How do you manage to work out how many cash game hands you play on Sky. For the life of me I can't find a non painstaking way of doing it?
Great diary/blog when its going btw
Thanks for the kind words, its always nice to hear from a reader as sometimes it feels like there's no one out there. The working out of hands played is anything but scientific. I assume that I play 75 hands per table per hour. I got this figure from a bit of Google research and then just multiply by number of tables and length of session.
For those of you who have been regular readers you will no doubt be aware of 3 traits I possess. I like to keep records, I am s**t at CASH and I am not very good at sticking to one thing. Having started afresh on the 10p/20p tables four days ago and got off to a flyer I am now back to where I started. It got me thinking as to why I play poker and I have come to the conclusion it is for 3 things. 1. I enjoy it. 2. I like the idea of making a heap of cash. 3. It passes time and if I'm a break-even player it is the cheapest hobby out there. With all this in mind I decided to have a look at how I have done on SkyPoker in 2018 so far.
CASH - Played 39,553 hands for a total loss of £777.24. Online MTT's - Played 309 tournaments for a total win of £56.72. Live MTT's - Played SPT Manchester for a 3rd place finish and a win of £8,080.00.
Armed with this information it is obvious I should be just playing live MTT's. Although this would give me a wonderful lifestyle it is far from practical. When you look at the 3 reasons for playing poker it is quite clear to me that I should be focusing on MTT's and forgetting cash, particularly when you take into account I actually prefer the thrill and competition of MTT's. I can therefore announce that as of now I will be giving up on cash and be back on Sky playing MTT's. On the TV front I am currently watching Ozark on Netflix and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Breaking Bad type of show.
For those of you who have been regular readers you will no doubt be aware of 3 traits I possess. I like to keep records, I am s**t at CASH and I am not very good at sticking to one thing. Having started afresh on the 10p/20p tables four days ago and got off to a flyer I am now back to where I started. It got me thinking as to why I play poker and I have come to the conclusion it is for 3 things. 1. I enjoy it. 2. I like the idea of making a heap of cash. 3. It passes time and if I'm a break-even player it is the cheapest hobby out there. With all this in mind I decided to have a look at how I have done on SkyPoker in 2018 so far.
CASH - Played 39,553 hands for a total loss of £777.24. Online MTT's - Played 309 tournaments for a total win of £56.72. Live MTT's - Played SPT Manchester for a 3rd place finish and a win of £8,080.00.
Armed with this information it is obvious I should be just playing live MTT's. Although this would give me a wonderful lifestyle it is far from practical. When you look at the 3 reasons for playing poker it is quite clear to me that I should be focusing on MTT's and forgetting cash, particularly when you take into account I actually prefer the thrill and competition of MTT's. I can therefore announce that as of now I will be giving up on cash and be back on Sky playing MTT's. On the TV front I am currently watching Ozark on Netflix and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Breaking Bad type of show.
Not the most auspicious start to the latest round of MTT's with no cash in 15 MTT's and a loss of £175. With this in mind and the thing of beauty pictured below I have decided to take a much more measured and hopefully strict approach to BRM. The plan is to start with £100 in the account and limit myself to £7.70 and below MTT's. During the past 6 months I have been watching a lot of Twitch and particularly Matt Staples who has managed to spin up a bankroll of $43k starting out playing $2 tournies. He will be my inspiration.
This beauty is the car I am test driving on Tuesday with a view of swopping for my current BMW 320d Tourer. The reasoning being it is younger, has half the mileage, is Quattro so may actually move once the cold weather comes and finally JUST LOOK AT IT! With the investment required to purchase it I have to somehow justify that spend and by stopping depositing (hopefully) on SkyPoker I can justify it. Good win and start for Dean Smith yesterday and hopefully the beginning of a bright, new era. Norwich and QPR both away this coming week so this should give us a better indication.
