Question Week: DataMn
1. when was the last time you screamed out loud out in fear and what was it all about?
2. what was the last apology you had to make, who to and what for?
3. do you have any pets?
4. what kind of Data do you have on Buzzzard's poker game that we can all exploit?
5. make believe time. Finish this sentence as it would apply to you- "I am playing Phil Hellmuth heads up next week and I expect......."
2. what was the last apology you had to make, who to and what for?
3. do you have any pets?
4. what kind of Data do you have on Buzzzard's poker game that we can all exploit?
5. make believe time. Finish this sentence as it would apply to you- "I am playing Phil Hellmuth heads up next week and I expect......."
Comments
More importantly, have you got the catcher's mitt oiled up in preparation for baby-time?
What prompted the move towards learning how to be a Tournament Director?
1. Not much of a screamer, but I would say that I am a little too easily scared. I usually jump instead of scream though. When my wife and I went to Disneyland 2 years ago we saw some of the 3-D movies that they had there, and in one of them a saw blade comes right at your head - I jumped huge and smacked my wife in the head. She still refuses to see any 3D movies with me.
2. Most all of the time nowadays it's to my wife. Had to apologize last night that she was too hot from carrying our future babies around ;-).
3. 4 Cats. We each had 2 when we got married. I has died since but I got my wife a kitten 3 years ago to hold off children. That only lasted a short while.
Names are Mulligan (It was my second cat. The first one was named Scrabble)
Allie (My wife likes the "ie" sound, and thought it was funny (Allie Cat))
Sadie
Oliver (Don't ask me where that name came from)
(To ward off the future joke... Yes, when the babies come (2 girls) I will be surrounded by pussy of one kind or another!!)
4. You definitely want to start at table 1 so that you can grab all of Buzzzard's chips before he donks them off to someone else.
5. Him to go off and me not to care. The thing that I hate about Hellmuth is that he berates people for playing hands that he would have no problem playing himself - but I would definitely let it bother him more than it bothers me. I think that he thinks that his rants are a beneficial tool for him, but I actually think the opposite - especially since it has become such a joke to the poker players. But, then again, his rants have got him way more attention then he deserves and have made him a rich man selling books, DVDs, etc.
1) EZ Game - Booze. I've never been much of a drinker. I can probably count the times I have been drunk on one hand. I will have a beer now and then, or a glass of wine at dinner with friends/family, but it would be the easiest one to give up.
2) In some ways I wish, but with twins they have already told us that we will automatically be in the operating room, just in case they have to do any adjusting or an emergency C section. I will be at Jenna's head to comfort her and otherwise keep out of the way. If the babies are healthy enough to stay then I will get to be the second to hold them, and I have been told that taking pictures is my responsibility.
The one thing that I am not allowed to do it take a long book... my father still tells the story about reading the novel "Hotel" from cover to cover when I was born, even when he was holding my mother's hand to "comfort" her. (How he survived I will never know)
3) Running tournaments and doing them well is actually what I like to do when I can. I have enjoyed doing it since Grade 11 Phys Ed when the teacher had us do tournament plannning in class.
My true start at directing came in a game called "Magic: The Gathering". I judged the game for a number of years, getting to be the 2nd highest ranked judge in Ontario. I worked a couple of pro tour events, but I was never going to have the time off or the resources to travel as much as it was going to take to rise any more. I got sick of playing the game after a while so Magic faded away.
How I got into directing... Well, it was after I went to a couple of Magic events and said to myself "The coordinating here sucks. I could do better myself." Wanting to see better events run, I decided to volunteer and worked my way up so that in a couple of years I was doing the on-day coordination of the largest events.
I have been a Scrabble tournament director for about 8 years now. My respect as a director there has risen to the point where I am usually asked to be one of the 4 or 5 directors that work the "US Nationals" (more of a North American event) every year. I am not doing it this year for obvious reasons.
Poker tournament directing came about through my Magic group. My friends wanted to play in a poker tournament, so I agreed to coordinate one. One of my friends, Paul, brought his friend and co-worker Brent to play. Brent and his brother Cam were talking about starting poker events and asked me to come and direct them... Thus my involvement with Westside poker tournaments was born. Past that, my poker directing hires have been through word of mouth. I wish there was more opportunities to run large poker events in Ontario. I just get a charge out of running a large event well!!
You're welcome.
I have asked this of other former Magic players:
Do you think any of the skill sets translate to poker? If so, describe how . . .
This. I would be willing to give 3-1 odds that it is from the Disney movie Oliver & Company. Classic amongst a lot of women. Not sure if it's Billy Joel's solo or just that Oliver, the last remaining kitten in the box in NYC that no one takes, is so damned cute and they feel so bad for him, but every woman I've ever met of a certain age just loves the damned thing.
