Poker and Life in Australia: 2011

nice work on fitness

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

it won't be too difficult to get into good swimming shape in a month's time. We'll see how that plays out.

what sort of swimming history/skill do you have?

Always enjoy your vids! Keep em coming.

edit: Got excited when I saw the video link. Now I read the rest and great job on your training for Ironman. I'm so jealous. I am running my first 5k run on my 50th birthday in a couple weeks though!

gl having a successful 5k race Harley! fitness is where it's at

I have camtasia for a few more days so there will be at least one more Vi vid. what screen recording program did you use for your video?

Originally Posted by daven

nice work on fitness

what sort of swimming history/skill do you have?

I have effectively no swimming experience. I can swim lol, but haven't developed an efficient technique or remember swimming more than 0.25km at once.


I realized I forgot to mention yesterday that Pokerstars gave me my money back for the hand where I disconnected within 8 hours of my request

that's pretty fuckin' cool on pokerstars behalf

If you are interested in getting into swimming, check out the "Total Immersion" program. Everything I have read said that it is the best at getting swimmers to quickly blow through the learning curve, and surprisingly it is easy to find at torrent sites. I was going to follow the program but the pool here is definitely not setup for laps, but plan to check it out when I go back home.

Congrats on finding the Pursig book man, that excerpt is awesome (the whole gumption killers section is) and I've benefitted from it in many different ways.

I read the book for the second or third time a few years ago when I was actually doing alot of my own motorcycle maintanence. Being able to walk away from a motorcycle when you just broke a fastener or you're just tired of looking at the thing really can save you a grip of agony in the long term.

Playing poker today I was losing with all my big hands and my ego took over and started making it worse, so I closed the laptop, went in the backyard and mowed the lawn and trimmed some bushes and just got my head out of it. As a bonus the backyard is ready for the summers bbqs.

Great blog dude, it's been fun to read.

I'm pretty sure stars treats me like a boss because of my Supernova status and they want to make sure they've got my business in the future. That's also the first time I've ever asked for a 'refund' on a hand lol

@andy: I checked out the TI website today, thanks for the tip

@supa: thanks! I totally agree ZAMM is loaded with insights on how to live a better life. It's a classic.

Another meh day of poker. I played for an hour but couldn't stay motivated to play longer. My goal of 10k hands was entirely too ambitious, 5k over the weekend would be great.

Day 6 (technically)
Volume: 630 hands
Profit: -13.90
Grand Total: 4.95

I had a productive day but it was also pretty meh. I actually did some proper lifting in the gym today, and my roommate Maurice is big into weights and all that stuff. He's already been a good source of knowledge and motivation, and he hasn't laughed at the idea I can get into shape for an Iron Man 'event'!

The transience of being here in Oz and of the present in general has been on my mind lately. I see the force of entropy in my mind's eye whenever I am thinking about environmental issues and sustainability, and obviously it's a depressing way to look at things. I don't regret choosing Environmental Studies as my major because it's an incredibly important area of knowledge, it's just that the knowledge is often a burden in the form of anxiety and guilt. What I've learned forces me to think ahead and the future looks mighty bleak. Population pressures on water/forest resources have never been greater and I can't imagine the standard of living demanded by rich countries will ever decline unless it is forced to do so by resource limitations. It's even more depressing because my actions seem to only ease my conscience about my guilt rather than change the direction we're headed.

Anyways I'll try to put all that negativity on the back burner tomorrow so I can get in some hands and make a video.

YouTube - The Beatles - Blackbird

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

the knowledge is often a burden in the form of anxiety and guilt. What I've learned forces me to think ahead and the future looks mighty bleak. Population pressures on water/forest resources have never been greater and I can't imagine the standard of living demanded by rich countries will ever decline unless it is forced to do so by resource limitations.

the burgeoning middle class gonna eat all the water. Scares me some. Won't be any pools left to train in

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I have effectively no swimming experience. I can swim lol, but haven't developed an efficient technique or remember swimming more than 0.25km at once.

running is about fitness and doing some kms
riding is about a bike that fits and some fitness
swimming is a little more complicated

find a pool. Go swimming a few times. Enjoy watching yourself improve rapidly as you develop some swim-fitness. Depends where you're at. Like, maybe you'll do 1km comfortably first swim, maybe you won't. You'll improve by doing regardless. Then find a coach. Book in for 3x 1/2 hr sessions (talk to the coach about their recommendation, based on an initial session then followups at weekly intervals). Should cost about nothing. Enjoy watching your speed increase after the first session. Enjoy being able to swim further for less effort after this first session. Swim some more.

mmm it sounds like I'd be well advised to make some inroads on my swimming training while I'm here. there is a pool within running distance of my apartment; I'll have a TR on my first swimming session this week. cheers mate


Day 7
Volume: 827 hands
Profit: -303.10
Grand Total: -298.15

I had no trouble stopping myself today since again I never really got 'into' playing. With the exception of one bad flop raise I played my A game amidst the nitfest that was going on at the tables. I'm now down roughly 1500 in March so far. I'd estimate I'm down ~1k in SNGs/donkaments so far in 2011, and this counts for 500 of my losses in March. The other day I deposited 600 to take advantage of a 150 reload bonus so that's nice. And I just shipped 750 to my stakee (that operation will begin on Tuesday). So, after all that my Pokerstars roll is 7400.

