The Way of Variance
10-13-2018
, 10:54 AM
Life is variance. No other way around it. Dread it. Run from it. It will swallow you up like a tsunami and carry you to places you've not dared imagine - both good and bad. All you have to do, indeed all you can do, is embrace it.
Life is short. No other way around that. Choose the safest, most conservative and low variance route possible and you may still be unpleasantly surprised at some point. Or even worse - at the end.
Life is awesome. As a human you are a giant pool of possibilities - maybe you'll be the next Phil Ivey. Maybe you'll reach the top 1% of the 1% of people who get to live their dreams. Maybe you'll party with Dan Bilzerian and make more money from poker than God. Or maybe not. Maybe you'll keep losing and losing, blaming long stretches of running like death and downswings and the Gods of Variance. Maybe you'll hit rock bottom and contemplate suicide - surely it can't be much worse than the lowest of lows? But dying in your bed, many years from know, what would you give for one chance - just one chance - to come back and try to go for what you want. I mean really try - no more excuses, no more bull**** about your mortgage, responsibilities, "not enough time in the day" and "being realistic". Live at the edge of what you thought possible, one foot firmly planted outside your comfort zone at all times and maybe, just maybe you will have lived a life worth living.
A life on your own terms. A life in which you're more than just a number in a some company's spreadsheet. A cog in a corporate machine, boxed in all nice and obedient with little more autonomy than a snow white lab rat, running mindlessly on its wheel in between experiments until it can't run anymore and is replaced by a younger, healthier model. A machine that doesn't understand you and doesn't want to understand you. It only understands one thing - profit. That is what it wants and it demands productivity. It's ok though because you've got healthcare, a decent salary and a couple days off every week and, if you're really lucky - 30 days of annual leave.
If I've learned anything in my 33 years on this beautiful blue & green planet of ours, it's this: no matter what you do, there are no guarantees in life.
This is the story of a man choosing to walk the way of variance.
Wish me luck
Life is short. No other way around that. Choose the safest, most conservative and low variance route possible and you may still be unpleasantly surprised at some point. Or even worse - at the end.
Life is awesome. As a human you are a giant pool of possibilities - maybe you'll be the next Phil Ivey. Maybe you'll reach the top 1% of the 1% of people who get to live their dreams. Maybe you'll party with Dan Bilzerian and make more money from poker than God. Or maybe not. Maybe you'll keep losing and losing, blaming long stretches of running like death and downswings and the Gods of Variance. Maybe you'll hit rock bottom and contemplate suicide - surely it can't be much worse than the lowest of lows? But dying in your bed, many years from know, what would you give for one chance - just one chance - to come back and try to go for what you want. I mean really try - no more excuses, no more bull**** about your mortgage, responsibilities, "not enough time in the day" and "being realistic". Live at the edge of what you thought possible, one foot firmly planted outside your comfort zone at all times and maybe, just maybe you will have lived a life worth living.
A life on your own terms. A life in which you're more than just a number in a some company's spreadsheet. A cog in a corporate machine, boxed in all nice and obedient with little more autonomy than a snow white lab rat, running mindlessly on its wheel in between experiments until it can't run anymore and is replaced by a younger, healthier model. A machine that doesn't understand you and doesn't want to understand you. It only understands one thing - profit. That is what it wants and it demands productivity. It's ok though because you've got healthcare, a decent salary and a couple days off every week and, if you're really lucky - 30 days of annual leave.
If I've learned anything in my 33 years on this beautiful blue & green planet of ours, it's this: no matter what you do, there are no guarantees in life.
This is the story of a man choosing to walk the way of variance.
Wish me luck
Last edited by Pr4ff; 10-13-2018 at 11:13 AM.
10-22-2018
, 04:19 AM
2Praff7
Appreciate the support, and thanks for the recommendation, will def pop that on to my reading list 
My plan for getting better primarily consists of working on my mental game - don't expect there's that much for me to learn in order to beat live games of up to 2/5, skill wise I'm fairly decent. I do practice meditation and it has helped more than anything else both with my game and in general - very very useful "tool" if I can call it that.
I play without tracking software but I do go over key hands periodically. I also think about difficult spots away from the table - you know, the standard.
I'll post an update tonight for whom it may concern... (i.e. - my future self)
Quote:
Best of Luck! I truly mean that because I can see how passionate you are about it. Poker is a lot about growing as a person. Meditation and introspection will help. I would definitely recommend reading some books that will help you with your thought process with Poker and get you on track. Try The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler.
