Texas Calculatem and Poker Office Blog

Here's an interesting story highlighting how irresponsible online casinos can allow customers to lose lots of money. Fascinating!

Had a phone call from my university last night. The nice chap on the phone wanted to see update their records to see what their former student was doing. I was tempted to tell him I was a glamour model, but then decided that it would be too rude, and therefore disclosed the truth.

After getting my details, the young chap asked if I wanted to make a donation to their Annual Fund to help disadvantaged students. I wasn't too sure what to say, was halfway through making French Onion soup (which was starting to burn) and therefore told him to send me the donation form.

Having thought about it now, I'm definitely not keen on making a donation and don't want them hassling me again. In my view, the current educational system is a bit of a farce, and I don't see why I should help to encourage people to partake in getting drunk, pursue pointless academic studies and get twenty grand of debt.

Despite not giving out my email address, I've also just got a couple of emails from uni. One is about the donation, and the other is about a networking event for ex-students. Not sure whether or not to go as I'm unlikely to meet useful contacts. Having scorned a large prestigeous firm, I'm now probably stuck working for small firms that no one's heard of (not that that's a bad thing).

I just took the test on Political Compass to see how much of an evil right-winger I am. The results on the left/right axis baffle me somewhat.

I'm only 0.25 to the right (very small) and would have thought I should be much further. This is very worrying to a young capitalist. Though some of the questions could be a little weighted. For example, one question was:

"If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations."

To which I checked "disagree" (options are strongly disagree, disagree, agree and strongly agree). I guess the right wing answers would be agree, or disagree, but corporations obviously should not be allowed to destroy the planet and wipe out the human race.

Some of the other questions seemed to be inciteful rather than anything else. For example;

"It is regrettable that many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society." (statement A)

The statement is there to lambast the banks, who make a lot of cash from lending money, overdraft fees and many other services.

a - Banks need to pay their staff, and compensate their shareholders for the risk premium associated with lending money. If they were not allowed to be compensated then it would be illogical for them to offer loans.

b - People are always complaining about bank charges. But surely withdrawing cash that isn't theirs is morally equivalent to theft?

On the authoritarian/libertarian scale I was -1.59. Which means I'm more concerned with the individual than the state. This is wouldn't have been the case for me a few years ago, but more recent things have changed me somewhat.

First off, after being pretty much number one in every class (that mattered) up until University, I suddenly found everything a bit tough and almost dropped out a few times. I survived until the third and final year, and arrived at the Milk Round with a rather desperate desire to be over-and-done with education. However, many employers were only interested in taking on 2:1 candidates. At the time I was borderline 2:2/2:1, and felt that these blanket classifications were a little unfair as my nasty Mathematics degree was much tougher than many other courses, such as Business Studies (lots of struggling Mathematicians bumped up their grades by taking Accounting and Business Studies courses). This experience led me to question the wisdom of the "challenge" mentality, where students are encouraged to "challenge" themselves, taking tough courses to stimulate their tough minds.

During this period, my flat mate Sarah dragged me along to a UBS Warburg presentation. I'd had no dinner and she told me there'd be free food there. So I was in. At the presentation I discovered that graduates get a tasty £38k starting salary.

However, they also wanted 2:1 candidates, and that put me at a significant disadvantage to those on less rigorous courses. While I failed in my UBS application (I only got through to the final round and fucked up a presentation), I learned from the process that in order to get a job one needs to be able to lie and talk bullshit (as well as getting a degree).

With this in mind I attended a load of events aimed at helping students bullshit their way into the city. Eventually, I managed to brush up my bullshitting and lying skills, and convinced another firm to take me on.

Upon arrival in they city, it turned out that the employer didn't even care about what degrees we'd got. Some of the other graduates even had third class degrees, so I don't know why I'd bothered to put in the work to scrape a 2:1. As well as not requiring a good degree, a small but not insignificant minority of my fellow graduates, were actually pretty stupid. This yet again showed that we'd all been most cruely mislead by the establishment. Bullshit was what got us all in.