So a week in, give or take a day, and its been eventful. On the poker front I have stuck to my max buy-in of £7.70 except for last night's Mini UKOPS which had a buy in of £11. Managed to qualify through 2 sats for the princely sum of £5.20 to the UKOPS £15k BH. Thought I played pretty well, got 1 Bounty, and finished in 37th out of 170. Would appreciate any feedback from any of the forum regulars I bumped into on the tables. Apart from that I have had little success despite I believe playing some pretty decent poker. At the moment I am not winning the crucial flips and also seem to be losing the 60/40's. Tonight I will be breaking my £7.70 rule to take in the £5k Mini Rebuy UKOPS. I will also be trying to qualify for a couple of other UKOPS events through the Sats. On the betting front I currently have a fourfold coming in Watford, Norwich, Sunderland and Newport. We are now in dreaded should I 'Cash Out' territory. Should of cashed out, thank you Morecambe, NOT! Entered a competition run by a friend. Basically its £20 to enter and every week you choose 1 team to win, can't choose the same team twice, and the last man standing wins the pot, £3680 for the winner. Chosen Liverpool this week. Villa were sooooo unlucky last night and deserved at least a point. On the plus you can see that Deano is already having an effect and it is only a matter of time before results start improving. Even with our poor start we are only 6 points off the play offs and a string of 5 wins, which with our squad we are more than capable of, would put us back up there. The Audi A5 has been secured and I pick it up next Thursday. Having test driven it I have to say it is the quietest and most refined and comfortable car I have had the pleasure of owning. A piece of advice for anyone buying a used car from a main dealer. Twice in the last month I have looked at cars and not been happy with the valuation on my part ex. On both occasions I walked out and on both occasions I received a phone call within 24hrs with a better offer. With the case of the Audi A5 I got an extra £600 just through being aware of my car's value and sticking to my guns. Off work for a week and got an action packed week. Today I have given the garden it's pre winter once over, although when I drew the curtains and saw it snowing this was in doubt. Tomorrow is carpet cleaning day, exciting I know. Monday to Thursday in Exmouth, Devon visiting my father and then pick the new car up. Friday off to Mother in Laws in Blackburn to pick up a new 3 piece suite. Saturday is a trip to Newcastle to spend the day with my daughter.
So the end of my week off is nigh and it is back to the grindstone tomorrow with the start of the run up to Christmas. The week has been good and the few days in Exmouth were lovely as you can see below. Willow absolutely loved the beach and spent her time chasing seagulls, other dogs and mulling over why sea water doesn't taste the same.
Got the Audi A5 and what a car. I think I have got an absolute bargain and have to say it is the best car I have ever owned. So quiet and refined. Thought it might be hard to top BMW but have to say this does it. Villa had a decent win on Friday night and now we are looking up again. Secured tickets in the Upper Trinity stand for the Second City Derby on Sunday 25th November. A proper derby if there ever was one and probably the most hate filled one in England, although I am sure a few would disagree. Can't think of one off top of my head. Getting towards the end of the 2nd series of Ozark and as previously said it is excellent and if anything gets better and better the more you watch it. On the poker front I haven't managed many deep runs on Sky and have kept getting enticed into the £22 UKOPS. Last night I managed a couple of deep runs on Party and as a result have withdrawn £250 from there this morning. I have re-invested some on to Sky so my BR stands at £130 as of start of play today. Playing 5 MTT's tonight including a couple of £11 buy-ins and also the £22 UKOPS at 7pm. Although not desperate to move I do like to look at houses and I am a keen observer of Rightmove. What would appear to be the ideal property for me and the good lady to spend the rest of our lives in has appeared on the market. It is an old school, set in 7 acres of gated woodland, and split into apartments. The one question I have for anyone who cares to reply is what are the drawbacks of living in an apartment compared to a house and is leasehold rather than freehold all that bigger deal.
Thanks for the link Vespa it may come in useful one day. Not this time though, as having got over excited I rang the estate agents the following morning to enquire about the apartment with one obvious question being how much is the service charge. When I was given the answer of £3,900 per annum the apartment didn't look quite as appealing. Derby 0 - Villa 3 and surprise, surprise if you play players in their best position and then try to win the game rather than not lose it and have the best attacking talent in the division you are going to be pretty successful. Loving the way Dean Smith is moulding the team and squad and beginning to believe again. Shame we now have a 2 week break until the **** come to a sold out Villa Park. Poker going up and down, more down than up and despite a 11th place finish in last Tuesday's Gold Rush for a £125 return I have seen my bankroll dwindle. Tonight I will be visiting the MTT tables with hopefully a deep run along the way.