I'm leaving work next week and my poker journey will also begin. I'll be starting my own thread then also.
A little advice is if you are building up a bankroll I would not rule out tournaments. There is a ton of value in .55 and 1.10 tournaments on stars if you learn how to play them properly. They could be a great bonus to your bankroll if you cash.
How do you plan on getting better? Do you have tracking software? Training material? There is so much free content out there you just need the time, energy and determination to get through it all. If you truly want something bad enough, you'll achieve it no matter what stands in your way.
Lets ****ing go!
I'm leaving work next week and my poker journey will also begin. I'll be starting my own thread then also.
A little advice is if you are building up a bankroll I would not rule out tournaments. There is a ton of value in .55 and 1.10 tournaments on stars if you learn how to play them properly. They could be a great bonus to your bankroll if you cash.
How do you plan on getting better? Do you have tracking software? Training material? There is so much free content out there you just need the time, energy and determination to get through it all. If you truly want something bad enough, you'll achieve it no matter what stands in your way.
Lets ****ing go!
My plan for getting better primarily consists of working on my mental game - don't expect there's that much for me to learn in order to beat live games of up to 2/5, skill wise I'm fairly decent. I do practice meditation and it has helped more than anything else both with my game and in general - very very useful "tool" if I can call it that.
I play without tracking software but I do go over key hands periodically. I also think about difficult spots away from the table - you know, the standard.
I'll post an update tonight for whom it may concern... (i.e. - my future self)
10-22-2018
, 04:15 PM
Yo,
Been bumpin' that Eminem, know what I'm sayin'. Haven't been playin' much poker tho, busy week.
Been thinking about it though. I've also been reading about it. If poker's your thing/ one of your things, do yourself a favor and read this: http://https://forumserver.twoplustw.../index221.html. You're welcome.
"Hey Pr4ff, what is that you're asking me to read?" Oh that? Not much - only one of THE MOST AWESOME/ INSIGHTFUL/ BADMOTHER****ER-ESQUE THREADS OF ALL MF TIME & SPACE, that's all.
Anyways, here're the stats:
Bankroll:$46
Stakes:NL2
Hours played last week: 7
Hours spent studying the game: 0
If you're reading this, remember: BEING NICE & COURTEOUS TO PEOPLE is scientifically proven to be super +(life)EV.
Peace,
Love,
Pr4ff out!
Been bumpin' that Eminem, know what I'm sayin'. Haven't been playin' much poker tho, busy week.
Been thinking about it though. I've also been reading about it. If poker's your thing/ one of your things, do yourself a favor and read this: http://https://forumserver.twoplustw.../index221.html. You're welcome.
"Hey Pr4ff, what is that you're asking me to read?" Oh that? Not much - only one of THE MOST AWESOME/ INSIGHTFUL/ BADMOTHER****ER-ESQUE THREADS OF ALL MF TIME & SPACE, that's all.
Anyways, here're the stats:
Bankroll:$46
Stakes:NL2
Hours played last week: 7
Hours spent studying the game: 0
If you're reading this, remember: BEING NICE & COURTEOUS TO PEOPLE is scientifically proven to be super +(life)EV.
Peace,Love,Pr4ff out!
11-04-2018
, 03:04 PM
Sadly, story's similar to last week wrt time devoted to poker. If, for some reason, you happen to be subscribed to this thread - my apologies for the lack of content.
I have made some progress wrt reading the whole of DGAF's 2k thread, which is definitely something. I've marked the most important threads so far (I'm at post #1965) and the value is absolutely priceless.
I doubt I'll have more time for poker next week (my gf's sister's in town), but the week after that I'll try to log some hours.
Stats:
Bankroll: $45.56
Stakes: NL2
Hours played this week: 2h 50m
Time spent studying the game: 0
Time spent meditating: 55m
Thanks for reading!
Peace &
I have made some progress wrt reading the whole of DGAF's 2k thread, which is definitely something. I've marked the most important threads so far (I'm at post #1965) and the value is absolutely priceless.
I doubt I'll have more time for poker next week (my gf's sister's in town), but the week after that I'll try to log some hours.
Stats:
Bankroll: $45.56
Stakes: NL2
Hours played this week: 2h 50m
Time spent studying the game: 0
Time spent meditating: 55m
Thanks for reading!
Peace &
Last edited by Pr4ff; 11-04-2018 at 03:11 PM.
