Weekend Warriors, Part 2

Apparently weekends is where its at, who would of funked it Still spent most of the day couch/bed surfing though, binge watching The Man in the High Castle, which happens to be a solid show : +1300$ in 2h

Booked all my flight tickets for HCMC, Montreal (via Japan and Denver ) - where I will play the 5.3k Party Millions with apparently 50% of myself, as I already got 3 messages offering to buy my action - then Dawson in mid-May.

In this day and age, it has become more than essential to stay ahead of the hacking curve, hasn't it See Russia, the CIA, the American elections, the NSA etc. Found a few different trojans on my PC in the past month (identity theft and DOS botnet thingy) ; combine these with a few phishing attacks, and a certain dose of paranoia has since creeped in Fortunately, I use my mac for grinding, banking and all the official stuff.

Run good all

The Journey Onwards

With summer rapidly approaching, I have booked all my flights/buses to Dawson, ordered my summer reading material (Mike Sexton's recent book, another non-fiction poker book that the title escapes me and Red Wheelbarrow, the Mr Robot book that acts as Elliot's journal while he is detained in prison in between season 1 and 2). Probably one the best aspects of my still semi-nomadic lifestyle, is having the leisure of looking forward to stuff... To a new season, refreshed cycles, renewing with familiar faces/loved ones and the constant movement, of course

Like previously mentioned, I will be playing the May 6 flight of the 5.3k Party Millions in Montreal :

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...und-poker-club

Despite most likely being in the top 5-10% of the field in talent, I almost feel like a rec player as my level of excitement/expectation goes Over the past few years, I have not played many live events (and let alone in the place I grew up) or live at all, since back in October in Vancouver. And while I have always preferred the flexibility that offers da online pokerz (think pyjamas in an exotic country yo ), live still instills me with a greater sense of excitement.

The shuffling of chips... The slow, deliberate motions... The conversations... The access to coffee, massages, meals... Even the general fatigue that settles in, in the wee hours of the morning, when prolonging the session slightly dips into dementia...

As far as my game goes, not only am I on my biggest upswing ever over the past 10 months (as far as winrate goes, not volume), but my focus is unprecedented (for me) ; exploitative reads, spot on ; GTO balanced game, rapidly improving, ; emotional balance, rigid. It is also reassuring that a few people (over here and irl close friends) strongly believe in my game and thus instantly reached out to me to buy some of my action +700$ in 4h


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Beyond Expectations

Another week in the books, one where I met the bottom end of the desired volume (28h), studying (4h) and writing (8h) : +3.6k. Much of the same goals this week, outside perhaps of writing, where I would be content with a mere 5h (already skipped out going to the cafe today, so will not aim higher than 3 x 2h ; might get a 4h tattoo session this week, which would dig into the writing grind schedule


Darn, that Kyle Lowry injury is taking its toll on the TO Raptors Serge Ibaka looks really good, fits in perfectly on both sides of the floor and I feel that Toronto are this close to matching up with Cleveland (maybe 1-2 years away, given Lebron is already 32 and that Lowry is the oldest on the Raptor's side at 30 with Derozan and Ibaka at 27), but has yet to test how the engines would run on all cylinders (Lowry got injured the game just before the Ibaka and Tucker trades). Really looking to the NBA playoffs, despite me

As far as hockey goes, after a lame a$$ year where no Canadian team made it to the playoffs in 2016 - SAY FRACKING WHAT!?! -, all 4 of Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal will seemingly make it to the post-season this year. I do not feel that the Stanley Cup is coming north of the border this year, but there is still hope... For the record and those that do not know, the Cup has not been won by a Canadian team since Montreal, back in the previous millennium (1993).