Played a bit of poker since last update but not a lot. Have spent a fair bit of time studying cash game strategy through Twitch and You Tube and I will be returning to the 5p/10p tables playing 4 at a time. Plan is to implement what I have learnt and try to become profitable at cash. Would like to put pen to paper on the changes but really not keen on telling people how I have changed how I play. On the countdown to the big game on Sunday and really hoping that John McGinn is fit following his withdrawal from the Scotland squad. He has been one of the best, if not the best, buy we have made in a long time and is already a key member of the team. Plan is to leave home at 7am Sunday, hit Brum about 8.30am, fry up, couple of beers and then watch us retain our crown of 'Pride of Birmingham'. Work is ramping up as Christmas approaches and the people that know best have, as usual, pushed as much stock as they possibly can into the stores. They really do not get what a logistical nightmare this can cause but on the plus side we are now under 40 sleeps until we can all relax again. For the first time in a long time I have a 3 day break at Christmas with the 25th, 26th and 27th off. As a result we have the in laws, and our kids and partners at ours Christmas Day. Toying with going to Swansea - Villa on Boxing Day but it will depend on tickets and whether I really fancy a 500 mile round trip on Boxing Day. Will decide when ticket allocation comes out.
What a game yesterday. The first 30 mins we were awful and if Adams had scored rather than hitting the post the outcome may have been very different. From then on it was all Villa and the icing on the cake, after Grealish had scored the type of goal we all dream of as kids, scoring for the club you have always followed in front of a packed home ground against your fiercest rivals, was the Maradonnaesq goal of his career from 'The Scottish Cafu' Mr Alan Hutton. To say the whole ground was stunned and the subsequent noise was something I haven't experienced for a very long time at Villa Park. You know it means sooo much when the Upper Trinity is in full voice and on their feet for the entire 90 minutes. The key for us is to now follow it up with 3 points against Forest on Wednesday night. The attacking prowess we currently have with the likes of Bolassie coming off the bench means we are going to score goals aplenty and it really is only a matter of not leaking too many to ensure we are in the play offs and hopefully challenging the Top 2. Poker has also been going particularly well of late and I have been sticking to 4 tabling the 5p/10p tables with a fair amount of success. It has really paid dividends to spend a bit of time away from the tables, studying my game, and putting my findings into practice. It also helps when you have a bit of run good. The aim now is to get to £500 by the end of the year so I can start 2019 trying to crack 10p/20p.
Good work on the poker @68Trebor, the fruits of your study are clear to see.
Villa? Well these days I'm just an armchair fan, but I supported Brentford for decades, home & away, & they are still the first result I look for every Saturday. (Or Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri, as, sadly, football takes place 7 days a week now).
I really think Dean Smith, who left Brentford for Villa, is an exceptional Manager at Champo level, & I hope you guys have a great season & get to the promised land of the EPL.
How are the Xmas sales (as in y-o-y revenue) going at work? I sense sales are a little flat this year, as more & more folks leave their shopping later & later. Just a gut feel though, no real evidence to back it up.
Good work on the poker @68Trebor, the fruits of your study are clear to see.
Villa? Well these days I'm just an armchair fan, but I supported Brentford for decades, home & away, & they are still the first result I look for every Saturday. (Or Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri, as, sadly, football takes place 7 days a week now).
I really think Dean Smith, who left Brentford for Villa, is an exceptional Manager at Champo level, & I hope you guys have a great season & get to the promised land of the EPL.
How are the Xmas sales (as in y-o-y revenue) going at work? I sense sales are a little flat this year, as more & more folks leave their shopping later & later. Just a gut feel though, no real evidence to back it up.
How's the new car? And Willow?
