Day 55 of the Quarantine : Pushing the Limits

I have switched my grinding schedule to add a couple of hours from 1-3am to astonishing results, yet my body is taking a hit It is a financial over health situation, as the EV is simply to TITANIC to pass up with the same weak reg showing up every evening and the games being simply INCREDIBLE (albeit, I can only get 3-6 going @ 200-400), but then I find my body and mind in a permanent state of tension as I fall asleep around 6am and don't get the benefit of sound dreams The trade-off is worth it for now, but I will soon need a full day dedicated to meditation and Sunday (where I will be Netflixing-going shopping-chilling with L) can't come soon enuff This said, I am off to purchase tonight's dinner with L and grind a few hours beforehand.




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Day 56 of the Quarantine : Subjectivity

Have been having zoom calls with my family every Sunday evening, which I encouraged in making it a thing, as my folks have been secluded from not only their son who happens to have been a globe trotter for 2 decades+ , but now also find themselves unable to spend time with their 3 grand-children as well My sister, her husband and 2 kids did pop over to hangout on my folk's balcony last WE (first visitors in 2 months+), but no physical contacts were made and the contrived af situation brought tears to my Mom BTW, I never had as much respect for a mother's complete dedication to her child as I do know that I have fallen in love with a single mom that had it tough during the longevity of an abusive relationship and the subsequent move to a new country to start anew

Can we ever escape our own subjective - and human, TOO HUMAN - POV's... We try as poker players - or at least as rational folks - to rationalize every decision of the game tree. We push ourselves to see the light across myriads of fallacies, biaises, cognitive dissonances, superstitions, preconceptions etc., yet an impartial contemplation of what reality truly is, oftentimes (if not always) falls out of our grasp in the game of life... During this recent upswing of mine, confidence was slowly creeping in... Instilling my mind with partial thoughts of "ohh, this reg is so bad!", "how can one not win in this present ecosystem", "maybe the game has past by this fellow" and then I started challenging more regs to HU matches and naturally was pushing my weight around, right. And then I go ahead and lose my 4 previous sessions (small loses of -100 to -300$) in soft af fields... And as an example, I 3bet big AA vs the spot that calls my raise with Q3o, raises my flop cbet on J53r, GII on the turn and rivers the 3 and then it all comes back that we always remain vulnerable in the face of the nonsensical negative variance...

While spending time scrolling through my cousin's FB page swarming with conspiracy theories and interacting with some of his followers - until my cousin blocked me -, I managed to reach out and momentarily understand where this frustrated - if unbalanced - souls were coming from... We all seek to comprehend the nasty variance of this thing called Life that exposes us to the entropy of having explosive and juvenile energy as a young buck only to be exposed to decay from moment to moment... So when a (natural) advent like COVID-19 comes along and completely alters normalcy, we would rather pin down the nature of this calamity to an evil underlining force, as this narrative, as crazy as it might appear, remains more seducing for the rational mind then a sudden and inexorable manifestation of life that is a virus... Anyhow.




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Day 57 of the Quarantine : Injustice

The Blue dollar has now doubled since the start of La Cuarentena, thus completely shaking up the foundations of the economical landscape in these parts. The inflation levels are seemingly not too TITANIC just yet, albeit L has noticed significant increases in essential items like milk and whatnot But pricetags will get out of hand imminently, no doubt. No matter what the governmental tries to prevent it. Speaking of which, I am not sure who fully takes advantage of the discrepancy in between an official dollar rate of 70ARS$/1USD$ in comparison to the Blue of 138ARS$/1USD$ outside of foreigners (which the majority have took off) and street hustlers, but I suspect that certain government insiders manipulate the market to their advantage, especially now that the borders are shutdown and that a limited amount of USD$ is flowing in...

Winning the geographical lottery. Being a male. White. Healthy, (somewhat) Anglo-Saxon and from Christian ancestral backgrounds, it seems I have lucked out in just about every areas in my life. But with them comes of the (historical) responsibility of accepting the implicit oppression we indirectly caused, right, as even if the economy is not exactly a zero sum game, the structures of life remain in such an interdependent fashion that the piece of steak that is in your plate did come at the detriment of that poor cow And now in the midst of this financial situation in Argentina, which means that people like L do not see an increase in their salaries - and L is one of the top 20% lucky ones in earnings -, while my rent just went down 50%. As did the cost of my food. All this for a Dubnjoy000 that could easily afford to pay 2-3x for everything without even considering it ; the richer get richer and the poor just go fracking downnnn F**k do I hate those right-leaning dumb arses that believe that their fortune is due to work and determination Meritocracy does have a certain amount of merits, but come on now you fracking bozo

