Trinity

Rainy day today, so outside of eating out and some writing, I grinded away at the virtual tables, yo Been playing much more 400z to the detriment of my 100z tables (which I barely play nowadays), which is a good thing, obviously, especially when considering my sky high 200z winrate I might dedicate a bit less time to the grind though if I end up exclusively playing 200-400z, in order to focus on maintaining a floor of a B+ game and, you know, doing more life stuff.




still Upswinging : +1.2k in 7h


Finally managed to find a moderately priced hotel and AirBnB in the desert. Peru (and even Canada) will be much less harsh on the wallet

I really miss doing movie reviews, but can't seem to find one inspiring enough to merit the time spent afterwards reflecting upon it...


Run good all

Modern Times Iz 4 Suckahs

Finally found a suitable hotel that is actually affordable (about 50-60$/night), so after spending the day at the Dead Sea, was eager to get back to the comfort of my room, sit my arse on a chair, kick back my feet and put in a small session online, yo Problem is, the internet has a download speed of 0.17MBs (and God knows what upload speed, as I lost the connection before I could find out ) which, when combined with the spotty connection, some ill advised bluffs and repeatedly getting smacked in the face by bad variance, does not quite match up to the prerequisites needed for a good grinding session Hence, I called it a day after 40 minutes, booked a 700$ or so loss (can't be arsed to check right now ) and decided that the comfort of a bed while watching Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner largely outweighs any plans to conquer the world on the virtual tables




Up roughly 1k in 2018


I got 2 days left in Jerusalem before going to Mitzpe Ramon in the desert, where I booked a simple AirBnB private room over there and might find myself with a similar wifi situation. Perhaps a week off the grind and focussing on writing a chapter instead, might just be what the doctor ordered Talk later.

Run good all

40 is the new fracking 90

You know you are old when a 30 minute hike damages your body exponentially more then the first time you went snowboarding I kid you not folks, my body is sore like never before, the simple act of walking demands a TITANIC effort as does getting up I mean, I never signed up for this getting old shyt And who's idea was it in the first place to create all this ephemeral matter decay shyt and this thing called entropy that remains seemingly irreversible according to most

Speaking of time and aging and all, had this Spanish chick ask me how old I am, to which I naturally replied "41". I mean, is there anything more trivial than knowing your own age, for God's sake... like who the f**k forgets thay shyt, right, barring years of drug abuse... Turns out that I am fracking 40 after all I only turn 41 in 2 weeks, but given that I don't care much for my own birthday, Christmas and all that jazz, when I was sitting in silence at the meditation retreat, I had told myself that I was missing out on Xmas, New Years and somehow included my bday in that lapse of time, telling myself that I will be 41 when rejoining the outside world Never get old folks, it is 4 suckahs

On the subject of bad wifis and whatnot, do you think I need a VPN in this hotel




+700$ in 30h this week


Run good all

Wat Dafuq Iz going On!?!

Been having a hard time with the swings lately... It is not the shear +/- monetary outcome at the end of the day (which has been insignificant, tbh), but that middling battlefield in between noon and midnight, those hours of sunshine where the fight is brought to the virtual felt, is held on 6-8 tables, 6 handed to HU - AKA the oldest and purest form of combat -, until the dead of the night, where the campaign encounters its final blows... Then, call it a day, rinse-repeat.

The problem is, I have been storming out of the gate for 1k+ subjugations in my first 1h sessions for each of the past 4 days, only to come back and get absolutely-smacked-in-the-face/put-to-shame/inflicted-a-life-lesson/fracking-humbled in 3 out of those 4 days The swings @ the 200-400z battlegrounds have been humbling even if I find myself up a decent amount, after RB compensations, and oftentimes find myself with the wind blown out of me on more occasions that I care to admit This said, I know it is a matter of weeks before this variance becomes a trivial part of the day

Only 5 days left in Israel and I can safely conclude that this trip has been absolutely amazing, with Israel and Bosnia being my favourite countries thus far I am also looking forward to the Peruvian part of my winter, but will have 2 days first in Montreal to get stuff sorted out like vaccins (its been 19 years since my last ones ), purchasing some goods for the trip (pharmacy stuff, mainly) and buying some cryptos.