The 'good work' on the poker seemed to have come to an end when I lost £56 last night. Its funny, or maybe its one for the conspiracy theorists, but every time I post about turning the corner with my cash game I end up losing a fair old chunk the next visit. Luckily I returned to winning ways tonight posting a profit of £49, so no long term damage to the bankroll. What I love about Dean Smith is that despite a 4-2 win against Blues, and after the 3-0 defeat of Derby he is straight away talking about the opportunities to improve in the way we played. I do think top 2 might be a stretch as we currently sit 9 points off Leeds in second place, with a game in hand, although there is a **** of a long way to go till the end of May. Xmas sales haven't really kicked off yet and I think all across retail there is a real slow down with the impact of Brexit worries, and the overspend from the long hot summer and world cup. This coming weekend will certainly see a pick up as the majority of people get there last wage before Christmas but every year it seems to come later and later and really only peaks for the last 3 or 4 days. The car is wonderful. It gives me real pleasure to drive and is by far the most comfortable, quiet and well built one I have ever owned. For what I paid for it I think I got an absolute bargain as it is fully kitted out and drives like brand new. Not only that it feels so much safer than the BMW as the Quattro system certainly sticks to the untreated country roads I travel on every day far better than the rear wheel drive system. Willow is the joy of my life since the children flew the nest and gives so much pleasure. I really enjoy our time together even when we go walking in the pouring rain. I enjoy walking her that much that I am now toying with the idea of getting up at 5am to take her out for an hour before setting off to work. At the moment 'our lass' takes her out before she sets off but I really like the idea of being out and about at that time in the morning. A sure sign I am getting old if ever there was one. Will be back on the tables Thursday as tomorrow I am taking the wife to the local for a few beers followed by a curry in the local restaurant. What she doesn't realise is that Villa play tomorrow and a quiet word with Neil, landlord of my local, will ensure the game is live on one of the screens he has. Thursday is my day off so a couple too many will do no harm, hopefully celebrating a win rather than drowning my sorrows.
"Xmas sales haven't really kicked off yet and I think all across retail there is a real slow down with the impact of Brexit worries, and the overspend from the long hot summer and world cup. This coming weekend will certainly see a pick up as the majority of people get there last wage before Christmas but every year it seems to come later and later and really only peaks for the last 3 or 4 days."
Back in the days when I had a proper job, pre-retirement, I was involved in Retail for 20 odd years, running a Shopfitting & Property Maintenance business, & spent untold hours in Supermarkets at nights & weekends in that little time-window when they were closed.
It always fascinated me - still does - to see huge great stocks of Xmas products, some of which have sell-by-dates that won't last until the next festive season - in every supermarket.
Must be pretty scary for the Group Buyer &, to a lesser degree, the Regional & Store Manager. As you say, folks leave shopping until the very last day or two now, so those last few days must make or break a Store's targets for the quarter or even year.
Had a nice evening Wednesday, few beers, very nice Chicken Massala with mushroom rice and a ten goal thriller. As I have previously stated we will blow away teams with the amount of goals we are going to score but are in desperate need of another CB and an experienced Keeper. Seen us linked with Tom Heaton which would be ideal and will announce in next couple of days that James Collins has joined us. Warehouse at work is now full of Beer, Tubs and 'Christmas Essentials'. The whole distribution process over Christmas means that large volumes are driven in early of lines that are not going to go out of date and that will see sales peak over the next 4 weeks. The industry belief is that it is easier for stores to get the volumes in earlier and get them on the shop, hence you see the above in numerous stores. Over the next week you will suddenly see pallets of Beer, Crackers, Wrap and Pickles appear everywhere along with shippers galore. Just got to keep thinking 4 weeks from now it will be all over, so that's 20ish more shifts, probably 3 more walk rounds with the Senior Director for West Yorkshire, the last of which will be the traditional Christmas visit where it will be a quick whizz round, a handshake and a Thank You. Then the countdown to skiing begins.