I can't seem to get any momentum going online as I took a 1k hit in 10 minutes this morning and -700$ in the following afternoon session I am 2nd in the RR so I do want to put in volume, but games suck as does variance right now. That said, am still lining up for 10-12k week post-RB

edit : ended up losing 3k+ today




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As we've discussed on the DGAF site, I've worked in a lot of "third world" countries, and you can make a big bet that the insiders are manipulating the various markets in country in their favor. I remember the first country I visited in Africa, Sierra Leone. I was doing a consultancy on access to medicines, and visited every major public health facility in the country. They were all out of stock of everything but aspirin and chloroquine. Unicef had recently made a big shipment of medicines which had apparently vanished from the dock to the Central Medical Stores. The country's chief pharmacist had to go with me on my trip around the country - he had obviously never been to most of the facilities. Meanwhile I noticed he was driving a brand new gold Mercedes and I learned he also ran a couple of private pharmacies :-).

My introduction to the real world. In Argentina I'll be very surprised if a default on debt is not coming. But as you point out we are the lucky ones.

Day 59 of the Quarantine : Flexibility

When the quarantine was first implemented I told myself that I would be updating this thread every single day. As a form of challenge. To adequately describe and monitor this happening that is this historic pandemic as we veer through it, as boring as the process might initially appear. And to perhaps keep a journal of that time that I was locked indoors for months on end in a foreign country, you know Anyhow, unbeknownst to me yesterday, I grinded, L showed up and then the combination of sushi, binging movies and a tv show just sidetracked me from doing so Which actually might convince me to go back to every other day of posting, but who knows...

As much as I was looking forward all week to going on a stroll with L today, when the time came, the thought of cuddling on the couch seemed more appealing then a walk solely based on running a few errands here and there ; I do miss having the liberty of chilling in a park, of hanging out in a cafe, of sitting outside on a peaceful patio while staring at the vibrant streets and passersby. Now that the bad weather is incoming, we might be several months away from even wanting to do so, but indulging in the outside world would still be cool, you know.

So the plan is now to get back to Canada from September-November which would give me enuff time to get some official shyt down (like gather birth certificate, renew my passport, get a criminal record check for my Argentina DNI) see family and friends - hopefully - and perhaps even get my car from the Yukon and drive it back to Montreal where I would also buy a house... Perhaps all of this will still be premature activities, but still nice to establish these plans you know

You seem to have had an AMAZING af life experience and have a tremendous amount of stories to tell. I was very happy to read your (abbreviated) life story on the DGAF platform Interesting side note : when I asked L where would be the place she would like to be/visit in the world, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her answer "the desert", also my favourite/most peaceful place I have had the joy of dwelling in




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QUOTE I asked L where would be the place she would like to be/visit in the world, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her answer "the desert", also my favourite/most peaceful place I have had the joy of dwelling in END QUOTE

Well if the virus allows us to travel again tell L that we have a guest room and would be glad to show you guys the Sonoran desert here in Tucson - much different than most deserts I think.

Day 60 of the Quarantine : The Light

Today I took an hour long walk for the first time in 2 months. Yup. 2 months. It felt as good as a glorious day after the desperate lack of sunshine during this extensive of a stretch probably sounds. And exponentially better I actually had goosebumps covering my body with those delightful vibrant tickles as I was walking towards the horizon with that golden warmth caressing me with that pure Vitamin D luv yo We are still not technically allowed to go strolling, but I plan on doing so on Monday-Wednesday-Friday (which coincides with the last number on my passport, as stated in the decreto) with a set destination in mind of buying a certain item each time. Speaking of which, it was really nice to load up on Quinoa, Nori sushi paper, risotto, dijon mustard today, now that I have extended my stay in my apartment until July and that I will not leave the country until at least September

It remains quite ironic how I have respected the rules established since La Cuarentena, something that the rebellious Dubnjoy has not been know as historically doing Part of it is maturity. Or respecting the decisions of the specialist that certainly know much more about the pandemic and Argentina culture. Also being foreigner, albeit that never stopped me in the past I do crave the liberties that is now granted in Montreal of being able to hangout in parks, which seems kind of surprising given the amount of cases over there... But then again, imposing too many restrictions to Quebecois just does not work And I guess that the tendency of Argentines of defying authority perhaps is at the source of the drastic measures over here... In the end, I envision both Argentines and Quebecois to be mightily culturally and collectively similar when it pertains to politically stances as revolting or taking the streets, yet both governments have approached the pandemic diametric opposite POV's

