Sunday, 17 February 2008
Friday, 15 February 2008
Case Closed ?
In poker-related news, the appeal verdict has come back in the "Gutshot case". It was reported a few days ago - I believe it was delivered simply as a written ruling.
I attended the appeal hearing back in November. It was well argued for the defence, I thought, but it was always likely to be an uphill struggle to actually win the appeal.
If the appeal had been successful it would certainly have been a real landmark result. As the appeal failed, this is far less significant. This is especially true since the law has been changed subsequently, albeit the new Act is not dramatically different.
Poker is hardly mentioned in the law itself. It does not appear to have been drafted with poker in mind one way or the other, really. It mainly seems to want to deal with gaming (against the house). One of the real problems is that there isn't really any sensible provision for poker.
In any event, there is some possibility of an appeal to the House of Lords - that would be very interesting ! I daresay they would give a really considered verdict, although I am equally sure that the press reporting of the case - should it go that far - would be as ill-informed and trite as ever.
I attended the appeal hearing back in November. It was well argued for the defence, I thought, but it was always likely to be an uphill struggle to actually win the appeal.
If the appeal had been successful it would certainly have been a real landmark result. As the appeal failed, this is far less significant. This is especially true since the law has been changed subsequently, albeit the new Act is not dramatically different.
Poker is hardly mentioned in the law itself. It does not appear to have been drafted with poker in mind one way or the other, really. It mainly seems to want to deal with gaming (against the house). One of the real problems is that there isn't really any sensible provision for poker.
In any event, there is some possibility of an appeal to the House of Lords - that would be very interesting ! I daresay they would give a really considered verdict, although I am equally sure that the press reporting of the case - should it go that far - would be as ill-informed and trite as ever.
Sunday, 10 February 2008
In a Roundabout Way
Today's fixture at Dunstable (first of back-to-back matches against this team) saw us making one of the longest journeys of this year's away campaign. The trip was made more challenging by the apparent overnight disappearance of an ancient roundabout near the destination. Google said it was there, but there it wasn't, and pretty much everyone was wrongfooted.
Even the manager wasn't pitchside until 10:15, and last-to-arrive Sam C was only in situ moments before kick-off. The boys who arrived earlier were, of course, involved in useful pre-match exercises, except when they were playing "drop-kick the Evian" or climbing trees.
Nevertheless, by 10:30 we had 14 players (Romao unwell), 2 coaches and a linesman. Last week's emergency linesman, Boz, was re-assigned to reconnaissance duties behind enemy lines in the home crowd.
We kicked off playing up the noticeable but manageable slope. The pitch appeared small by comparison with last week's vast expanse, and the lack of a gale-force wind was most pleasant.
If Brickhill were at all put off by the haphazard start, then it was not apparent as we played good open football and were rewarded early on when Dominic got the ball over the line inside 2 minutes - Fred & Elijah also getting an attempt on target in the move.
Luke & Greg were also in a lot of the action upfront. We did not appear to be disadvantaged at all by playing uphill. At the back, Cameron was making some key interceptions. Sam H was back in the starting line-up and using his head wisely.
However, despite the good possession, the 2nd goal was elusive and we nearly paid for it as Dunstable broke clear and fired a shot decisively past our defence. Fortunately the post was equally decisive in preventing an equalizer.
We moved forward again and, a few minutes later, we did find the second goal when Greg and Fred combined well.
"There's still hope" cried the opposition captain. No kidding we thought - you should have seen us last week ....
And Dunstable hopes were still well afloat at Half Time: 2 - 0 it remained.
This scoreline wasn't seriously threatened until well into the second half. Once again, Brickhill created plenty of good moves - Ewan apparently in all of them. Niall was also in really good form in a creative/defensive role.
Now, Dunstable found their hope. After putting Harry to the test at close range, they converted the rebound. With a little less than 15 minutes to go, they visibly and audibly upped their game. They were now clearly willing to fight for the game.
Their spirit wasn't diminished when we restored our 2-goal margin: Angus started the move and found Ewan. Fred & Dominic then sandwiched the keeper on the edge of his box. When the ball escaped, Dominic gave it enough of a touch to take it across the line.
With the increased tempo from Dunstable, however, it wasn't clear that this would be enough of a lead. Harry parried one excellent free-kick and still another dead-ball shot came close to finding the corner. The home side were making repeated runs into our box.
With a minute left of regular time, they reduced the deficit to a single goal again from an effective cross.
Once again, it was tough on the supporters as the clock ticked down. Probably we could have been more effective at keeping the ball in this crucial phase, but we did enough to prevent any late equalizer.
In the end, the three points were safe and we did what we needed to do. Hopefully we can make a more straightforward job of it next week at home.
DUNSTABLE YOUTH 2 - 3 BRICKHILL WANDERERS
Dominic (2, 53), Fred (26)
Even the manager wasn't pitchside until 10:15, and last-to-arrive Sam C was only in situ moments before kick-off. The boys who arrived earlier were, of course, involved in useful pre-match exercises, except when they were playing "drop-kick the Evian" or climbing trees.
Nevertheless, by 10:30 we had 14 players (Romao unwell), 2 coaches and a linesman. Last week's emergency linesman, Boz, was re-assigned to reconnaissance duties behind enemy lines in the home crowd.
