Best player I've ever seen

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:01 am

From time to time QuizMaster mentions "the real boys", SWPists of the highest standard who can still turn a living even nowadays. I have to admit I always had my doubts - one of the things that's surprised me in 10 years of machining is the paucity of players I've seen who are clearly streets ahead of me.

Anyway, as of yesterday evening I realised I was wrong. Popped into Coopers at Waterloo station for a cheeky play before catching a train and a chap was in there playing Caveman Capers. Something about him made it clear he looked a good player and I then noted he was at about £3 and answering each question immediately. I went over and asked whether he minded my watching and he said not at all. He proceeded to clean up the £20 JP (at about 3,600 points), answering each question immediately and correctly without at any stage losing his one try again. He told me he'd JPed Capers many times before. He then proceeded to play various other games, winning another £17 in about 15 minutes, and narrowly missing a JP on Monopoly (the only time he got a question wrong whilst I was watching). He told me he'd already JPed WWTBAM on the same machine.

Basically, the guy's knowledge had to be seen to be believed. I'm not sure whether it was a case of him learning the questions brilliantly or having an amazing GK (a bit of both, I'd imagine), but without seeing it I'd never have believed someone could reach that standard. I asked whether he made a living from them, and he said not; but clearly he was good enough to. He was also extremely pleasant and chatty and not at all cagey - unlike many SWPists, I suspect.

He told me his name was Suri (sp?). Looking at Cool's comments on this thread - http://www.fruitchat.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4168 - it seems that Cool has met him too. Anyone know any more about him? Does he post on here? To be honest I'm amazed I ever take anything out of central London machines with guys like him about.

Matt Vinyl · Post by **Matt Vinyl** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:23 am

narrowly missing a JP on Monopoly

Crikey, now that is something I've never seen before!

Certainly sounds a 'pro', however much I despise that word in this context...

Good luck to the man, but it's certainly a worry for some of us less-seasoned players (and the seasoned players here too!) Having a 'free-radical' like that who can clean out pretty much any machine is quite frightening. Unlike the AWP world where 'the majority' of players can win (even if they do not possess full knowledge of each individual machine) more often than not. There are often a good number of 'pros' per location. This guy himself, could be the 'pro' of London singlehandedly!

QuizMaster · Post by **QuizMaster** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:50 am

How kind of Suri to hold a masterclass for you. Now you just need to find the best player in London, and you'll be really impressed.

Suri doesn't play machines for a living. He lives off his investments. Which he got from playing quiz machines.

Istenem · Post by **Istenem** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:20 pm

very impressive. to have retired on swp earnings is some feat.
i'm assuming he was a youngish guy.

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:14 pm

I'd say he was 40something.

I shall keep an eye out for the best in London, QM. Frankly at the moment I'm thinking of binning machines entirely on the grounds I'm so far inferior to the best, but I expect I'll snap out of it.

I wonder how many other players there are of this level about? My gut feel would be no more than 10-20, countrywide, and probably less than that.

cool · Post by **cool** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:50 pm

Except where people are in direct competition with each other e.g word up comp its pretty irrelevant who is the best. The only distinction of interest to me is who makes a living from it and who doesn't, although I respect that other players interests are different from mine. I believe its bollocks that he is retired and lives from his investments. I could say the same and yet I am playing machines as much as I have ever done. Each person regards I believe the area in which they play as their empire , and as such the machines they play as their machines. Thats one of the reasons I get so annoyed about being banned. I dont like being watched particularly if the person watching appears to be a pro (you get a sixth sense). On occasions Ive walked out of pubs leaving drinks/credits behind. Ive no interest in watching anybody else win on a machine, if anybody is playing it on entry I go to another pub. If its a pro I go around like a bullet to spoil their day. Low returns for them means low frequency of re-visit. Sorry for deviating from original point!

theoak · Post by **theoak** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:58 pm

How do you know if they're a pro if you dont watch them?

cool · Post by **cool** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:58 pm

getting back to the point watching a fellow pro is not good for the ego, although it depends on who you are watching. I teamed up with a Mr Wolf from London on a couple of occasions and he inspired me to up my game but he is a decent person, not an arrogant shit like some of the players I have met over the years (not talking about fruitchat members). Pro's are not necessarily better than non pro's. Obviously somebody who is on 50k isnt going to pack their job in no matter how good they are. I would surmise that Suri is good because of the sheer number of games hes played, hard work / research put it , competitive instinct and will to succeed. Memory is of little importance, everyone has one its the way you utilise it thats important!

cool · Post by **cool** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:01 pm

you wouldnt except by asking them, but I can normally tell by the way they stand , the speed in which they answer the questions, I dont have to watch them go through the mechanics of the game.I have been given descriptions by other people and if I travel round pubs particularly during the daytime and their face keeps appearing its a pretty good indicator.

