Confessions of a Professional Shortstacker

After years of no real direction, I feel like it's finally time for me to start an operation thread.

Right now Im sitting at the Dream Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, and have been here for a little less than 24 hours.

I came here with the intentions of devoting myself to two things, poker and working out. I came with a good friend from high school/college with the same goals, I am the "expert" in poker, and he is in fitness, so we will each be coaching each other throughout the entire process.

We are planning on spending 3 months in Bangkok; 3 weeks working hard, 3-7 days relaxing by traveling around the country. After that we will be spending a month in [most likely] London, and then I will be spending a month in Vegas before going home to Maine where I'm planning on renting a lake house for the last two months of summer.

Here are the general goals I have for the trip:

-Poker:
1. 40 hours/week of grinding
2. Find optimal # of tables
3. Multi-site as much as possible to increase average stake
4. Work on HUSNGs
-hit SNE this year

-Health/Fitness:
1. Work out _hard_ 6 days/week
--Basically dont have too many "hard" goals for this, we are going to be having specific workouts and diets [which I will post], but right now I just have general ideas about all of that, so I will wait until things begin to post the full details my friend, who I'll call Wallstreet, gives me for this side of things

This is how I did last year:


This year I am hoping to make $1million

The big things this will affect is my social life. We are basically not going to be drinking at all, maybe once a week at most. Also, we are going to be completely isolated from anything familiar. This is entirely different than what I have been used to for the past few years. I have basically been coasting through college up until this point. I lived in my fraternity house for the last semester, and for the past year have just generally partied harder than most could imagine. I have also had the time of my life throughout this entire period and am glad for all of the people I have partied and spent time with, from FTR especially [Alexos, Genitruc, Ravageur, Massimo, ISF, Will641, Mcatdog, Deanglow, Xianti and the radmins, Spenda, Swiggidy, etc etc etc just too many too name], but for the time being, I need to do my own thing. Namely get to a financial place where I dont need to make more cashouts, and basically just gain some muscle weight.

Now, the reason I have decided to go to Thailand and leave everything I am familiar with are fairly straightforward, but not necessarily obvious. Basically, when you are triyng to do 100 different things, you are never going to get great at one thing in particular, or any thing for that matter. This is the best way for me to focus, by busting my ass on these two areas until they are able to be put on as much auto-pilot as possible, and then I will focus on another area and repeat the process [hopefully] indefinitely.

So here I am, in Bangkok, Thailand, taking a semester off from school [and hopefully not returning] and doing something that is completely alien to what I am used to. Even though Ive traveled a ton this past year, I have never been so out of my element and so focused on specific goals. I truly think this iwll be a huge tourning point for me and cant wait to see the progress unfold.


In this thread I will not be posting poker hands, but will be posting more general things, like thoughts about motivation, poker in general, and whatever else comes to my mind. I will also keep [near] daily updates of progress towards each specific goal. I will also try my best to talk about or respond to any topics or questions anybody has.

Im hoping this operation will be successful. Ive never done anything like this, but know that it will definitely help me and hopefully help guide at least a few other people.

first!

oh, and GL! 1 MILLIAN BABY!

Really looking forward to it

Wow. Everything about this OP is 11. Well-played sir.

Note: Someday Ill prob write about everything leading up to this trip, but for now, it is way to hectic to put down into words

Day One:
We arrive at Bangkok Airport [actual name is incredibly long] at 7:00am. Get off our plane, get our luggage and go through customs. I have no idea what to really expect, the only non-english speaking country Ive gone through customs for is Costa Rica where the most recent time I went there wasnt even anybody looking at the x-ray machine when we went through, so this was fairly intimidating, especially after ~20 hour of no sleep.

Anyways, we get there and when I step up to the customs check-in, the lady is just chatting up a storm in Thai. I sorta just nod my head and pretend like I know whats going on [im fairly good at that], but she keeps going on and on and im just getting more and more confused. She stamps my passport and her earpiece falls out and I finally realize that she had been talking on her cellphone the entire time, and not to me.

That sorta helped calm me down.

Anyways, we go get our bags [which cost 280gbp in overage charges to get there], and I see the special case I got for my 30" LCD looks busted as fuck. Whatever, it should be fine, I just wonder what they would have done to the case if it didnt say "fragile" all over it.

We get our bags on two carts and start making our way towards ground transportation, not knowing what to expect. We sorta just stand there for awhile trying to take in all of our options once we get there when some random dude with a nametag starts talking to us. He brings us over to our desk and we show him the address of where we are trying to go. He says that is is no problem but them keeps talking abotu some random promotion for a tour that we qualify for. We say we dont want the tour, but he tells us it is free. Now, I have traveled enough to countries like this to typically have a good hold on what is a scam and what is not. This was at an official airport tourist information center though, which lent him credibility. Also, I clarified about 10 times that what we were paying for was the the taxi and not the tour, and he said yes. Regardless, my first transaction in Thailand was one where I understood about 30% of what was going on, that didnt stop us from getting in the car they got us, and they [surprisingly] actually got us to our hotel.

