Thanks for the recs, Pure. I read Anthem years ago and enjoyed it. Lots of people despise Rand—mainly for her ideology; I've also been told she's an atrocious writer—which makes me want to read her more. Probably won't happen, though, because her major novels are 800+ pages, right?

Good looking goals that you have set. Unlike myself, you have a track record of approaching, and successfully completing goals. Keep up the good work!

As for book suggestions, The Brother K by David James Duncan. This might not be feasible at this juncture if you are looking to get through 3 books/moth, as it is a little over 600 pages. It is a pretty touching book, lots of sentimentality. Politics of the Vietnam War meet the struggle of politics in the family and religion. Numerous quotable lines and food for thought. I would say that this book doesn't require an interest in baseball to be enjoyed, but for baseball fans that enjoy reading it is a must.

Devil All the Time, by Donald Ray Pollock. This is a shorter work of fiction at 260 or so pages. What kept me captivated was all the nefarious and unsavory characters that you feel like roam the world around you daily and come to life in this book. Overall the caviler approach to gruesome violence is something to behold.

In any case, my inane descriptions of these novels won't do them justice, so I will stop where I have. Again, best of luck on the goals!

Thanks for the book recs and the good wishes, Zombie! I'm not too worried about reading a particular # of books (or hitting some special # of hours): the goal-setting is more about structuring my time in a productive way. So if I end up wanting to read a longer book...then I will

I'll throw these onto the list. Thanks for reminding me about The Brothers K, a few people have mentioned it to me. Hope things are going well with you and that you continue your own PGC--or start a new one.

**

wanted to add one more 2018 goal

[ ] study 200 hours

Great bbj story. What are some of the bigger regular games you've seen in the gulf states? Whats the biggest game you've seen? I always imagined that was an underappreciated market.

I regret not visiting, I've been so close so many times (visit pcola often)

Wait, what, did someone say book recommendations? From stuff I read last year ...

Best book I read in 2017: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. Gripping, great portrait of a young protagonist, some interesting questions about belief and behavior and their relatedness. http://mankinlevine.com/2017/12/read...mily-fridlund/

It's hard to go wrong with Coetzee, especially as men get older. Read Disgrace lstt year:
http://mankinlevine.com/2017/03/read...y-j-m-coetzee/

Best book on contemporary, global music as a technocultural phenomenon; Uproot by Jace Clayton (also known as DJ Rupture): http://mankinlevine.com/2017/01/read...-jace-clayton/

More at the site, ofc.

Prolly the most exciting new voice I ran across last year was Kai Ashante Wilson. Very short novel/las, sort of an afroFuturisticHomoErotic mode--clearly influenced by Delaney, but clearly their own voice. The first one is http://mankinlevine.com/2017/03/read...shante-wilson/

Read books by Ehrdrich and Kingsolver last year, each of which were quite good, but if you haven't read either Love Medicine or, especially, The Poisonwood Bible, start there.

Also, we may have a bet brewing. I need to put in some high volume writing next year as well. Thinking ...

2/5 or 5/10 uncapped at the beau rivage or “match the big stack” at harradise. The games are good and play anywhere from 200 to 2000BBs deep. That said, they used to be better. Talk to Biloxi or Nola or Lafayette regs and tell you that the golden years were a decade ago, when gamblers routinely tossed bricks of cash into play (I've heard lots of stories like this; one of them is here). Romanticized or not, the stories live on even as the games slowly get worse.

Gamblers still gonna gamble, of course. I'm writing this outside the Beau at the Million Dollar Heater--maybe the biggest weekend of the year down here--where the 1/3 and 2/5 lists are in the 100s, the cash games are all super deep, and 10/25 PLO is running. The gulf coast is definitely an underappreciated market, but prob still below LA, DC, and--you might disagree--south Florida. Where do you think SoFla ranks?

Biggest game I've personally played in was graveyard 2/5/10 with a few 20k stacks, avg stack 8kish.

come on by!

I'd be happy to cross-book a bet with you for motivation. Just name your goal and the stakes. If we both succeed it's a wash.

Thanks, too, for the book recs! Hoop Roots is also on my list.

Two Interviews with James Sweeney

In the first one, we discuss what coaching teaches; balancing poker, business, and family; Sweeney’s experience with Solve for Why Academy; and the future of poker instruction.

The second interview focuses on James's recent video series The One Percent, which was adapted from Ed Miller's popular book. I think that both resources are good starting points for ppl interested in studying a more balanced approach to the game.

