A Fish and his Chips

[Chipaccrual]

Dusk Till Dawn

Sympathy or no sympathy, that is the question.

I love Dusk Till Dawn to pieces.  In my opinion it is simply the best place to play live poker in the country, run by the best set of people, and owned by someone who truly loves the game.

Lately, they seem to be taking a beating with overlays left, right and centre.  They"ve recently amended the Chipleader Comp mid qualification, and then the other week reduced the number of guaranteed seats for their WSOP live satellite.

The latter of which saw them receive a verbal beating from the mouths of many a vocal member over on the Blonde Poker forum.

But what do they do ?  They listen to the players and try to provide a service that is asked for, whilst also trying to at least break even along the way.  In the case of the WSOP satellite, it sounds according to Rob Yong"s blog post, that the only reason they ran the event was at the continual request of a number of players at the club, who then chose not to turn up and support it, leaving Simon Trumper the inenviable task of deciding whether to cancel, reduce the guarantee or take a whopping overlay on the chin.

Many suggested that option 3 was the "right" thing to do, but carrying on with overlay after overlay will eventually result in no DTD at all.  And how can that be good for the UK poker scene ?

So perhaps DTD may learn from some mistakes and not offer as high a level of guarantee in the future.  Again, the weekend just gone has seen a small overlay in the £150 Deepstack event.  Are players that interested in massive guarantees ?  If you take the example of PokerStars, they have ridiculous guarantees at times, but how often do you see an overlay ?

This Sunday sees all of the buyins for the PokerStars Sunday Majors reduced by 50%, with the guarantees remaining the same.  Chance of an overlay ?  I"d say slim, very slim.

Will DTD change their policy to innovate, improve, and continue to stick their necks on the line with big guarantees.  Based on this mornings announcement of a £500k guaranteed event in August with three starting days, probably not.

But that"s all good for poker, whatever your views.

[Chipaccrual]

On a side note  


overlay

Definitions :-

verb (tr)

1 - to lay or place something over or upon (something else)
2 - (often foll by with) to cover, overspread, or conceal (with)
3 - (foll by with) to cover (a surface) with an applied decoration  ? "ebony overlaid with silver "
4 - to achieve the correct printing pressure all over (a forme or plate) by adding to the appropriate areas of the packing

noun

5 - something that is laid over something else; covering
6 - an applied decoration or layer, as of gold leaf
7 - transparent sheet giving extra details to a map or diagram over which it is designed to be placed
8 - printing material, such as paper, used to overlay a forme or plate


Hmmmmm, no mention of shortfall in prizepool in comparison to advertised guaranteed prizepool in poker tournaments.


So, where does "overlay" come from in poker terms ?

[duke3016]

overlay

Definitions :-

verb (tr)

1 - to lay or place something over or upon (something else)

So, where does "overlay" come from in poker terms ?

Obviously it is the verb, where the original amount is "overlayed" over the starting amount, which starts at zero and is cumlatively added to. When the cumulative amount reaches or surpasses the "overlayed" amount the "overlay" becomes the "underlay"  

[Chipaccrual]

Advertising Agency taking illegal substances again ?

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=9kVrBH6QTk0[/youtube]

[Chipaccrual]

I had an email from Microsoft the other day saying that my Hotmail Plus subscription was up for renewal, and then another one quickly followed saying that

"We have recently attempted to charge your Windows Live Hotmail Plus service to the credit card on file for your account. Please accept this reminder that your credit card has passed its expiration date and needs to be updated."

Not a problem, I logged onto my acccount, but couldn"t access my account information as I wasn"t logging in from one of my two authorised devices.

Bit weird, try my lappie instead, but same message.  Can"t delete them, or any of the other security information for that matter.  So, on I go to support, which incidentally asks me to first fill out a form confirming such information as the last 4 digits of the expired card on my account (Do they stay the same when you get a new card, no idea)

What follows is the transcript from the "live" chat with Microsoft Hotmail Support.