I'm feeling somewhat discouraged by my recent results and have been thinking of withdrawing a chunk of my bankroll and confining myself to 100nl for the foreseeable future. I'd love to be grinding 200nl since the $$$ and VPP potential is much greater, but my confidence in my game as well as my ambition has been low the past couple weeks -- even taking another shot at 200nl has no appeal at the moment. Moving to 50nl isn't viable if I'm trying to earn 200kVPPs, but if things haven't improved at 100nl by the end of April I will have to reevaluate my poker goals for the year.

MEH

Bleh, moving down sucks but you seem to have better control on things than I would. Gl, I also deposited on stars to play sit n gos only to quickly remember how tilting they can be. I don't know how sit n go regs do it.

Ugh, poker can be brutal like that sometimes. You go a while where its such an easy game and it's hard to imagine losing and then the next month it feels impossible to win despite playing a very similar game to what was making you so much money a short time ago. You'll get through it! Nobody ever said there wasn't going to be bumps, and in the end the person who works the hardest will take home the money.

Hopefully boom switch soon! Good Luck!

Thanks for the reminder Chad. I think the last time I actually 'ran bad' for an extended period was back in June/July last year so I am probably 'due'. It sucks that run bad can last for weeks, even in the online world. I won't be giving up on poker anytime soon

I did get in slightly more volume today, but results-wise it was more of the same --> bankroll continues to slide. Thankfully I'm not relying on my poker income for anything over the next couple months, otherwise I'd be really stressed out!

Day 8
Volume: 1380 hands
Profit: -327.75
Grand Total: -625.4

I did make another video today and imo the quality of the commentary was the best yet. I only played 4 tables for this video so it should also be easier to follow the action.

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

Watched you last video (and your first one awhile ago). I don't play cashgames seriously but was enjoyable to watch and you seemed like you knew what you were doing and commented well. One thing I noted in the last video is there were 2 times where you took a certain line and decided it would have been better to take a different one based on what villain (s) had at showdown instead of a range (moreso you came off that way than that you regularly think like that probably)

Also wtf at AK on 6K6x such a weird spot. Fish shows 32s, epic.

thanks for your comments dneureiter. do you remember what hands I seemed to form my opinion based off what my opponent showed? this is of great interest to me since I may have a big 'results oriented leak'.

I finally had a winning session today!

Day 9
Volume: 503 hands
Profit: 75.80
Grand Total: -549.6

I also put in a solid gym session, 18km - 40min on the bike and 8km - 42 min on the treadmill. My diet has been very good the past several days so I'm optimistic that in six weeks I'm going to be in beast shape. Arm exercises is the area I need to spend more time on, as I only do some push ups and a little lifting when I first get to the gym, then its all cardio the rest of the time.

The long afternoon nap I took helped make today a most excellent Monday. I love Mondays in Perth since my only classes are for Sociocultural Perspectives on Sustainability (10-2pm). As this class is broadly concentrated on my core degree topics I am engaged and excel in lecture/discussion. EZ A in this class imo. I have my Legacies of Empire discussion class on Tuesday. Thankfully I'm able to listen to the lectures on my laptop without having to go to class, which is fantastic since otherwise I'd have to be at school by 9am -- and that's not something I'm interested in making a part of my routine. Learning about the development and historical context of Empires is interesting and the reading assignments have so far turned out to be quite enlightening. As I've just described the ideal goals of getting an education I'm satisfied with the Quality of my involvement in this class. Sadly I have to grind through Chemistry this semester... BUT I've already met good classmates to study with and get through the lab component. EZ C in this class imo lol

I'm on pace to earn 10k VPPs this month despite very minimal volume the past week, so that's also cool. I expect to pick up the pace somewhat but I may end up ~5kVPP behind pace for 200k on the year by the end of March.

This is a really cool band if you're into psychedelic rock. Get their first album, Everything is Green. Although this song isn't on that album (and they got away from that psychedelic style on this second album), this is the song that fits today

YouTube - The Essex Green - This Isn't Farm Life

I am a homework beast tonight, so basically no poker. The plan is to get all my school work done Mon-Thurs, so Fri-Sun can be for relaxation/poker.