Christmas is done, hurrah!!!! No more wearing of Christmas Jumper to work, no more 12 hour shifts, no more 'where's the White Sauce?' 'You've run out of Baileys!' (haven't really but can't be arsed climbing over 12 pallets of stock to get you a bottle), no more listening to 'Last Christmas', no more brass bands, no more wrapping presents, etc, etc. Looking forward to going in work tomorrow to a resemblance of normality and calm rather than chaos. It will mean that suddenly everything has to be back to normal and we will be allowed **** all colleagues to get it there but it beats the run up to the big day. Christmas itself has been nice with 7 of us at ours for the dinner itself and then a Boxing Day of sale shopping, dog walking, pub and football watching the last 3 being combined. Tomorrow I return to work for a couple of days before I have Sunday off followed by working Monday to Friday and then a full weekend off. Will have to start making an effort to lose a few pounds, currently 14'2" and would like to get nearer 13' and also need to start doing some leg exercises in preparation for the forthcoming ski trip which is now only 8 weeks off and getting ever nearer. Villa continue to entertain but have probably blown any chance of an automatic promotion spot. Having said that we now have a run of six relatively easy fixtures, if there is such a thing in The Championship, and I wouldn't be shocked if we won all six, starting at Preston on Saturday. Do that and we may just put ourselves back in contention but unlikely with the way Leeds and Norwich are going at the moment. Hardly played any poker this month and what I have played has been on STARS with a 2nd in a $11, £2k Bubble Rush for $287 the best finish. Returning to Sky tonight to play 3 events - UKOPS 3, UKOPS 5 and the 7:30pm £1k BH.
Comments
The working out of hands played is anything but scientific. I assume that I play 75 hands per table per hour. I got this figure from a bit of Google research and then just multiply by number of tables and length of session.
Was looking to get more hands in Omaha and at the Spin Ups while trying to track profit/loss in some way.
Not a bad start!
For those of you who have been regular readers you will no doubt be aware of 3 traits I possess. I like to keep records, I am s**t at CASH and I am not very good at sticking to one thing.
Having started afresh on the 10p/20p tables four days ago and got off to a flyer I am now back to where I started. It got me thinking as to why I play poker and I have come to the conclusion it is for 3 things.
1. I enjoy it.
2. I like the idea of making a heap of cash.
3. It passes time and if I'm a break-even player it is the cheapest hobby out there.
With all this in mind I decided to have a look at how I have done on SkyPoker in 2018 so far.
CASH - Played 39,553 hands for a total loss of £777.24.
Online MTT's - Played 309 tournaments for a total win of £56.72.
Live MTT's - Played SPT Manchester for a 3rd place finish and a win of £8,080.00.
Armed with this information it is obvious I should be just playing live MTT's. Although this would give me a wonderful lifestyle it is far from practical. When you look at the 3 reasons for playing poker it is quite clear to me that I should be focusing on MTT's and forgetting cash, particularly when you take into account I actually prefer the thrill and competition of MTT's. I can therefore announce that as of now I will be giving up on cash and be back on Sky playing MTT's.
On the TV front I am currently watching Ozark on Netflix and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Breaking Bad type of show.
Not the most auspicious start to the latest round of MTT's with no cash in 15 MTT's and a loss of £175. With this in mind and the thing of beauty pictured below I have decided to take a much more measured and hopefully strict approach to BRM. The plan is to start with £100 in the account and limit myself to £7.70 and below MTT's. During the past 6 months I have been watching a lot of Twitch and particularly Matt Staples who has managed to spin up a bankroll of $43k starting out playing $2 tournies. He will be my inspiration.
This beauty is the car I am test driving on Tuesday with a view of swopping for my current BMW 320d Tourer. The reasoning being it is younger, has half the mileage, is Quattro so may actually move once the cold weather comes and finally JUST LOOK AT IT! With the investment required to purchase it I have to somehow justify that spend and by stopping depositing (hopefully) on SkyPoker I can justify it.
Good win and start for Dean Smith yesterday and hopefully the beginning of a bright, new era. Norwich and QPR both away this coming week so this should give us a better indication.
Bankroll £100.
So a week in, give or take a day, and its been eventful.
On the poker front I have stuck to my max buy-in of £7.70 except for last night's Mini UKOPS which had a buy in of £11. Managed to qualify through 2 sats for the princely sum of £5.20 to the UKOPS £15k BH. Thought I played pretty well, got 1 Bounty, and finished in 37th out of 170. Would appreciate any feedback from any of the forum regulars I bumped into on the tables. Apart from that I have had little success despite I believe playing some pretty decent poker. At the moment I am not winning the crucial flips and also seem to be losing the 60/40's. Tonight I will be breaking my £7.70 rule to take in the £5k Mini Rebuy UKOPS. I will also be trying to qualify for a couple of other UKOPS events through the Sats.
