Weekend by the Sea

Despite having a flight Frankfurt-Split Friday afternoon, still managed some solid grinding hours over the weekend Part of it, was spending a big chunk of my time in my room, snoozing to recover and hence oftentimes login in for short sessions. Nonetheless, I see myself maintaining some decent volume from here on until December 15 (when I will be doing a 1 month meditation retreat in Israel). Our goal will be 10k until then and hopefully cashing in the UO tournament(s). +900$ in 15h thus far.

Notepad :

- Dem Toronto Raptors are pretty exciting, aren't they . Gotta luv dem young players like Wright (ehhh, that injury ), Poetl, OG, Siakam, Powell, Nogueira, and Van Vleet. The future is set and the Raps are in a good place, yo Darn, those Celtics though

- Europe is splendid. The architecture. Women. Cities. I mean, I am from Montreal and all, a place that preserved a unique Americano-European identity and a beauty of its own, yet nothing compares to the buildings over here And I have not seen shyt yet

- Ehhhh, I don't see myself studying anytime soon Perhaps I can just focus on the grind, meditation and writing, and come back to studying 4h weekly in Febuary... Hopefully the game will not have passed me by then


Run good all

No Sweat

Took a 1.2k hit this morning in 1h, yet did not feel an emotional dent, yo Which is a good (and necessary) feeling, giving that I am shot taking 400z regularly now and the swings will be that much bigger Another thought came to mind though, as I was stepping outside and engaging in the Croatian non-virtual sunny world,





what if this had been a live 300$ tourney? And I knew that I would be tilting as f**k, even if the hit was 4 times smaller. Part of it, is that I will simply login after this post, and mostly recoup some of my losses, and perhaps even finish the day up (and most likely the week up)... Where as once a tournament is done, you are left with nada, zilch, nothing but empty and fluffy dreams

I have always challenged myself. But as far as poker goes, I remember how moving up to the 100z speed games was of such importance a few years back, and how I kept hitting my head against the wall, moving down then back up again, down then... Same thing with 200z, which took me a full year+, if I remember correctly... 400z that is seeing me tentatively make my way up... And now, of course, a cash in a 4-5k live MTT has become my target, even if, as far as winrates and the grand scheme of things goes, it is of much more important to me to keep on crushing 200z/make my way to 400z. It's always about reaching and defeating the End Boss, isn't it -400$ in EU

edit : also saw one of the prettiest ever to walk this earth today But like the dumbarse that I am, I froze instead of stopping her and, you know, asking her for directions or a coffee or something

Run good all

East of the Border

Off to Mostar, Bosnia today on the bus. Did manage to get some solid hours in my 5 days in Croatia (along with an amazing massage yesterday ), so am pretty happy, despite the results being meh : +500$ in 24h in EU (booked 900$ yesterday ).


Notepad :


- Apparently the Coinpoker ICO were sold in a heartbeat :

https://www.highstakesdb.com/8302-ma...four-days.aspx

I haven't purchased any though, having already gone bongos in my Montreal crypto investments (purchased 2x+ of what I originally planned ), but looking to speculate more in the near future...

- You guys following Mr. Robot at all? Episode 5 of Season 3 was mesmerizing, and perhaps the best that tv has/ever had to offer, me thinks. It revolves around one long camera take (lasting the whole 45 minutes of the show) driving an amazing and breathtaking narrative pace :

http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/mr-...00-1201895559/

- Rumor has it that the cash games will be juicy @ the UO in Bucharast (rake 2$ uncapped). Will need to get my live grinding shoes on then and more liquidity in my pocket, yo

- Nice to see BTC and Ether skyrocket, isn't it!!! Makes me wish that I had gone even more mono-loco on my spending spree

- I was never much of a Trekee, but that new Star Trek series is dope af.

- Triple-barreling bluffing in a 3bet pot and getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar, hurts a biiiittttt more @ 400z





Run good all

Across Border Lines

Just got into Mostar, Bosnia yesterday evening, napped, went for dinner, then booked in a solid session : +1.8k in 5h, +2.3k in 29h in EU

Darn, Europe is absolutely beautiful, isn't it I only spent a few days in France a few years back (which was spent mainly indoors, grinding the WSOPE ), but these old towns/cities are mesmerizing af I am enjoying the slow pace of eating out, drinking coffee, going for walks etc. much more at my ripe age, then I would of in my 20s when backpacking places like Latin America/SEA held more appeal/were cheaper for the young lad that I was Will extend my stay in Mostar by a couple of days. And will definitely be back on the Old Continent sometime soon, perhaps next year to explore some more




