@Phantom - Haha, yes mate, very accurate depiction!
@The train/cement Bloke - Amazing how Sofia could understand me perfectly well and English isn't her first language ;-) And at least I didn't try to nick John Hesp's jacket!!!!
Well for once I don't have much to do so I thought I would spam a bit on here and make full use of the new tools available after the forum upgrade.
A couple of things I have noticed with the new forum which may be problematic in the future are...
It is not possible to edit thread titles.
It is not possible to edit opening posts which means I currently cannot add anyone to the 'opted in' list in the league thread.
Not a huge problem and it is great being able to post pics and videos.
Oh yeah, it would be nice if copy/pasting tables was a bit easier. Not sure if this problem has been sorted as I have just been converting my tables to images for the league thread.
Anyways, some spam incoming (nope that wasn't the 'spam', that was just the 'pre-spam')...
As mentioned, I have some time on my hands for a change. My other half is away on a 'girls weekend' somewhere near the Scottish borders.
So it is just me and my 2 crazy dogs.
I fired open one of the PLO8 bounty hunters last night and was joined by one of the aforementioned woofies. He lost interest quite quickly as you can see...
Anyways, that game went **** and I decided to call it a night with regards to the pokering. I was tempted to play a few UKOPS games but, after I donked the 'total player' title last time I wanted to give others a crack at it, I didn't realise I would have some time on my hands and did not prepare my bankroll for a proper bash at the UKOPS stuff.
So I decided I would open a bottle of rum and listen to some tunes. Then I considered having a hangover today and dropped the rum idea. So some tunes it was.
I listened to some random garbage but came across one cover which I thought was pretty **** brilliant! It was a cover of Chris Stapleton's Tenessee Whisky. Unbeknowned to the singer, Kris Jones, his daughter filmed him singing in the car. Apparently it went down a storm and he appeared on The Ellen Show etc. Watched a few of his other covers and while they were good I just think this song was perfect for him. Will he make it in the music industry? No idea but I thoroughly enjoyed this song anyway and it isn't the genre of music that usually floats my boat.
So today with no hangover (definitely a +EV decision I made on that one last night). I got the dogs out a walk nice and early so I could come back and chill out watching some footy.
Said walk with the pooches who drive me utterly mad although I could not imagine not having them...
So everything done nice and early and now just going to chill watching the rest of the Hearts v Rangers game. Was sad to see the Rangers manager CachingaCashinkaBazinga Caixinha (thanks Google) was sacked. I am not a Rangers fan or a Caixinha fan, it was just comedy gold watching Rangers 'perform' under his 'leadership'.
Might play a little tonight, not sure, but will probably leave the UKOPS stuff until I am better prepared. With the job stuff sorted (pre-employment checks all done, just waiting on my line manager contacting me) I just have to be patient and hopefully the rest of the jigsaw puzzle will fall into place and allow me to get my poker grind on like it was 2009.
Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for reading!
Feeling a little reflective at the moment and have 5 or 10 minutes spare so have decided to plaster some waffle on here.
Developments on the poker front could probably be typed up on the back of a postage stamp. It has been a challenge finding time to have the odd foray onto the felt.
I did somehow squeeze an almost full week of nightly £5.50 PLO8 BHs in a few weeks ago and snagged the weekly prize for winning the league. Also managed to rack up $500+ playing $3 hyper turbos over a few evenings elsewhere. Apart from that I have had a few rare shots at UKOPS MTTs. However these 'shots' were about as well targeted as the old Iraqi Scud missiles.
Developments on the real life front have been quite insane/overwhelming, hence the lack of time for poker.
I had mentioned on here that I got the college lecturing job. Well I am almost a month into the new job now.
I was positively terrified on my first day. I mean what if I am cr4p? What if I let down those that have placed their trust in me? What if the students do not understand my Norwegianish jibberish? What if they hate me? What if I screw up their education?
I had to visit Youtube and watch some self-help videos to calm my nerves ahead of the first day. These actually worked a treat! I was still terrified but at least I could muster the courage to go and try and make things happen. Anyways, the 1st day went very well, the students apparently gave excellent feedback about me to the other lecturers. By the time I got home that evening I had an email asking me to come in 2 days a week instead of 1.
I turned up for my 2nd day and realised I had been given a relatively tranquil bunch of students on my first day. This new group were much more 'challenging'. On top of that, the 'Smartboard' was broken so I had no access to all of the materials I had prepared and had to 'wing it'. However, it went okay all things considered.