We get to the hotel and its pretty sick. The girls behind the counter are gorgeous [and I dont typically like Asians], and all speak great english and get us setup with our room. Mind you, this is 7am in Bangkok which is 7pm in New York and liek 2am in London where we left from. the whole experience sort of woke us up and we werent tired at all so we dropped our bags off and got directions to a decent place for lunch about 100m away. have an awesomely awkward time at lunch not knowing how to say thank you or basically any thai phrase, or what the etiquette is for requesting the check, but regardless, two people for a good lunch for $8, we cant complain.

Get back to the hotel and go over our plan. Basically, we are at the Dream hotel for 3 nights. After that we are planning on living in an apartment for 3 months. This is a very narrow timeframe, so we have a lot we need to get done today. We say that we will take a 2 hour nap and then go get cell phones, bank accounts, and talk to a real estate agent.

I suddenly wake up to a knock at the door, get up to a thai guy giving me some random dessert [which confused me enough] and then i look at the clock and it is 6pm...8 hours after we went to bed. So much for getting anything done today. We basically just watch TV for awhile, order room service and then wonder around for a couple hours. The whole experience is incredibly surreal and because of that it almost doesnt feel that weird to me.

Bangkok is a huge city and we are right in the middle of it, and while we havent explored much of it at all, I can definitely already understand how different the culture is. Ive been in contact with a few 2p2ers about places to live, as well as a real estate agent, and hopefully we can get all of this sorted soon.

In the meantime though, Ill just try to enjoy the Thai culture, their gorgeous weather, and their cheap beer and just try to grind a bit. Ill keep you guys updated [let me know how boring this was, or what parts youd rather hear about].

-Andy

Oh, even though Im not officially starting my goals until Im in my apt, I think I prob played 2k hands of 5/10+, which is good volume after traveling for so long and basically taking all of january off. From my mindset while playing, I think I can definiely achieve 40 hours/week with the right mindset, even though thats like >50k hands/week

Originally Posted by kingnat

Wow. Everything about this OP is 11. Well-played sir.

I feel really bad about not ever meeting up for lunch before I elf,t but you ahve a good idea of all the circumstances around what was going on for me, so hopefully its somewhat understandable. If you leave before I get back, Im sure we will figure something out

Originally Posted by jyms

Really looking forward to it

Ill definitely be looking for any and all input from you for my diet which I will hopefully be posting within the week. Glad to see that people are at least somewhat excited about this all

sooo ballin'.. Andy, good luck on accomplishing the two goals set forth. From the brief talks we have had in irc, it seems you are more than capable to set and achieve goals. I really wish you the best, and hope you enjoy every minute of it. Good luck.

gl man, hope you get that millionnnnn!

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit where did this come from? Awesome stuff dude and good luck. I will definitely be a subscriber to this operation and look forward to hearing about Thailand.

all I want is updates on the failed prop bets

gl

u need it

i will follow this op with interest, similarities with what I'm about to kick off in only a few months - can't wait!!!

Originally Posted by andy-akb

Bangkok is a huge city and we are right in the middle of it, and while we havent explored much of it at all, I can definitely already understand how different the culture is.

* eat food from street stalls for super-cheap -> sweat
* play kick-ball (kinda like hacky sack volleyball) down by the river
* prove to yourself that that it's possible to buy an automatic weapon in Chinatown armed only with some $US, a Lonely Planet - Bangkok, and a dose of "I'm pretending to be an author doing research for a book" mentality
* get fit/healthy/strong
* make a million
* stay sane

Livin the dream. gogogo

Holy shittt!!! Glad you're doing this, daily updates needed imo

Just make sure u come party with me Ravageur and Jesper in London in March

Originally Posted by Genitruc

all I want is updates on the failed prop bets

gl

u need it

i get another shot at the prop bet next year, right?

Originally Posted by Alexos

Holy shittt!!! Glad you're doing this, daily updates needed imo

Just make sure u come party with me Ravageur and Jesper in London in March

siiiick, you guys qualified? i will almost definitely be down for that, let me know when you get more details

Originally Posted by andy-akb

Originally Posted by Alexos

Holy shittt!!! Glad you're doing this, daily updates needed imo

Just make sure u come party with me Ravageur and Jesper in London in March

siiiick, you guys qualified? i will almost definitely be down for that, let me know when you get more details

They are qualified for nowwwww..... till I bump them out!

Day Two:
This will be short, Im dead tired.

Woke up at noon and scrambled around trying to get a cell phone and a bank account. Somehow did it all successfully without the people really speaking any understandable english. Now I just need to get moneybookers or some other e-wallet running.