Speaking of which, I hope the present crypto downswing lasts at least another week to give me enough time to invest some more. It feels as if it is that post-Christmas downtime where the markets are struggling and the perfect time to dump in some more monies, yo I will start selling at the end of 2018 and use it as my buy-in fees for my live MTT grind/some cash games, if they are still worth something at that point Also, Blade Runner was amazing and Denis Villeneuve is rapidly becoming my new favourite director





Run good all

Questions

Up 2.3k in 14h during my time in the desert, which is great as far as results goes, not so much for the volume though... Now, here's the question : why do I need to play more again... An interrogation left in suspension, tbh, as I could not find an answer for the life of me over the past few days to an inner dialogue that went a little like this :

- (perfectionist) Me : "Ok buddy, you should put in another hour tonight, it is just 9 pm."

- (non-chalant) Me : "Ehhhh, why do I need to play another hour dude... We don't need the monies, we don't have a challenge to fulfill... Just chill bro".

- (goal driven) Me : "Now, now, time is of essence, and we have little of it left, middle-aged fellow".

- (Detached) Me : "Exactly"

Tbh, self-discipline has always been a part of my adulthood, especially after I had deciding by the age of 18 that I wanted to become a writer, ehhhhh, I mean self-employed But I believe that only the studying part will be mandatory in Peru (Spanish and poker), while I will set the bar pretty low on the grinding hours (20-32h/week), while maintaining a 25k goal in 3 months. More on this later.





Run good all

Tuning out...

It would be quite hard being an alcoholic in Israel, me thinks... Of course, one would find his own little niche/corner of the world where he feels comfortable being sloppy, incoherent and stumbling down the path of life, but in a conservative country where the weekend coincides with Sabbath, it would be difficult not to draw unwarranted attention upon ourself...

Long grinding sessions have become sparse and not just because I broke my mouse yesterday!!! Regardless, as long as I play a floor of a B+ game and exclusivey 200-400z, I can dedicate more time to life while preserving the same winrate, yo Anyhow, my flight leaves in 12h, but before embarking on the second half of the winter, a few notes on this European/Middle Eastern adventure :

- Darn, sitting here writing these lines in front of a 40$ burger meal, makes me realize, once again, how this country is expensive About 50% more than Canada, and exponentially higher than Latin America/Eastern Europe/South-East Asia

- There is some good people in the world. There are quite a few smiling faces that I am happy to have crossed along the way

- The casualties were negligible. Count a pair a glasses, a mouse and a pair of pants as the lone/insignificant falling soldiers on the travelling (battle) field

- The profits were outstanding. Think north of 20k for poker (with that symbolic cash in Romania ) and 30k for cryptos (albeit, very volatile and cannot be accounted for until cashed out...).

- It is strange world... A strange world indeed. You go deep into meditation, you think you come to a clear understanding of the phenomenal world and your place in it, and then a new experience will through you for a loop

- There is something not right about 19-20 year old "kids" carrying that much authority with with them in the form of machine guns. The same kids that were openly mocking a "Bedouin" Arabic fellow in the bus, when he was the lone Muslim...




+3.4k in 21h this week


Ok, back in a few days to establish a Peruvian grinding schedule, yo

Be Well

Reemergence

Landed safe and sound in Montreal, problem is, my suitcase did not follow suit In fact, for some reason, it is still sitting in the Holyland, never hopping along for the ride through the skies... Moreover, it will not get here in time for my Peru flight, so will try to get it delivered in my hotel in Lima, and see if my wallet, my credit card, my monitor and all my clothes will eventually reach me... Not a big mishap, mind you, but one that does increase the amount of errands I have to do today (and probably will go purchase a new and 2 inch bigger 25" monitor, something that would facilitate the grind when 8 tabling).

I did book a 1k in 2h since we last talked, which will cover these added expenses




Modern day airport smoking booths


Run good all

This thread is sick.

Can you teach me how to life?

+1

So many solid experiences and gems of wisdom itt.

Kudos, OP.

Notepad (Lima Style)

- Darn it feels good to be here

- I love Spanish with a passion Definitely my favourite language. Am also easing myself back in quite poetically, yo, como un poquer gangsta espanol


- Ehhhh, perhaps you should avoid drinking tap water, buddy I know it was 2 am and you were tired from the flight and all, but come on now, a different continent demands for different preventive measures

- Got 2 dates lined up for the upcoming days ; one who wanted to book a reservation in an upscale restaurant over here after I let her choose (she is a lawyer/rich girl and we did reserve, as me luvs me some good food, being French and all), while the other specified right away that she could not pay for dinner, that she is low maintenance, would live on the beach bombalat style if she could (more my style, really, she loves to travel and has a master's degree ).