Saving my best pics for travel thread... post to come tonight over there


Run good all

Take a Piece of this Yo

- Am up 2k in EU after swinging down dangerously 1.6k yesterday, but managed to climb my way up out of that dark, DARK hole, yo : Me : 1, Life : 0

- Cryptos up 5k since purchasing them a good 10 days ago : Me : 2, Other Monies : 0

- Have only left a mere American adapter stranded in hotel rooms, a far cry from my standard glasses, earphones, jacket, hoodies and a ton of other scattered valuables : Me : 3, My Dumbarse brain : 0

- Ehhhh, Mr Robot is simply the shyt, the 3 last episodes being top of the TV World, baby : Hackers : 4, All Dem Zombie tv shows : 0

- Dem Toronto Raptors R the shyt, despite Cavs making a seasonal comeback, Bucks with Eric Bledsoe, Boston being... f**king Boston (kidding, still like the Celtics) and Detroit being... what the hell is Detroit still doing up there!?! : Raps : 5, NBA : - a Gazillion

- Dem Montreal Canadiens suck balls and have a hard time to come back to relevancy : French Canadians : Zer0000, The World, Universe and Beyond : +Infinity





Run good all

Beatiful pictures. I hope to visit Croatia some day.

Thanks for the update.

Slanted Nature

Can't seem to find any writing inspiration for the life of me today My novel has been coming along though - at a very slow-snail-like-turtle-microcosmic pace -, and giving that I have since mightily lowered my expectations in regards to potential sales/its future success levels/its overall timeframe, I feel more at peace with the whole process. After all, my EV is probably in the area of 1-2$/h, with a minuscule-yet-insignificant shot at a sky-high ceiling. Coming to terms with the latter, has made writing a light and pleasurable act, sentiments I had yet experienced, tbh

Poker has made this lifestyle possible. I guess that at times, you find yourself soooo immersed in the gambling realm, that you forget that it is the game that stitches all of the different aspects of ur life together ; would this trip still be possible without the online grind... Would frequent meditation retreats still be feasible/accounted for... Or crypto investments, retirement funds, a bright outlook on the future where financial obstacles hold little to no obstacles, heaps of spare time... Moving forward - and like my buddy has altruistically reminded me -, I will try to not forget, or take for granted all the benefits that the game has provided me with

I am utterly flabbergasted by the recent 2 week UPswing by both BTC and ether If this whole crypto realm was new to me a month ago, I have been consuming podcasts/articles nonstop for the past few days, catching up to all the intrinsics of blockchain technologies ; it is cool to remain a student of the game, when the latter is this fascinating and impactful, isn't it

Thx bro The last few pics have been Bosnia. I have accumulated quite a few pics which I am saving for rainy days for this thread.

If you haven't checked it out yet, here are my 2 last posts in my travel thread with pics from

Croatia : https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/s...&postcount=449

Bosnia : https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/s...&postcount=450




+3.9k in EU


edit : Hummmm, got an email yesterday from haveibeenpwned about an imgur hack 4 years back which saw my email/password compromised, to then suddenly not being able to access my imgur account today Probably just added security measures now that it is public, but interesting nonetheless


Run good all

Comfort Zones (In/out of)

This cute and charming early 30s cyber-punkish Bosnian chick was working at the front desk of my hotel in Mostar (kinda rebellious/compassionate girl I really fancy), with whom I had developped a timid and sexual camaraderie with. So obviously, I get back to the hotel, smile to her, go back to my room, shower up, refreshen my face, sprinkle some aftershave, button-up a nice shirt, practice my charming French-Canadian accent in the mirror, switch "on" my A flirting-game, slide into my tango shoes, fix my necktie and…. .

Instead of going down, engaging in an exuberant conversation and playing the cards I am dealt/seeing what drops on the flop, I stay in my room and grind a few dollars away I mean, I love my routine and all, and happily immerse myself into a daily 9h of poker, writing and meditation + daily walks and coffee and all, but remaining complacent within this realm/not engaging more outside of my comfort zone, is a f**king life leak, to say the least Oh well, I will henceforth make it a priority to put myself out there, especially with the female gender, yo




+4.9k in EU


Run good all

Tuned in to the radio a few day ago and "On Point" w/ Tom Ashbrook had a whole show devoted to the benefits of silence, thought of you.

http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/11/...its-of-silence

The war crimes trial of several military and political leaders from the Bosnian/Serb conflict of the early-mid 90's have been covered in the news quite a bit lately really haunting some of the stories people spending months in wooded areas to avoid eradication by the Serbian forces.

