good luck OP. I think that by keeping this thread you stay healthy in the mind. Support from others outside and encouraging you to keep going will get you through it!

Damn, and I thought I was a degen for using all of my bridge card money on cans of soda to pour out and return for money to play poker with.


Thanks bruh.

hehe pretty cool experience

Awesome read! I used to participate in those a LOT (did 9 or 10 different studies) between age 18 and 21 (im 24 now). I apologize in advance for the following wall of text, there's just so many things I could tell you and advice I can give that I figured I should just try to get everything into one post.

First of all: to anyone that thinks OP might be talking out of his ass: think again, there's quite a lot of people that do this, even fulltime.

OP, do NOT post anymore pictures. If they find out they WILL send you home and you won't get paid. I've seen it happen before. I'd almost advice you to remove the pictures you have posted but hey, I'd hate to ruin a great thread

You're lucky to be in a group with guys that are your age, having fun and laidback people around you helps a lot. The best advice I can give you is to just keep doing your own thing and if there's anything other people around you do that you find annoying: pay as little attention to it as possible. Ive been in groups with people that would meditate before going to bed AND after getting up, people that would get up every 2 hours at night to go for a short walk and much, much more weirdo's.

Try to steer clear from people you dont feel comfortable around and if you can't avoid them -especially if they're roommates- try to be ok with whatever weird habit they might have.

Right, stories...I got a lot. I once joined a study where they'd test medicins that affect the brain, made you lose focus and made it hard to memorize stuff. At the start of that study they gave everybody a laptop that we had to keep near our bed. Every day, 5 minutes after getting medication we'd have to do memory tests using the laptops. One day we woke up and all the laptops were gone. STOLEN, inside job. 12 of them!

The windows in the building where I did those medicinal tests can't be entirely opened. Actually they can be opened only just enough to stick your arm through the window, it's to prevent people from trying to escape. I assume it's the same in the building where you're staying. Laptops would fit through without a problem though. They alerted the police but the case was never solved. Everyone had an idea of who the thief had to be though. Trailerpark trash type of guy that had visitors earlier that day and that had been acting strange throughout the entire study. His name by the way, Jimmy Hendriks. Not joking

We got to finish the whole thing but man was it awkward. They suspended everyone for 9 months after as well.

I have so many stories that it would make for an hour long read if I'd had to tell you about them all. One more though: the very first of the tests I joined there was this middle-age upperclass dude in the group. Seemed completely out of place there cause generally the people that do this kind of thing are young (students) trying to make quick money or 40/50 something y/o's that didnt do well in life for whatever reason. This dude though, sharply dressed, good vocabulaire, drove a Mercedes etc.

We ended up talking quite a lot, as much as he seemed out of place it was a nice guy. During one of the final days he told me it's his birthday soon and invited me. So I was like sure whatever, I'll be there. Fast forward to a week later I went to his house (other side of the country, 3 hours by train) and as I approach his house I notice the place is absolutely packed. When Im close enough to look through the window I notice theres a lot of dudes there but not a single woman in sight. I panic and contemplate just turning around but too late, I had been spotted.

The guy came storming out of his house going all 'oh its wonderful to see you, im sooo glad you made it'. By now you probably guessed it, it was a gayparty. How the hell did I not notice he's gay FFS. I took the very last train to his town and then it was a 30 minute walk to the house: I had no way of getting back home so I was like f*** it, perhaps theyre fun people. Maaaan was I wrong. Guys sitting each others lap, kissing. I turned around and made my way back to the trainstation anyway where I slept on a bench til 6 am, then took the first train back home.