- As much as I stomached very well the mishap of having my luggage lost along the Tel Aviv-Mtl part of the journey, a second time in 3 days would of been hard to swallow Hence the little knot twirling and twisting down in my tummy while patiently waiting for my bag at the luggage claim at 2am in Lima last night...

- Will establish a structured schedule in the following week, but in the meantime, let's come out storming out of the Lima virtual gates, shall we (down 800$ as we speak though )

Thx guys, I truly appreciate the positive feedback/support





Ehhhh, me taking a snapshot of my parking area at the mall in Montreal which is pretty representative of my 2 days there : getting lost multiple times, running around like a headless chicken, having the thieving alarm go off on me when exiting a store, getting lost (did I mention that one already )


Run good all

A tentative Structure

Date cancelled, problems with my VPN along with the hotel wifi, luggage is still in Tel Aviv after missing its second flight, got hit with some lovely and juicy diarrhea, cryptos taking a major hit... darn, I think I got me a case of some life run bad All minor issues though, when you are happy, at peace and in a part of the world that you want to be in


Poker : The fact that I have been 8 tabling lately and playing a ton of 200-400z = less of a need for volume. I think that 22-25h weekly will be sufficient, with an end goal 20-25k in 12 weeks satisfactory.

Studying : 3-4h a week and this will be mandatory, unlike the grinding volume where leniency, life stuff and balance of mind will be prioritized.

Spanish : Have not settled on my choice of final location yet, so let's just say that a floor of 5h a week of studying with a tutor, combined with tv, movies and a social life in Spanish should do the trick

Wow, that is a pretty slack schedule




Had to have me a ceviche as the first South-American meal, of course -200$ in 6h in Peru


Run good all

Projections

You might think that if you have a flop cbet % of 60, villain will duplicate this tendency as well... Or that if you never bluff X/R the turn, your opponent might never fathom doing so neither... That if you are constantly on a mission to triple-barrel-conquer-the-world until the end of times/stick-dem-chips-in-the-middle-faster-than-a-Western-showdown, that your adversaries are always full of shyt and hence call them down lightly... Truth be told, we are ego-centered as frack, projecting upon others our inner conceptualizations to the extent that others can act figuratively as a simple juxtaposition of mirrors... Anyhow, been thinking of this lately - let's call it a "reverse exploitative play", or whatever -, but exploitation at the tables is not just about attacking unbalanced leaks, but manipulating our own perceived range through the prism of villain's tendencies.

Hey, does anybody know of a trustworthy crypto betting site where I can make a safe BIG bet? We are still 5 months away, but would love to bet 10k on Golden State come June. If I discover a reliable site, I will gradually test it by making a few hundred dollar bets before placing the bigger one. The feedback I got from NitrogenSports, is that they don't always pay back and you also have to make a deposit into your wallet on their site before placing the wager. Anyhow, just putting this out there.




There is like 20 tennis courts here, on the cliffside of the beach. I realize Miraflores is rich and all, but it does come as a surprise to see so much spaced dedicated to a non-football sport


Will go purchase a sim card, Cien Anos de Soledad (which I will read for the 4th time), some shirts (my suitcase is still mighty empty ), grind and then head into town tonight for dinner/live tunes


Run good all

Roots, Rock and... Cloths Scrubbing

Old habits die hard. Which might explain why I chose to shampoo my clothes in the shower after noticing the hotel price listing of 2-4$ per pants/shirts Or perhaps the hand washing reminiscing memories of previous India and Latin America trips in my early 20s (and even my Uni days) were simply too luring It remains hilarious though that after booking a 2K win in 2h online, that I find myself scrubbing my clothes in the shower of my 4 star hotel

Lima is really growing on me. It has the ample amount of entertainment to keep me satisfied (casinos, cinema, restaurants, shops, beach etc.) enough to entice me to stick around... I guess that tonight's live grind combined with tomorrow's visit of Barranco - a more bohemian neighborhood that might enthral me... - will be the determining factors




+2.2k in 16h in Lima


Run good all

War Machine

Booked a 80$ win in 90 minutes at the casino yesterday. The 2-2 game was the only table running (outside of tournaments), but I did manage to gather info - in my broken Spanish, nonetheless - on the 10-20 game : the min buy-in is 1.2k (CAD), max 12k. 2k is the equivalent of 100bbs, the amount that I would yolo/shot take with every Friday and build a live roll with accordingly (I unfortunately left my cash in Canada and only came to Peru with 500$). Of course, all of the steps involved in the process of retrieving cash from the atm, physically carrying the cash and dumping it in a BTC atm/wiring it back to Canada/leaving the country with it, are definitely not hassle free. So I have no plans of grinding this game full time, but it would be entertaining to play it for 2-5h a week.