Pick one of the following that most describes how you feel about the upcoming birth of your twins: excited, exhausted, exuberant, exstatic, or just scared out of your freaking mind?
You're given the opportunity to run the WSOP ME. What do you change? What do you keep? Do you ban certain players just to see their reaction?
There are definitely a lot of skill sets that translate. Both games are incomplete information games, so bluffing, probability, and intuition are all a part of high level Magic play, as they are in poker. Some people have tried to call MtG chess with cards, but it is definitely closer to poker due to the incomplete information.
Also, the highest level of players in Magic have the ability to concentrate for long periods of time - something very important for long tournaments.
Most people that watch the TV Poker coverage will probably know this, but David Williams, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Brock Parker, and many others were on the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. (I was judging at the world championships the one year when David Williams was disqualified for having what was considered a marked deck!!).
RyanGHall was one of the best players from the local area, and he has been able to translate that into a good profit in the poker world too!
Honestly, of the group probably the last one. I know we will be great parents, but I am a little scared about raising 2 infants at once, and my wife's health as she recovers from having the twins. Tie in the fact that we will effectively be on 70% of our salary for a while and the fears mount up.
Changes:
- A definite no abuse policy with "teeth". Poker should be a civilized game, and there should be no tolerance for anyone who verbally or physically abuses any player or dealer. It drove me crazy to read that they reversed the given penalty to Hellmuth in last year's ME for verbal abuse. It should have been enforced for no other reason than to show that no player is above the rules. Pollack definitely dropped the ball on that one.
I really don't understand players abusing dealers. They blame them for their bad play/bad luck. It should not be tolerated by any card room. It is not the dealer's fault that the flush card came on the river. Suck it up buttercup.
- A rule that states that you are allowed to wear headphones and listen to music, but if you delay the tournament more than 3 times because you couldn't hear something then the headphones have to come off.
Keep:
- Most everything else. I have great respect for the people that coordinate and run a huge event like that, and most of the procedures have been dicussed extensively by better directors than I. If something is in there, I am sure it is for a reason.
Bans:
- No bans, unless the player deserved it (see "abuse" changes above). One of the great things about the main event is that it is open to anyone who can pony up $10K. I see no reason why anyone should be banned unless they prove they need to be.
I have told people before that I trust a lot of people in my poker world. Unfortunately, since money is involved, there will always be the seedy underbelly associated with poker too. The more of the latter we can get rid of, the better.
In your opinion, should Russ Hamilton be permitted to play any tournament, live or online? If so, what is the primary difference between the two cases?
Can you describe the most heated situation in a tournament where you had to use your director authority to squash it?
Did you know that once players are in the money headphones are not allowed anymore?
Yes, I said that I don't believe in bans UNLESS someone deserves it, but a thief definitely deserves it. I would set the minimum at 5 years, but I believe that any casino would hand out a lifetime ban in a stealing case to show that stealing would not be tolerated in any way, shape, or form.
I personally see no difference, and if I had the power I would ban him from any live or online tournament. I don't see the fact that he did it online as a lesser factor. Russ Hamilton should be in jail for trying to defraud people of money. I also don't see why anyone would want to trust Ultimate Bet any further. The fact that people outside of UB discovered the cheating screams that UB was not doing the tracking that they should have.
Having judged at a number of different types of tourneys, I would have to say that the most heated situations are mostly the same. Preventing a fight seems to be the key to the job. It is more a clash of personalities than it is anything about the game itself. Some people tend to get worked up during a game, and the key to diffusing a clash is to indicate that you as an official are in control, and if they don't cool down then they can enjoy watching the game from the sidelines. I learned this lesson early in my officiating career when I started umpiring Little League at age 13. My first game I kicked one of the coaches out for swearing at me, and he told me that I had worked my last game since his brother was the commissioner, etc. But, I stood my ground and told him he had to leave. I didn't get challenged the rest of that season.
There has never been an actual fight at a tournament I have done, but at Scrabble Nationals last year I had to tell 2 players that they were on their final warning, and if they said any word other than their score for the rest of the game they would be disqualified. When they both realized I was serious they calmed down and continued the game civilly.
The other most difficult situation is handling allegations of cheating. It rarely happens in poker (I can't even recall a specific situation), but it did in Magic. I have disqualified people for adding cards from outside the game to their deck, and for having marked cards in their deck. It is a situation where you have to be careful because you want to have absolute proof, but you must make sure any cheating does not continue.
Yes, but I also know that players not hearing things plays havoc with the early play in the tournament.