Spoke with a real estate agent about finding an apartment, and will go check them out tomorrow after noon. Hopefully getting a 3 bedroom for Wallstreet and I, but if we cant find anythign nice we may live with 2 2p2ers nearby.

Got a sick hour long massage for like $12 after a nice dinner and then came back and grinded a bit.

Ive played 6,209 hands since I left and am hoping to double that the day I get my apartment.

Tomorrows plan:
1. Meet with RE Agent and find Apt
2. Grind
3. Lay by the pool and read

tough life.

Good Luck in your Operation andy.
I've been to Thailand 3 times my whole life,since i come from the neighbouring country,Malaysia,but now in Germany.

Basically in Thailand,its about the food and the women(beware of shemale)
So keeping fit,would be a major task,where people love to eat.

Be careful with your Apartment location especially the surroundings.

I thought only Child Molesters and Xianti like Thailand?

Day Three:
Was planning on just taking it easy for most of the day, maybe do some shopping and then check out some apts, but didnt get a hold of the real estate agent when we called in the morning so we just headed out to the mall to get a few things. What we were looking for though was such a random assortment of stuff [sneakers, power cords, hair trimmers, suntan lotion, etc] and the mall is so huge that it took us like 3 hours to get maybe half of it.

In the middle of it though we stopped for lunch at a place called Shabushi which turned into easily my most awkward and random experience yet. This restaurant is basically a room with a zig-zagging bar throughout the whole thing with a conveyor belt filled with 100s of plates of random foods, of which I knew what about 10% were.



Basically we sat down and were given two buckets of water that were brought to a boil on the bar in front of us. It took us about 15 minutes to realize you were supposed to add the ingredients on the conveyor belt to the water and make a soup sort of thing. So we added some greens, fish, some kind of meat, and then literally things that would could only identify by their color, some purple stuff, some white balls, etc. and then added some random spices and it turned into a semi-edible thing. Words cant really describe how awkward and confused I felt throughout the entire process, but thats to be expected. We got out of there for ~$7 total for two people after tip. Not bad, even though I have no idea what I ate.

Anyways, walked around the massive mall looking for shoes only to find out that there is only 1 store that has _some_ shoes in sizes over 10, luckily they had a pair I liked. Did some other random errands and then left to take the skytrain [BTS] back to the hotel. Got lost and decided to just take a cab, but the cab driver refused to turn his meter on and wanted to haggle for the price. Bad sign. Then he said that he would bring us for free. Bad sign #2. Got out of the cab with him flipping out at us, and found our way back to the BTS station and went back. Bought some movies and the first season of the wire for ~10 [obv counterfeit, but still good quality] and just came back and napped.

Finally got a hold of our real estate guy and we are checking out some apts tomorrow, but are also considering living with a couple 2p2ers here:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...ailand-399218/

Expensive, but comes with maid service, good internet, fully furnished with desks/chairs, etc. basically a bunch of things that would take me forever to get sorted out and Id rather just pay more to have figured out for me. Regardless though, Ill decide tomorrow what our best option is.

Grinded for awhile today [woke up early so i grinded in the morning and then just finished up playing now after a late session because i couldnt go to bed after my nap] and ran fairly hot. Finally setup a 20" monitor so I can at least 12 table, but its been frustrating without my 30" and my desktop [waiting until the apt to get that setup] so while ive been putting hours in, I just havent gotten many hands.

This is my graph since the trip started:


~$435/hour. So a little below pace for my goal, but when I get back to 16-20 tables and get accounts setup at other sites I should easily be able to get that to the $600+ needed to hit my goal.

Cant wait to just get settled down at a place so that we can get into a real schedule, hopefully within the next few days that'll happen.

Goals for tomorrow:
1. Decide on living situation
2. Grind
3. Get suntan lotion
4. Lay by the pool and read[/img]

hawt running and hawt living

ride the lightning

Originally Posted by Genitruc

hawt running and hawt living

ride the lightning

haha thanks, hope things turna round for you. you going to london with dyl and alex, or are they not allowed to bring a guest?

Day 5:
Found a place with two other 2p2ers and are moving in monday/tuesday [http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...iland-399218/]. Until then we are basiclaly just going to be grinding and getting things setup like gym memberships, etc. so there wont be much to update. I will make an update the first day we move in. The format will probably be just a recap of progress on my daily, weekly, and monthly goals, as well as any random thoughts I have, probably focusing on things like mental game, efficiency, and motivation. Let me know if you guys have anything you want me to focus on.

Nice graph andy! What stakes is that graph from?

i cant wait to see how this progresses throughout the year. gl andy.

Originally Posted by griffey24

Nice graph andy! What stakes is that graph from?

2/4-10/20 which is what the bulk of my play will be at

Originally Posted by bode

i cant wait to see how this progresses throughout the year. gl andy.

thanks man

Day Six:
Been having a really hard time adjusting to the time change over here [12 hours ahead of EST], so Ive basically been going to bed around 9pm and waking up before 4am. The good part about this is that it is when a lot of games are running, but the bad part is that there isnt anything else to do; however, thats no so bad because it forces me to grind.

