calling it a day , , , well sort of
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:49 pm
warning , the following will be long , self indulgent and boring ,,,,,,,,,, you have been warned
ive been at this game a very very long time ,,,,, more than most on here ,,,,, even before a few members of this site were born
when i started 6quid up on the day was considered very impressive , ,,,,,,,,, now its considered a cheap board
i started out around 14 playing the video games and gradually moved on to the 2p fruits ,cutting my teeth on the likes of master spy , rat race, test pilot etc. at 16 i joined a yts getting paid 30quid a week on a friday , and walking home potless the same night was a semi regular occurrence lol,,,,, eventually i met the right players who taught me the ropes etc and made me realise that if treated right , this could make a decent living, and so graduated on to the pubs etc, , , it was hard going for a few years , just making a few quid each week to supliment my giro , it was the token years , paymaster , mhg , stretton , associated leisure , ,,,,, and you only had a few options with what to do with em , some pubs allowed you to buy drinks with them , others you had little choice but to put them back , and even back then on certain machines there was dodgy programming involved where it was quite possible to put 40quids worth of tokens in a machine for no board , but put real cash in and get a board straight away ,,,, wtf robbing bastards lol Anyhow that all changed with the arrival of £10 all cash machines , finally i found it possible to not only make a living but to be able to save money in the bank too
the last 15 or so years have been a roller coaster ride , ive met some true friends , and a multitude of different players from all over the uk ,,,,,,,, without mentioning names theres been the players who have lived for today and spent everything they've earnt , and then theres been the players who have saved religiously , now have literally hundreds of thousands in the bank or property , but have missed out on so many of lifes experiences , one such player never even started a relationship with a girlfriend till he was in his thirty's and was never interested in taking a holding anywhere anytime , he was all about the pursuit of money 7 days a week and now has two houses , fair play to him i suppose
ive personally tried to find a happy medium , ive been america 3times (once for a month lol) ,,,,, thailand , all over europe numerous times , took days off , had relationships , been married twice , bought every game console and new tech gadget and toy available , ive lost count of the tv's dvd's blue ray players etc that ive bought ,,,,,,,, ive never had to stick to a food budget like a lot of families do buying one chinese meal as a treat once a fortnight etc ,,,,, fuck that ,,,,,,,, lol ,,,,,,, and on top of all this have some savings too
regrets ? ,,,,,,,, well of course ,,,,,,,,, i regret not saving more , i regret never going to college to get some decent qualifications , i regret not maximising time spent on fruits ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, or do i ? ,,,,,,, you see i strongly believe that the last 15 years have provided opportunity to have earnt and saved probably as much as half a million quid , but that this could have only been achieved by an equal amount of regimented sacrifice from every other rich aspect from the tapestry of life ,,,,,,,,,, and all work n no play makes jack the dull boy n all.
so whats the point of all this then ? ,,,,,,,,, well i feel the fruit scene is now a very different place to be ,,,,,,,,,, im old , theres little sense of amusement anymore , im finding it harder and harder to trudge round pub after pub , the fire is at an all time high , players are becoming more and more territorial , all the new machines are pretty dross (but hey fair play to any of you on new stuff) ,,,,,,,,, old good earners like mists etc are slowly getting relegated to the shit hole estate pubs (more fire) , ,,,,,,,,,, ok some days are still 300 plus , but getting rare because im having to travel more and incur more expenses to fewer units with more heat ,,,,,,,,,, some days ive been out 16 hours to earn less than 20 quid or even have losses ,,,,,,,,,, , it seems to me also that the ''edge'' has been declining too , (im not talking about single units , of course you can make a quick ton on one machine still) ,,,,,,,,,, im talking the overall edge of the odds in the pro's favour of a week in week profit outcome ,,,,,,,,,,,,, i dont know , maybe its just me but i think the 90% chance of coming home up , has dropped dramatically to around 60% ,,,,,,,,,,,, in short lately it feels more like gambling than pro playing .
overall , the above , plus my general lack of enthusiasm etc has eventually wore me down ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
ive simply had enough ,,,,,,,,,,, 20 odd years has taken its toll on me both physically and mentally ,,,,,,,,,, even if £100 jp's are around the corner , even if things were to dramatically improve financially with the arrival of new methods etc
ive still had enough
i want to do something else now ,,,,,,,,,,,,as much as i dont relish the thought of working for somebody else (its a huge psychological hurdle ) , at least my outgoings are relatively small , i only need around 600 a month coming in to tick over nicely ,,,,,,,,, and so a part time job would suit my needs as main source of ( guaranteed ) income ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and maybe 2 days amonth playing fruits would be far more enjoyable , just to keep my hand in , in fact maybe just a couple of times a month would be relish'd with more vigour and enthusiasm ? hmmm
on top of all this i may be getting banned from driving in a few weeks anyhow (not that it mattered too much , i had a dole boy on stand by) ,,,,,,,, but i deserve it , as far as driving goes ,,,,,, im simply a cock .
anyhow a job may be very difficult to get , but we have savings and a little income from tracys buying and selling lark ,
or if we started to dig into savings a little too uncomfortably , we always have the option to move in my parents large house etc and cut outgoings by 70%
i'll still have my contacts , i'll still have the odd day out with martin george etc ,,,,,,,,,,,,, and i'll still come on here for the banter (what would life be without a one liner insult from kesh now n again ? LOL)
but as for full time playing ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, thats it
cheers , lee.