You are now chatting with "Marites".


Marites: Thank you for contacting Online Services Accounts and Billing Support. How may I help you?

Leigh Wiltshire: I can"t access my account information as it"s saying I"m not logging in on one of my accepted security devices

Leigh Wiltshire: But I am

Leigh Wiltshire: I just want to update my card details so you can take my annual subscription payment

Marites: I would be more than happy to assist you today. Just give me a minute to check on your account.

Marites: Just for security purposes, can I have your Full Name, Phone Number, Physical address and the last four digits of the card that you used when you pay for the service, please?

Leigh Wiltshire: Mr Leigh Wiltshire

Leigh Wiltshire: I don"t know which phone number or address or card number you have on file

Leigh Wiltshire: My card has expired, so I don"t have it, therefore don"t know the last four digits

Leigh Wiltshire: I have recently moved house

Leigh Wiltshire: I think the address you will have is ********, *******, **** ***

Leigh Wiltshire: I don"t remember ever putting a phone number on my account

Marites: Ok. In order for me to locate your account, our last option now is to provide me the answer to your security question.

Leigh Wiltshire: Okay, what"s the question ?

Marites: I am not seeing any questions here. You just need to provide the answer. I can help you locate the security question in your Hotmail account.

Leigh Wiltshire: LOL, this is brilliant !!!!!

Leigh Wiltshire: Okay, think I have found the question

Leigh Wiltshire: The answer is ******

Marites: I was able to locate your account. You have an active subscription to Hotmail Plus that will renew on July 18, 2013.

Leigh Wiltshire: Correct

Marites: Are you trying to update the expiration date of the card on file?

Leigh Wiltshire: I need to provide new card details as the one you have has expired

Marites: So we are using a new credit card, right?

Leigh Wiltshire: I will be, once I can get into my account information

Marites: If that is the case, I suggest that you call us at 0800-587-2920. A representative will be able to update the credit card information for you.

Leigh Wiltshire: But that doesn"t solve the problem that I can"t get into my account information

Marites: We are not allowed to get the information of our customer specially the credit card information through chat.

Leigh Wiltshire: I don"t want to do that

Leigh Wiltshire: I want to know why I can"t get access to my account information

Marites: Have you tried updating your alternate email on your Hotmail account?

Leigh Wiltshire: Yes, I have, it won"t let me do that either

Leigh Wiltshire: As it thinks I"m not using one of my recognised devices, but I am

Marites: Great. Just to set your expectations, it takes 30 days for our systems to delete the old alternate email address and/or phone numbers. Only after the changes take effect that you can update your Billing Information. This is to ensure the security of your account.

Leigh Wiltshire: Okay, so if you can"t take a payment, what happens to my account ?

Marites: I am just wondering, do you still use the VISA credit card on file. It is ending in 1450.

Marites: A payment pushed through on that credit card.

Leigh Wiltshire: It has expired, hence the reason why you have emailed me to get me to update it, and why we are having this conversation as I can"t get into my account

Marites: Yes, I understand that. So, the card is not active anymore? Because if the card is not active, your bank should not allowed a payment to push through.

Leigh Wiltshire: I know that.

Marites: On my end, I can see the card as expired and it needs to be updated. But since a payment went through there are no pending balances on your account.

Leigh Wiltshire: Brilliant, why have I just wasted an hour of my life then ?

Leigh Wiltshire: So, payment has been made, and I"ll get access to my account in the next 30 days to update it for next year ?

Marites: I suggest that you contact your bank regarding this. After that, contact us again with the new credit card to avoid service interruption in the future.

Leigh Wiltshire: That was my question. If the payment hasn"t gone through, will I still be able to access my hotmail account ?

Leigh Wiltshire: Will it just revert to a normal hotmail account ?

Marites: Yes, payment has been made and once the changes on your Hotmail account takes place, you will be able to access you Billing Account Management online.

Marites: You can still enjoy the benefits of using Hotmail Plus for another year.