To date I've put in 13k hands in March -- I will get to 30k by the end of the month.

Today at the gym I did a lot more arm exercises to go with the standard cardio.

I'm thinking of grinding 100 $27 SNGs to see if that helps shake off the boredom I've been feeling at the cash tables, as autopilot has been my most obvious leak this month. I'll give myself a generous $1000 stop loss on this SNG experiment. If I complete all 100 SNGs, I'll clear 1.2k VPPs. I can probably play most of them this Friday if I 10-12 table. How long does it take you SNG grinders to play 100 SNGs?

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I'm thinking of grinding 100 $27 SNGs to see if that helps shake off the boredom I've been feeling at the cash tables, as autopilot has been my most obvious leak this month. I'll give myself a generous $1000 stop loss on this SNG experiment. If I complete all 100 SNGs, I'll clear 1.2k VPPs. I can probably play most of them this Friday if I 10-12 table. How long does it take you SNG grinders to play 100 SNGs?

It depends If you are playing the 27 turbos on stars which I assume you are it will be doable in a few 2 or 3 hour sessions.

Also re in your video I was mainly talking about a hand where you had air and didnt fire the river oop and he has 2 pair and the AK on 6K6x.

GL

thanks man, the mid and high stakes regs informed me I butchered that hand by not bet/calling. actually that segues perfectly...


Low Hanging Fruit/Protecting Me from Myself

I cannot sleep tonight. It's taken me over an hour to fall asleep each of the past five nights, and while I definitely can't blame that entirely on poker it's been a factor. March has been disappointing on the poker front.. after a mini session tonight I am down ~2200 this month. I'm much more unhappy with how I've been playing than with how I've been running. I often think to myself 'nuts/sauce wouldn't even be down if they'd played all these hands' when I review my database.

I have decided to withdraw 4-5k once I've cleared the reload bonus on stars and go back to 50nl. This will solidify my financial situation for the fall semester and still leave me comfortably rolled.

My greatest poker leak in 2007/2008 was bad bankroll management. I can clearly remember having 10k in my stars account one day and 6k two days later. I would not drop down in stakes until I had <20BI for the limit I was playing and this approach made downswings devastating. I took these swings so badly that I took very long (3+ month) breaks from poker after each of them.

Obviously this decision impacts my chances of actually clearing 200k VPPs this year, but I've been thinking that may not have been a healthy target for me to be shooting for. Aiming to make my profits from playing my best poker should be my number one focus, and a volume target seems to detract from that focus. I estimate I can easily make $25/hour at 50nl with a lot less variance after rakeback, which is another huge pro to moving down a limit at the moment. It hasn't been easy for me to admit it to myself, but I am simply not studying enough to have earned a 2-3ptbb winrate at 100nl+. So until I have improved my dedication away from the tables and regained confidence in my decision making it's back to 50nl.

Maybe I can go to sleep now

Gl with the grind man, you can do it. focusing on better play over volume sounds like a good idea till you're fully comfortable with your play!

+1. I don't envy you grinding the nitty Stars games, but you definitely have the potential to do well. Glgl

Sick blog, just read it start to finish, very entertaining read thus far.

Downloaded two of your videos just now, your first one and your last one. I'll try to post some thoughts on them (at least the latest one) in the next week or so.

Keep up the grind and nh on moving down to improve your game instead of grinding it out and beating your head into a wall, you can tell from your posts that you're getting really discouraged from the way things have been going so I think you will look back and see this was an excellent decision.

thanks guys, on the one hand I feel like I'm taking the easy way out by not sticking it out at 100nl and just busting my ass by studying more. On the other hand if things continued as they have been I would be in tearing my hair out mode and the risk of 'failure' isn't worth it right now. Who knows, in a week I may be eager to focus my mind on improving my game when the stress currently surrounding poker starts to ease up.

Switching to Eurosites is a remedy to most downswings GL!

I'd be sorely tempted to try out some Euro sites for sure if I was out of the US for 6+ months.

Have you considered taking $1k or something and shipping it to a Euro site somewhere and giving it a go while still playing on Stars?

I hadn't thought of playing on euro sites. I do have a non U.S. address now but is my bank account tied to my country?

<--- thanks to courtie I now have a custom forum title, which is awesome. You're probably one of Reagan's kids too, provided you were born in the 80's! I also think my avatar is the best one I've ever had -- my best all time profile lol

I just spent an hour of my life reading Slevin's early posts on FTR. I had a few good laughs, but all that reading made me tired. So many quote-worthy posts in his threads...