I think Watts ended up getting blinded out that time...lol
Ok, I didn't read all the rules for the Wsop. I don't see any advantage gained by being late, so I don't see why this rule would be in place. They should just blind the player off and leave it at that.
I'm going to assume "and other commitments don't tie you to one spot"
Honestly... Tournament Director.
It's what I do enjoy doing most, but unfortunately the opportunities to do it are few and far between in Ontario. Even a lot of the places that can do it legally and make a profit (ie. Casinos) seem to have structures that are more in it for them getting people off the tables and into the cash games than giving the players some play.
Unfortunately, the opportunities to do the job (legally) in this area usually go through dealing. With the way my hands shake*, I most likely could not get a job slinging cards. Plus it would be a huge cut in pay - something I could not afford right now.
* - For those of you that do not know me to see me, I have a cyst on my brain near the central nervous system that causes my hands to shake in a tremor. It is mild enough that I can go about my every day activities, but it does cause alarm in some people when they see me.
(When I used to be in a singing group, people would come up and say that I don't have to be so nervous - even though I was probably the least nervous of the group. I don't mind when people comment in a nice way - but I let at it on the truck driver that came into work last week and told me that I needed to lay off the caffiene.)
Seriously, though, is it the sort of thing that is operable? Or is it a case of risk outweighing reward at present?
Feel free to tell me to bugger off if this is too personal . . .
Actually, I get that quite a bit at the Casino. All the Caro fans think I am shaking because I am strong... Until they realize that the cards I show don't always match their expectations :-). It's real amusing when one of those smarties actually states that they are laying down their best hand because I am shaking (just to seem knowledgable to the rest of the table).
I was told it was operable, but because of the the proximity to the central nervous system there were some definite risks. It doesn't slow me down in anything other than some people's eyes, so it's not worth the risk to me.
They also gave me some beta blockers when I was 12 or 13 to try and control it. The problem was they had effects that made me drowsy, and some other possible bad side effects. For someone who realised that he was probably going to use his mind a lot more than his body in life it also wasn't worth it to get rid of the tremor.
I have no problem discussing it with other people. I find the more people know about it, the less of a concern they make about it in the future.
Yea...like fathering TWINS!!
Actually, the exact opposite... never being able to father anything at all.
What's the weakest part of your poker game and what is the strongest?
Where are you from. Any brothers and sisters?
Favourite place to vacation.
What are you naming the kids?
Who is going to be around more after the kids are born, your parents or your inlaws? Is that a good or bad thing?
1. Scrabble. The dirty secret about Scrabble is that it is a math game that just uses words as tools. (for those of you just getting to know me, I am ranked in the top 60 players in Canada)
1b. Playing games. Scrabble, Poker, Bridge etc.
1c. Nice ripe strawberries, especially fresh picked. I'll take the huge ones from California in a pinch, but the ones here in Ontario are definitely the best when they are in season.
2. Weakest - acting on my reads. I should bet way more when I think I have the best hand.
Strongest - The math. I can calculate the odds of most situations on the fly.
This combination is why I am a much better limit player or pot limit player than no limit. Especially HORSE games.
3. I lived in Niagara until I moved to University. Lived in Port Colborne until I was about 14, and then we moved to Ridgeway (a part of Fort Erie)
I have 2 younger brothers. My middle brother lives in Toronto, and he is a cousellor/minister. My youngest brother lives in Ganonoque, and is in charge of the email system at Queen's University.
4. Definitely my favorite vacation was Vegas 2 years ago, followed by the cruise we did in the Western Carribean.
5. I am sworn to secrecy on that one. I can narrow is down to say that I don't know anyone on the forum with any of the names. (yeah, I know, it doesn't narrow down girls names very much)
6. I'm not totally sure. My guess would be my parents, then her father and step-mother, and then her mother. Her mother lives in England so she will only be around every once in a great while (although she is coming for 2 weeks when the twins are born). My parents and her father live closer (Niagara and Oakville respectively) so I am sure they will be around lots. I give my parents the advantage since they are retired and can come when they please, while Jenna's parents are still working stiffs.
Mark
I would have to say the friendships that I have developed. There are a number of people who are either past or present members of the forum that I call friends. Admittedly, most of the talking is done outside of the forum, but I don't think I would have nearly as many friends if it wasn't for PFC.
I would have to agree with what Moose said at his place a couple of weeks ago... I probably have more friends in poker than outside of it right now (although I would have to change "poker" to "games", since I have quite a number from the Scrabble community too).
Are there people like that in Scrabble?
For the record, though not a "Chipper" (yet), I do have way too many set-ups of plastic cards . . .
~If you could witness 3 events from history, what would you want to witness?
~If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live and why?
~Favourite Looney Toon?
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