Your MMR/PSR ?

I play as Raptor517, feel free to friendlist me

1527 MMR (I never said I was good!)
129 wins 131 losses (Never reset my stats, it was a slow start)
1.22:1 K/D
3.29:1 A+K/D
2.0 wards placed
117.9 APM
86.3 CK
14.8 CD

I think that is all the semi relevant stats. I really haven't played all that many games compared to some people. I did play like 3 games today though, yay productivity.

i feel like an italian trying to read chinese for the first time seing this reply

As a philosophy student, a poker player and a grappler who also practiced BJJ, i've always wanted to discuss with you

Its strange because i've looked up the school you did your first two years and i wanted so badly to be there. It looks like people have had the best of their time at your school in new mexico (i think its there though im not sure).

I'm french and programs between the US and EU are very different in philosophy, though yours looked a lot more like ours at your school. I remember reading about you having done an essay about Nicomac's Ethics that i was studying at the same time. I wonder what you think of his ethics Or whose ethics you feel the more attracted to or the more familiate with.

Tell me also what you're reading right now! Its strange because we have many common points and through my research I ve find that there is always a connection. I mean, like a circle of people that likes and appreciate each other work. For instance, Lucrece, Spinoza, Stendhal, Dostoievski, Nietzsche, Rilke, Wittgenstein and Foucault know a lot about each other work and respect it. Sometimes, they even found inspiration in each other work. They are what i call this circle of friends that transcend time. They are my friends, maybe my best friends. Always here for me, always interesting and admirable, always asking me to climb to their level.

Do you have affinities with any of those ? Me, i have a lot!

If not, what philosophers you feel the more alike ? Who inspire you ?

PS: I'm reading Beckett first work right now, Molloy.

Do you have any views on the opportunity costs of poker or its social impacts in general? More specifically, what do you think about capable, intelligent, disciplined people devoting their time and energy to playing poker vis-a-vis other more productive things they could be doing with their time and talent?

This is not directed at you personally (I admire that you seem committed to your university course - even though you could make good money playing poker full-time).

How much of your success is down to the fact that you seem very social ? In theory could it even be possible to reach the level you are on doing every bit of studying on your own ? Neglegting the fact that it would be a miserable life . Great well thank you alot !

If you've already been asked this I apologize. I'm currently making the jump to heads up. I've watched Krantz's videos at DC, they helped. I just read Moshman's new heads up no limit book. It was ok. Other than one on one coaching, is there a book or video series or heck even a magazine article that you would recommend for HU NL or PLO?

I think, in general, poker players overrate the intelligence of poker players. Because we got very good at a relatively simple game in which large sums of money are involved, we think we can easily be successful at anything. While I think this is a trend for gamers in general, the large sums of money involved in poker tend to heighten these feelings of superiority over the rest of mankind.

That said, there are a lot of really smart people in this game. Poker probably pulls some away from doing something really great. Poker also can make those people a lot of money while young that they can use later in life to do something really great that they may not have been able to do otherwise. It is impossible to know, or at least, I don’t have the answer.

In theory it would be possible, but a large part of my learning process was talking to friends on aim, posting up hand histories, 2p2, sweating good players, just always talking about poker with my poker friends (many of whom have become my closest friends). I can’t say whether it would work for anyone else, but it certainly wouldn’t have worked for me.

I really haven't read anything or watched any HU videos. I just played a lot and watched other people that were better than me play. The closest you can get to that is watching HU videos. I have done a couple which are decent, though I am sure there are better ones out there now.

Calling myself a philosophy student is probably a bit unfair. A classics student would be a much more accurate description, at least over the last couple years. Here is a link to my reading list for Freshman and Sophomore year.

http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/academic/SFreadlist.shtml

I read and discussed everything on it. I liked Nicomachean Ethics a lot, but I wouldn’t say I loved or was super passionate about anything there. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy a lot of the stuff, but I don’t think I share the love you share for those works. Wish I did though

ahah you even got some of Thomas of Aquinas, its really funny seeing how we've studied nearly the same things. My first school was very Aquinas oriented, actually it was a Thomistic school - maybe you know about this movement, its the official philosophy of the Vatican. I didnt like it very much, though we did have some modern philosophy (from Descartes to Kant's first two critic) we focused a lot on Aristotelian work such as his Physic, his Ethic and his Logic. 2 hours of Latin every week where we will study Aquinas commentary about some of Aristotle work we were working on. I hated latin because of it until i read Lucrece and wanted more.

As you, i left the school before completing the full years, though we would have studied Hegel in the 3rd year, there was too much of metaphysics stuff to bear with, i was beginning to feel sick ahha. Im at La sorbonne now, and feeling alot better.

I remember you saying you wouldnt mind being in alone in a moutain working on something, writing about it. Do you know what you would work on ? If you werent passionate about the work you ve read, what writings are you passionate about ?

I mean we played poker, we both took a semester off at the same time to focus on our studies. We both came back because of the excitement of Isildur. I had my best months at those moments, you did too though i went broke taking a shot at the nosebleed ahah. We both practice BJJ and we've studied a lot of the same work. Come on there should be at least an author or a field you are passionate about that i have at least heard of

And now i remember your diet thread on 2+2 and i laugh because i got myself into it recently and im trying to eat super healthy and natural food that would help me being better at everything that involved strength !

what poker variant do you think takes the most skill to master? like what game would be most interesting if it got to the level highstakes nlhe is now

Dont know if your still answering questions in this thread but if you are (I am sure you have answered these before but in case you haven't)
1. Whats your biggest NL downswing in BI's and over how meny hands.
2. Same question for PLO
thanks really appreciate it.

raptor: since you said you only sometimes watch MMA clips here's a very good/entertaining K1 video watch it when you need a 10 minute break from studying. Very good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvlFo...&feature=share