There was an old Peruvian OMC (upper left in the pic) who lost it on 3 Peruvian kids at the table when the latter were constantly speaking English. Of course, me originally coming from Quebec and all, I clearly understand the need to preserve pride in the mother tongue, especially that these kids were being quite elitist about the fact that they spoke English, but it was still worth a few lols…. On a side note, why did an English speaking country have to dominate the globe post WW2…. Why couldn’t it be a more appealing language like say French, Spanish (or most dialects, tbh…). Well, when factoring in politics, English remains much better than German, Italian, Japanese and Russian, but still…

Took a 1k hit in 20min today, only to follow suit by wiping out all of my week's profit in the ensuing 3h On the + side though, I was not bummed out at all …. Nope. Not even a 2-3% emotional downswing drop


Run good all

Week 1 in Review, Latino Style Yo

Given that the beginning of the week saw us jetlagged, 2 days in Montreal running around replacing the lost suitcase + items (thus no grinding) and then having to adapt to a new (Peruvian) realm - AKA a new language and all - the end results are whatever with the volume remaining satisfactory, all factors considered : +700$ in 21h (+6.5k in 3 weeks).

In fact, if it wasn't for that 2k hit yesterday, the results would be much more satisfying, but swings will be swingy, right, as attested by the recent crypto downswing that is leaving yours truly - and quite a few others, I safely presume... - flabbergasted

I have been running bad @ 400z and also find myself with less of an exploitative edge, given that the regs respond more in a GTO fashion to the highly exploit lines that work ahhhh so well @ 200z . Of course, I am taking a long term approach to this stake and will not move down anytime soon, barring a huge downswing...

Aiming for the standard 22-25h this week with 3-4h of studying. Next week should be better, as I will be settled down then, with a Spanish-learning-grinding-structure in place and an apartment for the ensuing 2 months





edit : my luggage did make it to Montreal after all, so will see my wallet again, my clothes, monitor and all that jazz, thus avoiding the added 1.6k in fees (I had already cancelled/replaced my visa debit card).


Run good all

That poker table looks awesome. Really like how each player has his/her own little section lol

solid updates man, the poker table sectioning is really cool, wish more places would do that actually

Updates are supeeeeer nice!!

Keep it up amigo vamoooos!

Easy Game...

Synopsis of a inner dialogue over the past 2 emotional months of crypto :

- Me, after being up 50k in December on my investment : "Easy mama-fracking yo, gangsta style "

- Me, this week following the ensuing 48k downswing : "Ehhhh, I guess I am still up a little "


Got crushed in the tune of 4k in the past 24h, as my 80-20s can't hold up for the life of me and let's not even talk about the flips, shall we not The hits are that much harder when they happen @ 400z for 1k pots

Been waking up less happy than in Israel/Europe, but will gladly accept this mere emotional impact if it is all that is inflicted upon me following a 50k overall downswing Also, given the TITANIC volatile nature of cryptos, it would be foolish to accredit a concrete monetary number to the swings


For someone like me who prides himself with his level of awareness/being observant and whatnot, I had not fracking noticed that table sectioning until you pointed it out I guess the foreign language, ehhhhhh, I mean the local tongue still overloads my sensory acuteness

Now that I noticed it, yup agree

Thx bro, I do hope this part of the journey will be as successful as my European one




Been reading a min of a page of this little bugger every night . -1.9k this week in 6h


Run good all

U-Turn

Ohhhhh how 24h can shift the dynamic, right : +1.8k in 4h online and cryptos +17k Like previously mentioned, no way I can assign a concrete and direct $$$ value to cryptos without actually materializing the act of selling, yet these otherworldly blockchain swings has made the volatile nature of 400z comparable to the experience of eating a tasty piece of cake while strolling in a park on a sunny Sunday evening