After about two days at the big prestigeous firm, I realised that I'd been misplaced and was in the wrong department. Instead of being in IT, where we were all second class citizens, I belonged in the Front Office, making cash and oggling the super model trading assistants. Alas their HR staff were well versed in graduate bullshit and would not move me. So bad luck had landed me in a most unenviable position. Having being told that I'd have a great, interesting and rewarding career ahead of me, I found myself in a depressing world surrounded by brown tongue ass lickers. Not good. I did not spend 16 years of my life being a geek, only to become a cretinous ass licker. And seeing as the internal HR staff were unwilling to assist, I was forced to look elsewhere.

As luck would have it, I attended a party, where I met an interesting chap who was an entrepreneur and fellow geek. This guy had had enough of the big firms, and was running a small software firm, offering a web-based solution for simulating a windows-like environment in a browser. After learning about my Mathematical background, he suggested I try out prop trading, where I could use my Maths to make some cash.

Alas, I hadn't had the magical luck to land in such a useful team at the big bank. So I had to apply elsewhere. I eventually got lucky and got taken on by a small firm which offered a small salary, but good bonus if results were delivered. With shit in my pants, I made the move, but had a really tough first year, and narrowly missed being made redundant.

However, last year I got lucky due to increased volatility in crude oil. And this year I've got lucky due to spotting some small but persistant abherations in the German Bond markets. So due to my lucky breaks, I'm doing a lot better than if I'd remained a second class IT coffee monkey.

Hmmm... I don't seem to have made my point. And now I'm tired. Oh well. I'm off to bed now. Good luck at the tables.

That Corgi is so cute!

As we near the end of the month I'm checking my records...

Poker has been flat as usual. No change there.

Work has been pretty dire too. Equity volatility is at historical lows an the big funds are not hitting into the depth of the order book. Subsequently there are few opportunities for me to exploit. But while the equity markets have still been fairly steady (depite the low vol), the German Bonds have totally raped me. I was trying out a new fairly naive strategy, and chose to double up at the wrong moment. SMT SMT. All this has lead to discussions about volatility and new strategies. New strategies are always hard to find, and people are very tight mouthed about them for obvious reasons. But volatility is something that all short term traders pray for. However, the causes for volatility are pretty negative for other people, predominantly being uncertainty and fear. For example, if someone were to suddenly put the White House onto every news channel around the world, I'd be odds on to make some cash. But saying that on a crowded tube can draw undesirable stares.

Anyway, that's enough of my rambling. Here are some footy tips...

West Ham and Newcastle were meant to be challenging for Europe this season, but find themselves heading for a relegation battle. With both at home this weekend, can they get back to winning ways? With nearly 60 football markets available in-running, why not have a bet that's a bit different at Sporting Index? We've taken a look at some of the weekend prices (see preview below) - new clients can claim our biggest ever bet:

£200 Football Bet for New Clients**

Open a Sporting Index account*, place five sports bets and claim a £200 per goal bet on any live Premiership, Championship or Champions League match. Each qualifying bet must be able to win or lose you £20.**

*Credit and suitability checks, **terms and conditions apply. See site for further details about an account with Sporting Index. Sports spread betting involves a high level of risk and you can lose more than your original stake. It is not suitable for everyone so please ensure that you understand the risks involved and only bet with money you can afford to lose.

For full details of these offers, and to apply for your Sporting Index account, click here.

Premiership Preview

Sheffield United v Chelsea (Saturday: 12.45 PremPlus)

The champions visit Bramall Lane for the first time since 1993 and are slightly different to the outfit that lost on their last two visits. The Blades will be after some long overdue revenge after the men from Stamford Bridge sent them down on the final day of the 1993-94 season. Mourinho's troops arrive in Sheffield on the back of a seven game unbeaten run and have been in the goals recently averaging over two a game. They could be back on the Premiership summit if only for a few hours if they win, and Sporting estimate victory by 1.4 to 1.6 goals. The Blades have struggled in front of goal, with Rob Hulse not yet firing on all cylinders, and have managed only four goals so far this season. It will be tough against a mean Chelsea defence which has only been breached five times in the league. The first meeting between the two sides in 12 years could be a tasty affair with both accumulating 28 bookings and three red cards between them so far this season. Referee Martin Atkinson has tended to urge on the side of caution, and Sporting predict only three bookings.

