Very impressive work ethic mate. How many hows do you think youre averaging a day since this challenge started?

Week 13, Day 1

If I am on an absolute-omniscient-celestial-transcendental-Godlike rungood live, online has been an inferno-abysmal-hellish-downward spiral : +100$ live in 4h, -500$ online in 7h.

Without looking into my stats, I would guess 54h/week. Thx man, I am indeed a very disciplined and determined fellow and have been meditating 2h/day for over a decade now, hence the origins of my work ethics. This said, my grind will be more slack when I get back to Asia, something like 35-40h/week.

Cheers man. I most admit, I find myself ahead of the most optimistic expectations I could of had ; I will nonetheless not get complacent and I do hope to continue to run good, especially in life

Notable linguistic hilarity of the day :

You know what we call a nut low IQ person in French... a 2 Funny, isn't it, when you think of it!!! At least I thought it was hilarious, when the thought crossed my mind while playing hi/lo tonight

Hey guys, has anyone put enough volume at the FF 100 tables? I played today, and it was even softer than the Snap tables... I'd be curious to hear from someone with a decent sample size... (PM me if you don't want to post ITT...).

Challenge : +26, 430.76$

If you alreay spend time playing online, why you dont play for big money mtt?
At least once in a week...

Week 13, Day 2

Despite the purity of online poker - or the fact that you need to work a ton on your game in order to plug in your leaks to avoid bankroll drainage and subsequent wreckage -, God do I hate those swings Upswong for 900$, only to see myself cliff drop all earnings and then a few

And while I am slightly tilted, lets talk about semi-pros. Every poker room has them, every city in the world has the aspiring pro - the guy in between jobs, at crossroads, the retired B/E nit player - but I am not talking about these fellows, no, I am talking about that annoying-delusional-know-it-all-has-been-reg-fish that has seen it all, done it all. Perhaps he sold drugs to support his fishy habits, or dumped the majority of his savings, scammed money or other dubious origins, yet this dude knows EVERYTHING there is to know about the game

You see, this obnoxious-****head is the guy we all have to put up with, as he is inherently part of the scenery (he would be nothing without the latter...), is that greasy voice that mutters "hey, you are playing good, almost as good as me, chuckle, chuckle " or even more patronizing "hey buddy, you might even be better than me " ; bag him up and stuff him in the trunk, ffs [

[/QUOTE]=shayhg;47941156]If you alreay spend time playing online, why you dont play for big money mtt?
At least once in a week...[/QUOTE]


I take the occasional shot in the Majors and plan on playing 2 live tournaments of 2k buy-ins this winter, but for the duration of this challenge, the season ending tournaments will be the extent of my shot taking. The Mike McDermott in me has died, hence being replaced by Joey Knish : a good hourly has become more important than making a big score, yet I take shots, bankroll permitting.

Challenge : +26, 053.29$

Week 13, Day 3

Stuck in between a rock and a hard place. At my house : the hyper-frantic energy of a ton kids, gathered for the little girl's birthday ; at the casino : a lack of action, as only 1 other player showed up for the game. +600$ online in 4h.

Albeit no players showed up, I still hung out at the casino for 2h, had me some steak + lobster and watched the first show. It is good to sit back, take some distance and observe the grass grow for a few seconds...




The art of watching grass grow a 100bbs stack playing perfect GTO : neither going up, nor down


Yes I am still thankful to play this game for a living after 4 years If the first 2 years were more about the thrill of the ride - gangsta yo -, a certain sense of serenity has since settled in... One long wonderful session Perhaps the lack of compassion and giving associated with the grind will eventually get to me, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Will put in volume tonight online, but considering I am north of 93% for both Platinum and Palladium, it will be an easy end to the month


Challenge : +26, 668.68$

Week 13, Day 4

Jeez I always have prided myself with my tuned in awareness at the table, yet I keep being the victim of lapses of mindlessness : I almost mucked the winning hand in a 850$ pot at showdown Sure, having the nut flush on the turn in the 10-20 08 game made me forget about my 2 pairs, so when the river pared the top card, I almost mucked the 3rd nut fullhouse to a lower fh I guess I am getting older and must double check my cards at showdown... +1300$ in 4h.

As far as online goes, I have been averaging 3bbs/100 in 100 NLHE speed games, which is barely more profitable than my 6bbs/100 at 50 NLHE... Considering the added stress of the bigger swings, I don't think a slightly better Rakeback justifies playing 100... Bah, this is something I will reassess after this challenge, or at least study/ try to beat it for 4bbs/100. B/E in 6h online.