L and I had a zoom call with my family yesterday ; it was the first she met them. It was actually pretty fracking good to see the mixture of French-English-Spanish being thrown around, with my Dad being excited like a little kid to get to practice his rudimental Espanol



Nice friend, I would gladly would accept the offer/like to meetup if I am ever close to the area You seem like a very interesting fellow to sit down and have a chat with. Speaking of which, pretty much everybody that I have met through this thread have been amazing and I sure hope to meet more of your folks imminently




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QUOTE Nice friend, I would gladly would accept the offer/like to meetup if I am ever close to the area You seem like a very interesting fellow to sit down and have a chat with. Speaking of which, pretty much everybody that I have met through this thread have been amazing and I sure hope to meet more of your folks imminently QUOTE

I think that may be a function of you and your thread - attracts like minded folks I''d say.

Day 61 of the Quarantine : Fear

We all feel some level of anxiety when someone with prominent authority is inspecting us and holds substantial power over our outcome... Think of a thorough cross-examination at the border, a cop patronizing us, the father of our our first gf that is distinctively eyeing us at the family table... Today I went to sell some USD$ at the Blue rate to a trustworthy source. Nonetheless, the act of not having the permission to run this somewhat illicit activity - it remains illegal even if all exchanges are done literally broadlight -, felt inherently wrong. I felt like a fracking highschool kid puffing on a joint in a dark corner, you know Pretty lame feeling as of course no cops is going to pull me over when a ton of passersby are circulating, but that sentiment of guilt is as oppressive as can be, unfortunately Which makes me relate - well, a little - to the paranoia of conspiracy theorists who mash together Big Brother with Big Pharma and whatnot and that generic feeling of they are watching Whatever the case, I certainly have felt the emotional crippling effect of having my rights stripped away from me, as even if life appears to have been identical in appearance in Quebec as in Argentina, that feeling of omniscience that provides Martial Law has felt that much heavier. Sigh


Yes, such seems to have been the case I have been impressed with the lack of trolling in all of my threads throughout the years, despite the astronomical amount of toxic peeps on 2 + 2. But I guess this platform that is this forum as a whole, happens to be a fair representation of the poker world, me thinks : for all of the egotistical-clueless-insecure-20-year-old-wanna-be-little-f**ks, there are equally some interesting af folks with a tremendous life experience




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Day 62 of the Quarantine : Hindsight

So there has been a few questions ITT over the past couple of months about the cost of living in Buenos Aires ; yesterday I went to trade in 600USD$ which will cover my rent for the next 6 weeks and my food expenses. 600USD$ for 6 f**king weeks As a reference, in 2018, 800$ (CAD$) would get through about 5 days (or 8 at the most) in Europe Of course, I happened to be sunrunniing in 2018 and having expenses of 8-9k a month still meant that I was saving 15k monthly, so comparing the apex of my expenses to my valley is not actually valid data outside of the wowzer shock value factor provided (4k monthly was about my normal spendings post 2016 (probably 2k before)), but yeah, it is very cheap to live in these parts right now while, you know, staying home

In retrospective, this quarantine struck me ironically in just the appropriate moment when a lot of stuff in my life just naturally fell in place. Like meeting L a couple of months prior and having already innerly (heart)felt that we are in this for the long haul And having the world shutdown after I had just been of my most intensive (and tiresome) stretch of hopping from country, to country, to countr... over a 3 months span that saw me cover France-Switzerland-Belgium-Netherland-Czechia-Portugal-Philippines-Australia-Argentina-Uruguay Or while having that growing desire to get back to a more simple-but-not-rustic life of lowering my spendings so I can progressively step out of the poker world (and damage less the planet, of course, with less consumption ). And while setting my horizons set upon Argentina-Quebec as the 2 places I would split my time in (with intermittent trips to Western Canada and surrounding Latino countries).




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Day 64 of the Quarantine : The Small Things

Each night when I (finally) switch off the light and shut my eyes in an attempt to logout - usually around 5 am -, after about 2 minutes when my soul is slipping into the oneiric realm, a fracking mosquito starts BUZZING in my ears like a mother-f**ker ; LIKE EACH F**KING NIGHT Mind you, we are far removed from the "Why are you here?" that was written in black marker on the door of my meditation cell some odd 20 years in Thailand, and it is not as if this quarantine has triggered some existential conundrum as that question in my first meditation retreat did 2 decades ago while I was in the midst of stirring up those demons inside of me for the first time, but GOD DAMN those little buggers are noisy af They are diametrical opposites to those Canadian mosquitoes that slowlllllyyy roam around, pretending to be intimidating before nonchalantly letting themselves get killed. Nope. Like not even close These frackers are fast af Like lightning speedy gonzalez freaking fast Plus the dengue has been rampant in Buenos Aires, moreso then usual, so Anyhow...

