Paddy's Corner

John Duthie

Mirrors and Things
I'm not sure whether poker mirrors life or life mirrors poker, but I do know that you can learn about one by studying the other. Try this on for size.

The Duthie family, of John Duthie, fame decided a couple of years ago that it would be nice to buy a summer house in the country. I can't really imagine Duthie in wellingtons and muck, but a lot of things I couldn't imagine have come true. After a little searching, they found a house that met all of their requirements and decided to make an effort to purchase same. Duthie did what most of us would do in the circumstances and made an offer that was substantially less than what he thought the market value of the house was, just to get the ball rolling. He waited patiently for the serious negotiations to start, so you can imagine his surprise when his original offer was accepted without any haggling. The deal went through and the Duthie family moved their summer stuff into their new house, quite chuffed at the success of John's negotiating skills. Everything was fine for a couple of weeks, and then they got the bad news: There was a convicted pedophile living next door, which probably explained why there was no haggling. Exit the Duthie family, a little older and a little wiser. Every good story has a twist at the end, and thankfully this one is no different. A month or two later, the Duthies got some news: The pedophile dropped dead in his hallway, which was obviously bad news for him, but not for the Duthies.

If you haven't learnt something about poker from Duthie's experience, I'd seriously suggest you either quit or play with me.

Internet Tales
I was playing away happily on the Net a few months ago when one of my opponents got disconnected after I bet the river. When I saw his hand, it appeared that the disconnection was too much of a coincidence, so I contacted customer support on the site and asked them to look at the hand. I got a reply from them about an hour later in which they said they agreed that the disconnection was a little fortuitous for my opponent, and that this had happened more than once. They said that they were going to issue a warning to the guy and monitor his activities closely. Fair enough. A few hours later, the same guy joined a game in which I was playing, so being a little bored, I asked him if he had received any interesting e-mail from customer support recently. He not only claimed that he hadn't received any warnings, but went on to point out that he wouldn't be receiving any in the future, because he was an affiliate! Assuming that this was a little bravado on his part, I again contacted support and asked if this cheat was indeed an affiliate. I don't know if he is or not, because they still haven't replied!

If you think that was strange, try this: 888.com ran a last-minute Internet satellite for its British Open in September last year. The prize was a $13,000 package and the $200 entry. Eight minutes before the tournament was scheduled to start, I was one of only five players registered, and then the impossible happened: One guy unregistered! If you know him, please, please tell me what kind of value he's normally looking for.

Poker for the Homeless
The bar at Irish poker tournaments is usually the best spot to be if you enjoy a laugh. A strange thing happened last January in Dublin - a serious conversation broke out among poker players in the wee hours of the morning in the bar in the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. It didn't last very long, but it lasted long enough for some good to come out of it. The result is, a tournament will be held on June 1 in the Citywest, with all proceeds going to a charity that does unbelievable work with the homeless. Every leading Irish player will be involved, and we're also expecting several honorary Irish players to come from across the water. It promises to be one of the great nights.
For further information, e-mail me at [email protected].