On the betting front I currently have a fourfold coming in Watford, Norwich, Sunderland and Newport. We are now in dreaded should I 'Cash Out' territory. Should of cashed out, thank you Morecambe, NOT!
Entered a competition run by a friend. Basically its £20 to enter and every week you choose 1 team to win, can't choose the same team twice, and the last man standing wins the pot, £3680 for the winner. Chosen Liverpool this week.
Villa were sooooo unlucky last night and deserved at least a point. On the plus you can see that Deano is already having an effect and it is only a matter of time before results start improving. Even with our poor start we are only 6 points off the play offs and a string of 5 wins, which with our squad we are more than capable of, would put us back up there.
The Audi A5 has been secured and I pick it up next Thursday. Having test driven it I have to say it is the quietest and most refined and comfortable car I have had the pleasure of owning. A piece of advice for anyone buying a used car from a main dealer. Twice in the last month I have looked at cars and not been happy with the valuation on my part ex. On both occasions I walked out and on both occasions I received a phone call within 24hrs with a better offer. With the case of the Audi A5 I got an extra £600 just through being aware of my car's value and sticking to my guns.
Off work for a week and got an action packed week. Today I have given the garden it's pre winter once over, although when I drew the curtains and saw it snowing this was in doubt. Tomorrow is carpet cleaning day, exciting I know. Monday to Thursday in Exmouth, Devon visiting my father and then pick the new car up. Friday off to Mother in Laws in Blackburn to pick up a new 3 piece suite. Saturday is a trip to Newcastle to spend the day with my daughter.
Bankroll £94.20
So the end of my week off is nigh and it is back to the grindstone tomorrow with the start of the run up to Christmas. The week has been good and the few days in Exmouth were lovely as you can see below. Willow absolutely loved the beach and spent her time chasing seagulls, other dogs and mulling over why sea water doesn't taste the same.
Got the Audi A5 and what a car. I think I have got an absolute bargain and have to say it is the best car I have ever owned. So quiet and refined. Thought it might be hard to top BMW but have to say this does it.
Villa had a decent win on Friday night and now we are looking up again. Secured tickets in the Upper Trinity stand for the Second City Derby on Sunday 25th November. A proper derby if there ever was one and probably the most hate filled one in England, although I am sure a few would disagree. Can't think of one off top of my head.
Getting towards the end of the 2nd series of Ozark and as previously said it is excellent and if anything gets better and better the more you watch it.
On the poker front I haven't managed many deep runs on Sky and have kept getting enticed into the £22 UKOPS. Last night I managed a couple of deep runs on Party and as a result have withdrawn £250 from there this morning. I have re-invested some on to Sky so my BR stands at £130 as of start of play today. Playing 5 MTT's tonight including a couple of £11 buy-ins and also the £22 UKOPS at 7pm.
Although not desperate to move I do like to look at houses and I am a keen observer of Rightmove. What would appear to be the ideal property for me and the good lady to spend the rest of our lives in has appeared on the market. It is an old school, set in 7 acres of gated woodland, and split into apartments. The one question I have for anyone who cares to reply is what are the drawbacks of living in an apartment compared to a house and is leasehold rather than freehold all that bigger deal.
Bankroll £130.
Thanks for the link Vespa it may come in useful one day. Not this time though, as having got over excited I rang the estate agents the following morning to enquire about the apartment with one obvious question being how much is the service charge. When I was given the answer of £3,900 per annum the apartment didn't look quite as appealing.
Derby 0 - Villa 3 and surprise, surprise if you play players in their best position and then try to win the game rather than not lose it and have the best attacking talent in the division you are going to be pretty successful. Loving the way Dean Smith is moulding the team and squad and beginning to believe again. Shame we now have a 2 week break until the **** come to a sold out Villa Park.
Poker going up and down, more down than up and despite a 11th place finish in last Tuesday's Gold Rush for a £125 return I have seen my bankroll dwindle. Tonight I will be visiting the MTT tables with hopefully a deep run along the way.