Things are moving along slowly in these parts, with the weekly pleasures being confined to the nights that L pops over and to the glorious meals being cooked that evening It's insane how my chef skills had been put on the back-burner only to now be put to the forefront of my daily activities A nice change, sure, but I do miss dearly my daily indulges in restaurants/cafes as I just can't bring myself to waste all the packaging that involves takeout deliveries - the planet >>> the economy in my book - and God damn are the sushis frugal and tasteless af in BA

Decent poker week almost in the books with the Unibet Open 1.1k (Euros)/200k guaranteed 2 day event starting this Sunday




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Day 65 of the Quarantine : Upswong

We have moved north of 50$/h for 2020, which would of been lol on January first when setting yearly poker goals, but feels like a lonnnnggg God damn sigh of relief after the utter runbad of the past few months We have booked 40k in profits during the start of La Cuarentena (150$/h), which remains noticeably under EV, but still decent After all, if we go back 65 days and read my grinding desires, I asked if I could run close to EV, if only running slightly sub-par in order to capitalize on this boom. Which has been the case, seeing me be in the top 65% percentile of variance

It will be weird to play the Unibet Open online, as UO remains my favourite series and, of course, a unique chance of (usually) visiting a new destination in Europe And a tremendous fun series. It does help that I have yet to have a losing UO, which saw me cash in 4/5 MEs I played with the lone misfire seeing me bink a PKO event to salvage the series It would be nice to continue this trend tomorrow

It is quite noticeable the difference that an upswong brings to the plate for a balanced mind ; I remember how crushing of a mental blow it was that after FINALLY making a small uptick of 9k in a 3 weeks after a -37k 6 months downswong, only to see this small (albeit psychologically uplifting at the time) profit wiped away in the span of 4 days Poker has this so inhuman tendency of not making any f**king sense when it exposes you to the bottomless pits of Variance, even if the existential lessons learned along the way might be justifiable as growing experiences... But I mean, for those of us that have been in the game for 15 years with 10 of these as a professional, how much cognitive grey matter can the competitive world bring us, right... Anyhow, I am happy to be back into this solid rational state where a 3k hit in an hour no longer affects me




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Wow, $600USD for six weeks expenses all-in--that is cheap! However, presumably your expenses are a LOT lower atm due to not eating out at restaurants, not doing any tourist-related stuff, etc.. If these were normal times, would it be realistic to say that your cost of living in BA would be at least double what it's costing you to live now?

What's your airbnb like? Studio, one bedroom, or what? Knowing you I assume it's fairly nice.

Are you changing money on Florida Street? That's where most of the money changers seemed to be located when I was in BA years ago. If you are, you might get lucky and see this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1KycPaVr-I (Damian Salazar) playing on a street corner somewhere along the road.

Day 66 of the Quarantine : Purchases

With the lack of little pleasures in my life - I was actually contemplating buying a cigar just to have something different to do -, I have been trying to find little random purchases to do at different shops in surrounding areas of neighbourhood, if only to get out, breathe in some fresh air and soak in some of that golden sun yo Dijon mustard, quinoa, risotto, Nori sushi paper, homemade ice cream, gruyere swiss cheese, panko breading, an extension cord, all of which act as little reasons to roam around, you know

Am in the UO ME right now with a 35% above starting stack. Registration is about to close. A min cash is just under 3k, which would be a great way to cap off the week yo ; let's do this

Cheap indeed, with the cost of living cutting itself by half during this quarantine alone, as locals trust much more the stability of a foreign currencies over Argentina Pesos And yes, I am living a frugal life in comparison to my normal standards and outside of special ingredients here and there, I content myself with home cooking, rice, potatoes and simple - albeit tasty af - vegetarian food. In a normal world, I would have (at least) a weekly night out of 100$+ consisting of a tango show, concert, expensive restaurant etc. I would usually spend 3-4x more tbh, when factoring in going on a monthly WE getaway trip and whatnot.

I had moved to a cheaper albeit very cozy 1 bedroom apartment prior to La Cuarentena in efforts to lower my expenses and live (slightly) in a more simple fashion moving forward. I am paying in cash off AirBnB (saving me 60% with the Blue dollar rate/no AirBnB fees). She is a Superhost - kind and cute af as well - and the location is ideal (in Palermo by several parks, many specialized shops and the Subte). For example, in Lima I would usually book the equivalent of a 50USD$ nightly AirBnB (but monthly), and this would be moreso in the 35$ range.