Challenge : +27, 996.73$

Week 13, Day 5

So many issues go understated... In the game. In life. Tilt, emotional balance, bankroll management, keeping ego in check... All underrated, me thinks, and subjects I use to overlook in my drunken noob days (even though I was a crusher).

Maybe it is that defying nature in us, but I believe we focus too much on the skill level of the game, thus omitting our existential approach to it... Do we do it for a living? To prove something? To conquer, challenge ourselves or to stimulate our brain?

Some good thoughts to contemplate upon when I look around the table and see a few recs, that while B/E in the game, are definitely not life fishes... And, in all honesty, would you rather be a fish in life or in the game? +600$ live in 5h, -100$ online in 1h.


Challenge : +28, 503.50$

Week 13, Day 6

Am tired. It felt golden to skip out on the tournament today, lay in bed and catch 10h of sleep... Slept like a baby

Funny to hear a few people anticipating the season ending tournaments, as all I can think about is putting an end to this season, to this challenge...

Not only was variance not on my side tonight, but I definitely did not show up with my A game. To the extent where I bet-folded AK on a KJ9cc flop, where the tight 3x raiser had an SPR of 5 (a clear X-call scenario). Did play an interesting hand though vs a guy from Fairbanks - new comer -, when he kindly showed 1 of his cards after going all-in :

After a straddle and couple of limpers, I squeeze to 30$ with 77 and get 2 callers.

Flop (101$)
K105

Alaskan dude shoves for 95$, villain 2 folds and I am about to do the same when our friend asks us if we want to see 1 card ; I happily oblige. He flips over the 5

-350$ in 7h live. I am telling you folks, it is hard - real hard - to lose even 1 session in this game Example of hand at the end of the night : after a flop of 150$ and Kx turn with 3 clubs on board, villains shoves for 650$ with K5

+400$ online in 2h. It is at times strenuous to switch from online to live for 20 hands/h, especially when drunken players are inadvertently slowing down the action


Challenge : +28, 544.15$

Week 13, Day 7

I kinda knew that there was going to be little to no action tonight at the casino, nevertheless felt the need to get out of the house... Had to patiently wait 1h for a game to get going though, which made my ipod come in quite handy ; you guys familiar at all with Jane's Addiction :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL2XWp47QE0

Summertime's Rolls by Jane's Addiction. A listening ritual adopted by my buddy and myself to sit down and fully engage the tune in light of each upcoming summer


Also listened to the entirety of Downward Spiral by NIN while waiting for players to show up This album opens a breach into a heroin's universe, intimately linking us, listeners, to his manic mood swings, depressive state of mind, being hope or despair... This album kinda reflects the Grudge-alternative scene from the 90s, where not only was society presented as a hole, empty of signification, but self loathing was almost encouraged... Anyhow, on to poker

Despite this challenge going better than expected, I have not been playing well for the past couple of days, hence deciding to quit the game early : -500$ in 4h. The action was lacking, too nitty and definitely did not warrant me dumping 500$ Anyhow, 2 weeks to go and time to get focused again




Upcoming Season Ending tournaments. Good time to run good, but more importantly, to remain centered


Latest post in my travel thread about the Bounty tournament :

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=271


Challenge : +28, 024.15$

Week 14, Day 1

Universal signs of the upcoming Yukon winter :

- Stepping outside the casino into the pitch darkness at 11h15pm (remember, we haven't seen a glimpse of darkness in just about 3 months...).

- The need for extensive hours of sleep ; suddenly our pillow becomes softer, our blankets cozier, the outside world less appealing...

- Having recurring thoughts of sunnier Asian destinations and repeating the few thousand kms trancelike trip a few times a day...

- Seeing the local population average age go up by a decade or so, after the transient 20-something-years-old flee the hardships of the imminent winter...

- Feeling the transitional winter blues.

After meditating for 1h this afternoon upon waking up, I went for a small hike to try to shake away this sticky, winter-blues-depressive-state that has been haunting me for the past couple of days.




View of the Yukon River seen from Crocus Bluff lookout spot. I once went on a hiking date with this young and pretty chick, brought the standard 2 bottles of wine for the hike, got as far as a few gulps in before having to retire in the bush and puke my guts out I was so hangover from the previous night that my body couldn't handle anymore alcohol intake Yup, I am the king of first impressions




Sage. The tundra is not too far up north from here, so when you go higher in altitude, you find desertic plants like this one ; best calming herb mix ever : some pot leaves, tobacco and sage Light it up, inhale... exhale




C4, a sub-section of Dawson. Despite this town having some houses with a ton of personality, some rural houses or cabins that would give a hard-on to any respectable hermit for a lifetime or so, why do remote northern towns also possess hideous-industrial-like-sub-sections It is beyond my comprehension...