Anyways, I woke up today and there were a shit ton of really really juicy games. I played very well and got my money in good the vast majority of the time, but ran like ass


Ive really been working on not being results oriented anymore, and because of this I never look at things like EV graphs. Today was the first day in a while where i really had an urge to look at it, but I didnt because it wont help me with anything [if I had to guess, i was $20k below AIEV]. The games were sick juicy, so hopefully they run again.

Anyways, grinded ~3.5k hands before lunch but didnt feel like playing much after that so my friend grinded for a few hours and then we went to go sign up at the gym we heard recommended online, "California WOW!". And yes, it is every bit as ridiculous as the name suggests. Its a really nice gym though and because it is filled with almost all tiny asians [no offense], its the first time i havent been very self-conscious about how much weight im lifting, haha.

For all of our workouts we are doing 4 sets; 1 set of 10-12 reps for warmup and then 3 sets of 6-8 reps with weight unless otherwise noted.

This is our workout from today...

Deltoids:
-Behind the neck press
-Some deltoid machine I dont know the name of

Chest:
-DB Press - Flat Bench [1 warmup and then 4x6]
-Narrow Grip Bench 2x6
-Wide Grip Bench 2x6

Triceps:
-Sitting DB Tricept Extensions
-Cable Press Downs


Our diet hasnt been bad, but still not what we have been wanting just because we dont have a kitchen yet and also havent gotten our supplements in either.

Today we had a good breakfast and then before our workout had peanut butter on bread. After our workout we got a double turkey foot long subway and then have been having semi-regular servings of protein from the peanut butter. Not ideal, but we are making do and are going to be grocery shopping tomorrow before we move in [late tomorrow afternoon].

I really cant wait to get settled tomorrow. We have been living out of hotels for a few weeks and while its been cool traveling around, I really just want to get into a good schedule and start grinding towards my goals. Tomorrow is going to mainly be moving in and getting settled, so Tuesday is going to be the first day of fully working towards my goals.

I cant wait. Hopefully I dont go busto before then.

It seems like you are driven to do this and you'll definitely go far. See you in a few months, run better

Going to post a few updates today when I get the time

Our workouts from the past two days:

Day 2
-Calves:
1x12 Warmup
3x10
-Quads:
[Squats]
1x10 Warmup
4x8
-Hamstrings:
[Lying Leg Curls]
2x10 [not to failure]
-Abs:
A bunch of different things

Day 3
-Biceps:
[Arm Blaster Curls]
1x15
[Preacher Curls]
4x6
-Shoulders
[Pull-Ups]
4xMax [shoulder shrugs if failure early]
[Upright Rows]
4x6
-Back:
[Hyperextensions]
3x10
[Good Mornings]
3x10

25 Minutes of Cardio

eeeek behind the neck press

no need for this one

ALSO UPDATE ME

These past few days have been tweaking our diet, workout, and sleep schedule and I think we almost have it done. Sleeping from something like 1pm-11pm local time so that we can grind the good games [eastern time is 12 hours earlier and london is 7 hours] and still go out occasionally when we want to.

ill post an update within the next day or two with basically the complete outline for the next few months.

So far this month I have played 33k hands and am stuck 10-15k

fk poker

Big ups Andy, this is awesome. Is ss'ing still your main game?

Oh, and this:

Originally Posted by Genitruc

fk poker

was going to update my post today, but have been grinding for the past like 23042 hours and just busted the sunday million in the last 3 tables [deciding hand: http://weaktight.com/789073 ] and busted FTOPS #8 deep too. Oh well though, Im going to go to bed and then get back to the grind tomorrow and hopefully make a real update.

Thanks for the interest guys.

I railed ya for a while, good job man!

Reaaaaally havent updated in awhile, for a lot of reasons [completely losing any normal sleep schedule, constantly changing workout, errands that take all day, etc.], but whatever, no excuses, i was just lazy.

Anyways, This is my graph of the month so far:


so after today and with my tourney cashes, Im finally back in the black on the month, but im still hoping for a 40k+ month simply because I will be putting in much more volume at much better times. The past few weeks have mainly been spent coaching my friend [not going into too many details on this, but it is a very significant part of me reaching my $1mm goal] and not playing much myself.

Also, this is our "final" workout schedule. It is a 3 day cycle and we do it twice a week, with one day for rest.