Nice, never saw/heard him jam before I did exchange monies on Florida street initially, but did not like the paranoia of always having to look over my shoulders/dealing with some gangsta types I don't necessarily trust, so have found some other trustworthy sources. Also, I no longer have the flexibility of hopping on a Subte, so am dealing with a fellow a few blocks away from my place. Hope you are well friend




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Damn, those prices are super low. Even Numbeo says that rent prices are 51% lower in BA than CDMX, so it's not just taking advantage of the currency accounting for the difference in costs. I'd love to live there someday, but the distance makes it tough. CDMX is right in the sweet spot of being able to visit North America, Europe, and the northern half of South America with ease.

Day 68 of the Quarantine : U-Turn

After releasing the pressures of the valve a week ago with several businesses opening up shop, Fernandez has made a 180 and shutdown all non-essential stores in populated areas, ehhhh : I mean, while the economical machine is revving its motors all over the globe, the engine has been shut off here As a point of reference, the lockdown started a few days before Canada in these parts and while the latter became one of the must contaminated places in the world, pulled over, turned off the ignition and came to a complete halt for a couple of months, it is now nonetheless back in full throttle as they find themselves on the other side of the curve, while Argentina is just reaching its peak (cases went from 100-150 daily a week ago to now 500-900 a day ) Ok. Sure. I get it. If Canada is say a SUV - to continue this thematic allegory of mine -, then Argentina is an old Volks at times grasping for air, you know, but did you have to fracking close down the ice-cream shop, ffs I mean, what the hell do you qualify as essential services if ICE F**KING CREAM does not figure to be intrinsic to GOD DAMN life!!! They say that a human body can go on for 3 days without water, but not beyond 24 hours if deprived of ice cream...

As far I am concerned, I am not going to give up on my new found liberties. Nope. I will not go back to just seeing the sunshine 10 minutes a week with the 2 blocks outside my apartment building being my lone playgrounds So I will continue to take small 2-3 kms walks every second day. And L will of course be coming over here. Speaking of which, a woman was assaulted in her building, so the cops will supervise the entrance for the next month with an officer monitoring every entries


Yup. BA was already cheaper then Peru/Mexico, but having 1 USD$ previously net you 75ARS$ to now 115ARS$ two months later is utterly mind boggling




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WOw, that is crazy inflation between black & blue exchange rates....maybe instead of investing in property in Alberta or where ever you should look into buying something in B.A.?!?

If I remember correctly you are into sports betting -- highly recommend UNCUT GEMS on Netflix....what a stress-inducing movie!

Day 70 of the Quarantine : Da Grind

What a journey it has been on the felt since October where my live MTT quest for a 6-7 binkage saw me instead drop 20k in Edmonton-Montreal-Paris-Prague-Melbourne (along with the excessive expenses), while barely faring any better in the virtual games which saw me dip into a 17k abyss at my worse Needless to say, but this was my most challenging downswing in terms of absolute monies lost (approximately -40k at my worst valley), my longest B/E affair (8 months after just getting back in the black about a week ago), but perhaps 10th toughest emotional downswong as far as da pokerz pertains (I handled it okayish given the circumstances, but found the negative EV to slightly overspill into my life, at least to the extent where I certainly do not want to expose myself again to a similar experience and would prefer stepping completely away from the poker world). The thing is, because I was on a live MTT mission, I was strictly working on my tournament game and PLO. Thus neglecting to fine tune my NLHE cash game. Which the past 3 months have seen me hit the lab more intensively then other, bringing my game to new HIGHER realms yo Now the negative variance was such during this stretch that I was never going to avoid this downswong. Besides, my MTT and PLO games have seen some strides, to the extent that I played like a mama-fracking gangsta in Aussie Millions (despite the absence of results) and am also handily crushing 200-400PLO online (on the 1-2 tables I play, but still ). Over the last 3 months, my NLHE game has equally seen an incredible boost. Of course, this poker boom is the main ingredient to my successful recipe, but I nonetheless find myself (almost) bumhunting pros that I use to avoid, no joke Anyhow, it feels great to notice that when I get hit by nasty variance in the tune of -3k in an hour, I nowadays not let it affect one bit my happiness EV ; when an upswing, it is easier to focus on the BIG picture

Yeah, the inflation/discrepancy is definitely otherworldly Nah, I am not looking to invest in B.A. First of all, am taking baby steps right now as far as officializing my stay here (my visa has expired as will my travel insurance, so am working on that) with plans to get my DNI next year. Also, B.A. will not go beyond a midterm option, me thinks, as I prefer towns/small cities to metropolitain areas, and both L and I want to move to a more peaceful area eventually. I might be here for a few years though, which is completely fine with the diversified urban cultural life in these parts that I can dip in (in normal times), but the option of buying right now in rural Quebec seems like a better option (for long term and legal reasons as well). But it could be a possibility or at least something to look into, I concur...