I did play for 4h online after posting ITT for -300$, but will take the entirety of today off, making it my first full day off during the lapse of this challenge


Challenge : +27, 764.26$


Peace

Week 14, Day 2

You guys like reggae music at all?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiL-N49hRmM

Gentlemen, my second favorite DanceHall Reggae artists after Matisyahu. I use to be DJ for a reggae night, up here, in Dawson, until I transgressed one of the decade-old-traditions in the bar... You see, they would always close the evening at 2am with Sweet Home Alabama, a ritual that I thought to be a bit too redneckish... So I obviously wanted to be the first one to break this tradition, thus playing an extra 3 tunes past 2am Bombaclat!!! Revolution baby!!! Needless to say, but I lost my DJ gig that night, my notice handed to me in a most non-diplomatic manner

Played 2h online, booking a 150$ win in the process, but was not playing that great, so decided to hit the casino despite it being Tuesday... +700$ in 2h Variance was going my way and so were my murder attempts :

After an EP raise and a MP call, I also call in CO with 78 only to see the button 3bet to 50$ ; it is folded around to me and I decide to defend OOP, which is definitely non-standard, but villain is terrified to play hands against me (his words).

Effective stacks, 500$ (villain has me covered)

Flop (133$)
AJ9

A flop that hits both of our ranges, but one that I am ready to give up on, until villain bets 40$, a tentative bet at best... Getting a great price, I make the call. Even OOP, I will most likely realize my backdoor equity and can potentially make a move, at least some of the time...

Turn (213$)
AJ9 A

A terrible card for us, but am pretty happy to see villain check back, giving me a chance to hit a 10...

River (233$)
AJ9 A 9

I decide to bluff as villain's range seems capped and make it 85$ ; villain almost snap-folds, decides better of it, tanks for 45 seconds, before mucking KK face-up

Outside of a few sparse hours, most of my action during the reminder of this challenge will be held on the live felt : the action is simply golden lately


Challenge : +28, 738.57$

You're almost there, enjoy the tail end know you won't try to force reaching the goal.

Love reggae, helped me a lot to reconnect with exploring new genres of music for some reason.

The slickers version is pretty good as well, love the harmonica though.


Crazy big O game down here in Tallahassee, bring some of that prospecting money down here brother and put it to work.



Oh yeh and Nicky Thomas has so many great songs, really soulful voice.

Week 14, Day 3

Almost there, almost there... just a few more days, yet we are in the midst of the calm before the storm, apparently, as it was deader than dead tonight at the casino : +125$ live in 2h, -50$ onine in 2h.

Haha Hank, I was thinking about you when I linked that reggae tune That second song is indeed soulful, sounds a lot like Burning Spear, me thinks... You probably heard of Easy Stars Allstars :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ6GxCHb2O0

Nevertheless, while 90s alternative and reggae remain great music to revisit, nothing will ever get me more emotionally invested then French-gypsy tunes :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTljFIe8a0Q

Anyhow guys, thx for reading and following, I really enjoyed doing this daily blog and most likely will repeat the experience in the future, during some tournament series or whatnot...




Where the Dawsonite dead souls rest... RIP




What the live souls can still lay their eyes upon...


Challenge : +28, 792.27$

Week 14, Day 4

The slot machines. An overbet on black at roulette. Blackjack. Alcohol. Drugs. The adrenaline rush. All these traps along the way, pitfalls at every step of the pros journey...

I visited the hells of the gambling world as my first 2 years of being pro ; I thought it was gangsta to drink like no tomorrow, to sleep all day, to walk with a few thousand in my pockets... Bombaclat The freedom that the lifestyle provided was like none other Yup, it did paint a smile on my face as I felt on top of the world... Little did I know that I was a life fish

A couple of years have since past, and I am no longer impressed by reg-fishes that have a knack for reads, know which board texture to check-raise or do not tremble underneath the pressure of that huge river bluff, nope, balance is where its at folks. In the game, sure, but mainly in life. -100$ live in 3h, -100$ online in 3h.

I was looking to cross that 30k line for the first time today, but I guess it wasn't in the books... Bah, it is a long process isn't it... Life, I mean...