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Pursuing Rainbows

Finally made it out in sunny-gorgeous Danang, went to the cafe and wrote for a couple of hours. I had been stuck inside for the past couple of days, indulging in introvert activities (meditation, grinding and watching movies) while the outside world was, you know, outside

If my novel was originally suppose to be entirely a gambling book, I think I will focus a bit more on Dawson City, on the dynamics of that northern town... Also, I am giving myself a very flexible 5 years to come up with something I am proud of... +300$ in 9h


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Time Management

With the amount of time that I am spending here, in Vietnam, it is quite a shame that I have yet to pick up the local dialect It has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks, but, truth be told, if I were to study say anywhere in between 2-5h/week, this would simply rob me of my poker study time. Or I would need to cut into my meditation time (10-15h/week, which is not going to happen), the poker grind (already on the low side), reading (again, on the low side) or my social life (low as well). If I happened to be dating a Vietnamese girl LTR, of course, I would put myself right away to the task, especially if she was not fluent in English. I am proud that I have already picked up English and Spanish, yet I am starting to feel somewhat embarrassed when locals address me and I either mumble a few lost English words or stand there and shrug

* For the record, when I first arrived into the Philippines, I was picking up Tagalog at a rapid pace, but once I bounced around and the dialect switched to Cebuano, I got bummed out and gave up on that quest. Also, Never, ever was I going to settle down in that country +1500$ in 4h


Movie of the Day :


What if we brought to fruition our early 20s hippie dreams... What if Chomsky, Marx and Robinson Crusoe were not just textbook names, but ways of living actually applied to our life...





Viggo Mortenson is once again excellent in Captain Fantastic, a movie portraying the livelihood of a single father raising 5 kids while trying to cope with the recent death of his wife. Of course, it does not exactly make things easier that the family has totally renounced society and lives in the heart of the bush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1kH4OMIOMc

I was reluctant to watch this movie for some reason, but am sure glad I did


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Weekend Warriors, part xxx

Another solid week in the books Things have definitely been extremely smooth pokerwise this winter, thus granting me the luxury of saving 20k more than I initially gunned for 3.2k in 28h

I feel somewhat divided by the book Ship It Holla Ballas! which revolves around the crew of Dwan, Galfond, Benefield and friends ; on the one hand, it is neat to go back to the golden online era of 2003-06, yet it is hard to find a liking in these balla-wannabe-kids. They are young, foolish, highly egotistical with little life experience. In other words, little ****s I guess it is a narrative that might be more engaging for a reader in his early 20s, impressionable and obsessed with the game of poker...

When I was in my 20s, names like Jack Kerouac, Henry Miller held more of an appeal on me. Sure, I as well could be seduced by their narcissistic view of life, yet these beatniks offered a deeper/more compassionate perspective than those wannabe poker ballas, me thinks.

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HU 4 Rollz Buddy

It felt like 2006 all other again : I was willing to take ALL newcomers this week (be it a strong reg or not) while sitting deep @ 200z, like a mama-fracking gangsta yo





I mean, what could go wrong - right -, with rolling the dice in a HIGH variance game vs some of the best regs... What wrong could be done when putting into the hands of variance the outcome of flips, of triple-barel bluffs and random (GTO ) spews

-1400$ in 13h


I cashed out half of my roll online in the last 2 weeks (12k), because, you know, in the post-Black-Friday days, one is safer when the monies is transferred in his bank account, not left online, you know what I mean This said, I will start leaving a min of 15k online from now on, planning on invading the 400z in no time, yo I am always really reluctant at moving up in stakes out of fear of the new (intense) level of expected variance... This said, it feels quite refreshing that I did not break a sweat when I was down 2k in my first couple of hours of grind this week, and did not think of it once before crashing for zzzzzzs The old me (from years past) would of mentally revisited an unhealthy amount of (anxious) hands...

Bad beat (rant) of the week :

I get it in vs a drooler with AQx on KJTx vs QTx

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I see you're a raptors fan ... Always liked them but if Milwaukee can sneak into the five seed watch out with how they're playing oh what am I kidding ... The bucks let me down every year haha but I never give up on them!