Code:

•	Day One
o	Bicepts
     	Straight bar curls
              •	4x6
     	Cable pulls
          •	4x6
     	Bicept cheat pull-ups
          •	4xMax
o	Tricepts
     	Tricept cable pulls
          •	4x8
     	DB behind the back pulls
          •	4x8
o	Chest
     	Incline bench press [alternate with decline]
          •	4x6-8
     	Flat bench
          •	4x6
     	DB flat bench press
          •	4x6
o	Cardio
     	20 minute light jog on treadmill


•	Day Two
o	Shoulders
     	Pull-ups
          •	4xMax
               o	If less than 10, switch to shoulder shrugs
     	Upright Rows
          •	4x6
o	Back
     	T-Bar rows
          •	4x10
     	Hyperextensions
          •	4x10
o	Deltoids
             Deltoid machine lifts
          •	4x6-8
     	Behind the neck press
          •	4x8
o	Cardio
     	20 minute light jog on treadmill


•	Day Three
o	Quads
     	Squats
          •	4x6
          •	1x20
     	Leg Extensions
          •	3x6
o	Hamstrings
     	Hamstring leg curls
          •	3x10-12
               o	Not to failure
o	Calves
     	Seated calve raises
          •	4x8
o	Abs
     	Bent-knee flat bench leg raises
     	Machine crunches
          •	4x10-12
     	Vertical bench crunches
          •	4x15

Here is our diet:

Meal 1-BreakFast’
4 Eggs

1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter

[31g protein]

Meal 2
Turkey Sandwich on whole wheat bread- load this sandwich with turkey
1 ½ Sweet Potato


Meal 3
Beef (5 oz), Chicken (4 oz), Fish (6 oz), Turkey (4 oz)- 30g protein (replaceable with whey 70cc)

3 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter

Meal 4
Beef (5 oz), Chicken (4 oz), Fish (6 oz), Turkey (4 oz)- 30g protein

1 cup of cooked brown Rice

Veggies


Meal 5
Pre workout- cup of fruit 25g whey.

Postworkout- 50g carbs (fruit, 2 apples, 1 cup dry oatmeal) and 25g whey


Meal 6- Before bed
25g Protein shake- Preferable CMDI (a slower digesting protein)
Veggies


Notes
No carbs 3 hours before bed.
No carbs an hour and 1/2 before working out
2 multis. 1 in the morning one later at night


Ill start updating daily at least with my hands played, and confirming we went to the gym. Ill include any funny anecdotes, but for the most part, it isnt going to be incredibly exciting [until I get Cambodia for a visa-run, then I will have great stories], so let me know if there is anything you want to discuss.

I know Will641 and I [and a lot of IRC guys] talk a ton about mental game stuff, so if you want me to touch on that, just let me know

-Andy

p.s. Alex run hot at staking me, but I will make up for it when I can finally get a real CC [i.e. 5k+ limit] to take him on in CC roulette in Vegas

sick routine gl with sticking with it

This is the graph of my month, which contributes to my not updating in awhile.



I just went out and bought another monitor so that I dont need everything [lobbies, scripts, etc.] on my 30", thatll let me start playing more tables and also reduce stress while playing. I am also not going to play anything higher than 5/10 until I make ~15k.

My plan is to play an _additional_ 70k hands in the last 10 days of this month. Im open to props, but it isnt really my intention.

Im going to spend a ton of time going of my HEM database trying to figure out some leaks and just better analyze different situations. Im still going to stick to my workout schedule and diet, the biggest thing Im going to have to sacrifice is the hours of literally doing nothing productive. I should be able to workout, grind enough, get 10 hours of sleep and still have several hours left over to read, relax, whatever. So thats what Im going to do.

That's so sick man. Got the HH(s) where you ran bad? It's probably more beneficial you don't post it but meh gotta say I'm interested. Good luck though.

What can I say, I've got a lot of catching up to do on Staking EV, thx for helping out

Impressed by the work ethic, keep it up. And fk downswings!

Seeee u in London IMO. You already bailed out on me havnt you?

Gah that is a sicko graph. This month i've barely played but I run better than you apparently wtf. Good luck with the routine man and if we can't catch up in London maybe we will lin Vegas in June or something.

Oh wow no wonder you havent been returning my texts lol

Hope you start running better man!

You gonna be in London?

Originally Posted by IowaSkinsFan

Oh wow no wonder you havent been returning my texts lol

haha i have a new phone number, get on aim and ill send it to you

as far as london, if I can get close to $0 for the month, Ill go, but I cant commit to anything until closer to the end of the month. i definitely want to go, but not if that means leaving things like this.

ill post an update today about how many hands I put in and anything else that I can think of

Hands Today: 6080

-Slightly below par, but I started writing down like literally everything I do so that I can figure out where I waste all my time. Im also working on getting some custom database queries written soon to help analyze some different spots. Not going to get into specifics on that [standard, ldo] but check out http://www.pokernerdz.com/coaching.php for the general idea.

Think Im ready for some big progress on everything now.

Hands Today: 6823
--Total: 12903/70000

Going to go catch a motorbike to the mall and run a few errands, then watch an episode of the wire while going over my day and see what i can improve.