Hangmanfan · Post by **Hangmanfan** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:15 pm

If I'd met this Suri bloke I think I'd beg him to visit fruitchat.
Maybe he spent a good part of his life jobless, thus giving him time to build up knowledge in all the areas concerned.
Or maybe he's a savant who's only deficient in not having a deficiency.
Or maybe he's just great..

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:56 pm

Some interesting comments. I agree entirely with Cool about the sixth sense. 99 times out of 100 if a machine's being played I turn straight around and head out immediately. For some reason yesterday evening I stayed and even when I was some distance away from the machine I felt there was something different. I think it was the absence of any evidence of thinking on Suri's part - no pauses, just mechanical pressing of correct answers immediately. Unlike Cool he seemed fine with my watching - if he hadn't've, I'd have hit the road immediately.

I think Cool under-rates the importance of memory. I do quite a lot of quizzing generally (non-televised national competitions and the like) and I believe that retention of facts comes far more easily to some people than others - it's not really much to do with intelligence but a separate skill altogether. I expect Suri combines a very high degree of that skill with a lot of hard work and a lot of machine playing. I would expect that to have reached the level he is at, Suri will play machines intensely (10-12 hours a day every day if he's not in a job) - he knew questions that could in no sense have been accumulated by general knowledge, but instead must have been by dint of seeing them before and learning them. Having said that, his GK was obviously top-flight; we had a question about the year of death of a particular composer and Suri knew all the birth and death dates of the other options as well. He certainly wasn't some kind of maladjusted weirdo - he seemed very pleasant, in fact.

I was *sorely* tempted to ask him whether he read Fruitchat, just as I was tempted to ask him whether he fancied joining our quiz league team; however, both seemed far too forward and I had a train to catch. If I see him again (which is not beyond the realms of plausibility as he said he was based near Waterloo) I will ask him these things!

Cool, is Wolf the same as Hyena who has been talked about occasionally?

theoak · Post by **theoak** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:06 pm

I was intregued at the comment on memory not being important. I would certainly NOT say everybody is on a level playing field in terms of memory regardless of how they 'go about using it'.

QuizMaster · Post by **QuizMaster** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:14 pm

I agree with Cool about 'upping your game' when you've seen a bona fide pro in action. For one thing, they serve to prove that it is possible to transpose a combination of hard work, practice and intelligence into rewards.

And it is always sixth sense. You just know when a pro is on a machine. Likewise you know when somebody watches you whilst you play whether they are a pro or not. Punters watch in awe, pros tend to watch in envy.

I got on the ladder originally by playing for fun and occasional profit, and it wasn't until I saw a pro in action that my blinkers were lifted, and I realised what you could do if you worked hard enough. But I also knew that I was never going to compete with the guy I saw, so I started playing in different areas to where he frequented. Occassionally our paths would cross again, but not enough to make a difference. How long have you been playing machines? And you've never bumped into him before have you?

London is a big place and Suri already knows there's a better man than him in town. But that doesn't stop him does it?

If you played Phil Taylor at darts you could do one of three things:

1. Think 'I'm never going to be that good, so I'll pack up darts'
2.Think 'If that fat fucker can do it so can I'
3. Think 'Fuck me he's good, but I like darts so I'll carry on playing'

I suppose it all depends on your life philosophy really - is the glass half empty or half full? Or have you drunk it all already and are too pissed to play quiz machines?

Here endeth today's lesson.

QM

theoak · Post by **theoak** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:18 pm

Hmm its not so much a life philosphy. If you were in a league with just you and fat-boy youd be too right to pack it in, but as you said, move into a different league by moving away from him and his ability is irrelevent, OR learn his route and get ahead of him

Terry Tibbs · Post by **Terry Tibbs** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:32 pm

cool wrote:Except where people are in direct competition with each other e.g word up comp its pretty irrelevant who is the best. The only distinction of interest to me is who makes a living from it and who doesn't, although I respect that other players interests are different from mine. I believe its bollocks that he is retired and lives from his investments. I could say the same and yet I am playing machines as much as I have ever done. Each person regards I believe the area in which they play as their empire , and as such the machines they play as their machines. Thats one of the reasons I get so annoyed about being banned. I dont like being watched particularly if the person watching appears to be a pro (you get a sixth sense). On occasions Ive walked out of pubs leaving drinks/credits behind. Ive no interest in watching anybody else win on a machine, if anybody is playing it on entry I go to another pub. If its a pro I go around like a bullet to spoil their day. Low returns for them means low frequency of re-visit. Sorry for deviating from original point!

wow - i take it being a pro is quite a paranoid existance?