Poker

I played a dozen or so SNGs today and finished down 250, -550 total for my SNG operation. I also decided to play some 200nl and dropped half a BI before my poker mindset fully kicked in. BR approximately 6500. I've been playing a mix of 27/38/60 turbos, and can say with confidence I am not a winning SNG player. However I I picked up a free trial of SNG wizard which after 30 mins of use seems like a really helpful program which should help correct my losing ways. I think my biggest weakness is playing too tight and not stealing enough, and the best way to correct that is to put in more volume.


Life

I'm pleased with the results of my fitness this week but as always there's lots of room for improvement. I did more lifting in the gym and my cardio endurance continued to improve. Yesterday I ran 15.5km in 95mins. Today I ran 5km in 21mins and put in 13km on the bike. I meant to spend the whole afternoon working on the bike, but one of my calves wouldn't get loose and I didn't want to pull a muscle. I need to do a better job stretching. There are still a bunch of arm exercising machines I haven't even tried yet. If I look even close to as toned as the Goliath's lumbering around me as I pound the treatmill by the end of the semester I'll be so proud.

Going to Rottnest Island tomorrow to do some swimming and sleeping on the beach. I am bringing my camera! Beat: we are leaving at 6am.

There are no pools within 10km of my apartment, which is pretty inconvenient and may deter me from going more than once or twice while I'm here. I'll still have a month once I'm back home to put in a dozen swimming lesson sessions before my race. I'll come back to this question.


I must get motivated to play poker again if I am going to realize my goal of staying out of the workforce until I have my degree. From my experience being discouraged/fatigued is a common effect of losing for a sustained period. I need to become a zen/robot poker player who is neutral about outcomes and never loses sight of his long term goals. I feel little emotionally about my results today besides disappointed I could have played better. Also I have been following my stop loss target successfully since I came up with it a couple weeks ago and I'm very happy about that.

edit: crucial song for this post YouTube - That Handsome Devil - Reagan&#39;s Kids

One of these days I'm gunna read this blog/op since it's the blog of the month. I'll have a better post after I do

Cool blog dude. Hey if ever your in brisbane I'll show you round the place. I'd most likely just end up taking you to the poker room to own some live donks lol. If your going to melbourne, definitely goto the Crown casino, they have a world class pokah room and good tourneys most days of the week. Enjoy the rest of your time in Aus, I think you'll definitely score with a pretty Aussie girl by the end of the trip....the american accent is def a plus.

Def making a trip to Aussie before I'm out of my 20's.

welcome to australia man. I swear people visiting have a better time than me here! :>

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

IYesterday I ran 15.5km in 95mins. Today I ran 5km in 21mins and put in 13km on the bike.

nice, getting in solid base and your speed is fine already!

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

Going to Rottnest Island tomorrow to do some swimming and sleeping on the beach. I am bringing my camera! Beat: we are leaving at 6am.

nice

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

There are no pools within 10km of my apartment, which is pretty inconvenient and may deter me from going more than once or twice while I'm here. I'll still have a month once I'm back home to put in a dozen swimming lesson sessions before my race. I'll come back to this question.

i pm'ed a list, maybe one of those?

hell yea Oz is the nuts! It's beautiful, it's new, and it's sunny and warm.

Ant if I am headed through Brisbane on my way out I'll let you know so we can run some casino

Rottnest Island

I went to bed at 3am and had to be up at 530 to catch the bus and ferry. Arrived on the island at 8am. Once I had an amazing cheeseburger for my second breakfast, things continued to get better. I came with my roommate Carly -- having a chill travel partner made the trip even more fun. After waiting in line for 45 minutes we got our bikes and snorkel gear. We biked around for a while and eventually found a beach with no one else in sight, the way beaches in magazines and postcards are pictured. I swam in the Indian Ocean for the first time, and I'll probably never forget the experience. The waves were gentle, the sky was cloudless... After we were done swimming I put on Jack Johnson's On and On album and took a nap. This was my favorite part of the trip.

When I woke up my travel buddy was still sleeping so I jumped in the ocean again to get some 'daven km's' in (I started to cramp after what I'd guess was about 150km. work2bdone obv). Eventually we got back on the bikes and did some sightseeing. I saw countless Quokkas, the first marsupial I've seen in the wild. Ironically these guys were extremely desensitized to people, as you can tell from the photo album I posted. We got off the bikes often to walk around and just look/walk around.

