Loss of a Friend, A Break from Online...

First of all I want to start of this blog entry by paying tribute to my dear friend, Charlie Haddon (centre). Chazz very sadly committed suicide on Friday while his band, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, were in Belgium at a music festival.

Apparently, he jumped from a telecommunications mast behind the stage shortly after the band finished their set. The reason is said to be because he severely injured a member of the crowd when performing a stage dive and was overcome with guilt. It is an incredibly sad time for his family, friends and all that loved him and his music.

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool was formed with Joe Hutchinson (right, along with Caan Kapan), a childhood friend of mine, through whom I met Charlie. Their music and popularity had really begun to take off, and deservedly so. This tragic event is a massive loss to the music world.

Charles Alexander Haddon R.I.P.

The sad loss of Charlie has made me decide to take a break from player poker online and rekindle my friendships and associations with The International. I've withdrawn the last of my dollars from PokerStars to bring my withdrawal total up to £5,000 this month. I have contacted my former boss, Barry Martin, and will be arranging to meet up with him when he returns from holiday.

Charlie's death made me think about friendships that I have lost in the past. The community and the group of friends I had at The International was a huge part of my life for a long time, I made a massive mistake while I was there and lost it. I want to rectify that and return there.

I know inevitably it will be hard at first and people will not look at me in the same way, but if I can regain their trust and friendship then I believe that will make me a happier person once more. I want to spend less time playing online and more time in the company of friends, I believe I can make just as much money live as I can online but playing live offers so much more. I miss it a great deal, The Vic just isn't the same.

Today will be the last day I play online for at least a month. I'm currently playing an $8 rebuy, I've already played some PLO cash (and lost, I don't think I'm concentrating properly). I will play the Sunday Warm-up and then that's it for a little while.

Hopefully I'll do well when I play it, it'd be nice to take it down!