I loved Uncut Gems and will revisit it imminently. It definitely cracks my top 10 of gambling movies (still topped by The Hustler) and perhaps top 5 upon revisit... I absolutely adored the UTTER-FRANTIC-anxiety-inducing pace - in a cinematographic sorta way moreso then masochist. Speaking of recommendations, Jason SU - AKA etm. on 2 + 2 who had a solid af now defunct thread https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...69/?highlight= - reached out and granted me the privilege of reading his newly released book, Poker with Presence, which can be found on Amazon. It focusses on the mental aspect of poker with the emphasis on how to be in the zone through the work of concentration and awareness




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Day 71 of the Quarantine : Standing your (Virtual) Grounds

We are all stuck inside. Across the globe. Confined. Restrained. Cornerd by 4 f**king walls and chewed up inside-out from the ceiling to the floor And that's for those of us lucky enuff to be trapped indoors in a place we call home. So when one needs to let loose this build up anxiety of claustrophobia, we often turn towards the online realm to unleash this frantic energy And low and behold, the interwebz holds in its grip all the possible known philosophies to mankind, so pick your pill friend, the blue or the red one or any fracking pill across the insane colours of the rainbow and beyond, as for sure you will find that life philosophy that you wish to attack And for me, it has been the Conspiracy Theorists.

I have always found myself on the left side of the political spectrum. I indulged in anarchist ideas in my youth, but have since found myself aligning with democratic-socialist stances - AKA the Bernie Sanders/Alexandria Cortes of the world, to use American politics as a form of reference -, but since the advent of Brexit/nationalistic movements, have been voting Liberal as a strategic tactic. Now I have rarely identified with the status quo nor have I been enthusiastic about the Trudeaus/Bidens especially when factoring in that the latter openly embrace neo-liberalism perspectives, but witnessing the Trumps/Bolsonaros/Kovinds of the world threaten the well being of the planet, has forced my hand into adopting a slightly left to the centre stance - despite oftentimes being frustrated by centralists that falsely identify the centre as some sort of (dogmatic) form of wisdom Ideally, I believe that we should never lack the flexibility of being nuanced enuff to adopt some policies of libertarians, anarchists, socio-democratics, conservatives etcetera if the wisdom of their POV's shines light on the overall picture, but modern times has forced us in taking divisive binary stances of us vs them

In Canada there is right vs left axe opposition that positions Alberta on the former side of the spectrum, while Quebec positions itself on the left side. Quebec was once called Cuba of North America, while Alberta resembles more the USA in right-wing politics (religious and conservative). Before I had ever set a foot in Alberta, I thought of the place as almost demonic, right, where all the Albertan rednecks were proclaiming to bring back the death penalty, cancel abortion rights and bring a in God we trust political flair as opposed to Quebec's leftist low housing rate, (pratically) free University, secular society. And then when I finally went to Alberta, I was surprised by how friendly and welcoming the people are And then I learned to embrace several redneck POV's where living simply with the land carries this thousand year's old form of wisdom yo And after all, we are all Canadians. Of course I avoid to speak politics and make sure to point out that I am a proud Canadian when in the prairies. My point is, it is all about building bridges yo

So anyhow, after getting blocked on FB by my Conspiracy Theorists/anti-NWO activist cousin, I created a new account of course, just to scroll down his FB wall to curiously indulge in the entertainment that provides a ton of modern day fallacies But here's the thing, of course there is a ton of lols stances by posters on his wall who are ignorant af, but for the most part, folks are just seeking to find an answer to their suffering. On top of this, my cousin is very peaceful, encourages social-disobedience as a form of revolt, is not racist nor sexist - on the contrary, he speaks highly of women, but let's get into the institutional sexist that he encourages... - and generally seems to strive for the collective good. Now we find ourselves on the opposite side of the spectrum on how to achieve this and calling Global Warming a hoax is a BIG no-no for someone like myself that puts the Planet ahead of many issues - although everything should be approached from a balance POV, me thinks... -, yet his philosophy of life remains a pacific one I do think that several of his political stances stem from ignorance and lack of insight, but if the roots of a movement stems from love, then all is good in my book The problem is that individually I do believe he has wisdom, but as a form of political movement, I fear anger is what drives most of his followers