Over the next few weeks I feel I have made great progress which culminated in the 'challenging' group of students giving me an impromptu round of applause today. This means more to me than they will ever realise. It reaffirms that I must be connecting with them in some way which is the bulk of what I care about. If I didn't feel I could do a good job for the students then I just would not do it.
I guess things must be going well as from January I have been moved to 5 days a week. This obviously means that finding time to visit the felt is only going to get even more challenging. It does also mean that the finances will improve so visits to Vegas and real shots at a decent number of WSOP events each year will become more and more likely.
I know many people could not give a 4X about any of this but I have not waffled here much lately and as I am feeling reflective with the holiday season approaching this seemed as good a place as any to jot down my thoughts and take stock. So many of you have also been amazing in offering me support lately so thanks for that!
Hope things are going well with you all and the tables and life are treating you well.
Also, as I will only be updating this once in a while... I hope you all have a great time over the holidays.
Maybe see you on the felt if I can find a little free time over the holidays.
Hey Mark, Fantastic stuff, well done. Of course people are interested, you have a lot of friends here, also, it is great to read some positive news. It is a marvelous thing if you can find a job that you are good at, enjoy, and get satisfaction from. Not everyone will be that lucky, but, you worked **** hard for this , so, enjoy the fruits of your labour and have a fantastic festive season. Hope to see you at the next SPT if time allows. Nick
Good stuff marky and to think only a couple a months ago how frustrated you were in the job front so glad everything changed for the better. Hope you and your family enjoy the xmas holiday's and have a very good 2018.
So pleased for you. Shows what hard work, dedication and natural ability can do when put together. Great that you are making a difference to young people's lives.
Well deserved and good luck at the tables when you get a chance.
Fabulous diary update, Marky, and it was no surprise to me that you have made a success of the job already. It's not long ago you were getting a bit frustrated with the oh so painful task of job hunting. The fact you succeeded is no surprise to any of us.
Excuse the derail, but one of my 2017 poker highlights was having you partner me in doing the Live Updates from Vegas. It was such a pleasure to see your energy, effort and enthusiasm. You were like a kid in a sweet shop, a thorough delight to see. Eased my load too. Thank you.
"Hey Mark, Fantastic stuff, well done. Of course people are interested, you have a lot of friends here, also, it is great to read some positive news. It is a marvelous thing if you can find a job that you are good at, enjoy, and get satisfaction from. Not everyone will be that lucky, but, you worked **** hard for this , so, enjoy the fruits of your labour and have a fantastic festive season. Hope to see you at the next SPT if time allows. Nick"
Thanks Nic! Yes, so many of you have been supportive which really does help so much. The journey through life can be a challenging one at times and it is amazing how much difference a few words of encouragement can make.
I would say that if there is another SPT (and it is a touch closer than Brighton) I will 99.9% be attending and it would be lovely to catch up with you.
@safc71 - "Good stuff marky and to think only a couple a months ago how frustrated you were in the job front so glad everything changed for the better. Hope you and your family enjoy the xmas holiday's and have a very good 2018."
Cheers mate, the same to yourself and your family. Also cheers for helping out at times over the year with the league thread when I have been AWOL.
Yes, I really could not have hoped for things to turn around so quickly. Even had a call from an employer on Friday offering me a job I had applied for months ago. I am so lucky that I never got any of the lower paid and less rewarding jobs I applied for months ago. If I had been offered a job back then paying 30% less than my current one I would have accepted it in a heartbeat and would not have got the one I wanted in the end. I am very fortunate the way things have turned out!
So pleased for you. Shows what hard work, dedication and natural ability can do when put together. Great that you are making a difference to young people's lives.
Well deserved and good luck at the tables when you get a chance.
Donald"
Thanks Donald,
I really am grateful for the chance to nudge people in a better direction via the new job. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to try and do for others what some my old lecturers done for me. I was at such a crossroads when I went back to education after a 20 year gap and if it had not been for my ex lecturers I would have went down a very different path. I just hope I am up to the job and can do the same for others.
Hope to see you on the tables soon Donald!
@MynaFrett - "Wow! Made my night stumbling upon this (quite literally made my night as I had to go back to page 1 and read the lot... obviously )
I am oft prone to hyperbole, but to describe your diary here as inspirational, is nothing of the sort.
Thank you for posting this and merry Christmas.
ps. Jonny Chan... what a flippin' luckbox!"
Jeez that must have taken a while lol. Thanks for your kind words!