Hands Today: 6225
--Total: 19128/70000
---Pace: 19091

Getting some chores/tasks done now, then prob reading for a few hours and then heading to bed.

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, just realized my visa expires the 24th, not the 28th. New goal is to get in at least 22.5k more hands in the next 3 days, and then leave for Cambodia the 24th and come back the 27th. Grind another 7.5k hands once I get back and hit 50k additional hands for the month.

New Goal: 19091/50000

Bump!

lol, im going to be posting a big update in the next few days. big plans for this month.

thanks for showing interest

Hey man this is a pretty sick operation. It's cool to see someone with such dedication, plus it's really motivating to rail someone who works this hard. I'll be following this operation closely for sure.

I have one question if you don't mind me asking (if you'd rather not go into details I repsect that). What was the biggest reason for you moving to Thailand to grind? I know you mentioned about being able to focus more on poker/fitness etc, I'm not sure if you meant this is the main one. I just notice a number of high acheiving poker players move there. My friend runs a club here in Toronto and one of the dealers' close friend moved out there while he plays for a living too.

Anyway if you don't feel like getting into details about the move that's cool. I wish you luck on the grind sir.

wow this is totally sick.

Update u lazy bum!

200k hands this month? wat!

Cambodia
So I hear that in Cambodia, you can shoot weapons and throw grenades that are leftover from the Vietnam War.

Wallstreet and I need to leave Thailand for a few days in order to get a new visa.

Perfect. We book our flights and are on our way the next day.

Get to Phnom Penh, take a cab to our hotel, and immediately sit down for lunch and despite Wallstreets comments, I decided we did in fact need some beer. After finishing lunch, and a pitcher, we walk around trying to find somebody who will bring us to where you need to go to shoot these weapons. Ive decided I really want to shoot an RPG, so we need to find somebody who can guarantee that.

This looks like a great spot.



Find somebody around our age that knows what Im talking about and promises that we can shoot an RPG.

While we negotiate prices, I realize that Im really going to be shooting a rocket.

His friend pulls up in a Camry with, I shit you not, Winnie the Pooh window shades.

Yea, I need another pitcher. Finish that, still have some nerves, so I get 2 shots of tequila. Alright, I think Im good.



Drive for awhile, realize we are not in fact good and pull over to get 24 beers for us all to share.

The driver convinced the lady that $7 was really all it costs for 24 beers. I think we are good.



Drive for about 45 minutes and finish the beers.

We decide we really need more. Let's get another 24.



Look, there is a cow. I am then told that I can shoot a cow with the RPG for an extra fee.

I seriously contemplate this idea.



We see a tank. We must be close.



More tanks



More tanks. More beers. Not sketched out at all.

We learn you can drive and shoot a tank for $1000. Im wishing I brought more money.



Pull into an abandoned school.



Literally walk into this and find 3 dudes chilling in full army gear.



We talk for a bit, figure out whats going on and this is what they bring out.

The beers have hit me, this isnt sketchy at all.



Yea, let's just toss all of these explosives into the trunk of the Camry.

This seems normal to me.



For some reason, that I never have fully comprehended, they make me put on camo before I can hold the RPG.



We go over the procedure, I have to count to 3 and then shoot it, but I was too drunk to remember and fired on 2 [which took about 10 seconds to get to].

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...9&subj=5822020


Wallstreet later tells me that they said I could keep the camo.

Biggest regret of my life.



For some reason the army guy decided to ride with us. I was cool with it.



Now, we get back and I decide that I really want a picture with this guy. I bring up the question and Wallstreet gets really angry with me. Im feeling a good vibe [it may be the 20 beers], so I ask again. Our drivers then say that we should go, as the boss general guy doesnt seem to like the idea. I ask one more time and then my buddy willingly agrees. Wallstreet snaps the picture and we head home.

I pass out on the drive back.

Ill post a poker update tomorrow with how last month went and my goals for this month

Um, wow.

lol so sick... tank woulda been sweet. You should go back for the tank!

Yeah I vote you go back, hop on the tank, light a cigar, run over a few buildings, then blow up a couple cows just for the cameras... like it ain't no thing...

epic

Originally Posted by Alexos

Um, wow.

this

and holy shit you can rent a tank!!!!

Ive been living a lie. For the past ~15 months I have been making a living by becoming the most hated type of player in the poker world. I am a professional 20bb, hit-and-running, shortstacking scum. Nearly everybody I have met from poker knows this, but I dont think it is too well known outside of that group until now. Fuck it.

Now for a little background on how and why I made the switch from a winning fullstacking player to the scum of the earth.

I have a ~250k winning hand sample at 1/2 where I am definitely a winner and about a 50k sample at 2/4 where I am up but unsure if I was truly a winner there. In the summer of '07, I went to Ireland for 10 days with my dad, a bunch of my uncles, and two of my cousins. It was an amazing trip and has some of my favorite memories, but when I got back things werent so great. I came back home and found out that I had been hacked. It was a huge ordeal but UB support actually helped me and was able to recover 8k from my original 25k. Better than nothing, I told myself.