One more: during one of the tests I was grouped with a total psychopath. The guy would do stuff like switch on the TV, then hide the remote so no one could switch channels. The company I did those tests at was massive. They have entire gamerooms (with pooltables, PS3's and whatever, very cool) and they have a lot of computers for anyone to use. This guy had the weird habit of browsing sites where he could watch ugly asians on cam, and he made 0 effort to hide what he was doing. For hours on end he would do this, up to 10 hours a day. One day I was on my laptop, talking to my girlfriend on skype, she was using cam. He walked past me and somehow caught a glimpse of her and started shouting in excitement, asking me what site im using, and that 'that girl is frigging hot! So I was like, man chill out, thats my girlfriend

One thing Ill never ever forget cause its so disturbing: I shared a room with that guy and 2 others. The other 2 people were 50-something year olds that had a habit of getting up early, at like 6 am. One day I woke up at 6.30 from the noise of the other roommate frantically jerking off. Still sleepy as hell I sat up straight to get dressed and leave the room asap. Too late anyway, with lots of noise he finished what he was doing. What happened next I will never forget. Instead of getting up and washing his hands he f***ing licked his fingers clean.

Dude was a total freak, I told the nurses what had happened, talked to people in charge and made sure that dude would never be allowed to participate again.

Anyway, OP: if you want to talk, share experienced or if you want do's and donts I can help you, jsut PM me your MSN or skype details or whatever.

Sorry for bad english!

Hey guys! Been having a lot of trouble with the internet, finally back on (It's now 1:30 am), but who knows for how long... It comes and goes.

Wow so many awesome posts, especially that wall, gotta get onto it.

Today was pretty uneventful and boring. It's hard knowing that we still have four weeks to go... Four weeks. Saying it out loud is bad, and we've resolved to try not to do it.

Once again the group was taken on an outing and I had to stay here because of telemetry. I haven't left this unit in two weeks! Tomorrow I'm going to insist that they let me out.

Got in a bit of trouble today. I was hitting the exercise bike like I do every evening, only on this particular evening the night staff featured a nurse whom I did not recognize, and quickly discovered she had a penchant for impsing her authority upon us. No big deal, except that she mistakenly thought that I was screwing around with the telemetry computers that are in the room with the bike. I tried explaining that I visit this room every night, but she was convinced that my presence there was of a malicious nature (must be the long hair and tattoos). If she rags on me to the senior staff, the door will be locked and I'll lose access to the bike (not cool). Fingers crossed, cause that bike is like my link to sanity.

Hope you all have been doing well. I hereby announce that any visitors to this thread shall receive amounts of "rungood"

I, however have ran like sh*t. Table restrictions have minimilized my losses which is awesome, because I surely would have martingaled husngs otherwise... really need to have better damage control. A 2+2er suggested I subscribe to some poker training videos, and I even got a free coaching offer! I'm very touched to receive such generosity. It's late here but I'm gonna try get to some of your posts now

Huge thanks to everyone who has given this thread 5 stars

[x] OP survived another day

Sick thread OP... if you would have read the book ˝Bad science˝ by Ben Goldacre I think you wouldnt be there
Cross my fingers for ya
What are they testing on ya?

OP on PS big game gogogogo

i dont get no respect at all. rd and tk

Stay tuned!

Nice idea, although I'd just stare at the number and feel like I was drowning in time. It's weird the mental adjustment you make when faced with how long it will be until you are free, but any time I feel like whinging I think about people who are in prison that shouldn't be there and my situation seems tame.

Thanks bro.

I made the money in a $3k guarantee and then bubbled in two more tournaments, one of them I was two places from the money The Gods saw fit to deal me 3 good Aces (broadways, suits etc) and each time I lost a nice chunk of my healthy stack.

I know, I really need to get back to hold 'em. I've been playing PLO so much, and that might explain why I tilt so bad. PLO is like that chick who stimulates you, mind and body, yet plays games with your heart and you know you can't trust the whore as far as you could fold her.

Very glad This thread has a direct link to my brain and my ability to maintain....

Wow tyvm man! And I love meat pies!

Dude that's freakin awesome! Sorry to sound like a noob but what is MU?

Have to sit out. I usually try pretty hard to get away with sort of playing it on the side, but some of the nurses make a fuss, saying that the laptop interferes with some of their machines. Can be pretty frustrating, but at least I don't have to worry about having a low pulse rate!

Hmm, what do you mean? How would my account get locked?