Leigh Wiltshire: Fantastic, you have been really helpful

Marites: You are very welcome, sir. Is there anything else that I can assist you with?

Leigh Wiltshire: Is there a way I can give feedback to say how great the support chat has been ?

Marites: Yes. You can just put your feedback here and I"ll forward this to my supervisor.

Marites: My supervisors can see the chat, actually.

Leigh Wiltshire: Excellent, this is not aimed at you personally, but I have just wasted an hour of my time on a Sunday evening going round and round in circles to pay a £14.99 bill which apparantely has already been paid. I still don"t have access to my account, which apparantely takes Microsoft 30 days to accomplish. The security in place on my account is amazing, as it doesn"t even allow me to get in. This makes me feel a lot safer. Please can someone look at this whole situation, I"m sure I am not the only one who has been in this situation. I use plenty of other email providers, and never have this much trouble with my accounts.

Marites: Noted, sir. I appreciated the feedback this will be very helpful to improve our services in the future. I will be forwarding this to my supervisors.

Leigh Wiltshire: Thank you very much, and I appreciate your patience with this matter. I"m sure it is just as frustrating for you at times.

Marites: You are very welcome, sir. It is okay. We are here to serve our customers and we always put ourselves in the shoes of the customer in order for us to assist them better with their concern.

Leigh Wiltshire: All good this end. Many thanks.

Marites: Thank you, too. Have a nice day.


As Ger would say, PRICELESS !!!!!!!!!

[duke3016]

To be fair your patience is infinite  

[pokerpops]

You pay to use Hotmail?

[Chipaccrual]

So, everyone seems to be updating their blogs with talk of August Bank Holiday weekends away at Dusk Till Dawn.

Must be time for another APAT adventure by the sounds of it.


I"m really glad to see the WCOAP move to the end of the APAT season.  It is a special event in most players mind, and it should be a great climax to the season.  It also gives a great opportunity to strengthen the offerings of the European event and finally give it an acronym.

So, the ECOAP is born (we"re catching pokerstars up slowly   )

This is also great, as the August Bank Holiday Weekend at DTD has become a must event for a lot of players, even with the plethora of alternatives that seem to have sprouted up in and around the APAT event.

When we put on the 5 dayer at DTD a few years back, I think that there were quite a few in the people on the UK poker industry that thought we were mad, trying to fill 6 events for the recreational player, bang slap in summer holiday season.

But, sold out event after sold out event showed that there was a demand for this, to such an extent that this year there"s been the BlackBelt poker event, the GUKPT Goliath, the SkyPoker Grand Final and both DTD"s Chipleader and Grand Prix all happening within a few weeks period either side of the ECOAP.

So much choice, and a daunting task to ensure we fill our events and guarantee another great atmosphere for the four day event.  Alongside that, we"ve launched the online cardroom, with all the complications that brings.

This is a longterm project, which we hope over time will develop into a great offering for all our members, old and new.

But for the time being, it"s all eyes on Dusk Till Dawn, Nottingham.  For me personally, it"s been a year since I last attended an APAT event, having taking a very necessary break to sort out other stuff.

Really looking forward to Friday and Saturday (unfortunately need to travel back then, so missing the main event), lots to catch up on with APATers, and lots of exciting ideas to get some feedback on for the future.

Bring it on !!!!!!!

[Chipaccrual]

[Chipaccrual]

Oh, and it"s good to be properly back  

[AMRN]

I didn"t realise it had been so long - to see you arriving, it was like you"d never been away. It just felt..... normal.

[fandango]

[Chipaccrual]

Dear Chipaccrual,

Based on your recent tournament history, we"ve composed the following personalized WCOOP schedule for you. You can register for all of these tourneys now!

NLHE

Event #  18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36, 38

OMAHA

Event # 26, 34, 37


That"s very good of PokerStars to be so considerate to carefully go through the remaining WCOOP schedule and highlight one or two tournaments that based on my previous entries, may be of interest to me.

