jongordon84

Just thought I'd share a pic of my grindstation. It doubles as a chill-and-get-shitfaced-station.

haha that's where the magic happens!

Looks really nice mate what are those books?

Sun 24 Jul 2016 - Sky Poker 10NL 3h 20min 1171 hands Winnings: £23.71

Could have been so much better but AK let me down 5 times! Still, we book a winner after some losses and I'm on track for making the £1000 target.

Mon 25 Jul 2016

No poker.

Tue 26 Jul 2016 - Sky Poker 10NL 2h 10min 769 hands Winnings: -£26.68

Combo of bad play and bad beats.

Wed 27 Jul 2016 - Sky Poker 10NL 3h 00min 1152 hands Winnings: -£57.57

Well this just sucks.

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Jon-PokerVIP: haha that's where the magic happens!

Looks really nice mate what are those books?

1. James Bond collection.
2. Poker books (The Mental Game of Poker 1, Kill Everyone, Treat Your Poker Like A Business, Professional No Limit Holdem 1)
3. Random novels including the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe.
4. Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.
5. A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones)

I absolutely love this setup. Arguably less clean and elegant than what the 'cool kids' are doing nowadays, but with more soul and substance. Books, PC and a bottle of quality spirit - everything a person could possibly want and then some (swap the spirit for green tea before five and we're golden)!

Rookie mistake though. You should've used 19 instead of 4 next to The Dark Tower series to wink at the fans. Also, I'm reading The Wind Through the Keyhole for the first time in my life (I was done with the series for more than a decade after the 7th book came out), and I'm starting to regret I haven't done this sooner. I'm half-way through so I can't know it for sure but it might be my second favorite book after Wizard and Glass.

@MattVIP Ah damn, I'm not clever enough to think of that. Yeh I liked Keyhole, thought it was a nice addition and very cleverly done. Wizard and Glass is my favourite too, one of my favourite books ever actually. You've no doubt read them already but I recommend The Talisman and Black House. They fit nicely into the Dark Tower universe.

@MattVIP And on your point about more soul and substance, I agree. My desk is my work space and play space. I don't find it distracting when I need to get in the zone. In fact I think it helps to surround myself with the things I love. Afterall, I love poker too. As for the whiskey, I drink way too much, but not while playing. I just crack open the bottle when I'm done, either as reward or condolence. Perfectly healthy relationship with alcohol right?

More bookshelves in my office. Too much?

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I actually never read any of the other Stephen King books besides The Dark Tower series believe it or not. I think it's because my neighbour landed me tons and tons of Graham Masterton horror books when I was in my early teens and I scared myself out of liking horror in my adult life. I like atmospheric stuff and I like just the right touch of the horror of the unknown in my books, but straight up horror novel is a bit too much for my taste. Something like the Dixie Pig chapter in Song of Susannah is just about as much horror as I like to endure. That being said I absolutely love Kings mythology and even though I appreciate what he did with Randall Flagg in The Dark Tower books I'd love a bit more of Walter in my stories if you know what I mean and from what I understand there's plenty more of him in some other books written by sai King.

MattVIP: I actually never read any of the other Stephen King books besides The Dark Tower series believe it or not. I think it's because my neighbour landed me tons and tons of Graham Masterton horror books when I was in my early teens and I scared myself out of liking horror in my adult life. I like atmospheric stuff and I like just the right touch of the horror of the unknown in my books, but straight up horror novel is a bit too much for my taste. Something like the Dixie Pig chapter in Song of Susannah is just about as much horror as I like to endure. That being said I absolutely love Kings mythology and even though I appreciate what he did with Randall Flagg in The Dark Tower books I'd love a bit more of Walter in my stories if you know what I mean and from what I understand there's plenty more of him in some other books written by sai King.

I actually don't think of King as a horror writer. Most of it doesn't feel like horror. Sure some of it like The Shining and Pet Semetary is, but the majority is just awesome stores, often with an element of fantasy or supernatural, but more thriller than horror. Even more crime elements with his latest works. If you like the Dark Tower series then you'll love The Talisman and Black House (though Black House is very sinister and creepy). I also recommend 11/22/63, Under The Dome and The Stand. If you want to go back to horror then IT is just amazing.

I don't own 1

- book
- dvd
- cd
- video
- tape
- computer game

Does that make me odd?

Hey dude... what are you using to plot your graphs? I'd like to keep track of things myself ... any tips greatly appreciated

GG

John

@Jon-PokerVIP Not one book or CD but how many pairs of trainers?