The afternoon went more slowly. We went to another beach (unfortunately this one had other people) and soaked up the sun. Did some more biking. Had another expensive sandwich, less delicious than the cheeseburger which I ordered like a lolcat: "Can I has cheeseburger?". The straight face of the lady who took my order told me she didn't get it. I saw my first ever Pelican as we were boarding the ferry. That is the biggest flying bird I have ever seen, and it scared the crap out of some guys standing by the light post it landed on. There's a seagull flying right above the pelican to give some context to its size. Perfect ending to the trip for me, a man who loves Nature.

I was falling asleep on the bus on the way home so once I got home I had a quick dinner and went to bed by 9pm. I didn't get too sunburned either which is surprising for being out in the sun for nine hours. Despite being kind of tired from lack of sleep the night before, overall I had an awesome trip and would recommend Rottnest Island to anyone who travels to Western Australia.

Rottnest 19/3/2011 - Imgur

Sounds like an awesome day out, you just left out the part you and Carly (gonna assume is a girl) getting it on in the sea.

Nh imo

woah your blog is totally green in the forum, you must be super cool! everyone read it!!

I’ve been looking forward to updating the blog, but felt I should wait until I had accomplished something related to poker first.


Poker: A couple days ago I finally got around to clearing my VPPs for the month so I can keep Supernova status. Fortunately I had put in a lot of hands the first part of March so it only took 3 days of moderate volume to get to 7500VPPs. I decided to play 100nl this weekend only because it made clearing VPPs much quicker than at 50nl… Results: 5.2k hands, +5BI. The tables were really good, I ran well, and those conditions helped me to play well. I found the fold button when I needed to and cut back on the preflop spewing, key ingredients to minimizing losses when you find yourself sort of stuck in a losing/defeated mindset.

That I enjoyed playing most of the weekend suggests my enthusiasm and confidence are coming back, which makes me almost as happy as putting together a string of winning sessions. Regardless, I’m still sticking with my plan to withdraw a large chunk of my roll but no longer think I need to completely exclude myself from 100nl. I’ll also have more time to play this week and work towards my yearly VPP goal -- whether it’s 100 or 200k VPPs I’m still not sure.

I’ve been having serious problems staying connected to Pokerstars while playing. I think it has to do with other people on the network downloading stuff when I’m trying to grind. I have no trouble getting web pages to load quickly, only Pokerstars. Very annoying! Sometimes I can’t even sit down to play because I’d just be dealing with timing out on my tables the whole session. I haven’t figured out a reliable time to be playing when the connection will be stable.

I decided to cancel my subscription to Leggo… I feel the content is still great but I’m not studying enough right now to make paying for it worthwhile. This will save me $30/month. When I do sign up for a poker video site again I’ll probably try Bluefire. I guess they have good SNG content.


Fitness: I gave myself an A for effort on the fitness this week. I went to the gym every day and went for runs Saturday and Sunday. My arms are still sore from lifting weights, and I got a trainer to show me how to stretch better – cramping was not an issue this week. Monday I did 50km on the bike in 92mins, Wednesday a 10k run in 53mins, and some fast 5ks with a little biking mixed in the rest of the week. I met a guy named Darcy in one of my classes who is actually a swimming instructor at a nearby college. I'll go to Wesley College on Monday and see what swim classes cost and/or how much a swim pass costs. It's only a 5km walk/jog to the place which isn't too far.

I’m already about as fit as I’ve ever been and still have 3 months before the earliest Iron Man. I’ve still got to look into available races in the Midwest and find out when/where races will be that work for my schedule.


Life: Other than that, I got lots done for my classes and hung out with the roommates. I feel like I'm on top of everything and that’s pretty priceless feeling. I’m optimistic I'll get credit for a required Chemistry class at my home university for the one I’m taking here. That would make arranging my final semesters before graduating much more pleasant. Chemistry is also going a lot better than I would have expected, thanks to living with someone who’s good at Chem and is taking the same class.

The weather in Perth has continued to be spectacular. It’s always warm and sunny, and now that I’m acclimated to the heat I’m not perma-sweating when I go outside. I can’t believe it’s already been almost two months! I’m glad I’ve still got three more months. With the extra money I'll have from withdrawing part of my bankroll I'll be free to do almost anything I want once I begin traveling at the end of the semester. I'm thinking of staying in Melbourne for at least a week -- the last couple days before I fly back I'll be in Sydney. I'd like to spend a couple more days in Adelaide but that may not work out unless I'm willing to suffer a second cross country train ride to get there. If you Aussies have any recommendations for must see places let me know.


YouTube - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Games Begin

I just woke up from a nap I took after eating a delicious ‘start the weekend right’ meal from Burger Edge. I’ve only got one short paper to write this weekend, so I will get April started off right and put in some hands between now and Monday.

It was a volume fail this week, only 800 hands at 50nl for -4BI. I spewed a stack to a nit but otherwise played well during my only session since Sunday.

