Alright, back in my study after a relaxing week in Gran Canaria… As I mentioned before I left, beach holidays are not really my kind of thing. However, getting away from computer screens and catching up on some reading was great! Poker was the very last thing on my mind, and I banned myself from checking any of my business statistics too. This post is a mix, I’ll review a couple of stand out books read while away, then catch up on the poker news.
The Lean Startup: I was hesitant to read this one. Hype surrounding tech startups is bloated, bitchy and, well, kind of sad for me (much like the poker forums to be fair!). Anyway, glad that I did read it – the book was nothing short of excellent. Strong case studies, simple yet elegant ideas (innovation accounting, five whys, pivots and more) and an easy-to-read style… I will be following up on this one for sure.
Steve Job’s Bio: All I can say here is – What a monster! And genius of course. Not an Apple user myself, having recently swapped my iPhone for a Samsung iPhone rip-off (haha). It is impossible not to be taken in by Job’s vision and ability to execute / persuade. I played the corporate politics game for many years, albeit at a far lower level than the board… this guy took the game to a whole new level. The book has a story that flows, a good old fashioned page turner! It is hard not to be inspired by Steve. While I do not want to change the world myself, I finished this book feeling pumped to try harder in my own little corner of it!
Just one more quick note on books, there is one released on October 4th which I am really looking forward to. The Hydrogen Sonata by Ian M Banks… This is the latest in his Culture series of Sci-Fi books. His writing is just awesome, fast action, beautiful imagination and strong characters / plots… Start with ‘Look to Windward’ if you have never experienced the Culture before, it will blow you away!
So, what about the world of poker?
A week can be a long time in the world of online poker… only last week was not one of those interesting times. The WCOOP (and Poker Maxumus) have been going on, which is always a welcome distraction. OnGame look like being sold once again, you never know, it might just go through this time. I am guessing Bwin will leave once the sale is completed and their players will pool with Party, who in turn have announced new software for next year. Since IGT (Entraction) is now dead I wonder if any new skins will join the OnGame network? Plenty of others to choose from, so we will have to wait and see! Full Tilt news keeps trickling out. Hiring and e-mails to some of the old players to remind us that things are looking positive for the relaunch. A new lawsuit about the software the only potential cloud on the horizon. iPoker’s split seems to have gone with a fizzle rather than a bang… My thought here is that there will be a lot of behind the scenes negotiations from the smaller skins at the moment – and we should see more mergers / network swaps coming along soon. More info on the split in this special (I’ll update with the very latest news early next week).
GL at the tables, Mark
Submitted by Planet Mark on Sun, 09/16/2012 - 13:55