Newcastle United v Charlton (Saturday: 17.15 PremPlus)

Charlton know a win will lift them off the foot of the table, but it won't be an easy task - they haven't won away from home all season. The Addicks recorded their second win over Bolton this season and in the process another clean sheet. However their defensive frailties are proving costly and apart from lowly Watford last week, they've conceded in every game. Roeder's men don't have much to shout about when it comes to defensive solidity with one clean sheet in eight. With such leaky defences on show, Sporting Index estimate between two or three total goals, although last season's fixture did finish goalless. Newcastle also impressed in the Carling Cup rattling three past Pompey. Dyer looked sharp in his first appearance since April, and his pace coupled with Duff's will be on show for the first time in the Premiership. It could be tough for the Charlton full-backs and Sporting have Roeder's men to win by 0.6 to 0.8 goals. However Newcastle will need to improve their recent form against Dowie's underachievers - they haven't beaten them in their last four games.

West Ham v Blackburn (Sunday: 16.00 Sky Sports 1)

West Ham are experiencing their worst run of the form in 70 years. With no wins in their last eight games in all competitions, they have just one solitary goal to their name in that period. Rovers are unbeaten in their last three away games, however they haven't picked up a single point in their last six league visits to Upton Park. Given West Ham's precarious situation, Sporting see a tight contest and can't envisage anything other than a draw. Maintaining their discipline will be the key thing for Blackburn as they have the worst league record. Paul Dickov was sent off in last season's corresponding fixture and Alan Wiley doesn't shirk from reaching for his top pocket - Sporting predict him to show five yellow cards. There are always goals aplenty when these two teams meet, with 15 goals in the three meetings they had last season. Sporting Index picture less goalmouth action this time around, with a spread of 2.3 to 2.5 total goals predicted.

Hopefully that's given you something to think about. For all the latest prices and to apply for your Sporting Index account, click here.

Sporting Index is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Please note that all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.

The information contained herein is for your general information and use. In particular, it does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by Sporting Index Ltd and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining to make) any specific decisions.

This is a video of my buddies wrestling in Patio Hostel, Bratislava. As you can see they're highly accomplished fighters.

Last night I cooked a Red Thai Beef Curry. It was damn tasty, even though I used the red curry paste from a supermarket (Sainsburys). Here's what I did:

- I diced a load of garlic and red onion and sauteed them in a big le creaset pan.
- I sliced a load of braising steak into thin slices.
- I browned the steak in the pan and added a load of red chilli paste.
- I addded some lime kaffir leaves and coriander.
- I simmered for an hour and left overnight.
- The next day I chopped up a load of aubergine and simmered for 30 minutes.

Following Juice's example, I'll rant about a few things totally unrelated to Poker. Actually, I can't really blame Juice as I always blog about random stuff anyway...

Reading the news today, there were a few interesting stories.

Firstly, BBC News Reports: Humberside 'worst police force'. As Morrie says, what's wrong with being number two? There are many police forces in the UK. And one of them has to be bottom of the pile.

There was also a total non-story about Google offering personal searches. The story just re-hashes some current features and has nothing new in it. I don't know why a bored reporter has bothered to write about it. Here's my personal search engine about whores and whoring.

Moving on, there's been an apparent boomtime for debts.co.uk which has made £2.1m. That figure seems very small when the top prize for a measly Poker tournament is $11.7M.

Just to finish off, if you want see some good use of the word "cunt" then read Miasdad's blog here.

This video is of one of my buddies dancing in Charlies Club, Bratislava. He was a real star and all the ladies wanted him.

Miasdad just asked me:

"10 days without a post - have you gone on holiday again?"

Unfortunately I've been a bit too uninspired to post in the last 10 days. I haven't done too much Poker, and what I have done is the usual breakeven malarky.

Instead of Poker I've spent a lot of time playing Oblivion on my brother's xbox 360. It's very addictive, and I feel a bit silly for wasting my spare time on such a superfluous activity. But what can you do?