ps , being in hospital lately , and seeing my family all there to support me , has also made me realise that i dont see enough of them , that theres more to life than money , and that my decision to quit full time will allow me to make amends
ive been at this game a very very long time ,,,,, more than most on here ,,,,, even before a few members of this site were born
when i started 6quid up on the day was considered very impressive , ,,,,,,,,, now its considered a cheap board
i started out around 14 playing the video games and gradually moved on to the 2p fruits ,cutting my teeth on the likes of master spy , rat race, test pilot etc. at 16 i joined a yts getting paid 30quid a week on a friday , and walking home potless the same night was a semi regular occurrence lol,,,,, eventually i met the right players who taught me the ropes etc and made me realise that if treated right , this could make a decent living, and so graduated on to the pubs etc, , , it was hard going for a few years , just making a few quid each week to supliment my giro , it was the token years , paymaster , mhg , stretton , associated leisure , ,,,,, and you only had a few options with what to do with em , some pubs allowed you to buy drinks with them , others you had little choice but to put them back , and even back then on certain machines there was dodgy programming involved where it was quite possible to put 40quids worth of tokens in a machine for no board , but put real cash in and get a board straight away ,,,, wtf robbing bastards lol Anyhow that all changed with the arrival of £10 all cash machines , finally i found it possible to not only make a living but to be able to save money in the bank too
the last 15 or so years have been a roller coaster ride , ive met some true friends , and a multitude of different players from all over the uk ,,,,,,,, without mentioning names theres been the players who have lived for today and spent everything they've earnt , and then theres been the players who have saved religiously , now have literally hundreds of thousands in the bank or property , but have missed out on so many of lifes experiences , one such player never even started a relationship with a girlfriend till he was in his thirty's and was never interested in taking a holding anywhere anytime , he was all about the pursuit of money 7 days a week and now has two houses , fair play to him i suppose
ive personally tried to find a happy medium , ive been america 3times (once for a month lol) ,,,,, thailand , all over europe numerous times , took days off , had relationships , been married twice , bought every game console and new tech gadget and toy available , ive lost count of the tv's dvd's blue ray players etc that ive bought ,,,,,,,, ive never had to stick to a food budget like a lot of families do buying one chinese meal as a treat once a fortnight etc ,,,,, fuck that ,,,,,,,, lol ,,,,,,, and on top of all this have some savings too
regrets ? ,,,,,,,, well of course ,,,,,,,,, i regret not saving more , i regret never going to college to get some decent qualifications , i regret not maximising time spent on fruits ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, or do i ? ,,,,,,, you see i strongly believe that the last 15 years have provided opportunity to have earnt and saved probably as much as half a million quid , but that this could have only been achieved by an equal amount of regimented sacrifice from every other rich aspect from the tapestry of life ,,,,,,,,,, and all work n no play makes jack the dull boy n all.
so whats the point of all this then ? ,,,,,,,,, well i feel the fruit scene is now a very different place to be ,,,,,,,,,, im old , theres little sense of amusement anymore , im finding it harder and harder to trudge round pub after pub , the fire is at an all time high , players are becoming more and more territorial , all the new machines are pretty dross (but hey fair play to any of you on new stuff) ,,,,,,,,, old good earners like mists etc are slowly getting relegated to the shit hole estate pubs (more fire) , ,,,,,,,,,, ok some days are still 300 plus , but getting rare because im having to travel more and incur more expenses to fewer units with more heat ,,,,,,,,,, some days ive been out 16 hours to earn less than 20 quid or even have losses ,,,,,,,,,, , it seems to me also that the ''edge'' has been declining too , (im not talking about single units , of course you can make a quick ton on one machine still) ,,,,,,,,,, im talking the overall edge of the odds in the pro's favour of a week in week profit outcome ,,,,,,,,,,,,, i dont know , maybe its just me but i think the 90% chance of coming home up , has dropped dramatically to around 60% ,,,,,,,,,,,, in short lately it feels more like gambling than pro playing .
overall , the above , plus my general lack of enthusiasm etc has eventually wore me down ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
ive simply had enough ,,,,,,,,,,, 20 odd years has taken its toll on me both physically and mentally ,,,,,,,,,, even if £100 jp's are around the corner , even if things were to dramatically improve financially with the arrival of new methods etc
ive still had enough
i want to do something else now ,,,,,,,,,,,,as much as i dont relish the thought of working for somebody else (its a huge psychological hurdle ) , at least my outgoings are relatively small , i only need around 600 a month coming in to tick over nicely ,,,,,,,,, and so a part time job would suit my needs as main source of ( guaranteed ) income ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and maybe 2 days amonth playing fruits would be far more enjoyable , just to keep my hand in , in fact maybe just a couple of times a month would be relish'd with more vigour and enthusiasm ? hmmm
on top of all this i may be getting banned from driving in a few weeks anyhow (not that it mattered too much , i had a dole boy on stand by) ,,,,,,,, but i deserve it , as far as driving goes ,,,,,, im simply a cock .
anyhow a job may be very difficult to get , but we have savings and a little income from tracys buying and selling lark ,
or if we started to dig into savings a little too uncomfortably , we always have the option to move in my parents large house etc and cut outgoings by 70%
i'll still have my contacts , i'll still have the odd day out with martin george etc ,,,,,,,,,,,,, and i'll still come on here for the banter (what would life be without a one liner insult from kesh now n again ? LOL)
but as for full time playing ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, thats it
cheers , lee.
ps , being in hospital lately , and seeing my family all there to support me , has also made me realise that i dont see enough of them , that theres more to life than money , and that my decision to quit full time will allow me to make amends