In the end, we are all individually responsible for the evil rampant in the world : it starts with us. Our anger. Fear. And looking inside to the darkness that inhabits us, is the start of growth. I feel that my cousin has done (to a certain extent) this inner-work. And I, like all of us, still have a tremendous amount of inner-development to do. So who am I to stand by my political POV's and embrace them as holier-then-thou... Or any of us, for that matter. More then over, it is time to build bridges and besides, this apparent dichotomy of reopening the economy vs social distancing and caring for our elders and all those largely affected directly by the virus (who happen to be largely minorities/poor people), is ACTUALLY NOT A US VS THEM ISSUE. We are all in this together. But everything should be approached rationally. With measures, And for the good of all. Anyhow...




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Despite the fact you've been living a lifestyle for many years now that I'm interested in exploring, I seem to always fall behind on this thread. I'm guessing L is a new(ish?) gf with solid long term prospects?

Also, if you love stupid conspiracy theorists the flat earth Facebook groups are an absolute must. I'm pretty sure my IQ has dropped a few points since joining but I'm perfectly fine with that for the entertainment it provides.

Day 73 of the Quarantine : New Challenges

The month of May has come to an end. And with it, my weekly RRs - that I have just won twice in a row, btw I should be lowering slightly my volume in June (from like 33h weekly to 28h), depending on the quality of the games that I will keep monitoring closely. I am not sure how long this boom will last - hopefully for another 2-3 months... -, but I am preparing for life after poker by hiring an IT guy to setup a website where I will blog - not sure yet if I will maintain this one, probably will combined both... -, start a podcast and eventually promote/sell my novel. I got a quote for 625USD$ to get all the functional tools for the latter ; the price might appear cheap at first glance, but it sounds counter-productive from a business perspective to spend a sum that I am not even sure I will cover with the sell of my book... Then again, investing on a site might be worth it, given that this is a long term planned not revolving on the single projected sales of a single book... Anyhow, once my (estimated) WR drops below 50$/h, is when I will be putting poker on the back burner for a year or so, depending on the ecosystems, both online and live...

I will be doing 5-6h of meditation starting @ midnight/into tomorrow afternoon as a form of soothing transition in between last month's grind to June's more reflective introspection on long term plans... I am not mentally exhausted as per say, nor do I feel the NEED for intensive meditation, but I will take fully advantage of the fact that I have been letting go of a TON of defilements through my meditation since the start of La Cuarentena This imposed isolation has provided quite the amount of introspective time + I also have increased the quantity of my meditation, both of which have effectively been acting more deeply, like a meditation retreat does. Anyhow, I am sure that these next 5-6h will be well spent yo


Apparently you have been out of the loop for quite some time Yup, L is definitely a LTR and the reason I stuck around Argentina ; well, also because of the shutdown caused by the pandemic, of course

Ehhhh, I am sure it would be entertaining af and I might actually get around to doing it - (easy af) pun intended -, but am trying to work on being less triggered/expressing more compassion for perspectives that are diametrically opposite to mine.




+4.9k in 35h


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Day 74 of the Quarantine : Rise Up

Quite a few Argentinos took the street this WE to protest the eternal Lockdown/the government doing a 180 after opening up shop in the B.A. metropolitain area. This said, all of this was done peacefully and while respecting social distancing and wearing masks yo In fact, the name of the protest itself was in favour of a "Cuarentena Inteligente", hence insisting on both priorities of opening up the economy gradually and wisely, as to not go against the cause of the lockdown in the first. Pretty cool, I must say, and nice that peeps are not engaging in a dumb political binary axe of the left supposedly preferring cautious lockdown measure, while the right wants to open the frack up by all means

BTW, what the efff is wrong with USA #1 ffs I understand that historically the country was build on slavery (and thus the Constitution), but Jesus fracking Christ, how conceivable is it in 2020 that a cop can knee-choke a black man to death in broad f**king daylight in the age of smartphones and socia-media The thing is, even if fed up folks are (symbolically) burning the country to the ground - well not really, as most protests are done peacefully and away from the sensationalized news -, the officer murderer will most likely just get a few months in jail, making his whole "Ohhh watch me, I can get away with this shyt" all that much more overt

I got hit with roughly a 10k downswing in the past few days. It will not really show up in my results, as half of it cancelled my 5 digit week last week, while the other half is being tucked underneath the rug by RB coming on, but even though I still feel the positive emotional ripple effect of riding a 42k upswing over the course of La Cuarentena, I am nonetheless witnessing the same otherworldly negative variance that I did just a few months back