January Results, February Goals

[72] Write 75 hours
[X] Read Roxane Gay, Hunger; Tommy Angelo, Elements of Poker; David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas; Arlie Hoschild, Strangers in Their Own Land

Hunger was good. I hadn't read Tommy Angelo and enjoyed EOP. Planning to review the audiobook version soon and will poast it here.

Cloud Atlas is an ingenious novel. I've never read anything like it. The book is a series of nested narratives that don't seem to have much to do with each other (I'm guessing they will, though). It hasn't been a gripping read, but the writing and concept is so good that I'll keep going.
[X] Cradle fluffey puppy

In other news, I've been on quite the heater at the tables.


February Goals

[ ] play 50 hours
[ ]write 50 hours
[ ]study 20 hours
[ ]read Cloud Atlas and Strangers in Their Own Land
[ ]Survive Mardi Gras

Cloud Atlas is fantastic. Your view on the film may vary greatly, it was m's favorite movie for a few years. My Dad's review of it: http://mankinlevine.com/2013/09/them...p-cloud-atlas/

The rest of Mitchell's stuff is well worth it as well--The 1,000 whatevers of Jacob de Zoet is excellent, I liked Ghostwritten and No 9 Dream more than most, and Black Swan Green is sort of fascinating as a portrait of a young boy/man with a stutter (as you may guess). I talk about that some in the second half of http://mankinlevine.com/2015/07/talk...t-in-a-series/. Some of the same characters pop up throughout the books, which is interesting as well.

Hope the month without play was refreshing!

Thanks for the links! I'll probably check out the film version at some point. Depending on how the rest of CA goes, I may pick up another of his books. I'm feeling in awe of his writing abilities--especially the different voices/plots--and am wondering when and how everything will hang together. I'm more intellectually impressed than impressed impressed, if that makes sense, but I haven't yet reached the midway point when we start looping back through the narratives. This reading guide has been helpful as I've plodded through.

I logged 35ish hours without setting a concrete goal, which felt nice. Had a fun weekend playing in some absurd 2/5 games at the Beau. Sat with Andrew Neeme for a while. He's just as down to earth and likeable as I'd hoped/expected.

I think Jacob de Zoet is most likely to impress impress. It starts as a smart, incisive piece of historical fiction centered on early trade interactions with Japan, and then goes nutty from there in some really great ways.

I am guessing you are less than halfway through Cloud Atlas--carry on until the structure makes sense before deciding to ditch it.

Bob,
Might be time to visit your folks again - last two Friday's we've had two full tables of 5-10 (optional 20 on the button) on Friday with at least one lasting until daylight (plus a 2-5 table both days) and the 2-5 is now running several days a week. It could be related to the gem show but last night of the two 5-10 tables (plus 5 more on the wait list at midnight) only one name was a gem show visitor.

Clearly putting something new in the local water supply.

Poker Faces in the Crowd, Super Bowl Edition: Chris Canan

with Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl upon us, I caught up with Saints Superfan Chris Canan this month. Da Coach and I discussed tournament poker, the best way to insult Tampa Bay Bucs fans, and Super Bowl LII predictions.

Yep that's the plan. The structure feels both novel and simple; I'm just wondering how all the dissimilar parts will hang together.

Sounds epic. I think my next chance will be in June before I hit the WSOP.

*sniff sniff* Is that "JRR's Special Gamboling Potion"?

Well, that displaced this week's novel ...

But (fortunately) I quickly realized that warmdeck's often-cited thread wasn't my genre.

Wit and Wisdom

"Those who chase straights and flushes
come on planes and leave on buses.”

—overheard at a NLH table. The speaker, a pudgy man wearing an Accutrol hat, busted out soon after. His flush draw failed to hit.

**

If you haven't heard about writer Maria Konnikova's book project—she's grinding donkaments under Erik Seidel's tutelage in order to explore the relationship between skill and luck—this recent podcast is a solid listen.

Good read, right? So many fascinating narratives out there, and most never reach the light of day. Fortunately we, as brave 2+2ers, can descend into poker's netherworld and unearth a few!

As for WarmDeck, I haven't made my way through his thread either. I imagine it'll happen at some point.

Yes, "netherworld" is a good word for it. My father retired to West Palm so I got to know a bit of that part of Fla. but I never saw truestoryteller's world. And am just as glad to have missed it. (I've played in some of those afterhour games in Edmonton, but the lowlife there is not nearly so low ...) I sent one of my friends the link and described it as "homegame noir".

For those who were reading it as it was posted, thread's like that move us toward the first experience of storytelling, where the listening audience interacts with the bard as the story unfolds and the teller can get some sense of what the audience responds to and wants.