I had just signed a lease for a new apartment before I left and bought a bunch of furniture for it and other miscellaneous stuff, leaving me with very low savings. I started grinding 1/2 and hit a big downswing and didnt move down quick enough. Then moved to 100nl and was basically breakeven for the rest of the year. I still had a lot of regular expenses though, so my BR at this point was incredibly low and I moved down to 50nl around the end of the year.

Christmas break was starting up and while browsing 2p2 I came across MyTurn2Raise's thread "Shortstacking Illuminati." I read that and decided to give it a shot. Over break I became completely immersed in figuring out shortstacking. During the day, I would grind 5-6 hours/day and spend 3+ hours pouring over datamines, solving equations, looking at my own HEM stats, basically just doing everything I could think of. To keep myself sane, I would basically go out every night and party with my friends. In January, I grinded 100k breakeven hands, but didnt give up. My BR was so low that I really couldnt go back to fullstacking anything reasonable, so I stuck with it and kept busting my ass to figure it out.

Slowly, I started to win and moved up to 1/2. I kept working on my game and tried to "solve" as much as I could. I developed a very detailed excel file that helped my game immensely and I finally started beating 2/4 around May.

In July, I ran sick hot and made $24k. I was back in action. In August, I made $4k. Lol, heater over. Went back to the drawing board and tried to pick out as many spots as I could where I was losing money or not making as much as I could have been. Made my excel file more precise and then got back to the grind.

For the rest of the year, I averaged ~$15k/month playing 50k hands/month, ending the year with ~120k in profits. Not bad starting off the year breaking even at 50nl.

Outside of poker things were going pretty well. I was traveling a ton, meeting plenty of girls around school, going out and partying all the time, just having a blast in general. Even though things seemed to be going really well, I just wasnt content. I felt like I was really being held back from success by the people around. Not specifically my friends, but by the typical college student.

On a college campus, the "driven" students are typically the ones that are in every club, spend all their little free time in the library, etc. They do this so that they are guaranteed a great job once they graduate [or finish med school, law school, whatever]. Thats great and all, but I dont really feel like they are truly pushing themselves. They are taking the easiest path to "success," but that success isnt really huge and it definitely doesnt provide the freedom that I want. I dont want to ever work for somebody else. I want to be able to set my own hours and just generally do what I want to do when I want to do it and I just didnt think I was going to get there by staying in school.

At that point I was grinding probably 15-20 hours a week. Working out 5 days a week, but I was drinking _at least_ 5 days a week and going out to eat almost everyday, so while there were some gains in strength, all working out was doing was making it so I could roughly maintain my weight without changing my diet too much. I also took a month and a half off from school because I just didnt really feel like going. It started when I went to a few football games with ISF, Massimo, Will, and some of their friends, and then continued when I went on a cruise with Alexos, Genitruc and Ravageur. When I got back I had missed like 3 weeks having some of the best times ever and just said fuck it, Im only in 9 credits, lets just take some more time off.

I just wasnt getting anywhere. I was feeling guilty for missing school, but realized that it just wasnt important to me and the environment was making it hard for me to reach my goals. So I took an absence of leave and came to Thailand where we started off in the OP.

February ended for me +25k at 2/4-5/10 and -30k at 10/20-50/100 with the bulk of it at 25/50. The variance of the high stakes games is just huge and because there are only so many tables going, you are simply not going to be able to "overcome" the variance in a month and my bankroll cant support that, especially with 30-40k in taxes due very soon.

I spent a few days at the end of the month completely re-evaluating the fundamental math assumptions that my game is based on. Made what I thought were some significant changes and then went to cambodia. When I got back I set the goal of 200,000 hands in March. I was more than on pace for this, but after 50k hands I was only up like 4k and looked closely at my stats and realized that the changes, while +ev, just werent as large as I had thought.

At this point, last Saturday or so, I decided not to play again until I had completely torn apart and rebuilt my game. I spent Sunday grinding tournaments and running tons of simulations to see what I could figure out. I talked with one of my housemates, big mid-high stakes winner, a ton about what I was trying to do and we came to some really big conclusions. I binked an $11k cash that day and decided to celebrate. Partied really hard and took the next day off, but since then I have put in 20+ hours just doing everything I can with monte carlo simulators and excel and pencil and paper. All of this lead to some huge realizations which I am currently implementing as best as I can. I have never before had such pronounced "a-ha!" moments as just now.

Before I considered myself to be a Top 10 SSer [not saying a ton because 1, LOL shortstacking and 2, the vast majority of SSers barely beat the rake], but after these changes I really think Im top 2 or 3 in the world at NLHE SSing.