In terms of holidays... Last weekend I went to Wales with five mates. We were in a little village and stayed in a nice B&B. I can't remember the name of the village but the name began with the letter "L". The purpose of the holiday was to partake in a bit of surfing. I managed to stand on the board, but could not turn it at all. Overall it was great fun. The weather was milder than it was last year when I went surfing in Newquay. And we had sun rather than a hail storm.

This weekend I'm off to Bratislava with a load of lads. For some reason we're staying in a hostel, 6 of us sharing a room. I'm really not sure why. We're not piky students. We're supposed to be young professionals. I felt like such a fraud when roughing it with backpackers in Central America. And the thought of sharing a tiny room with six big lads does not inspire me. I hope I survive with my ass intact.

Earlier today, I was discussing the shortage of plumbers with a fellow blogger. One good argument they said was:

"I think that they should send all the people that got crappy degrees (anything less than a 2:2) in subjects that don't help the economy to the Czech Republic or Poland. And we should have all their plumbers and electricians."

It's a very valid point, and could help with inter-cultural relationships between the younger generations. However, I don't think many people would approve of such a scheme.

At this very moment I'm watching an anti-imperialist march held in North Korea. Kim Jong-il has somehow managed to get thousands of Koreans to stand in formation, wave torches in the air, and chant praises to his regime. It's very frightenning, as it appears that he's managed to brain wash a very large number of people. In terms of the financial markets, I'm not sure what Kim's belligerent attitude towards nuclear weapons will cause. The nuclear tests have caused the Yen to decline against the US dollar, but I don't trade that. And while Kim has described the recent trade sanctions as a declaration of war, I doubt the markets would care that much if he declared war on the US. I guess I'll just have to wait and see...

Online Poker continues to flat line. While live Poker is on tilt. At my Friday live game, a 4BB raise was considered massive. But my continuation bets were always called to allow the opponents to improve their bottom pairs into trips. SMT. I'm not sure if I'll ever get too good at the live games as opponents are either lucky calling stations or maniacs. And there isn't enough money to be taken from them to make it worth the time investment.

Last night I went to Kinky Mambo in Angel with my ex housemate Frank. It was good to see him again. We lived together in Surrey Quays five years ago when we were both on the graduate scheme of a crappy Swiss investment bank. We had top notch graduate salaries. The sort jealous journalists like to deem unjustified. However, the work itself was damn depressing and intellectually insulting. So Frank quit to go back to university and is now a trainee accountant for a city firm. He's lost four years of his life and taken a massive pay cut, but recons he can pull in a £700k salary when he becomes a partner in 10-15 years. I hope he does well.

Have been trying to convince Juice to take a punt at the world of trading, and found an inspirational article about a 25 year old local who made over £1,000,000 last year trading German bond futures (click here to read about him). While I was trying to find out more about the trader (Lawrie Inman), I found this interesting post by an envious fool who's been taken in by corporate bullshit and buzzwords. I mean, what does this mean?


"But then again, does Lawrie ever have the pleasure of putting a media plan together and pushing communications forwards? I think not. He can keep his £1million."

I also don't understand how the story can make anyone angry. The guy's a "local" and will be risking either his own cash, or his firm's cash, depending on the deal he's got. When you bet big, you either win or lose big.

I need to settle down on one type of game and focus. However, I was intrigued by PKR and decided to give it a go. It took a while to download and install, and is a little slow on my PC (which is 2 years old), but I did have fun using the "Loser" action on all my opponents. I have yet to deposit any money, planning on getting comfortable with the 3D table first. I don't want to lose a load of cash through pissing about with the new features.

Last night I was in another SNG and came 3rd out of 10. I might have done better if I hadn't called an all in with 72o. The Poker Gods have not been kind lately, so I should start paying more attention to the God of Statistics. Speaking of gods, "The God Delusion" looks like an interesting book (click here to read an excerpt on from the BBC website). I'm tempted to buy it for a religious preacher friend, but am not sure who she'd take it. I might get it for myself next time I get something from Amazon.