-3.3k in 3h


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Day 75 of the Quarantine : Sidetracked

Another day, (yet) another conversation with a Conspiracy theorist. This time a Vipassana acquaintance of mine and while I am not at all surprised by his right-wing stance and that we find ourselves on diametrical opposite sides of the political spectrum, I was thrown aloof by his generalized paranoia, given that he is definitely a smart fellow I mean, I remain open to questioning isolated events, but I just cannot get behind this political vision of instilling every important world event with a malicious intent in this crazy evil NWO conspiracy Like presenting associating this present racial tension in the USA meant as a distraction just to deteriorate Trump's reelection aspirations

Another interesting note for someone like myself that does not really have a ton of friends on the right (but myriads of acquaintances though) : a lot of folks step to the right just because they just generally mistrust the government. Where as I see the strong presence of the state necessary as not only social safety nets for areas like welfare, distribution of wealth (to a certain extent), universal healthcare, affordable housing etc., but also as essential to preserve the environment in forms of regulations and monitor international trade deals ; while a lot of work starts from the individual and the community, without the state, human nature would be such that too much would be left undone. Our planet devastated. Consumption rampant. That hierarchy is intrinsic to human nature, that we require a certain structure to not leave savage Capitalism basically devour everything Anyhow, I don't want to dip TOO far down this rabbit hole in this post, but find it interesting that several Trump supporters actually don't like him, but that the idea of independence that he represents in regards to governments/federal institutions/globalists and that these supporters are basically willing to overlook pretty much everything if only their leader does not engage in a globalist agenda/is ables to strip down the powers of the government.

To finish off this rant, while I do believe that some folks on the right ultimately seek roughly the same justice/equality that the left does, I believe that mistrusting every establishment/institution/elite and thus spending too much time trying to unmask an invisible truth, is avoiding pressing issues... Like the environment. Social injustices. Racial inequity. Womens' rights. And that we are fracking spending too much time indoors lately and engaging in the conflicting toxicity that is the interwebz




-2.8k in 7h


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Day 76 of the Quarantine : Urban Life

It takes me a while to FINALLY put away the suitcase in the cabinet. If ever. It is usually hanging out resting against a wall, WIDE OPEN and serving as lazy drawers/my storage space. Of course, most of the time my lodging is a short term one. And if I stay beyond a month in an apartment, the temptation might eventually sneak-in to tuck away from sight my stuff, you know Nonetheless, my luggage is ALWAYS prompt and ready to GTFO dodge if need be In fact, for the past 22 years my belongings have always been at an arm's length away and all geared up to be packed up in less then 30 minutes et voila!, let's hit the road Jack But, alas, such is no longer the case

Not that this is necessary an unfavourable outcome, as all directions were printing to a long stay in Argentina, COVID-19 outbreak or not So anyhow, not only is my suitcase (almost) empty and safely stashed away in the placard, but my mind has shifted to purchasing long term stuff. Like not only spices and the condiments of the world, but every week I contemplate on what specific item to add to the grocery list Like great coffee for instance. Or a knew kitchen knife. The little stuff, you know, and most of the time it serves as a purpose to go on a longish afternoon stroll, but God damn is life in the city different then the needs on the road

L and I will be looking into finding a 2 bedroom apartment this week ; the visits will most likely be virtual ones, as we are not technically allowed to visit flats even though we can move on the WEs, but it is about time to get out of my tiny place come July That and the fact that it is now cold outdoors, that the heating here is suspicious and that not knowing when the water will be sufficiently warm enuff for a shower/bath can be tilting




+600$ in 11h


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Day 77 of the Quarantine : Downshifting

Winter is creeping up outside my window and alas, managing to whisper some cold seasoning warnings underneath its glacier breath, while the sun is no longer knocking at the door Thus it was with little surprise that the motivation of getting the f**k out of bed this afternoon at 14:00 was just fracking MIA Despite having been quite happy during the duration of this lockdown, energy has been lacking at times. And act of getting up in the mornings has been oftentimes a tedious one On the positive side, a ton of defilements have been pouring out of my body through meditation, while the latter has also seen a significant increase in its volume yo (and have been practicing 3-4h daily this week ).

Am pretty excited to get my new website almost setup (should be running by next week) and to invest more time in writing, uploading old articles and actually materializing my book project If not, rumour has it that we will be able to start exercising in the evenings here in B.A. ; it will only be an evening window of 20:00 until 6am, yet it is something that I will indulge in, as my body and mind sorely need it Baby steps, you know, baby steps. Along with switching apartments next month and then perhaps Tigre can be reached sometime in July, who knows...



-1.7k in 17h


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