March Results/April Goals

Results wise and overall quality of play-wise, March was a bad month. I played 20k cash game hands this month -- most of the losses occurred in the 1k hands I played at 200nl. I finished down about 1300 total in cash games, after factoring in the higher value of the euro. I also dropped around 1k donking it up in SNGs. I started out the year overconfident in my SNG skills, having had some success in high buy in games before. I’m down at least 1.5k this year from tourneys and SNGs. Despite all this losing I managed to follow my $600 stop loss goal.

I have begun to withdraw a large chunk of my Pokerstars account. I decided on 4.5k, which will leave me with an online roll of 2.5k. This will be more than enough for 50nl considering my winrate over 200k hands is about 3ptbb/100.

To help deal with life tilt I got from poker in March I’ve decided to mostly play 50nl this month. I’ll still scout for soft 100nl tables, but my default will be to grind 50nl. I won’t play SNGs higher than $40 and tourneys higher than $20 to put me against weaker opponents and reduce my variance in these games. My revised stop loss will be $300, which is about 12% of my remaining online roll. Volume wise I have to do better than I did in March to maintain Supernova, since VPPs come in a lot slower at 50nl. My minimum target is 30k hands, but a 50k month 6-8tabling is doable. I’m not going to force myself to put in more time than I need to at the tables so I’ll get to 50k hands if poker isn’t causing my blood to boil.

Fitness

I did make it to the Wesley College pool on Monday and put in 750m during my first swim session. Daven forewarned me that I would need to build up my ‘swim fitness’, but I had to experience it for myself to appreciate how true that is. I was dead after 6 laps in the 25m lane and had to mix in laps where I backcrawled(sp?) to recover my energy. My technique blows but with a little online study and putting in hours doing laps I’m optimistic I will become a more efficient swimmer. Getting a swim coach is out of my budget so I’ll be learning on my own, which is fine with me. I may go swim tomorrow and try for a full 1km if I don’t go to the gym at my school. Luckily each session at Wesley will only cost $4 so it’s not like I have to pay for a second gym membership to get in my swim training.

I beasted hard this Wednesday at the Curtin gym. I achieved my fitness goal for March; 45km on the bike and 15km on the treadmill in less than 3.5 hours. Counting water and stretch breaks I finished in 200 minutes, or 3hours 20minutes. That was the first time that walking back from the gym to my apartment was a physical ordeal, but I felt fine after a beer and a big dinner!

Life

It’s funny how much of my conscious time is consumed by fitness, school, and poker. Besides that trinity of 'productive' pursuits I bummed around the house and skyped with friends and family. I watched one heart wrenching documentary, a couple movies, and half a season of Family Guy. I got lost on a long walk through the surrounding neighborhoods, which was more fun than it sounds. The feeling of being lost can be pleasant depending on the circumstances.

House life is still great but I’m starting to miss the people and things I used to do back home a little more than before. I regularly have to remind myself ‘Time apart makes the heart grow fonder’, or when I’m in a more pragmatic mood, ‘you’re here, enjoy it’. To further complicate my feelings, I am more in love with the country of Australia than I am with America. I'm genuinely torn on whether I'll return to live here someday. Some of my preference for Australia certainly comes from having lived in America my whole life and being more aware of the weaknesses of my home country. I think another big reason I feel the way I do is because Oz is new to me and I know I'm only going to be here for a short time.

YouTube - Paul Simon- All Around The World (The Myth Of Fingerprints)

poker - re the internet connection. Have you tried playing with everything else that is web-aware closed down (i.e. no browser, no skype, no aim, etc) ? withdrawing money for life is cool, so is the feeling when you've crushed the games you're in enough to move back up comfortably rolled. Nice. Pro tip = scout the 100pl tables as well, 'nuff said. The sng thing doesn't sound like the best idea, but that's probably just due to sngs scaring me cos i'm not psyched enough to play with whiz...

fitness - getting shit done = awesome. Stretching = even better. Getting yourself in the pool = great! You'll quickly get enough swim fitness to punch out 1km even with inefficiency and too much splashing (well, that's my experience anyway). You-tube is cool for figuring out some technique modifications, and obviously there are tonnes of resources online. Do some sort of leakfinder approach = find a list of the most common mistakes, note that they all apply, fix one or two at a time. I'm intrigued about the coach cost - my girlfriend got 3x 1/2hr sessions with one of the pool lifeguards (who was also a serious pool coach) for about $30 each and that was heaps enough. Then she told me what I was doing wrong so i got the advice for free. Once you've been going a bit you could probably even ask one of the pool guards to take a look at your swimming style if the pool seems quiet and they can watch you do one length and tell you a few things to fix. People like helping when it doesn't cost them anything. Or try hitting up the classmate to join him when he's swimming, all he'll need to do is watch you for a minute.