Challenge : +28, 668.42$

Week 14, Day 5

Labor Day Weekend, AKA 17 softball teams invading our little town for drinking, gambling and drinking

Unfortunately, I did not show up with my A game - more like a D game -, played too many hands and had to compensate for my lack of equity by, for instance, donking flop with a gutter as a X/call was simply out of the question ; a poor justification, I must admit, for a preflop leak : no post-flop murders in the world can amend a looser than loose preflop range

So I subsequently tightened up, passed up on some marginal +EV high variance spots in order to keep my craving for action in check... I think that part of my action-craving-tilt is that I did not get a good night of sleep yesterday, the other half being that I did not play 500-1000 hands online before venturing to the casino, something I religiously do in order to not sway away from a TAGish style : -550$ in 6h live.




The old lady got me tonight I have been good so far, dodging her blows, outsmarting her every move, but sometimes, sometimes... she just gets the best of me


Was doing some small talk with a poker buddy today, when the subject of losing at gambling came to light, with him mentioning that "I wouldn't know too much about it ". Funny how some people visualize the life of a pro as an upward graph devoid of downswings... Jeez buddy, if there is anything I have learnt pretty darn well, is how to lose as a pro : +200$ online in 3h.

Time to get focused again and finally cross that 30k line this weekend, me hopes


Challenge : +28, 365.42$

Week 14, Day 6

A daily battle. War. An existential struggle. Not so much the walk to get to the casino - which is a melodious mix of ipod tunes, fresh air and eye candy scenery -, but, beforehand : the mental preparations of meditation, eating healthy and sufficient exercising and on the felt : the existential struggle with self. Ego. Mental swings. Yup, a constant battle to keep our mood swings in check, such is the life of a pro... +900$ in 5h live, -100$ in 1h online.

Told you guys about the 17 softball teams in town... the canteen by the ballpark was burning hell tonight




Looks like it might be the postgame actions of sore losers, me thinks


Any of you guys from Eastern Europe? I realize that Emir Kusturica might be a polarizing figure in that part of the world, but it nevertheless does not take away from the magnificent movies he directed (think Life is a Miracle, Underground, The Time of the Gypsies etc.) and the great tunes his band composed, as he also does the music score for his movies :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-YysjZneto

While his movies are definitely not musical, the music scores have an integral part in all of the narratives Where would the world be at without some gipsy tunes




Tombestone National Park ; colors are most definitely out


Challenge : +29, 169.74$

Week 14, Day 7

"It must feel great to have everyone terrified of playing against you" comments my buddy at the table, after another player refused to tangle with me. I let the words dissipate, as an answer is not appropriate nor expected... yet, from an exploitative game perspective, I truly love it : if a LAG's biggest advantage is to define villain's ranges with nonstop aggression and a TAG's is range advantage, I hold the double advantage of benefitting from a tight preflop hand selection while intimidating villains into playing their hands face-up... of course it is insanely profitable

After my buddy's brother just came back from a 2 day hike, we were talking about the intrepid adventurers that come up to the Yukon, and here are a few memorable stories :

- French ragtag traveler hikes, bikes and canoes a few thousand kilometers in the wintertime : http://www.yukon-news.com/life/close...ost-adventurer

- Ensues his morbid outcome (that I just found out about, while google searching ) : http://www.adn.com/article/20140718/...coast:diamond:

- After hitching up to Inuvik on a week road trip with my gf, we meet 2 hippie dudes at the camp ground that had just spent the past 4 months up a mountain, studying rocks and sediments for a geological masters degree project They carried with them enough supplies for a 4 month stint away from civilization, pretty intense

One week left for this challenge folks and time to get centered/run good for the biggest week of the summer +100$ live in 4h.


Challenge : +29, 282.54$

It seems that second link to the French traveler's end is not working... lets give this one a try : http://www.adn.com/article/20140718/...f-alaska-coast

Week 15, Day 1

It was a golden, Godsent, magnificent Indian summer splendid day Went by the river, laid in the sun, put on some tunes and enjoyed it like none other... Don't know why, but felt a sense of release today... really at ease, at peace... Perhaps because this challenge is coming to an end and that I am close to crushing it... Perhaps...

Being a teenager in the 90s and all, alternative music has been an integral part of my life, but am not a big fan of the alternative bands since then... Until I came across Alt J !!! You guys heard of them :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcVRrlmpcWk


Unlike recent alt bands, they actually innovate, introduce a poppy new sound to the overplayed genre...