Bankroll £77.94
Played a bit of poker since last update but not a lot. Have spent a fair bit of time studying cash game strategy through Twitch and You Tube and I will be returning to the 5p/10p tables playing 4 at a time. Plan is to implement what I have learnt and try to become profitable at cash. Would like to put pen to paper on the changes but really not keen on telling people how I have changed how I play.
On the countdown to the big game on Sunday and really hoping that John McGinn is fit following his withdrawal from the Scotland squad. He has been one of the best, if not the best, buy we have made in a long time and is already a key member of the team. Plan is to leave home at 7am Sunday, hit Brum about 8.30am, fry up, couple of beers and then watch us retain our crown of 'Pride of Birmingham'.
Work is ramping up as Christmas approaches and the people that know best have, as usual, pushed as much stock as they possibly can into the stores. They really do not get what a logistical nightmare this can cause but on the plus side we are now under 40 sleeps until we can all relax again. For the first time in a long time I have a 3 day break at Christmas with the 25th, 26th and 27th off. As a result we have the in laws, and our kids and partners at ours Christmas Day. Toying with going to Swansea - Villa on Boxing Day but it will depend on tickets and whether I really fancy a 500 mile round trip on Boxing Day. Will decide when ticket allocation comes out.
Bankroll £111.74
What a game yesterday. The first 30 mins we were awful and if Adams had scored rather than hitting the post the outcome may have been very different. From then on it was all Villa and the icing on the cake, after Grealish had scored the type of goal we all dream of as kids, scoring for the club you have always followed in front of a packed home ground against your fiercest rivals, was the Maradonnaesq goal of his career from 'The Scottish Cafu' Mr Alan Hutton. To say the whole ground was stunned and the subsequent noise was something I haven't experienced for a very long time at Villa Park. You know it means sooo much when the Upper Trinity is in full voice and on their feet for the entire 90 minutes. The key for us is to now follow it up with 3 points against Forest on Wednesday night. The attacking prowess we currently have with the likes of Bolassie coming off the bench means we are going to score goals aplenty and it really is only a matter of not leaking too many to ensure we are in the play offs and hopefully challenging the Top 2.
Poker has also been going particularly well of late and I have been sticking to 4 tabling the 5p/10p tables with a fair amount of success. It has really paid dividends to spend a bit of time away from the tables, studying my game, and putting my findings into practice. It also helps when you have a bit of run good. The aim now is to get to £500 by the end of the year so I can start 2019 trying to crack 10p/20p.
Bankroll £208.78.
Good work on the poker @68Trebor, the fruits of your study are clear to see.
Villa? Well these days I'm just an armchair fan, but I supported Brentford for decades, home & away, & they are still the first result I look for every Saturday. (Or Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri, as, sadly, football takes place 7 days a week now).
I really think Dean Smith, who left Brentford for Villa, is an exceptional Manager at Champo level, & I hope you guys have a great season & get to the promised land of the EPL.
How are the Xmas sales (as in y-o-y revenue) going at work? I sense sales are a little flat this year, as more & more folks leave their shopping later & later. Just a gut feel though, no real evidence to back it up.
How's the new car? And Willow?
What I love about Dean Smith is that despite a 4-2 win against Blues, and after the 3-0 defeat of Derby he is straight away talking about the opportunities to improve in the way we played. I do think top 2 might be a stretch as we currently sit 9 points off Leeds in second place, with a game in hand, although there is a **** of a long way to go till the end of May.
Xmas sales haven't really kicked off yet and I think all across retail there is a real slow down with the impact of Brexit worries, and the overspend from the long hot summer and world cup. This coming weekend will certainly see a pick up as the majority of people get there last wage before Christmas but every year it seems to come later and later and really only peaks for the last 3 or 4 days.
The car is wonderful. It gives me real pleasure to drive and is by far the most comfortable, quiet and well built one I have ever owned. For what I paid for it I think I got an absolute bargain as it is fully kitted out and drives like brand new. Not only that it feels so much safer than the BMW as the Quattro system certainly sticks to the untreated country roads I travel on every day far better than the rear wheel drive system.