You could break your duck and have this on the coffee table in your trainer room. I presume you have a room for them like some sort of rapper.

The Book

I actually don't own any books or cd's/dvd's either believe it or not due to current living arrangements. Well, that's not entirely true, I own both but all of my books and disks are in my family home right now.

@jongordon84 Extra nerdy, extra sweaty question. I've finished The Wind Through the Keyhole (I still have the afterword to read and maybe sai King answered my question there) and I can't help but wonder... do you think this book - particularly the last words of Gabrielle Deschain - are the apology to the fans for the series ending? I didn't mind it (especially because of the horn of Eld addition, like every human being I can stomach lots of darkness and ambiguity as longs as it's served with at least a sliver of hope), but as a teenager, I felt very strange reading that prelude to the actual ending (after the alternative New York ending for Sussanah) which was mostly and above else reluctant and defensive. I wonder what do you think about it as a fellow fan of the series.

Jon-PokerVIP: I don't own 1

- book
- dvd
- cd
- video
- tape
- computer game

Does that make me odd?

Not in this modern world we are living in. But if you said you had never read a book (digital or otherwise), watched a movie, listened to music, or played a video game, then I'd be worried.

karmakaze: Hey dude... what are you using to plot your graphs? I'd like to keep track of things myself ... any tips greatly appreciated

GG

John

I'm just keeping track of each session played in a spreadsheet (google docs). I stick the data in a csv file which is a datasource for a tableau workbook. Tableau is a business intelligence tool but you could just use the same spreadsheet program to plot your graph. Obviously playing on Sky there is no real tracking, so all I'm recording is total hands played, duration of each session, and winnings.

MattVIP: I actually don't own any books or cd's/dvd's either believe it or not due to current living arrangements. Well, that's not entirely true, I own both but all of my books and disks are in my family home right now.

I have to admit that at the time of reading it I was a little disappointed with the ending. It was such a dark novel with so much loss and heartache for the constant reader, by the end I hoped for more than just the faint glimmer of light that was offered by Roland at least having some influence over his destiny with the choices he makes. But the more I have thought about it since, the more I feel that it's the most appropriate ending possible.

"Death, but not for you, gunslinger. Never for you. You darkle. You tinct. May I be brutally frank? You go on."

It was foretold from the beginning that the gunslinger's path had no end. Yet he has a destination, so what happens when he reaches it? How can there not be an end? Well, ka is a wheel, is it not? It turns. Ya kennit?

“Ka was like a wheel, its one purpose to turn, and in the end it always came back to the place where it had started.” Thankee-sai, you speak truth!

The ending was foreshadowed since the beginning, but I can't believe I failed to see Flagg's quote you mentioned in a broader sense as it pertains to the ending, especially because the Golgotha palaver is probably my favorite part of the entire series.

MattVIP: “Ka was like a wheel, its one purpose to turn, and in the end it always came back to the place where it had started.” Thankee-sai, you speak truth!

The ending was foreshadowed since the beginning, but I can't believe I failed to see Flagg's quote you mentioned in a broader sense as it pertains to the ending, especially because the Golgotha palaver is probably my favorite part of the entire series.

There are moments when you reread bits or go back over things and realise just how fucking clever King is. Here is one that blows my mind...

Before ever reading The Dark Tower series one of the first of King's books I read was Lisey's Story. I loved it and it's really what made me a big fan. Anyways a running theme of this book is a thing called a "blood bool", kind of like a practical joke. You pull off the joke and it's "bool, the end". That's a very vague generalisation of the theme as there's a lot more to it, but you catch my drift. So years later I read the dark tower novels, which bear in mind were written many years before Lisey's Story, and there is a line in one of them. I can't remember which, and I'm positive this line appears once in the entire series, and would not even make any sense when read by someone who had not read Lisey's Story. The line, obviously, is "bool, the end".

When I read that line in the dark tower series I was like WTF!? How did he know to put this one random, almost senseless to anyone but him, line in a book, because years later he'd write an entirely unrelated novel in which it would be a key theme!? The guy is a genius. Or he stuck it in a later rewrite in which case the joke's on my. Bool, the end.

Forgot this thread was meant to be about poker...

Thu 28 - Fri 29 Jul 2016

Obviously needed a little break after losing over 8 buy ins.

Sat 30 Jul 2016 - Sky Poker 10NL 1h 00min 167 hands Winnings: -£5.95

Not sure why I bothered as I didn't feel up for a proper session. It started ok but then got it in good and lost 3 times, fortunately against short stacks for 2 of them.

I'll be back with a monthly roundup blog...

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