Regarding Chan, yeah I can still remember that so vividly. The odds of him escaping both hands must have been pretty big. To be fair though I don't think he is a plopper. If I remember correctly all his bracelets are in NLHE. I am sure if I had met him on the NLHE tables it would have been much tougher.
"Fabulous diary update, Marky, and it was no surprise to me that you have made a success of the job already. It's not long ago you were getting a bit frustrated with the oh so painful task of job hunting. The fact you succeeded is no surprise to any of us.
Excuse the derail, but one of my 2017 poker highlights was having you partner me in doing the Live Updates from Vegas. It was such a pleasure to see your energy, effort and enthusiasm. You were like a kid in a sweet shop, a thorough delight to see. Eased my load too. Thank you."
I could never begin to thank you enough mate. I really was like a kid in a sweet shop, enjoyed the experience so much and will never forget it. You kept worrying about me having time to do Vegas stuff and hit the cash tables when in reality I could not have been much more content. I got a new perspective on poker and the chance to hear just a sample of the stories from your life and your experiences in poker. It really was a privilege. If you ever wrote a book I would be at the front of the queue for a copy.
I will also never forget the feeling I had when I woke up about 2 hours after I was supposed to meet you on the first night. Thankfully I was able to remedy the situation with some hot beverages from Starbucks
Great to read about your success in the job front with your determination and hard work it was never in doubt and your dogs are crackers gl to you and yours
Great to see things going well Mark. There was a pretty big life 'rail' going on when you were getting knock backs on the job front and glad to see you got your just rewards in the end.
Love the dogs, is one a german sherpherd cross collie? They look like a real bundle of fun.
Great to read about your success in the job front with your determination and hard work it was never in doubt and your dogs are crackers gl to you and yours
Cheers Harry, hope all is well with you mate. All the best to you and yours! Sounds like you have had an eventful time over the last few days days too judging by FB
Great to see things going well Mark. There was a pretty big life 'rail' going on when you were getting knock backs on the job front and glad to see you got your just rewards in the end.
Love the dogs, is one a german sherpherd cross collie? They look like a real bundle of fun.
Cheers Paul!
The 'collie' you speak of was presented to us as a 14 week old 'tri-colour collie'. I have my doubts though and think, as you mention, that there is a bit of German Shepherd in him.
'Bundle of fun' - Ha, that is one phrase to describe them. I do use quite a few other, less flattering ones, on a daily basis to describe them They are great dogs they just have rather a lot more energy then I do lol.
Really pleased that things worked out for you on the job front Mark, hard work rewarded and couldn't happen to a nicer guy, great updates, great thread. Hope you and your loved ones have a happy,healthy Xmas and new year.
The fact you care so much and prepare like you do means you will always do well in the job.
I am sure you will have lots of great moments many years into the future when you see former students doing well knowing that you positively effected their lives.
Comments
@Phantom - Haha, yes mate, very accurate depiction!
@The train/cement Bloke - Amazing how Sofia could understand me perfectly well and English isn't her first language ;-) And at least I didn't try to nick John Hesp's jacket!!!!
A couple of things I have noticed with the new forum which may be problematic in the future are...
- It is not possible to edit thread titles.
- It is not possible to edit opening posts which means I currently cannot add anyone to the 'opted in' list in the league thread.
Not a huge problem and it is great being able to post pics and videos.Oh yeah, it would be nice if copy/pasting tables was a bit easier. Not sure if this problem has been sorted as I have just been converting my tables to images for the league thread.
Anyways, some spam incoming (nope that wasn't the 'spam', that was just the 'pre-spam')...
So it is just me and my 2 crazy dogs.
I fired open one of the PLO8 bounty hunters last night and was joined by one of the aforementioned woofies. He lost interest quite quickly as you can see...
Anyways, that game went **** and I decided to call it a night with regards to the pokering. I was tempted to play a few UKOPS games but,
after I donked the 'total player' title last time I wanted to give others a crack at it, I didn't realise I would have some time on my hands and did not prepare my bankroll for a proper bash at the UKOPS stuff.So I decided I would open a bottle of rum and listen to some tunes. Then I considered having a hangover today and dropped the rum idea. So some tunes it was.
I listened to some random garbage but came across one cover which I thought was pretty **** brilliant! It was a cover of Chris Stapleton's Tenessee Whisky. Unbeknowned to the singer, Kris Jones, his daughter filmed him singing in the car. Apparently it went down a storm and he appeared on The Ellen Show etc. Watched a few of his other covers and while they were good I just think this song was perfect for him. Will he make it in the music industry? No idea but I thoroughly enjoyed this song anyway and it isn't the genre of music that usually floats my boat.