And while we are at it, because I am taking time off from the grind and to indulge in my love for lists, a few movies you never heard of from the past few years that I highly recommend :

- Short Term 12 : Done on a budget of an odd million or so, this inside look into delinquent kids is both refreshing and disturbing (even its melodramatic tendencies can be forgiven, given its interesting character development...)/

- Enemy : Does reality seem troubling at times... uncanny, unreal... Jake Gyllenhaal takes us on a slow and deliberate journey into the torturous nature of, well, you will see

- Smashed : For someone that has had a past in alcohol addiction, I can whole heartedly relate to this movie that avoids all the overplayed clichés of going dry (cough, cough... Flight). Great to see Jesse Pinkman in a role outside of Breaking Bad

- Coherence : A little known solid time travelling sci-fi movie. This is an absolute gem, and should be included with movies like Moon as top notch low budget sci-fi movies.

- Frequencies : As in the case of Coherence, this sci-fy flick reaches higher heights on a relative low budget, yet had everything in place to be a masterpiece, but fail short... Still very solid and should be discovered.

Anyhow, am playing online tonight, but will be at the casino for the reminder 7 days of this challenge, where the action should be great +500$ online in 3h.


Challenge : +29, 817.75$

Week 15, Day 2

The calm before the storm, one must suspect, as the action was dead tonight : -100$ in 20 min live.

Made 300$ in 2h online, crossed the 30k line for the first time , only to see myself dip back down with my live stint




And a few pics from a Dawsonite that has quite an eye for photography :




Winter is almost upon us, or at least upon our summits








Challenge : +30, 023.82$

gg on crossing that 30k mark!

must be hard putting in that kind of volume when you can just go for a hike to Alaska..
I mean... Alaska, Alaska! so huge^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVYW3uWUhNM

Grats on the 30k! Truly crushing this challenge!

Week 15, Day 3

I am slightly concerned about feeling bummed out today Don't feel like playing poker for the life of me, which would be fine, if the biggest weekend of the summer wasn't starting tomorrow : +100$ online in 3h.

Once again, the casino had nothing but nitty-limping action to offer : 30$ in 20 minutes.


Thx man I must admit, after the slow start to the challenge, there was times where I was doubting the turtle-like upward pace of my progression... But things are looking pretty darn good, one must think


Haha, yeah, I really enjoyed Into the Wild, both reading and watching it

I always have put in a ton of volume workwise in the summer time, oftentimes more than 60h/week when I was a chef

Intriguing fact, but not only is Dawson neighboring the northern Alaskan border, but it closes September 20th for the winter, given the lack of traffic in these parts Yup, that is how far north we are...


People will start to roll into town tomorrow, thus officially commencing the White Ram weekend You know, in the past, I thought it was more about outplaying, outsmarting villains, but the new TAGish me is more about realizing that all these Alaskans and Yukoners coming into town want a TON OF ACTION And I need to do is sit back, go to war with a balanced mind and a preflop range advantage and let the monies come to me baby

Alright folks, before attacking this long weekend of cards, a few last landscape pics to bring this thread to an almost closure :




Buddy just went on a 2 day hike and brought back some beautiful images




Winter is coming, so says GOT Perfect timing to put an end to this challenge


Challenge : +30, 173.07$

White Ram, Day 1

Manifold were the players to roll into town today, to the extent where 35 of us were waiting at 7pm for the casino to open its doors Some friendly faces which I was more than glad to see, and some on the obnoxious side, making ipod the best invention in the history of mankind It is quite fascinating how poker can gather some of the most interesting people while also alluring some greasy types into its game...

Made a few nitty folds that remain profitable in the long run (second nut low draw on turn or the likes), but just disappointing to leave about 500$ on the table : +350$ in 10-20 Omaha 08 (this game should be running all weekend). Best Thursday of White Ram to date : 3500$.

Part of me feels guilty for not partaking in the afterhours games - they will run until 10-12 tomorrow -, but just don't have the mind on the grind, nor the patience to be surrounded by drunken folks... Bah, the weekend is just starting...

Tomorrow is the 135$ + 50$ rebuys (for 2h) tournament, a total crapshoot, TBH, considering the hyper structure, yet the cash games should be juicy.


Challenge : +30, 436.49$

White Ram, Day 2

The daunting thing about this weekend, is that, despite the great action and softness of the field, it remains sky high variance : you invest about 1500-2000$ in tournament buy-ins, cross your fingers, roll the dice and hope that luck falls your way, meanwhile trying to compensate the price tag through the cash games : -550$ in the limit rebuy MTT, -250$ live and -300$ online

It is almost 5am folks, I am exhausted, tensed and need some meditation before my 6h of sleep... I promise to put in more effort ITT after the weekend...


Challenge : +29, 346.24$