I love the Bucks and they would probably my first choice of opponent in the first round (Atlanta is my second choice). They are an exciting/intriguing bunch - if only they could be healthy - and I think their future is bright. Masai Ujiri tried to trade for the rights to draft Giannis in 2013, but alas, to no avail

I am hoping the Raptors are going to sneak up into the third seed though, so they can avoid the Cavs in the second round and hopefully crush the Celtics

I have the nba league pass and have watched almost all of Toronto's games this year, but, ffs, the stream is ALWAYS blurry The good thing is that I will be in Canada for the second round of the playoffs, where I hope the Montreal Canadiens and Raptors will alternate playing nights

Negreanu Rant

You guys heard of the new Poker Stories podcast? It is structured similarly to The Poker Life podcast - minus Joey's humour and charisma -, has some interesting guests, but the interview does somewhat fall flat (compared to Joey's) ). This week, it was none other than Daniel Negreneau who snapped/lost it @ Doug Polk

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/...193725606?mt=2

Listen, say what you will about Negreanu (which fluctuates in between a fish (in the Highrollers), a Pokerstars puppet , a narcissist, a joke ; or, in the other spectrum, an all-time great, an ambassador etc.), the dude is entertaining, loved and remains our most known ambassador. Sure, like many, I get outraged when he defends Pokerstars like the little Corporation Puppet that he is, this said, while it is hard to imagine MANY better ambassadors for poker (perhaps Phil Galfond...), it is really easy to picture worse than him (think Hellmuth... Enough said ). So I am pretty happy that he is the face of poker. Nonetheless, what tilts the living hell out of me about Dregs, is that he does not seem to realize that in today's ecosystem, another Negreanu would be impossible... I am not sure how he manages to justify to himself this reality, yet I am sure it does not stop him from sleeping in the evening

Decent week in the books pokerwise - results notwithstanding -, as despite a few spews here and there (will happen when running this bad), I managed to keep my tilt in check : -1.9k in 26h

One last week to go in March and we are this close at reaching the 20k mark for Feb-Mar


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Back on Track

There are 10-12 different walking-distance-neighboring restaurants that we like to munch at - all of them local Vietnamese food, minus a Chinese restaurant and KFC . There is a new one that just opened, serving Hanoi dishes that we love to indulge in, notably a dish named BunCha Hanoi that was featured internationally on CNN when Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama forever put their stamp on this dish :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kztetjZKpM

Speaking of the former, Anthony Bourdain reached the spotlight when his book Kitchen Confidential became the bible for all cooks, a story in which drugs, alcohol, sex and yes, some kitchen work are the bread and soul of the story ; unfortunately, the book would be (somewhat) harmless if it limited itself to a (juvenile) hedonistic outlook, but when it includes misogyny, homophobia and a plain and simple recipe to become an arsehole, it leaves a bad imprint upon the literature canon, me thinks...

When we follow a (very) young Andrew Robl, David Benefield, Tom Dwan and Phil Galfond in Ship It Holla Ballas!, I thought we were destined to a similar faith ; I mean, they are cocky-devoid-of-any-street-smarts-little-****s Thankfully though, these are intelligent/analytical poker players that we are talking about here, so the book does become more self-reflective, thankfully... Worth a read, I think, and it does adequately retrace the golden days of online poker +3.3k in 17h We are very close to the 20k mark for Feb-Mar


Run good all

Humanity (or lack of)

March just came to a close and while our initial target was the modest 8-10k (for Febuary and March), we simply crushed it folks 20.3k in 222h

Our targets for April will equally be modest ones, as I plan on fully engaging the outside world for my last month in Vietnam before heading back to Canada. So something along the lines of 2-5k with 20h of studying for the month sounds just about right ; of course, given our 2017 absolute run good thus far, we probably will surpass the 10k mark


Movie of the Day

What is in store for humanity's future? Virtual connectivity... Robots... A stream of data... In a day and age where the most powerful nation's election can be swayed by the simulated means of hacking or the entire east coast of that said nation be virtually shutdown (think Amazon etc.) by tens of millions of gadgets engaged in a DOS attack, our (artificial) future might seemingly appear to slip away from us...