One leader Slobodan Praljack recently lost an appeal of his 20 year sentence and ingested a fatal dose of poison during the court proceeding.

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c16_1511965502

Any live games to be had in that part of the world?

Safe travels bud.

Thx for the links/thoughts Hank

On Bosnia vs Serbia : as far as I am concerned and basing myself on an infinitesimal lol sample size, I really liked Bosnia and really don't care much for Serbia thus far... Of course, this is coming from someone more concerned about his RB monthly race right now, than he is in dissecting the intrinsics of the Yugoslavian ancient long conflict... This said, I really want to come back to Bosnia (perhaps next winter...) and spent 3 months+ here

Flying to Bucharast tomorrow for Unibet Open ME/live cash games. Will put on my live grinding shoes for 4 days

On silence, looking forward (with some apprehension) on my upcoming 1 month of introspection in Israel...

Peace bro

Unibet Open, Bucharest

I never thought that poker would actually facilitate a border crossing Found myself obliged to wake up early this morning - too early - to catch my Belgrade-Bucharest flight, so anyhow, when the Romanian border patrol officer started interrogated my sleepy arse, I was in no mood to prolong my answers... It went a little like this :

- Him : "How long will you stay in Romania?".

- Me : "2 weeks".

- Him, not satisfied : "Where will you go?"

- Me, not wanting to elaborate : "Here".

- Him, clearly not content : "In Bucharest?".

- Me, looking to get on with my life : "Yes".

- Him, obviously paid for a reason : "Only in Bucharest?".

- Me, who will never get use to getting up at 6 am : "No, I will leave as well".

- Him, not happy at all with any of my concise answers : "You have hotel booked?".

- ... : "Yes"

- : "Show me".

At this point, I have come to the conclusion that short and sweet answers will not satisfy our border patrol friend, so I go on about how I won this package online for a poker tournament which granted me 4 nights at The Marriot in the process ; he mutters a few Romanian words to his colleague, brings his attention back to me and then says "the tournament is 1100 Euros and the package 2k?". I answer "yes", surprised by his insider knowledge and then - I kid you not -, his colleague steps out of his booth, comes to my encounter and happily shakes my hand It turns out both of these guys had tried, to no avail, to satellite their way into the event

The venue for the event is really sweet, especially the living quarters, which have a little extra leg room to stretch out some








The cash games are raked @ 5% (capped @ 20 euros for 2-5, 25 euros for 5-10). On top of that, you need to convert RON to Euro @ 5% vig at the casino here which I would then need to convert back to RON if I dump my liquid into a bitcoin atm (itself holding a 5% commission fee), located 10 minutes from here All things considered, will probably not grind a ton of cash (find myself playing online as we speak) unless the games get REAL good (the 2-5 was nitty tonight and no 5-10 was running except a PLO game). I might sit down at the PLO 5-10 though underrolled, with all my chips on the table (2k euros) and run it up (or down) because... you know... yolo

Anyhow, it should be a fun 4 days, especially that this feels as a freeroll


Run good all

That is some brutal rake.

Thanks again for the update. Shoulda' talked to the hotel girl, man :/

I know, I am still kicking myself over it Well, not as much anymore now that I find myself in the heart in Romania, where the women are not uninteresting to look at, to say the least, and are quite receptive as well Not since SEA have I felt this warming welcoming And, to a lesser degree, in Montreal. But that's because I am French. And so are they. And my Frenchness is charming. For them

In all seriousness, had this beautiful girl dealing at my table today, looked smart, serious, composed (had glasses un, hair tied back, a serious look on her face), yet had a big tattoo on her forearm and a few on her wrist. Anyhow, when it came time for the break, I took my time, let all the players leave, then walked up to her and complimented her on her tattoos. And got this magnificent, awe-dropping smile in return. I mean, a simple gesture, of course, but will make sure to go out of my way to provoke these small flirting opportunities... Hey man, I admit it, as good as I can be at going inward through meditation, writing and poker, my game sucks when it comes to reaching out to women

Bagged just over 36bbs today We lost 75% of the field, so pretty close to the money bubble...

Notepad :

-Played fine, started off slowly, somewhat disinterested, my brain being foggy and all, then tuned-in for the middle of the day with some flashes of my A game to then cruise-control the rest of the way... Will make sure to pay attention to every detail/live reads tomorrow, something that eluded me today...