Originally Posted by andy-akb

We go over the procedure, I have to count to 3 and then shoot it, but I was too drunk to remember and fired on 2 [which took about 10 seconds to get to].

I can't accept that you're scum of the Earth simply because of this sentence. Idk why, but I lol'd. Lots.

Looks like a sick trip.

this has to be the most ridiculous level in the history of poker forums...


but even if it isn't you found a way to make 15K/month and piss of regs, well done imo.

although it does make sense now why you said you wouldn't post hands, so I'll believe it since I don't know you hah.

EDIT: I believe you now that you've written over 500 words and the fact that no one who makes a high $/hour playing poker goes on like this for more than 30 seconds if they're joking.

My goals for March are now 175k hands because of the time I took off to work on my game. I am going to be playing only 2/4-5/10 until I can make a cashout for my full tax burden and leave myself plenty of room to continue playing my current stakes.

In April, Im going to increase my per day grind to ~8 hours, but take more breaks to travel. Going to the full moon party near the middle of the month and then traveling around Thailand's islands and beaches for the last week of April.

In May, I am going to spend about 2 weeks traveling around Europe before making it back home to Maine. Im going to grind hard for 2 weeks and then head out to vegas with a bunch of friends for my 21st birthday [May 30th, youre all invited].

Ill stay in vegas for at least the first 2 weeks of June and play a few WSOP events and then move to Boston for the summer with a good buddy of mine where Ill continue the poker/workout grind, but begin to ease off and start bringing my social life back.

Im also planning on going back to school for at least a couple of credits in the fall. I want to start getting into apartment rentals and realized I just wouldnt be comfortable doing it in an area that I dont know very well and it would be foolish to give up all the connections I have back home [my school is a 10 minute drive from my hometown].

So thats the plan for now, Ill do my best to keep this thread updated. Hopefully this post makes up for my lack of recent updates, and let me know if there is anything in particular you want me to post about. However, I am not going to post my screenname or too much about SSing specifics.

Wow, this amount of work makes me realise why most of us are stuck at low stakes.

lol this is so sick! haha.. people at my work use monte carlo sims for simulating x-ray radiation dispersion and how much dose is delivered to patients. Wouldn't have thought about using it for poker simulations though, awesome!

What do you code them with?

The only high stakes shortstacker I have seen on pokerstars that seems to do really well is http://www.pokertableratings.com/overview/nutpopper

A larger and larger % of the short buys I've been seeing at $200NL 6 max have been fairly sane players. It's really annoying.

so are you going for SNE this year? i though i remembered you saying that at one point?

Originally Posted by Outlaw

The only high stakes shortstacker I have seen on pokerstars that seems to do really well is http://www.pokertableratings.com/overview/nutpopper

he is only a little better than most of the slightly better than breakeven guys im talking about

Originally Posted by bode

so are you going for SNE this year? i though i remembered you saying that at one point?

im on pace for it right now, but that will change after this month when i start splitting up my play more between sites. depending on how close i am with a few months left, i may make a push for it.

Originally Posted by Fnord

A larger and larger % of the short buys I've been seeing at $200NL 6 max have been fairly sane players. It's really annoying.

meh, the thing with SSing is that it isnt _that_ hard to breakeven which really is what a lot of players do. the problem is that having a bunch of "reasonable" SSs in the game really does have a negative affect. there is only 1 SS ive seen that is decent that came from 1/2, most start around 2/4 simply because the rake is so huge at 1/2

Sick story! That sounds like the chance of a lifetime! And the story was very entertaining with the pictures.

About the workout. Don't you think you would benefit from doing triceps after chest? You will not be able to hit your chest nearly as hard if you do triceps before chest due to triceps playing a large factor in most chest exercises.

Some people will deliberately do that, as pre-exhausting the triceps means the pecs will need to take a bigger load in the chest exercises.

Originally Posted by bjsaust

Some people will deliberately do that, as pre-exhausting the triceps means the pecs will need to take a bigger load in the chest exercises.

Hmm, I've actually never thought of doing that. Doesn't seem like a bad idea and I'll give it a shot in the future.

(sorry to hi-jack thread).

Man those facebook videos are pretty sweet. I have now put shooting a RPG on my list of things to do before I die.

The training aspect of this thread intrigues me because I was a dedicated bodybuilder for several years until some serious injuries (teared my achilles tendon among other things) stopped me from training.

I can strongly recommend the internet site "T-Nation"- short for testosterone nation. It is a forum for bodybuilders, powerlifters and and olympic lifters. The essays have a strong focus on science and its not all like the BS from the typical "Bodybuilding magazines" which in reality just tries to sell you things.

Train smart, eat smart, rest smart, play smart- own this world.

Sir P

Yeah, I enjoy T-nation. Dont visit there a tonne, but some of their writers are good and some good stuff on there between the product plugs. Like anything else I guess, keep an open mind and sift through the BS to find the good stuff.