We kicked off playing up the noticeable but manageable slope. The pitch appeared small by comparison with last week's vast expanse, and the lack of a gale-force wind was most pleasant.
If Brickhill were at all put off by the haphazard start, then it was not apparent as we played good open football and were rewarded early on when Dominic got the ball over the line inside 2 minutes - Fred & Elijah also getting an attempt on target in the move.
Luke & Greg were also in a lot of the action upfront. We did not appear to be disadvantaged at all by playing uphill. At the back, Cameron was making some key interceptions. Sam H was back in the starting line-up and using his head wisely.
However, despite the good possession, the 2nd goal was elusive and we nearly paid for it as Dunstable broke clear and fired a shot decisively past our defence. Fortunately the post was equally decisive in preventing an equalizer.
We moved forward again and, a few minutes later, we did find the second goal when Greg and Fred combined well.
"There's still hope" cried the opposition captain. No kidding we thought - you should have seen us last week ....
And Dunstable hopes were still well afloat at Half Time: 2 - 0 it remained.
This scoreline wasn't seriously threatened until well into the second half. Once again, Brickhill created plenty of good moves - Ewan apparently in all of them. Niall was also in really good form in a creative/defensive role.
Now, Dunstable found their hope. After putting Harry to the test at close range, they converted the rebound. With a little less than 15 minutes to go, they visibly and audibly upped their game. They were now clearly willing to fight for the game.
Their spirit wasn't diminished when we restored our 2-goal margin: Angus started the move and found Ewan. Fred & Dominic then sandwiched the keeper on the edge of his box. When the ball escaped, Dominic gave it enough of a touch to take it across the line.
With the increased tempo from Dunstable, however, it wasn't clear that this would be enough of a lead. Harry parried one excellent free-kick and still another dead-ball shot came close to finding the corner. The home side were making repeated runs into our box.
With a minute left of regular time, they reduced the deficit to a single goal again from an effective cross.
Once again, it was tough on the supporters as the clock ticked down. Probably we could have been more effective at keeping the ball in this crucial phase, but we did enough to prevent any late equalizer.
In the end, the three points were safe and we did what we needed to do. Hopefully we can make a more straightforward job of it next week at home.
DUNSTABLE YOUTH 2 - 3 BRICKHILL WANDERERS
Dominic (2, 53), Fred (26)
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Knock-On
News of my career decision had a distinctly noticeable imact on traffic to my Poker Blog (http://ok2theprism.blogspot.com/):
Notice it ?!?
There was also a follow-through effect on this blog, and the old sabbatical blog:
Arguably, there was even some flow-through to the Hawk Talk blog (even though the overlap of interest must be zero). However, it is hard to tell whether the blip in hits is simply the post-match clickthrough.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Big Deal
I've been told that there hasn't been much news on this blog for a while. To be sure, the main reason is an absence of things happening !
However, I can report on one genuinely newsworthy event.
After 19 years in the financial markets, including 13 years at my current employer, I have decided that it's time to take a total change of direction. I have resigned "to pursue my interests in poker". In the short term, this will mean spending time at home with the family and playing poker !
In the longer term, I may well follow up some interests in what I like to call "the business of poker". There are many avenues that I could potentially go down, but in any case I won't want to dive immediately into any of them because I want to be able to chill out and get my bearings.
Until last year, when I first took a break from it, I had an almost unlimited appetite for the markets and never felt stressed or overworked even if I was working 20 hours a day sometimes, or regularly working 70hours a week.
However, it became clear to me that my passion lies elsewhere now so, although it feels strange to be leaving it all behind, I am completely comfortable doing so.
The usual way that an amateur player decides to give up his job to play poker is that he's been playing and winning for years (maybe decades) and is now finding that he makes more from playing poker than the day job. He considers carefully, and eventually takes a big step into the unknown.
Well, in my case, I can say that I have considered carefully but apart from that I don't have too much in common with the paradigm. I've been playing for only 2-3 years and I'm a pretty average player (which means I am also a steady loser). In any event, it would be fanciful to think I could win more than I can earn in the financial industry.
Nevertheless, for me, it's the right decision.
However, I can report on one genuinely newsworthy event.
After 19 years in the financial markets, including 13 years at my current employer, I have decided that it's time to take a total change of direction. I have resigned "to pursue my interests in poker". In the short term, this will mean spending time at home with the family and playing poker !
In the longer term, I may well follow up some interests in what I like to call "the business of poker". There are many avenues that I could potentially go down, but in any case I won't want to dive immediately into any of them because I want to be able to chill out and get my bearings.
Until last year, when I first took a break from it, I had an almost unlimited appetite for the markets and never felt stressed or overworked even if I was working 20 hours a day sometimes, or regularly working 70hours a week.
However, it became clear to me that my passion lies elsewhere now so, although it feels strange to be leaving it all behind, I am completely comfortable doing so.
The usual way that an amateur player decides to give up his job to play poker is that he's been playing and winning for years (maybe decades) and is now finding that he makes more from playing poker than the day job. He considers carefully, and eventually takes a big step into the unknown.
Well, in my case, I can say that I have considered carefully but apart from that I don't have too much in common with the paradigm. I've been playing for only 2-3 years and I'm a pretty average player (which means I am also a steady loser). In any event, it would be fanciful to think I could win more than I can earn in the financial industry.
Nevertheless, for me, it's the right decision.
Sunday, 3 February 2008
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