Darn, those Toronto Raptors, right Good as frack, best team to ever set foot on the hard court... I mean, Boston who Warriors, here we come I booked a few bets online yesterday, one of which attests that the Raps have to win their division (about 60%+ favourite and got odds of 2.5x, which is a no brainer, yet my bet was limited to 125$ until further approval, which I will not bother) and the other (400$) that Harden will get MVP, which seems like a no brainer, given Lebron's Cleveland state I still have on my bucket list to place a 5 digit bet on a single sporting event and have found Bovada, which accepts deposits of up to 5k in bitcoins, which will have to do. So will look into it when I get back to Canada, as Bovada does not f**k around when it comes to IP locations





Run good all

Incredible graffiti wow

Murder was the Case that they Gang Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLSTI7h6opg

Played a little less 400z over the past couple of days - albeit just a little... - trying by all means to recoup from that 4k downswing. You see, I get away with murder in broad daylight @ 200z. With blood still dripping from my hands, saliva from my mouth and traces of the act all over my clothes ; sneak into a bus, sit my arse down on a seat like a normal soul would and anonymously get away with 187, mama-frackers @ 400z, I could not get away with felony if my life depended upon it Even if I immediately cleaned out the prints from the crime scene, previously purchased the weapon in a 3rd world country in Monero monies and keenly smiled to my prosecutors like the kindred son of my mother that I am Nope. Nada. No fracking pity @ 400z, yo. Because that stake is as heartless as it comes, a jungle with survival of the fittest being its intrinsic nature, insofar as to making a Darwin ohhhhhh so f**king proud




+4.3k in 9h


Yeah man, my favourite graffiti as well, I love how duality is represented threw the form of good and evil, much like my back tattoo. I also like the previously posted mural of this old lady in Montreal.


Run good all

Hey, really enjoying following your thread. Are you playing live games in Lima? If yes, how good (or bad) are the games? GL

Para Nosotros, Nada

Spanish is coming along. Fast at first - about on average 25 new words/day -, but has naturally slowed down, as I have assimilated the easiest/most used words. For the record, I have spent a winter in Mexico before (but my gf at the time was an extrovert and trilingual, hence occupying most of the social grounds) and then, more significantly, a winter in Central America where I worked as a chef. So I do have conversational skills, even if they remain quite basic. The next step will be to have an academic approach to the language, AKA learning the past and future verb tenses and expanding my vocabulary, as oppose to getting away with using the expressions I master well and thus remaining within my comfort zone. I should start some courses by next week, me thinks.

Took close to a 2k hit last night, but came back this morning, so probably down 1k or so, but found ourselves at +800$ in 18h for the week, so not too shabby

Played 2-2 thus far, more out of social interaction/practicing my Spanish than actually grinding. Game was nitty as frack, with people folding 2nd pairs to a single bet as the money seemed to mean more to them than any GTO though out argument Will go check out the 10-20 game tonight ; if it is not running, will probably play the smaller game for 1-2h. Thx for the compliment bro





Run good all

Afternoon Delight

Skipped out on live poker yesterday after booking a solid 3k in 5h online and thus having my brain utterly fried Like over hard eggs. Or crispy as frack bacon. Or sausages. But cooked-over-a-bonfire/burnt-as-frack-hotdogs. Not tasty wild game.





Also had a date in the afternoon which went a little like this... Girl shows up 15 minutes late, elegantly dressed, conceited, sunglasses on and seemingly disinterested as f**k in any potential outcome ... Until I worked my French charm, that is Lifetimes separate that moment in Bosnia where I failed to put on my flirting shoes and go talk to the Reception chick - D flirting game at the time - to now, where I managed to get her emotionally invested in the moment, got quite a few smiles/laughs out of her, another date - A+ flirting game yo Don't think I will be sticking around though, as her time is already unevenly split in between a Master's degree, work and her party life

I think I will just get 5h/week of Spanish Lessons on Skype (10$/h), which will insanely facilitate my flexibility, open up my mobility options if I decide to pack up my little ones and hit the road at any given moment. If I combine this Skype plan with daily interactions, a gf and reading Cien Anos de Soledad in espanol, that should do the trick. This online medium also lets me pursue my learning once in Canada (I plan on checking out Spain next winter).

edit : took a 1.4k hit this morning in 1h, but it matters little, since I have become the Master of Swwwinnnnnnnggggssss


Run good all