Where will lie our humanity in such an imminent robotic era... In a realm where data (memory) is swiped away, replaced, hacked... Where our actions are programmed, monitored...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEDctELIm3I


I must say, ScarJo is graduating from a sophisticated/distinguished lady to a full pledge gangsta, yo This said, in a movie where the concept of humanity is exhaustively scanned, the characters paradoxically lack humanity and hence leave a dry narative spell. Remains a solid/must see film.


Run good all

Rainy Skies

Not much in the mood to grind the virtual tables lately, a sentiment that transpired through my 45m session yesterday where after whiffing the flop in a 3bet pot OOP with AQ, I cbetted the K23r dry flop/shoved the 4 turn for 1.5x pot (instead of the better 1/3 pot on turn, check any non A or 5 rivers), only to get looked up by a Kx +500$ in 3h

I think I will take most of this week off, as my heart is not in the grind and we will be going on a small vacation to the nearby (2h away) Hue. So anyhow, will not bring along my external monitor and hence focus on doing some writing instead.


Movie of the Day :


Since Denzel Washington falls into the overly-hyped-celebrity-actors category for me, it did come as a (refreshing) surprise to witness his great performance in the critically acclaimed Fences (93% on RT).




Set in Pittsburgh's 1950s, Fences follows the tribulations of a black family exposed to the (oppressive) social conventions of the times. The screenplay is punctuated by time ellipses (4 in total, I believe), jumping from a decade to another, while exposing the obvious generational cultural gaps in between the children and the father.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj-ZYPVRQbc

A must-see powerful and moving film


Run good all

Metal Mentdown

Well, my mac won't start anymore Was making my way to the Apple store, you know, trying to wave over a taxi in the Vietnam evening traffic while mentally calculating how much money being away from the grind was costing me , when I said "frack it ", turned my heels and went back home, laid in bed and practiced the art of being a lazy bum

#DharmaBumsNotDeadYo

Might have to purchase another laptop if my warranty figures not to be international (I do not trust my PC for the grind after the 4 trojans I found on there ), but, whatever, combine this technology breakdown with our 4 day trip to Hue (where I will not bring my external monitor), and we can call a week as far as the grind goes

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Malfunction

Suuuuurrrrrrrre, why not After bringing my mac to an apple service store (the second store that is, as the first was a fake apple service shop ), we jump in a taxi, drive off towards the biggest electronic shop in Danang - AKA most reliable -, I negotiate a deal with my gf where I will rent the future hp for 2 weeks for 100$ (she hence covers the other 250$), we purchase the PC, get windows and Microsoft Office and zoom back home. 2h later and bitdefender discovers a generic trojan : those mama-fracking idiots installed a pirated windows/Office, left the hacking software on the PC, along with a beautiful/shiny trojan that was ultimately going to contaminate my hard disc It would take me an extra 6h to install windows by myself (downloaded from Microsoft, as we did have a disc obviously) and get the PC going

Still in Hue atm and haven't grinded in days, but played something like 5h this week with a profit of 2.5k I plan on targeting 30h this upcoming week

Run good all

I'm a big Denzel fan I gotta watch Fences soon.

The Grind, Yo

Ok, just got back in Danang after a 3 day stint in Hue (where laziness reached its pinnacle ), so decent volume will once again be targeted : something along the lines of 32h with 4h of studying (got 14h last week with 2.4k profit). It does remain kind of frugal though, when compared to the 55h that I weekly put in Dawson (albeit, the 24h sun does help, as does the live poker scene (no way in hell I could go back to grinding 50h online like I use to )).