Anyone got a spare $15,974 they fancy donating, just so I don"t disappoint Daniel Negreanu (As he personally sent me the emailer).


Nothing like scattergun promotion for the win  

[Chipaccrual]

Here comes the paranoia

Up stupidly early for a Sunday morning, so settle down to a few games of poker on Stars with a cuppa.

An hour and a bit into the $50 turbo, and my stack is 3.5k.  Blinds are 150/300 and there"s a min raise UTG (playing 7k). A flat call next, before a short stack goes allin for around 500.

I"ve got AK, and it looks as good a spot as any, so in it goes. Folds back round to original raiser, who calls, other player gets out the way.

Short stack has JT and original raiser has A5.  Flop get"s dealt, no bother at all for me, only a 5 is going to stop my double up.  Stars lags for ages, then it eventually clears for me to see the 5 land on the river.

Done by another 1/2/3 outer on the river, for what seems like the millionth time in the past week on Stars, and the Billionth time on Boss (but that"s another subject altogether, as I hadn"t really noticed until Rich Baker and Andrew Duncan pointed out a large number of rivered hands to me, and now it"s in my head)

What"s his logic, playing A5 ?  It"s not a small tourney, or a free roll, where people play a lot looser.  What did he think he was beating with his A5 ?

Only one conclusion, he played A5 because he knew I had AK and he knew the 5 would be produced on the river for him. That"s it, got to be the answer, he"s a Superbot User paid by PokerStars to effectively steal money from honest players like me.  I can"t believe I have been sucked into this scam for so long.

And before the mass of responses saying that the RNG"s are audited and checked, blah, blah, blah, my final piece of evidence.

Ten days ago, I withdrew a decent chunk of my roll from Stars (Blatant brag, I know), and since then, I"ve lost 80% of flips, rivered hands as above and suffered painful lags to my connection.

Coincidence ?  I think not, they are watching us, our every move, slowly sucking the life out of us through rake and tournament fees. Promising us riches through the UKIPT, EPT or WSOP.  Selling us the dream, making us believe that one day we could be part of the inner circle.

The reality is that we are merely the food for them to consume.  I know it"s true, the voices in my head tell me it must be true.

Time for another cuppa, and I might take the dogs for a walk instead.

[HOLDorFOLD]

Here comes the paranoia

Up stupidly early for a Sunday morning, so settle down to a few games of poker on Stars with a cuppa.

An hour and a bit into the $50 turbo, and my stack is 3.5k.  Blinds are 150/300 and there"s a min raise UTG (playing 7k). A flat call next, before a short stack goes allin for around 500.

I"ve got AK, and it looks as good a spot as any, so in it goes. Folds back round to original raiser, who calls, other player gets out the way.

Short stack has JT and original raiser has A5.  Flop get"s dealt, no bother at all for me, only a 5 is going to stop my double up.  Stars lags for ages, then it eventually clears for me to see the 5 land on the river.

Done by another 1/2/3 outer on the river, for what seems like the millionth time in the past week on Stars, and the Billionth time on Boss (but that"s another subject altogether, as I hadn"t really noticed until Rich Baker and Andrew Duncan pointed out a large number of rivered hands to me, and now it"s in my head)

What"s his logic, playing A5 ?  It"s not a small tourney, or a free roll, where people play a lot looser.  What did he think he was beating with his A5 ?

Only one conclusion, he played A5 because he knew I had AK and he knew the 5 would be produced on the river for him. That"s it, got to be the answer, he"s a Superbot User paid by PokerStars to effectively steal money from honest players like me.  I can"t believe I have been sucked into this scam for so long.

And before the mass of responses saying that the RNG"s are audited and checked, blah, blah, blah, my final piece of evidence.

Ten days ago, I withdrew a decent chunk of my roll from Stars ......

I woke up and thought ""I don"t remember posting this last night"" ....


Then I read that last bit