- Ehhh, what's up with my spidey senses X/R tried bluffing an OMC on the river with QJ on KQ1010x board in a 3bet pot (in a spot that I am suppose to bluff 100% of the time GTO-wise) when OMC will always be OMCing and call me down with his AA

- To then exploitatively fold the top of my range (TPTK where I am suppose to call 100% of the time) vs a triple-barrel and get shown 7 high for absolute air

- Didn't 3bet an obvious spot when a LAG EP opened, hijack made the call and I rapidly mucked AJo in the CO I mean, all day I kind of took my time to take an extra second to measure my options and given that I had been card dead for 3h str8, this was a God sent opportunity to 3bet, jesus murphy Made up for it with the last hand of the evening, when OMC was always going to fold when everyone is bagging up and I am threatening his stack with a 3.1x 3bet Ok, must rest now...

edit : I did get away with a triple-barrel though, with K high, no blockers, no draw in a yolo-this-is-the-last-hand-before-the-break-and-I-will-own-the-soul-of-this-OMC moment, so lest not forget that...


Run good all

35 left out of the original 502. Am just below average, but sitting at a good table Send some run good this way y'all

Busted, but waht a ride, yo

Finished 18th. Fell short of a 6 figure score, but am really happy with the journey that largely made up for all dem tilting bustouts that I so eloquently ranted about itt

Notepad :

- Played my B/B+ game, with spurts of A game. Played not as solid, but ran way better than in WPT Montreal.

- Felt really comfortable on Day 2. Regardless of what happened, I was enjoying the experience, especially once itm.

- Plan on playing 15-20k of buy-ins yearly, most likely half of it in Mtl and then 2-3 other travel locations...

- Looking back to getting online and visiting Romania/Budapest in the next 10 days.

- Will ask the (previously mentioned) dealer out tomorrow (for this week) and tell her that I know no one in Romania, you know... poor me - and need some friendly company for, you know, dinner and stuff

- Funny quote of the day :

- Pokernews reporter : was it K6s that you cracked his AA with ?

- Me : yeah, but I would of done it with K6o

- Him : OK, I won't tell him that

- Me : ok, thx man. And I got all these chips by sucking out, except for 1 hand, maybe...





Run good all

Afterthoughts

Quote of the Day : "I haven't felt depressed like this in 20 years", says my new Netherland buddy, 24h fresh of bubbling the ME, as we both cracked up deliriously, because, you know,

4thelulz

and

irony, it's when everything is made of iron, you know

Am winding down from the tournament, played a few hours online, went for a walk, will try to explore more of the old town tomorrow and then see where to go next from here... Most likely will find some little villages to explore in Romania...





Run good all

At Year's End

Well, catching a grade A flu over the past couple of days was not part of the BIG plan and has kinda put a damper into my RB goals - a flu that includes the whole kit, you know, shivers, vomit, stomach ache, diarrhea... the fun kind . Nonetheless, if I had to be sick, the timing has been perfect : not when I first got to Europe which would of acted as an unwelcoming host... not during the Unibet Open which would of halted my plans to conquer the world... and especially not during the meditation retreat, which would of been simply nightmarish Anyhow, since we are ahead of our European grinding goals, I will be focusing on writing, exploring/walking as oppose to poker

My train neighbor today was an Argentin camaraderie that was missing the totality of his left leg ; he had to hop around to get to the toilettes (his crutches were stored in the luggage). It takes quite the tenacity to travel solo on such disposition ; hats off to him (too bad he had so much sadness in his eyes though ). That's it for now folks,




+9k poker in EU, +12.5k cryptos


Peace

Hibernation

Well, it seems that I am essentially done with poker for 2017, minus 6h or so left for my last RB milestone. Which is fine. This year has been a breeze, as far as the game goes So let's leave it at that, shall we, and simply accept that the flu has put hurdles along the extra 2k in RB finish line... Not a big deal, mind you, just a slight stumble on the long path that is this game, yo




+14.8k in 88h in EU


Might login a few more entries itt, if not, talk again at the end of January all.

Peace

Notepad Budapest

- Even if I find myself on a MIGHTY upswing of 33k+ in EU (and 80k+ in 7 months) - including cryptos, granted, but still unexpected and well received -, it still stings to get scammed by taxis Count it as the third time already, where I get 2-5x charged by a speeding meter. Part of it is showing up in the evening/twilight hours in terminals and not wanting to strand too far for a “legit” taxi…. Secondly, sometimes you just want to trust, you know, unlike in SEA where you are constantly looking over your shoulder on your guard And thirdly is laziness/acceptance of being more of a target, despite the ensuing “sting” and that fishy sentiment of having been hustled.

- Casualties thus far : a pair of glasses, some clothes and an adaptor ; not too bad, not too bad, still, I royally suck at leaving stuff behind

Conversion fees : found myself converting thousands left and right for cash games/buying BTC. At 2-3% a clip, it hurts in the long run. Also, finding yourself with 6 different currencies simultaneously is a little annoying…. Still have 4k+ on me, a little too much to my liking and will go find a BTC atm tomorrow to remediate the situation.