Absoultely, I hope you guys realize just how much this is true. I don't have a facebook or any other social network, so this really is my biggest source of human interaction outside of these walls. I try not to put any kind of downer on this thread because I don't want people saying it's depressing etc, but I've been through some seriously dark lonely times lately, and I'm grateful to not feel that right now.

wow this thread is really depressing to me

I don't think you'll quit poker so I won't suggest that though if you've got family/friends you can trust with your life, give money to them as savings so that you don't just blow it and have no option again.

GL OP, I hope you get your life back on track.

Awesome post man!

I know regarding photos. It sucks cause I want to put more up but yeah. Would reeeally suck to lose my whole buy-in :P

I'm very lucky to have a good group of guys. There is one person that gets under everyone's skin though, and he's not a bad guy but almost every time he opens his mouth I cringe, and the others feel it too. But despite these annoyances the last thing I'd want would be for his or anyone else's time here be mroe unpleasant than it already is. It's teaching me to tolerate others a lot better, which is great because I am not usually any good at that. It's almost like a big social experiment. Throw 8 guys together for 42 days and just see what happens.

Haha! Man I feel for you finding out the truth about the host of that party, can totally picture it! You even had to rough it on a bench wow. We have one guy in here who is 42 I think, all the rest are between 20 - 26, and he shares a few eccentricities with the guy that was in your study. He's very religious - and despite having "Sinner" tattooed across my stomach we have no problems Great example of not allowing differences to affect relations.

Duuuuude that guy sounds f u c k e d - u p.... Licked his f*cking fingers... I belly laughed hard when I read that haha. I hope you didn't have to share the room with him for much longer after that, would have been uncomfotable as all hell.

I'm glad you're liking the thread man, stick around and relive those days of needles and wires and nurses

I'm sorry it's depressing to you, if anything I would hope that my writing is an example of someone that has made some mistakes, has taken responsibility for them and is just trying to make the best of it.

OP, there must be a reasonable chance that the other people on your ward will see this since they play online poker. Therefore there is a chance this will leak out to the staff and you will lose out big time. PM a mod to ask them to remove the photos - it will still be a good thread without them and you lessen the risk of losing that $8k...

Is there any way you can leave? I mean it's easily possible that someone would get too stressed out or have panic attacks etc.
I know I'd suffer very hard under the situation you're describing

5* obv

Not to try to derail this thread by any means, but I lold when I saw this
SN. I hope to god your 10K post is a massive flaming of GREEAR.

Carry on.

MU is makeup

Thats what happens if you go MTT pro and dont bink for 100k+, you are staked and owe money all the time and live from small paycheck to paycheck.. like rakeback grinders but much worse and much more stressful.

Hopefully that degen binks for you.

MU is mark=up I thought...

OP you are my hero and a true source of inspiration. You have the balls of a bull calf.

Take it one day at a time bro...

this guys an i d i o t

sick life OP, gl with this, continue to give updates!!!!!

shipping 100 too, glgl

in before jimmylegs petition to get OP on the big game.

Day 15.

Sooo tired today. Finally crashed at around 3:30 am, get woken up at 7:00 by nurses that want to attach wires and ecg stickers to me, take me blood, my blood pressure, my temperature... Then on to a delicious breakfast of cold, refrigerated bread (that's right, bread, not toast. Some dipstick apparantly set off the fire alarm once by burning his toast, now no-one gets to use the toaster). I smuggled a banana from last night and discreetly added it to my cereal for a meal that actually resembled breakfast.

Have been told that I probably won't be able to accompany my brethren on any excursions or outings until I am clearedby the doctor. Talk about cabin fever. If they don't let me out of here I'm going to paint the walls with their blood. [ ] am kiddding.

Got a bunch of movies from a guy on another study which might help pass the time while I wait for MTT's that I can afford. I need some rungood cause I'm getting real sick of bubbling. 47th when 45 players are paid, 3rd out of 6, 2nd out of 4 man 2x shoot out... Over it. Today's a new day, and it's time to turn things around.

Thanks to everyone that's following this thread

Might have to give that a read. Can't disclose that I'm afraid, not yet anyway.

I don't like my chances after what happened to Jared... Very dissapointing.