#TooOldAndWise4ThisShyt




I forgot to mention that it is his directorial debut as well I never minded Denzel, just never thought much of him neither... I thought he was good in Malcolm X and perhaps in Glory and American Gangster, but fell WAY short, for me, of the actor category that make me want to see most of their films like :

- Ethan Hawke
- John Turturro
- Edward Norton
- Jeff Bridges
- Scarlett Johannson
- Winona Ryder
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Daniel Day Lewis
- Joaquin Phoenix
- Morgan Freeman
- Tom Hardy
- Kate Winslet
- Paul Giamatti

Good luck in your vipassana retreat friend


Run good all

You're crushing the cash games for such a sick hourly man good stuff keep it up!
I'll PM you about some tips for serving.

Da Sunshine Yo

Such a treat to login for a couple of hours, exploit a few spots here and there, put on our mojo and usually finish our 2-3h session up 800-1200$ day in and day out Such an easy grind this year Not so much this afternoon though, where I couldn't win a flip for my life, until, that is, I had an absolute drooler sit to my right with 1600$ @ 200z

Jeez, in this day and age, rec players like this fellow simply don't have a chance Especially when sitting deep with 5 regs (licking their chops) and that inability to quit the game while ahead +800$ in 13h this week thus far, but am converting close to 3k in RB in the next few days


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Ball Iz Life

I was never one for wanting my team to go the easy route, preferring an exciting/challenging opponent over the easy bout, perhaps even one that holds within its ranks a Freak-of-nature-Other-Wordly-Insanely-Talented player like Giannis Antetokounmpo (I dare you to say his name once or twice ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P2I51ogP2U

Or, in other words - words written by William Lou, to be precise, in his exhaustive article on The Defeated :

https://medium.com/the-defeated/11-t...s-16db475f81eb


"Just think about it this way: Giannis is a highly active, endlessly mobile center with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. The sheer physical space in which he operates is second to none in the league. Picture the Leonardo da Vinci human anatomy sketch, only double that circumference of influence.".

I realize that Toronto fans wanted by all means to avoid the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, while I prefer to face them (much more fun, yo). Sports is about a fun challenge, a grind, a test of skills , but certainly not about a walk in the park (not happy about having Cleveland in the second round of our bracket though, especially that I really wanted to spank the overrated Boston Celtics ). This said, while most will predict the Raps in 6, I am going for Toronto in 5, despite all games most likely being very tight I think the Bucks will be very good for years to come, but the added presence of Tucker and Ibaka - especially the former -, will limit Giannis effectiveness, me thinks... What happens when a freak of nature storms towards an unmovable boulder? You get Giannis vs Tucker, of course





On the poker front, I have been grinded steadily (almost 6h yesterday) ; given that I have no access to my saved writing texts (they are on my mac which is in the shop), have been focusing more on the grind. Will update the results at the end of the week (made a few negligible $$$ yesterday)


Run good all

Let's go bucks!! I'm just hoping for a good series, the bucks are young but this will be good experience for them moving forward ... If the bucks can push it to 6 I'll be happy

I am excited to get to watch Middleton and Brogdon (and Giannis, of course ), 2 players that I know nothing of beyond their reputation of being good that precedes them. This will be a fun series

Found myself in a curious situation today at the tables, which unfortunately left a bad aftertaste in my mouth, sorta speak Had a drooler on my direct right sitting with just over 250bbs @ 200z, I conveniently had him covered when I wake up with Ak in the BB. Button opens to 4$, our drooler friend folds and I elect to 3bet to 14$ ; button makes the call (I have him covered).

Flop (29$)
K109

Not a dream flop sitting this deep, but one that I nevertheless want to protect my hand on ; I fire 21$, villain makes the call.

Turn (71$)
K109 7

I hesitate in between continuing or checking, but go for the latter, not wanting to unnecessarily bloat the pot (or get raised) ; villain fires 65$, I make the call.

River (201$)
K109 7 5

I plan on calling basically any bets when I check to villain, but start hesitating when he shoves for 305$... I usually act similar like a GTO bot when it comes time for decision making - calling when my range/blockers dictate to do so, while not overly concerning myself with the end results -, but find myself reluctant of losing most of my stack in this spot for 2 reasons :

- Primo : if I fold, I still find myself with a wealthy 200bbs+ stack which radically increases my EV on this table, given that I have the God seat vs our drooler friend.