11-19-2018
, 04:05 PM
Changed my mind about how I'm going to approach this. The "Sunday Update" thing suddenly makes way less sense looking back at the past few posts. They're so robotic, regimented, unnatural. There's enough of that with my job methinks.
The satisfaction I felt with the opening post of this thread far outweighs everything that followed. There's something very therapeutic about sitting down and just writing. Something about just letting go and not worrying about how lame/cheesy/ w/e some of your thoughts are and just ****ing taking it out of your brain and putting it on the forums for everyone to see and not giving a **** and going for it and spewing.
'm writing this on my phone because my gf is using my computer for work - hers broke down. I love her.
And she loves me. Wants to settle down with me and have a family and move to a nice lil' suburb and live together forever and****. She's 36 - biological clock n'all I suppose... I don't (think) I want those things... Not yet anyway. Maybe not ever. I'm 33 but mentally I'm still like 12 lol. Love'er tho.
What I want is to delve as deep into live poker as I possibly can given my current situation - full time 8:30 to 17:30 job n'all. Still, I've never explored live poker to the degree I wanted to and think I could actually be pretty good at it.
Massive fanboi of this mf DGAF & co lol. Icanadd (doubt you're reading this but if you are you're right up there buddy. Listening to the Sean Snyer podcast - he's a bad mf as well.
For some reason I get really emotional when I write these. I've come to realize I'm a really emotional dude - certain songs/ books/ stories move me to tears sometime.
Well, that's all I got.
Oh yeah - will update where I am wrt poker when I move up in stakes or something.
If you're reading this remember: be as nice as you can to as many people as you can and you'll help leaving this place better than how you found 5
it. Cliche/ cheesy? Maybe - but it works
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The satisfaction I felt with the opening post of this thread far outweighs everything that followed. There's something very therapeutic about sitting down and just writing. Something about just letting go and not worrying about how lame/cheesy/ w/e some of your thoughts are and just ****ing taking it out of your brain and putting it on the forums for everyone to see and not giving a **** and going for it and spewing.
'm writing this on my phone because my gf is using my computer for work - hers broke down. I love her.
And she loves me. Wants to settle down with me and have a family and move to a nice lil' suburb and live together forever and****. She's 36 - biological clock n'all I suppose... I don't (think) I want those things... Not yet anyway. Maybe not ever. I'm 33 but mentally I'm still like 12 lol. Love'er tho.
What I want is to delve as deep into live poker as I possibly can given my current situation - full time 8:30 to 17:30 job n'all. Still, I've never explored live poker to the degree I wanted to and think I could actually be pretty good at it.
Massive fanboi of this mf DGAF & co lol. Icanadd (doubt you're reading this but if you are
you're right up there buddy. Listening to the Sean Snyer podcast - he's a bad mf as well.For some reason I get really emotional when I write these. I've come to realize I'm a really emotional dude - certain songs/ books/ stories move me to tears sometime.
Well, that's all I got.
Oh yeah - will update where I am wrt poker when I move up in stakes or something.
If you're reading this remember: be as nice as you can to as many people as you can and you'll help leaving this place better than how you found 5
it. Cliche/ cheesy? Maybe - but it works
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
11-20-2018
, 06:24 PM
Quote:
I would like to see more of you writing and thoughts than a summary.
As far as when or how often to update that depends on the goal you have.
1) Facts as I understand them are that you would like to play live for at least a significant side income if not full time.
You do not have a live bankroll and almost certainly have serous work to do on your game.
If my facts are correct you should be setting aside time to play online and time to work on your game. Also you should have some plan on how to develop a bankroll. 2)How soon do you want to reach the goal? How hard are you willing to work? Set some goals with those things in mind and a good use of this tread would be to hold you accountable to those goals 3)as well as offer advice to make the path smoother.
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As far as when or how often to update that depends on the goal you have.
1) Facts as I understand them are that you would like to play live for at least a significant side income if not full time.
You do not have a live bankroll and almost certainly have serous work to do on your game.
If my facts are correct you should be setting aside time to play online and time to work on your game. Also you should have some plan on how to develop a bankroll. 2)How soon do you want to reach the goal? How hard are you willing to work? Set some goals with those things in mind and a good use of this tread would be to hold you accountable to those goals 3)as well as offer advice to make the path smoother.