Willow is the joy of my life since the children flew the nest and gives so much pleasure. I really enjoy our time together even when we go walking in the pouring rain. I enjoy walking her that much that I am now toying with the idea of getting up at 5am to take her out for an hour before setting off to work. At the moment 'our lass' takes her out before she sets off but I really like the idea of being out and about at that time in the morning. A sure sign I am getting old if ever there was one.
Will be back on the tables Thursday as tomorrow I am taking the wife to the local for a few beers followed by a curry in the local restaurant. What she doesn't realise is that Villa play tomorrow and a quiet word with Neil, landlord of my local, will ensure the game is live on one of the screens he has. Thursday is my day off so a couple too many will do no harm, hopefully celebrating a win rather than drowning my sorrows.
Bankroll £201.82.
Aston Villa 5, Nottingham Forest 5
Last night was one of those games folks remember for the rest of their life, & say stuff like...
"I was there"
Proper game that.
"Xmas sales haven't really kicked off yet and I think all across retail there is a real slow down with the impact of Brexit worries, and the overspend from the long hot summer and world cup. This coming weekend will certainly see a pick up as the majority of people get there last wage before Christmas but every year it seems to come later and later and really only peaks for the last 3 or 4 days."
Back in the days when I had a proper job, pre-retirement, I was involved in Retail for 20 odd years, running a Shopfitting & Property Maintenance business, & spent untold hours in Supermarkets at nights & weekends in that little time-window when they were closed.
It always fascinated me - still does - to see huge great stocks of Xmas products, some of which have sell-by-dates that won't last until the next festive season - in every supermarket.
Must be pretty scary for the Group Buyer &, to a lesser degree, the Regional & Store Manager. As you say, folks leave shopping until the very last day or two now, so those last few days must make or break a Store's targets for the quarter or even year.
Warehouse at work is now full of Beer, Tubs and 'Christmas Essentials'. The whole distribution process over Christmas means that large volumes are driven in early of lines that are not going to go out of date and that will see sales peak over the next 4 weeks. The industry belief is that it is easier for stores to get the volumes in earlier and get them on the shop, hence you see the above in numerous stores. Over the next week you will suddenly see pallets of Beer, Crackers, Wrap and Pickles appear everywhere along with shippers galore. Just got to keep thinking 4 weeks from now it will be all over, so that's 20ish more shifts, probably 3 more walk rounds with the Senior Director for West Yorkshire, the last of which will be the traditional Christmas visit where it will be a quick whizz round, a handshake and a Thank You. Then the countdown to skiing begins.
Bankroll £201.82.
Christmas is done, hurrah!!!!
No more wearing of Christmas Jumper to work, no more 12 hour shifts, no more 'where's the White Sauce?' 'You've run out of Baileys!' (haven't really but can't be arsed climbing over 12 pallets of stock to get you a bottle), no more listening to 'Last Christmas', no more brass bands, no more wrapping presents, etc, etc.
Looking forward to going in work tomorrow to a resemblance of normality and calm rather than chaos. It will mean that suddenly everything has to be back to normal and we will be allowed **** all colleagues to get it there but it beats the run up to the big day.
Christmas itself has been nice with 7 of us at ours for the dinner itself and then a Boxing Day of sale shopping, dog walking, pub and football watching the last 3 being combined. Tomorrow I return to work for a couple of days before I have Sunday off followed by working Monday to Friday and then a full weekend off. Will have to start making an effort to lose a few pounds, currently 14'2" and would like to get nearer 13' and also need to start doing some leg exercises in preparation for the forthcoming ski trip which is now only 8 weeks off and getting ever nearer.
Villa continue to entertain but have probably blown any chance of an automatic promotion spot. Having said that we now have a run of six relatively easy fixtures, if there is such a thing in The Championship, and I wouldn't be shocked if we won all six, starting at Preston on Saturday. Do that and we may just put ourselves back in contention but unlikely with the way Leeds and Norwich are going at the moment.
Hardly played any poker this month and what I have played has been on STARS with a 2nd in a $11, £2k Bubble Rush for $287 the best finish. Returning to Sky tonight to play 3 events - UKOPS 3, UKOPS 5 and the 7:30pm £1k BH.