- I had planned a 5k buffer of unexpected/added expenses this winter. Stuff like spontaneously booking a flight somewhere, overpaying for hotels/Airbnbs at the last minute, unexpected turns, twists etc. Am 1k into this fund already.

- I usually look for the 25-50$ nightly range for hotels in cheaper countries, and got hit by a surprise after booking a 35$ room (which turned out to be better than expected) and ended up with a 450$ fee after 4 days!!! I had booked in RON online, mentally miscalculating the conversion!!!

- Am somewhat apprehensive of the upcoming month of meditation... I know it will be tough as nails and the thought of sitting on pins 12h/day, eyes closed while sinking into the downward spiral that is the rabbit hole, can be scary, at times...




Train Brasov-Budapest. Only 4h left to the grind for 2017, yo


Run good all

2018

Got 2 days outside of the centre to relax/breakthrough into the outside world. And will not play. One. Single. Minute. Of. Poker. Yo




Haifa, Israel


Nonetheless, even if I will not grind again until mid-January at the least, I still want to look at what lies ahead in 2018. Because... well, you can try to leave poker behind, but pokerz sure as hell does not leave you

If 2017 brought us 6 digits, I am aiming for much of the same next year, probably in stretches of 25k (Israel-Colombia), 60k (Dawson, where I might-might not instigate a new Old Lady challenge...) and 25k (Oct-Dec online/tournament events). It will be interesting how I will cope with alternating in between studying poker and Spanish in Colombia, but my brain will have to adapt, as both are equally important in the tune of a combine 10-12h weekly. More details when we get there...

Anyhow, happy new year all, enjoy the holidays and the likes

Peace

Happy new year to you! Excellent job, thanks for all of the updates.

GL in Israel and in the new year!

Power On

It was time to grab the Old Lady from her grave, put on her feet, shake off that accumulated dust and set her back to the grind, 2018 edition, yo It felt good to see that the games remain as soft, even after 1 month of hiatus and 4 months of non-studying

The focus for my remaining 2 weeks in Israel will not revolve around the grind, yet I will try to sneak in 4h of daily action. Once in Colombia, I will establish a more structured schedule for poker/studying/Spanish, but nonetheless, the goal is to make 30k before getting back to Montreal in time for the Party Millions ; so grind away, shall we


Thx my Alex Grey camaraderie Peace




-400$ in 4h


Run good all

Damn missed a lot of these updates!!

Still following though!

Best of luck in 2018 buddy! I am intrested to see new photos of the places you travel to!

Cheers!

Grind, 101

Have yet to find a comfortable coffee place ideal for the writing grind in Jerusalem, but did stumble upon a good (and cheap, which is rare in these here whereabouts ) falafel and ice coffee joint My hotel has a spotty wifi (cost me 50$ already), but alas , I have already paid for 4 nights.


Glad you are still following friend As far as the pics go, I post random/miscellaneous ones itt, saving my better ones for my travel thread : https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/9...eyond-1357166/

Have been giving that blog lots of luv frequently lately, so plentiful are the pics/updates over there and for the next couple of weeks to come (my posting will probably decrease once in Colombia, in 2 weeks, as I plan on settling down there, getting a Spanish tutor, gf and focusing on the poker grind there as oppose to travelling).

But, speaking of pics, the sandwiches packed with fresh and tasty vegetables have been a delight over here :




-1k in 7h thus far


Run good all

Pushing (luxurious) Buttons

I wonder what the 20 year old nomadic-sleeping-in-parks-broke-anarchist-hippyish previous me would of thought of my Israel trip and booking of nightly 100$ hotels... Granted, the options lack, the <100$ hotels are few and far in between ( and usually lack in value), so... Of course, the 20 year old me would of never came to a richer country in the first place ; I did go to Australia in my early 20s, but not once booked a hotel (and only 1 hostel, I kid you not ), as I pitched my tent by the side of the road, in the bush or did some wwoofing


- Early me : GTFO here, you fracking sold out conformist

- Present Me : Shut the frack up, you anger-fuelled ignorant dip shyt


The weather has been unappealing in Jerusalem, forcing me to forego my inspiration to get out there and, you know, conquer the world, start a revolution or tear down some walls and , you know, all that jazz A passivity that has been great for the grind though, as I booked a solid 5h+, upswong 1.7k, thus reversing my mini-downswing and turning a decent profit in the process, yo





Run good all