As much as I found the poker degeneracy fascinating to read about (and I got a picture of the omnipresence and easy acceptance of guns and drugs in American culture that no CNN story could ever give me), the more general degenerancy of the warmdark thread doesn't involve me in the same way.

But I'm open to other recommendations ...

I feel pretty much the same way. I enjoy the TST thread in a vicarious kind of way, as someone who exists on the fringes of the underground homegame world and doesn't want to descend much deeper. I dabbled in the Houston home game scene and have access to a few Nola underground games. I go, occasionally, but am not that enthused for the usual reasons—safety, potential cheating/collusion,the general shadiness/degen atmosphere. There's also a weird dynamic that exists in these games—TST has touched on it—in which you "know" most of the players and thus don't go as hard vs them as you normally would. It's always easier on the conscience to stack an anonymous whale.

Yeah, I like that aspect of his thread and of PGCs in general. It seems like his poasts have slowed down but that he plans to continue with the stories...

I'm also interested in the degen side of poker—addiction, problem gambling, underground games, crime, etc—and would enjoy hearing recs as well, if anyone has them. It's a subject I haven't explored all that much and don't have much personal experience with. Just last night I was chatting with a friend about how, for both of us, we're closer to the "nit" than the "degen" side of the gambling spectrum, and that obviously shapes my experiences inside the poker world.

Only rec that comes to mind is King Krab's PGC (and subsequent book). I actually have the book, thanks to a generous 2+2er, but haven't read it.

Idem, could not get into the Warmdeck thread even after trying twice... There are some interesting clips though, but just couldn't invest myself emotionally. The Truestory thread is indeed enthralling. The following is the elite 2 + 2 degen thread, imho : https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/5...-aler-1124887/

If not, they are a few degen threads in the travel section, but much like Warmdeck's, couldn't really get into them. This one was perhaps the most engaging, me thinks : https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...-kong-1434698/ and

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...-nsfw-1543290/

Bob, here is a (now defunct, sigh ) thread that might interest you ; it is short yet thoughtful/insightful and revolves around inner balance, writing and highstakes limit games in Vegas : https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...-back-1580469/

Interesting. Do you know if there's much difference between the two? That is, is there any reason not to read just the thread and skip the book?

Nice write up! Have a question about one of the questions. When you asked about him being a full time tournament player, were you implying he plays tournaments for a living or that he plays tournaments to the exclusion of cash games?

I remember the pantheraler degen thread; thanks for reminding me. Haven't seen the Thailand ones. ETM's thread is a real gem, an anti-degen thread in a way, and a shame that he wrapped it up.

Hope things are good in your world! I've been following your travel threads and glad to see you've been visiting some beautiful spots.

I think--after skimming the thread and his book at one point--that the book offers a cleaner, tighter version of the thread. It's edited, a bit. But the content is pretty much the same.

Reminds me of how now-retired Chuck Bass (*pours one out*) revised the material from his PGC into his Once a Gambler books.

Thanks! Both. I'd prefer "full-time pro" for someone who plays a mix of games for his main source of income, but Chris plays exclusively tournaments.

Did Chuck Bass ever come out with book 3 and/or the print version?

Nice playing with you last week!

Really wanted to get in that limp/reraise on you to identify myself, but ran outta time, ha. Was also thinking of going with "I betcha I can guess the name of the tallest player at this table", although seat 4 was actually pretty tall and mighta screwed up that angle.

Last night in town on Thursday I took in a little more than just poker, enjoying a dinner up on Bourbon St. and taking in a late parade. Then sat in probably the best 1/3 NL game I've ever at until about 2:00am (stayed up all night due to super early flight), like every single pot was $200+.

Overall, simply nitted it up to a $497 profit over 24:35 hours. Felt out of place in the deep games, that's for sure, and using all those different color chips and not being totally sure of stack sizes was something I wasn't used to. Ha, also 1 for 3 on my limp/reraising preflop all-ins (AA > AKs for $300, KK < QQ for $200, and KK < A4o for $130 3ways where 3rd guy folded to my flop bet).

Good game!

GwillbesearchingoutPositivelyFifthStreet,thanksfor therecommendationG

I don't think so. I haven't heard anything. Hopefully he will.

Dude! It was a pleasure playing with you. Nice move seat-changing and giving me the limp-reraise speech and finally just introducing yourself. I can be quite clueless sometimes
Glad you got out for a parade or two. So much to do this time of year.

Not surprising to hear that you found some good games and that you were profitable. Limp/reraising is definitely less bad here than elsewhere, and it some spots it might be optimal!

Enjoy Positively Fifth Street, it's a good one.