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1) Unsurprisingly, you are correct sir: a significant side income first - and full time depending on how that goes. As it stands I do not have a live bankroll and most likely won't have one until the end of next year. As far as developing a bankroll I don't really have a plan per se, I'm just going to save as much as I can (I currently make 25k pounds per year) when I can once my debts are settled.
2) There really isn't that much urgency wrt me reaching the goal (to start playing live) - the more immediate goal is for me to pass my 6 month probationary period at my current job. That is a more pressing matter and at this moment in time, of greater importance (I've recently changed industries transitioning from the recruitment sector to IT - which I enjoy to a much larger extent but which is immensely more challenging as I've no background in the industry what so ever). I am willing to work as hard as it takes and put in as much time as I can (talking about poker now). I haven't been doing that these past few weeks I must to my shame admit - but I intend to change that.
3) I'd just like to say a big thank you Icanadd. Given the success you've had (and I don't just mean financial), where you are in life (going by the podcasts) and the multitudes of things you could be pursuing - it truly is an honor to have you spend your time not only reading my little poker blog but also providing feedback and offering invaluable advice. It's both very much appreciated and a great motivator.
Right now I can't really spare more then around 13 hours per week for poker. I'll be aiming for an 80/20 ratio with 80% being the time spent playing and 20% studying. That means 52 hours per month (40 of play time and 12 of study, give or take a couple digits/ a digit and a half) which should yield some results at least.
Thanks for the support - will keep you posted!
PEACE
11-20-2018
, 08:10 PM
Quote:
1) Unsurprisingly, you are correct sir: a significant side income first - and full time depending on how that goes. As it stands I do not have a live bankroll and most likely won't have one until the end of next year. As far as developing a bankroll I don't really have a plan per se, I'm just going to save as much as I can (I currently make 25k pounds per year) when I can once my debts are settled.
2) There really isn't that much urgency wrt me reaching the goal (to start playing live) - the more immediate goal is for me to pass my 6 month probationary period at my current job. That is a more pressing matter and at this moment in time, of greater importance (I've recently changed industries transitioning from the recruitment sector to IT - which I enjoy to a much larger extent but which is immensely more challenging as I've no background in the industry what so ever). I am willing to work as hard as it takes and put in as much time as I can (talking about poker now). I haven't been doing that these past few weeks I must to my shame admit - but I intend to change that.
3) I'd just like to say a big thank you Icanadd. Given the success you've had (and I don't just mean financial), where you are in life (going by the podcasts) and the multitudes of things you could be pursuing - it truly is an honor to have you spend your time not only reading my little poker blog but also providing feedback and offering invaluable advice. It's both very much appreciated and a great motivator.
Right now I can't really spare more then around 13 hours per week for poker. I'll be aiming for an 80/20 ratio with 80% being the time spent playing and 20% studying. That means 52 hours per month (40 of play time and 12 of study, give or take a couple digits/ a digit and a half) which should yield some results at least.
Thanks for the support - will keep you posted!
PEACE
2) There really isn't that much urgency wrt me reaching the goal (to start playing live) - the more immediate goal is for me to pass my 6 month probationary period at my current job. That is a more pressing matter and at this moment in time, of greater importance (I've recently changed industries transitioning from the recruitment sector to IT - which I enjoy to a much larger extent but which is immensely more challenging as I've no background in the industry what so ever). I am willing to work as hard as it takes and put in as much time as I can (talking about poker now). I haven't been doing that these past few weeks I must to my shame admit - but I intend to change that.
3) I'd just like to say a big thank you Icanadd. Given the success you've had (and I don't just mean financial), where you are in life (going by the podcasts) and the multitudes of things you could be pursuing - it truly is an honor to have you spend your time not only reading my little poker blog but also providing feedback and offering invaluable advice. It's both very much appreciated and a great motivator.
Right now I can't really spare more then around 13 hours per week for poker. I'll be aiming for an 80/20 ratio with 80% being the time spent playing and 20% studying. That means 52 hours per month (40 of play time and 12 of study, give or take a couple digits/ a digit and a half) which should yield some results at least.
Thanks for the support - will keep you posted!
PEACE
Not knowing how the 13 will be split up I would suggest alternating playing days with review and study days. With more time spent on play.
Come up with some sort of check list for the study days.
Also If you are staring out in IT should be plenty of chances for advancement if you keep your eyes open. Honestly I would think about allocating 3-4 hours of poker time to career advancement study if you like IT.
Two 3-4 hour days of playing sessions with 1-2 hours of study in between done on the regular has the potential to be pretty transformative imo.
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