More spam incoming...
Said walk with the pooches who drive me utterly mad although I could not imagine not having them...
So everything done nice and early and now just going to chill watching the rest of the Hearts v Rangers game. Was sad to see the Rangers manager
CachingaCashinkaBazingaCaixinha (thanks Google) was sacked. I am not a Rangers fan or a Caixinha fan, it was just comedy gold watching Rangers 'perform' under his 'leadership'.Might play a little tonight, not sure, but will probably leave the UKOPS stuff until I am better prepared. With the job stuff sorted (pre-employment checks all done, just waiting on my line manager contacting me) I just have to be patient and hopefully the rest of the jigsaw puzzle will fall into place and allow me to get my poker grind on like it was 2009.
Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for reading!
Developments on the poker front could probably be typed up on the back of a postage stamp. It has been a challenge finding time to have the odd foray onto the felt.
I did somehow squeeze an almost full week of nightly £5.50 PLO8 BHs in a few weeks ago and snagged the weekly prize for winning the league. Also managed to rack up $500+ playing $3 hyper turbos over a few evenings elsewhere. Apart from that I have had a few rare shots at UKOPS MTTs. However these 'shots' were about as well targeted as the old Iraqi Scud missiles.
Developments on the real life front have been quite insane/overwhelming, hence the lack of time for poker.
I had mentioned on here that I got the college lecturing job. Well I am almost a month into the new job now.
I was positively terrified on my first day. I mean what if I am cr4p? What if I let down those that have placed their trust in me? What if the students do not understand my Norwegianish jibberish? What if they hate me? What if I screw up their education?
I had to visit Youtube and watch some self-help videos to calm my nerves ahead of the first day. These actually worked a treat! I was still terrified but at least I could muster the courage to go and try and make things happen. Anyways, the 1st day went very well, the students apparently gave excellent feedback about me to the other lecturers. By the time I got home that evening I had an email asking me to come in 2 days a week instead of 1.
I turned up for my 2nd day and realised I had been given a relatively tranquil bunch of students on my first day. This new group were much more 'challenging'. On top of that, the 'Smartboard' was broken so I had no access to all of the materials I had prepared and had to 'wing it'. However, it went okay all things considered.
Over the next few weeks I feel I have made great progress which culminated in the 'challenging' group of students giving me an impromptu round of applause today. This means more to me than they will ever realise. It reaffirms that I must be connecting with them in some way which is the bulk of what I care about. If I didn't feel I could do a good job for the students then I just would not do it.
I guess things must be going well as from January I have been moved to 5 days a week. This obviously means that finding time to visit the felt is only going to get even more challenging. It does also mean that the finances will improve so visits to Vegas and real shots at a decent number of WSOP events each year will become more and more likely.
I know many people could not give a 4X about any of this but I have not waffled here much lately and as I am feeling reflective with the holiday season approaching this seemed as good a place as any to jot down my thoughts and take stock. So many of you have also been amazing in offering me support lately so thanks for that!
Hope things are going well with you all and the tables and life are treating you well.
Also, as I will only be updating this once in a while... I hope you all have a great time over the holidays.
Maybe see you on the felt if I can find a little free time over the holidays.
Fantastic stuff, well done. Of course people are interested, you have a lot of friends here, also, it is great to read some positive news.
It is a marvelous thing if you can find a job that you are good at, enjoy, and get satisfaction from. Not everyone will be that lucky, but, you worked **** hard for this , so, enjoy the fruits of your labour and have a fantastic festive season.
Hope to see you at the next SPT if time allows.
Nick
Hope you and your family enjoy the xmas holiday's and have a very good 2018.
So pleased for you. Shows what hard work, dedication and natural ability can do when put together. Great that you are making a difference to young people's lives.
Well deserved and good luck at the tables when you get a chance.
Donald
I am oft prone to hyperbole, but to describe your diary here as inspirational, is nothing of the sort.
Thank you for posting this and merry Christmas.
ps. Jonny Chan... what a flippin' luckbox!
Fabulous diary update, Marky, and it was no surprise to me that you have made a success of the job already. It's not long ago you were getting a bit frustrated with the oh so painful task of job hunting. The fact you succeeded is no surprise to any of us.
Excuse the derail, but one of my 2017 poker highlights was having you partner me in doing the Live Updates from Vegas. It was such a pleasure to see your energy, effort and enthusiasm. You were like a kid in a sweet shop, a thorough delight to see. Eased my load too. Thank you.
