N -1630
D 120
TOTAL -4835
Thought it would be worse so not too disappointed at that and is less than 20% poker profits donated so ok as long as keep making poker $.

DEC POKER PROFIT AND ANNUAL RESULTS

Staking 550
FL -200
Multi 1750
NL -1625
PLO 1950
RAKEBACK
TOTAL PROFIT 2425

OK month profit wise, however overall very disappointing. I raced to about 5.5K in front by Dec 15th and I thought with me having a little one and not getting out as much (actually got out for 2-3 ales sessions including real good boxing day one) I would be able to take advantage of weaker tables. However - I ran below EV (miles above EV in year in cash, ran awful multis though) and had a few set ups and basically donated back a lot of the profits.

Overall I am pleased with profit in the year coming out above 30K - I started the year with confidence shot and gradually regained it. However, it is interesting to note that my 3 top months profit wise in the year would add up to annual profit showing it is not as consistent and probably more difficult than it used to be.

Poker
J -1585
F 8230M 3025
A -4555
M 12880J 8440
J -2425
A -1950
S 9065O -3160
N 1505
D 2425
TOTAL 31895

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

2010 REVIEW


Bolded part was post in early Jan

2010 AIMS AND TARGETS
1) Stick to what I am statistically profitable at (6 max NLHE and multis) while at the same time reading / watching videos about PLO to understand game better.

* Done OK on this one and better at PLO - have rarely played FL.

2) If not winning in first 6 months of year then to really reduce play to "social" in latter half of year when little one comes along.

* Again OK as was winning after awful start to year. Reality of having a baby (see pic!!) kicked in from July and play naturally reduced about 10 fold.

3) Talk about cash hands more with a couple of local pros.

* Fail - I only have 2 poker mates (Brenos / Ben) and they are both now rush donks :)

4) Do not lay back stake on Betfair on bets, I have had some great long term bets that I have layed and layed and layed to all green rather than redeposit.

* Got better on this one despite sports loss.

5) Aim to win 12K in year and 9 months profitable (much reduced target versus last year due to downturn in last 6 months).

* Passed the 1st part as around 30K and failed 2nd part as 5 losing months.

6) Much more disciplined note taking at cash, building up much better profiles for decision making than I have previous.

* No score draw


No big targets or aims in live MTT, I decided after Macau and EPO last year when I made no mistakes that if it is going to be your day it will be but in hands of gods and have to win at least 80-20s that i have constantly lost in them this year and need to start winning some races also.


* My only multi success in year was winning sats for Irish Open seat and UKIPT seat and cashing in both events, hence 2 from 2 in ranking tournies this year. Gutted Irish open as lost 80/20 in cash to go above average stack and with big shot in 100K sole survivor with about 6 left. Disappointed not to take down a major Internet tourney in the year also.

EDIT

I was quite a few quid in front for Dec so took a shot - pretty damn sick :(

BAD SANTA

Saturday, December 11, 2010

STAKING STORY UPDATE

Wooo hooo - :)

This is an automated message sent from Full Tilt Poker. Your Player ID: suddesFrom Player ID: XXXXXXXDate and Time: 2010-12-10 18:12:: $868.25 (USD) Status: APPROVED This transfer has been approved. The funds are now available in your account. Thank you for playing at Full Tilt Poker

Thursday, December 09, 2010

NEW MANAGER


Cant even be arsed to type any shit.

To best honest Good Luck to Pardue - not his fault I guess.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

ANOTHER STAKING STORY :(

Had run hot in staking - has risks associated. Prime example below - basicaaly cliffs are I bought decent size stake in someone who isnt going to even play event as busto mine and others cash elsewhere - sick :(

Was starting to look fishy then below today ............

I know an explanation has been due for a while. I've completely avoided 2+2 and this thread up to now; I didn't want to face the reality of the situation, but I realize now the truth is the very least I can offer everyone.

A week or two before the start of FTOPS, I made a trip to AC. After ending down the night gambling, I went back to my room and played online and lost there too. Started to chase losses by martingaling HUSNGs until I was playing multiple 2ks. Ended down that night between 10-15k, the majority of which was backer money.

Since then, I lost even more money trying to cover the hole I was in playing cash, MTTs outside of the package, and live. I borrowed some money from family and a couple friends, and created another package to buy time for myself. I think part of me really believed that I was going to get out of the mess I had gotten myself into, that I had plenty of shots of bink a decent cash that would take care of everything. Of course, I managed to nearly airball both series while losing the rest of my money and then some. By the time my last attempts at running up money failed, it was several days after the package ended, backers' money was gone, and I was dead broke and in debt.