Life - being lost in a new city is one of the best buzzes out there. Re life being filled with fitness/school/poker -> perhaps go and mix in with the crew in some sport buzz. There will be a running club at the uni = you'll probably get in better training and manage to kill two birds (social+training) with one time stone. Lots of running chicks are hot too, and you're almost exotic... or you could go throw frisbees with all the other international students. Frisbees, discs, ultimate being a sport, lol, etc.

Yea I agree with daven I think you are underestimating variance of 40$ sngs (esp if they are turbos) and possibly overestimating your edge. Either way a 1K swing is like super standard and that won't feel good on a 2.5K roll :S Also sketchy internet and sngs is like sketchy internet and cash games * 10.

Everything else looks good, gl with the marathon.

alright I'll keep it to $27 SNGs for the most part when I do play, I think I am mostly underestimating the variance rather than my ability to beat $38 turbos. I also think my stop loss should actually be $250 rather than $300.

@daven

The people working at the pool seemed pretty friendly so I can probably steal a few tips from them rather than sign up for lessons (hopefully).

re: joining running club -- I'm not feeling especially bored or lonely... because of the way I normally live my lifestyle didn't change too much when I came to Oz, just the scenery I don't like clubs and stuff like that because then I have an obligation to be somewhere! I just miss the good stuff about being back home. Lately I've been reflecting on drives up the North Shore to smoke some buds and weeklong camping trips of debauchery with my good mates. I'm appreciating those past times more now that I'm not able to just do that any day.

Okay here are some more pics!

imgur: the simple image sharer

Mostly of the Curtin campus. I love all the trees and open spaces to lay down. The other day I took a nap between classes in the open area in the photos. The last photo is of the neighborhood cat. I call him Felix, other people have given him different names. I don't understand how this cat has been able to get along in the city for long enough that a girl who lived here last semester knew about him (or her).

Music

I’m too bored to keep playing poker today so I’m going to write about music instead. We infer a lot of information about a person’s character from the kind of music they listen to. So, I made a list of my favorite down tempo albums – it’s generally my preferred style of music. Personally speaking I attach a lot of my memories to music I was listening to at the time. I can’t easily recall information from my memory at will, but music certainly helps me recall lots of stuff that happened in the past.


1: Modest Mouse - This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (1996)

I got this album right before I left for Australia and played it multiple times on the train ride to Perth. Modest Mouse is consistently in my top 3 bands. Their lyrics are intelligent and also deeply personal, and I’m often on the level where I resonate with the mellow/unhappy/cynical/angry vibe of their music. This is a long album and if you aren’t a big fan of Modest Mouse you probably won’t like this album. I imagine the music would be hard to break into with the discordant tones and screaming on some of the tracks.

Favorite Tracks: Dramamine, Breakthrough, Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset


2: The Stills – Logic Will Break Your Heart (2003)

This band is part of the reason I love Canada lol. I started listening to this album around the time I was dumped by a great girl, so the title of the album works on multiple levels.

Favorite Tracks: Changes are No Good, Fevered, Yesterday Never Tomorrows


3: Phish – Billy Breathes (1996)

Unlike the first two this album is alternately mellow and happy. Reminds me of Summer 2008 when I was living with one of my best friends and every day was lots of fun. There were many days of frisbee golf with lots of familiar faces (faces I rarely see anymore), poker was still really fun, and I was finally starting to take control and responsibility for my own life. This album reminds me of good times.

Favorite Tracks: Waste, Train Song, Prince Caspian


4: The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas (2002)

I met a kid at school who was a pretty serious musician and he gave me this album. It has continuously grown on me ever since. I wouldn’t call it a sad album but it captures the feelings of desolation and isolation very well.

Favorite Tracks: Fault Lines, Jeff Davis County Blues, Absolute Lithops Effect


5: Fujiya and Miyagi – Transparent Things (2006)

Super chill album. Short and sweet. Everyone I’ve ever played this album for has liked it.

Favorite Tracks: Ankle Injuries, Sucker Punch


6: The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999)

Thank you zook for turning me on to this album! I’ve listened to it dozens of times and it never gets stale. When I am concentrating on the music this album reminds me of delivering newspapers in the middle of night during winter. That experience was somewhat unpleasant, but the silence of the streets and having the city to myself made it enjoyable most days.

Favorite Tracks: Race for the Prize, Buggin’, Gash, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate


7: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Broom (2005)

This is a gloomy album. I’d had Broom for a while but didn’t start listening to it until December 2009 after some more female drama in my life. Today SSLYBY is one of my favorite bands. Pershing and Let it Sway are also great albums. Each album has a completely different feel to it.