- Secundo : I feel that I might tilt if I lose this pot, not only affecting my direct EV (given my reloading stack size capped @ 100bbs), but perhaps swaying me away from my A game...


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WTFinnnnngHellllll...

Well, that was a terrible outing for the Raps Giannis is a beast - we all knew that - and if Lowry does not show up for the series, The Bucks will get this, as simple as that I do not think it can be overstated how important for the franchise is the next game in Toronto... Think free agency as in all of Lowry, Ibaka, Patterson and Tucker will hit the market this summer, and not only would a first round loss possibly persuade them to find a home elsewhere, but MLSE will not go into the luxury tax if the team shows no promise... The good news is, the Raps have been here before, came back a couple times to snatch away the series I still think we will get this one (in 6 or 7 now), as I have never, EVER, seen Kyle Lowry this bad (the guy has always been a net positive, even when struggling ; not this time ). On the plus side, Derozan and Ibaka looked elite Raps in 6 now And oh, the Bucks are definitely fun to watch (my third favorite team after the Timberwolves ).

Dipped into my C game a few too many hand this week ; not for a prolong amount of time, mind you, but enough to affect somewhat my winrate in those few brain farts Still a decent week and one where I profited just over 1k (and triple that with the added RB ). I guess I have been spoiled with exceptional weeks for the past 6 months But fear not, I will not become complaisant and will maintain an attentive eye on my ego and possible leaks to plug

So rumor has it we can claim our balances from the now obsolete Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker... Not sure how much faith I have in these claims (not that it matters for me personally, as I luckily avoided all of UB (had busted my BR there), Black Friday (had cashed out from Full Tilt 1 week prior and only had a roll on Party ) and any other major scandal, really


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Universal Balance

- Got my mac back : check

- Back on the grind for a last week before hitting Canada again : check

- Still have confidence in the Raptors who will snap away game 2 and 3 : check

- Proud of the 4 Canadian hockey teams up in their series (after having no Canadian team last year in the playoffs) : check

- Am excited for the upcoming 5.3k Millions in Montreal like a mama-fracking amateur paying for the right to dream yo : check

- 21h later (35h in total), finished my back tattoo : check






Run good all

The Get Up

Well, that was quite the pitiful, shameful performance - if I have seen any - that the Raps put out there The defeated looks on Derozan and Lowry's faces in the post-game interview said it all (especially Kyle, that doesn't seem to want to be with the team anymore) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3hJr3XuQOM

This happens to be the best Raptors ever assembled, especially given that Masai went to get Ibaka and Tucker at the trade deadline, thus plugging the most glaring leaks of the team, and yet... and yet If Toronto bails out in the first round and is anything short of a competitive series with the Cavs, MLSE will definitely not go into the luxury tax, a 31 years old Lowry becomes less attractive (200 mil over 5 years ), an Ibaka might find another home, a Tucker could take his twilight years elsewhere... Hummmmm...

You must feel pretty darn good with the outcome, regardless if the Raps manage to pull the upset I still think the Raptors have a decent shot, given their tendency to always put themselves in early holes... I mean these guys are pros, much like us, right, that have to pick ourselves up in the morning after a rough night at the tables, that have to shake off that existential rust, kick away that depression, get back up, punch gravity in the face and live to fight another day Curiously though, I don't feel too down after this game, nor do I ponder uselessly on this present 3k downswing of mine over the past few days. I mean, poker has been so easy this winter that my downswings have always come in the midst of clearing some RB, thus ending up net positive as far as profits goes (am up still roughly 1k when including last weeks RB).

Only 1 week left before Montreal, which will see me still grind somewhat, but at perhaps a 20h/week clip... I obviously have the 5.3k Party Millions on May 8 followed by an intensive grind in Dawson. Not sure if I will start a new 50k poll challenge or continue with this thread, but either way, it will solely a self-interested decision, given that there are not many posters in this thread...


Run good all