Trying to arrange Christmas related stuff in my 'time off' today so have not had much time to reply. Will definitely reply to these tomorrow.
"Hey Mark,
Fantastic stuff, well done. Of course people are interested, you have a lot of friends here, also, it is great to read some positive news.
It is a marvelous thing if you can find a job that you are good at, enjoy, and get satisfaction from. Not everyone will be that lucky, but, you worked **** hard for this , so, enjoy the fruits of your labour and have a fantastic festive season.
Hope to see you at the next SPT if time allows.
Nick"
Thanks Nic! Yes, so many of you have been supportive which really does help so much. The journey through life can be a challenging one at times and it is amazing how much difference a few words of encouragement can make.
I would say that if there is another SPT (and it is a touch closer than Brighton) I will 99.9% be attending and it would be lovely to catch up with you.
@safc71 - "Good stuff marky and to think only a couple a months ago how frustrated you were in the job front so glad everything changed for the better.
Hope you and your family enjoy the xmas holiday's and have a very good 2018."
Cheers mate, the same to yourself and your family. Also cheers for helping out at times over the year with the league thread when I have been AWOL.
Yes, I really could not have hoped for things to turn around so quickly. Even had a call from an employer on Friday offering me a job I had applied for months ago. I am so lucky that I never got any of the lower paid and less rewarding jobs I applied for months ago. If I had been offered a job back then paying 30% less than my current one I would have accepted it in a heartbeat and would not have got the one I wanted in the end. I am very fortunate the way things have turned out!
@thisltedu -
"Hi Mark,
So pleased for you. Shows what hard work, dedication and natural ability can do when put together. Great that you are making a difference to young people's lives.
Well deserved and good luck at the tables when you get a chance.
Donald"
Thanks Donald,
I really am grateful for the chance to nudge people in a better direction via the new job. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to try and do for others what some my old lecturers done for me. I was at such a crossroads when I went back to education after a 20 year gap and if it had not been for my ex lecturers I would have went down a very different path. I just hope I am up to the job and can do the same for others.
Hope to see you on the tables soon Donald!
@MynaFrett -
"Wow! Made my night stumbling upon this (quite literally made my night as I had to go back to page 1 and read the lot... obviously
I am oft prone to hyperbole, but to describe your diary here as inspirational, is nothing of the sort.
Thank you for posting this and merry Christmas.
ps. Jonny Chan... what a flippin' luckbox!"
Jeez that must have taken a while lol. Thanks for your kind words!
Regarding Chan, yeah I can still remember that so vividly. The odds of him escaping both hands must have been pretty big. To be fair though I don't think he is a plopper. If I remember correctly all his bracelets are in NLHE. I am sure if I had met him on the NLHE tables it would have been much tougher.
@Tikay10 -
"Fabulous diary update, Marky, and it was no surprise to me that you have made a success of the job already. It's not long ago you were getting a bit frustrated with the oh so painful task of job hunting. The fact you succeeded is no surprise to any of us.
Excuse the derail, but one of my 2017 poker highlights was having you partner me in doing the Live Updates from Vegas. It was such a pleasure to see your energy, effort and enthusiasm. You were like a kid in a sweet shop, a thorough delight to see. Eased my load too. Thank you."
I could never begin to thank you enough mate. I really was like a kid in a sweet shop, enjoyed the experience so much and will never forget it. You kept worrying about me having time to do Vegas stuff and hit the cash tables when in reality I could not have been much more content. I got a new perspective on poker and the chance to hear just a sample of the stories from your life and your experiences in poker. It really was a privilege. If you ever wrote a book I would be at the front of the queue for a copy.
I will also never forget the feeling I had when I woke up about 2 hours after I was supposed to meet you on the first night. Thankfully I was able to remedy the situation with some hot beverages from Starbucks
Love the dogs, is one a german sherpherd cross collie? They look like a real bundle of fun.
The 'collie' you speak of was presented to us as a 14 week old 'tri-colour collie'. I have my doubts though and think, as you mention, that there is a bit of German Shepherd in him.
'Bundle of fun' - Ha, that is one phrase to describe them. I do use quite a few other, less flattering ones, on a daily basis to describe them
Hope you and your loved ones have a happy,healthy Xmas and new year.
Bump for Lord GoOn&On&On.
You gonna try & quit the ciggies then @markycash ?
https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/community/forums#/discussion/172793/fat-club-lets-lose-weight-quit-smoking-be-more-healthy-in-2018
I am sure you will have lots of great moments many years into the future when you see former students doing well knowing that you positively effected their lives.
Best of luck for 2018 mate.