Attention whore
October 3, 2006 6 Comments
Time for some shameless self-promotion, which I thought I’d slip in seamlessly while still riding high on my triumphant return. Nobody’ll notice; it’ll be fine.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I work in publishing. It’s far from glamourous and it pays poorly. Go for it, kids! However, I’ve been doing some regualar freelance work on the side recently, which has been rewarding in more ways than one. Future Publishing’s title WPT Poker is now Britain’s best-selling poker magazine, and I’m pretty sure that it’s purely down to my involvement. The October issue is now on the shelves, featuring no less than three pieces penned by your faithful scribe. Mmm, tasty.
trendthrift 
I buy WPT Poker every month, and thanks to pieces such as those scribbled by yourself, I’m now slightly less rubbish at Texas Hold Them (as it should be referred to, of course), having gone three whole weeks without having to top up my Betfair Poker account*. A proportion of the hat I’m now tipping is therefore in *your* direction.
(* Original deposit: £20.00. Current balance: £20.64. Go me!)
Which articles were they, by the way? If they were about Omaha or something, I’m withdrawing my hat-tip, because I’m no good at that.
You’re not alone; Omaha messes with my head. It’s Texas Hold Them (agreed, it’s the name true gentlemen use) all the way for me.
How long have you been playing? Good to know you’re having some success. Let’s not beat around the bush here; 64p may not sound like much, but at that rate of winningness (yes, it’s a word) you’ll be more than £2.50 up by the year’s end. Take that, cynics!
In all seriousness though, it’s all about building confidence, and by not losing money in the first place you’re doing exactly that. Decent profit will follow in good time. Are you playing cash games or tournaments mostly?
The articles I wrote for that issue were Kings of Poker (I do this every month; I think it was Scotty Nguyen that time), the piece on where to play live poker in the UK and the ‘Crazy Poker’ article on the more unusual poker variants that people play. I’ve only got the KOP piece (Chip Reese) in the current issue.
Glad you like the mag. Do you do any professional writing? Not that I’m implying that Broken TV is in any way unprofessional, you understand.
I’ve been playing ‘Old ‘Em (as Russell Brand probably calls it) for about ten months, after being dragged along by a chum to a pub poker league game, and kept my hand in since then. I don’t seem to have done too badly, making the finals of both league seasons I’ve been around for (and crashing out at about the half-way in each).
I’ve actually managed to make a decent bit of cash at online poker (modesty prevents me from stating how much, but it was more than I’d have expected to pocket) over the last few months, but my form seems to have stalled recently. Although an hour’s play yesterday took my current balance all the way up to £24.87 (Pop Fact! Betfair Poker’s new software is a bit rubbish, and needs about four clicks to enter a raise using a text box, where only one was needed before).
Good articles by yourself, there, although I’d wager you’re a bit disappointed it wasn’t you who got to meet Victoria Coren, who looks quite a lot like Sarah “Her Off Scrubs” Chalke in that photo. You could have offered her a shoulder to cry on over her (excellent) Guardian poker column being reduced and everything.
BrokenTV wears it’s unprofessionalism with as much pride as if it were a Blue Peter badge (and so will its forthcoming, updated even less frequently sister blog), so it’s probably no surprise to report that I’ve never done any professional writing. I have been asked to write for a couple of mags in the past, one of which never made it past the original planning stage, the other promptly folded before I’d got the time to begin anything, so it’s safe to assume that asking me to pen anything is a desperate cry for help (nice of you to ask, though).
Well, I’m surprised you haven’t written professionally, I have to say. And with that, I’ll stop there on that subject, lest I come across as incredibly patronising.
Alas, my only contact with Victoria Coren has been over email, but I can confirm that she’s as charming as you’d imagine and incredibly helpful. She’s one of the good guys.
Good to hear that you’ve had some success with online poker. I made some decent profit fairly early on, winning one multi-table tournament and coming second in another within the space of a week. I thought it was time to pack in the day job. Inevitably, profits haven’t been quite so huge since then, but I do feel like I’m improving all the time. I’m loving live poker too; I’ve done alright out of that too, but nothing too substantial. I’m off to play in a tournament on Saturday at The Western Club in Acton, actually. Should be good.
What’s the deal with the sister blog then? Or are all details under wraps for now?
All the details are still under wraps, but the package they’re in is shaped suspiciously like a music blog. I’ve got at least two good ideas for it so far, and only one of them is stolen from somewhere else, so fingers crossed.
Excellent stuff; I’ll look forward to it.