The fact that I was capable of doing something so colossally stupid, that I was capable of having such disregard for my own money and, more importantly, those of my backers probably means that I probably lack the necessary discipline poker requires, and that I may have a real gambling problem. Even though I feel like I've learned from this experience, and that I would absolutely never do anything like this again, I know that it's already too late. I can't turn back the clock, no matter how much I want to. My money is gone. The money invested to me is gone. I abused the trust everyone placed in me, and for that I rightfully won't ever be trusted again.

I have no excuses and accept complete responsibility for what I've done. I want more than anything to be able to pay everyone right now, but I don't have the ability to at this point. Though I am no longer playing poker, I've started working a part-time job and expect to make something like $250/wk depending on my hours. My other time has been spent studying to pursue further schooling, after which I hopefully can secure a career that will, among other things, enable me to pay this debt off faster. For now, it will be a hard grind paying back the $15k+ I owe. I have bills to pay (including a lot of cc debt) like everyone else, and my income right now is small. However, every dime that I can spare will be used to pay back everyone. I will be getting my first paycheck in slightly more than a week and will make a payment back at that time.

I want to offer my sincerest apologies to everyone who got caught up in this. I never meant for all of this to happen, and I will do what I can to set things the way they should be.

Monday, December 06, 2010

LAUGHING STOCK PART 2

Superb article by George Caulkin who in my opinion is the best sports writer out there.

Source: The Times


Having spent time in the company of Derek Llambias, I can confirm the following: he does not have cloven hooves and a forked tail. Having listened to him discuss his ambitions for Newcastle United, I know that there is more to the club's managing director than the one-dimensional, cockney mafia, wrecking-ball stereotype.

In a lengthy chat at St James' Park earlier this season, Llambias was engaging and witty, interesting and provocative. I came away from the meeting gratified that some context had finally been given to Mike Ashley's tenure on Barrack Road, although there was plenty which continued to offer discomfort. This is not a straightforward or simplistic regime.

Chief amongst that was the attitude towards Chris Hughton, a manager who had restored stability to the Newcastle dug-out and, at one of the most febrile points in the club's recent history, led them back to the Barclays Premier League. But, in effect, Hughton had been placed on trial.

That had not been the expectation. After all the hyperbole and disruption which was a continual feature during the brief interregnums of Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer, Ashley appeared to have stumbled upon a manager he could do business with. A manager who could fit into his system and work with it.

There were disputes and disagreements, of course - there are at every club - but having been appointed as first-team coach under Keegan, Hughton was open-eyed about the challenge and, in successive transfer windows, eked out limited resources from his notoriously unpredictable employer. A balance seemed to have been found.

On the pitch, Newcastle were hardworking and unified, off it Hughton was the figurehead - quiet and undemonstrative. Llambias and Ashley allowed him to speak for the club and while, in truth, he said very little, that deflective approach allowed Newcastle to rebuild away from an intrusive spotlight.

Yet promotion did not bring Hughton any reward. Unconvinced by his record in the transfer market and suspicious of the trust he placed in his players, Ashley viewed this season as a vast step up in class for his employee. No contract extension was offered because he and Llambias believed that it was incumbent on Hughton to prove himself.

There would have been some logic there if it did not run so counter to a simple footballing truth - stability flows from the manager. Newcastle the city needs little excuse to wallow in rumour (socialising and sport remain indelibly linked) and the uncertainty infiltrated every area of the club.

It had taken Hughton and the input of his senior players - who came together in the aftermath of relegation, determined to rectify matters - to bring purpose back to Tyneside, yet Ashley viewed it as well-paid prima donnas doing what they should. A tiff over bonus payments hardened opinions on both sides, with Llambias regarding it as further evidence that Hughton was not in control of his domain.

(For the record, it is a risible suggestion. While Hughton went out on a limb to continue picking Andy Carroll during the height of the striker's off-field notoriety, he has also dropped influential figures such as Michael Owen, Joey Barton and Alan Smith. He retained the respect and affection of players because he behaved towards them with honesty and integrity).

From the perspective of directors with a history in retailing, the bonus system was as antiquated as the notion of plying millions upon agents was insane. They walked away from transfers when middlemen demanded excessive recompense and while that was understandable, a similar attitude caused internal resentment.

Ashley has often been described as a maverick and it is accurate. The heart of his success with Sports Direct has been aggression and a refusal to conform to the status quo and the same applies to Newcastle. When people told him it was not appropriate to dress casually in the directors' box, he shrugged his shoulders and wore his jeans. He is not interested when people explain that there are some things you do not do in football: why not, he would ask?

Keegan railed against the impertinence, but Ashley and Llambias wanted to speak to their manager on the day of matches and chat about tactics and team selection. When things went wrong, they would shout, swear, threaten and then forget about it afterwards, simply because it was the way they worked. Creative tension can be fruitful, after all.

They recognised early that a financial recalibration was coming to sport as a consequence of recession and Ashley's commercial instincts kicked in: cut back, pare-down, strip away. While supporters would have no cause to notice it, almost every department at St James' is operating with a skeleton staff and tiny margins.

Yet they would argue that something had to change. Football in general and Newcastle in particular - a club which has made millionaires of so many gilded wastrels - could not continue as it was. There should be no more stellar signings at the expense of team-building, but young players, either unknown elsewhere or nearing the end of their contracts, should be sought. Each must have a sell-on value.

The days of managers determining which players would be bought and sold were over; Sir Alex Ferguson is an anachronism. The system introduced under Keegan, when Dennis Wise had responsibility for acquisitions, was tweaked but effectively remained in place, with names being put to Hughton for his approval. Having interviewed him on the day that Hatem Ben Arfa's loan from Marseille was agreed, I know that his participation in the process was not fundamental.

Hughton's great strength - the serenity which allowed him to both reject attention and soak up pressure - was, peversely, seen as a weakness. With a more experienced, high-profile manager, Newcastle might earn more television revenue, although it is precisely that approach which has repeatedly undermined the club.

It was within this prism that Ashley and Llambias have had designs to re-name Newcastle's iconic stadium. In a drive towards self-sufficiency and at a time when no area for raising revenue could be ignored, it was, at least, an understandable notion, although as with much else, it was explained clumsily and with minimal detail.

They are combative people, but they have a warmer side. There have been plenty of arguments with supporters in bars and restaurants, but they have often concluded with invitations to lunch in the boardroom, where children are encouraged to roam freely, before home games. Yet it is not something which people hear about.

Their reluctance to engage with their public is a longstanding source of frustration. It is also baffling. While Llambias would say that Ashley has never been given a chance by fans and the media, it is more accurate to say that he has rejected it. He arrived with one great strength - he was not Freddy Shepherd, the former chairman - yet neither he nor Llambias has ever held a press conference, so their story has never been told.

That story is genuinely interesting. The men who run Newcastle have compelling ideas, some of which challenge an insular world and others which feel misguided and contradictory. They would laugh if you told them they must be a nightmare to work for and agree wholeheartedly.

I know what they want. They want a club which funds itself. They want that because it continues to drain Ashley's pockets and while there are no plans in place to sell Newcastle, if a firm and reasonable offer came along, they would consider it readily. Self-efficiency would make it a far more attractive proposition. And if that isn't what they want, then why the hell don't they come out and say so.

What I don't know is what more they expect. For all their concerns with Hughton and a sequence of five matches without victory, do they really suppose that anybody else could have done much better? Do they really think that a return to upheaval will benefit Newcastle at a crucial juncture in their history? Will anybody else prove more malleable? Question: what do they want from a manager?

LAUGHING STOCK :(

I am pretty gutted at events at St James Park today and the sacking of Chris Hughton.

To be honest I was not a member of the anti Ashley crew despite a few PR / appointment blunders and had thought behind the scenes they had done some great stuff - key elements below.

1) Sensible contracts / wages on all new signings.
2) Get rid of a lot of high earners.
3) Kept much lower profile with press - saying nothing which given previous years was by far their most effective form of communication.
4) Lowered some of the ridiculous expectations of the fans and started to rebuild.


However, in my opinion they have ripped it all up by destroying number 4 today. We will now have the press circus, anti Ashley demonstrations and some "representatives" of the North East who have all day on their hands to stand round the ground and be our "representative" voice to Sky Sports etc, which once again will result in us becoming the laughing stock of the country.

Someone is probably lined up already however I would not be surprised if we get 0 points this side of xmas now with all the unrest. While we were inconsistent under Chris we certainly had as many points as anyone could have hoped for at this part of the season.

Ultimately, and most hurtful is his contract was up at the end of the year so they could have honoured that and just found someone new in the summer. Maybe they are now prepared to put some big money in or something and decided he wasn't the man but in my opinion he had done pretty well in the transfer market.

Lastly, Thank You to Chris Hughton and I hope you have success in whatever you do next (as long as it is not managing the Mackems!!)

SHITARSE


GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Now cost me 2 acca's in 2 weeks both would have retirned 4 figs - turned into an interception machine - this week in Overtime when had ball - FFS