Favorite Tracks: Pangea, I am Warm and Powerful, Gwyneth

It’s 10/4, not 4/10!

It's been cold the last two days. For my friends and family in Minnesota, my new definition of cold is anything below 20celsius (that's about 72fahrenheit). I wore a sweatshirt to the library this afternoon on just such a ‘chilly’ day. I’m worried the Minnesota fall and winter are going to feel even harsher than usual because the weather in Perth will have spoiled me!

Funny story: I borrowed a book from the library and returned it a little over a day late. I had to pay a $23 late fee wtf!? Lesson learned: don't leave the library with books from the Reserve Collection.

I'm still not playing poker, nor do I have any desire to grind. After a whole two sessions this month (50nl), I'm sitting on 280VPPs. At this point I’ll have to grind 100nl again to have a realistic shot at clearing 7500VPP so I can maintain my VIP status. I’m trying not to force myself to play so I don’t sit down bored/distracted/stressed/tired, which is how I’ve felt every time I’ve logged into my account. I’m going to be doing some traveling over the last week of April so I’ll likely not have a lot of time to grind at the end of the month. In a sense, my lack of poker motivation is approaching crisis levels. However, I am allowed one month between January and September where I don’t accumulate 7.5kVPP and I can still maintain Supernova. If I just can’t get myself in gear for poker I always have that to fall back on.

It was also an unspectacular week of fitness as I didn't even get to the gym before Thursday, and Friday I cramped up at 9k on the treadmill and didn't finish. I will be testing myself again next Friday, when I'll be aiming to run 17.5k and bike 52k in under 4hours 15min. I'm not noticing any improvement in my arm strength yet, but I know enough to be patient in waiting for fitness results. I got some more tips from Darcy, the kid who is a swim instructor, on how to improve my swim efficiency. If I don't go for a run outside tomorrow I'll be going to the pool to try and swim 1k. There's a 25% chance I'll do both in order to have an excuse not to have to play poker lol.

Despite this I've managed to stay productive in other ways, mostly by getting work done on projects for my classes and learning to play guitar. Maurice is teaching me some base chords and working on improving my technique. It's awesome that in ordinary circumstances people are usually willing to teach you or explain something if you show enthusiasm for the thing they're interested in. The key to learning an instrument is putting in Quality hours of practice! I'm glad I'm approaching learning an instrument again, considering how much I love music it's sad that I don't know how to play any instruments well anymore. With guitar skills I'll be able to play lots of songs I already like and sing to.


Speaking of music, lately I've been loving Avi Buffalo's lone and self titled album. A friend recommended it to me months ago, but I kind of rediscovered this album a couple days ago and this time it's 'clicked' with me much stronger than it had before.

YouTube - Avi Buffalo - Truth Sets In

What's another time to say
Witches speak in my head all day
Witchcraft seems to unload and say
That you don't love me anymore

What's another word to scream
Maybe one more about the team
Try to improve the local scene
We ain't no good anymore

Wait til the truth sets in
Pay no attention to how we've been
You know that I thought too much
Of when I made my fatal mistake

Hope for the consequence
Picture your people still on the fence
Pretend that you hope that it's okay
When it's no good anymore

Following, I can relate to the loss of motivation when you move back down in stakes. You have to fight that 'futility' feeling and just get'er'done I guess. But regardless, you're having some great experiences in a new country, more important than poker right now imo.

probably +EV to force yourself to play if necessary to maintain supernova. even if your like winrate for forcing yourself to play is like -2ptbb for the duration of the time you forceplay.

I thought about what you guys said, but I'm still probably going to take the month off from poker. I've basically lost the first half of the month and I will likely be without internet most of the last week. I figure that if I do mostly avoid playing in April that I'll come back more motivated in May. Last year I took some time off and I remember it helped me get a better life balance, which is particularly crucial here. Although I only need about 40 hours at 100nl to get platinum and I have at least 10 days to play, I do want to be playing 50nl when I do start up again. To do that for April I'd need to play a lot more hours and getting platinum would become a real challenge. The other thing that makes me want to not play 100nl is that if I had a 20-30BI swing it would be another significant blow to my confidence and bankroll.

New Way Forward?

The move by the United States DoJ to block Pokerstars and Full Tilt from its American customers was the culminating event in what was the wildest week I’ve had in Australia so far. Unlike most, I’m (naively?) optimistic that Pokerstars will desire to maintain its international reputation enough to refund their U.S. customers; I’m a lot more concerned about my funds at Full Tilt as their support website is ‘Coming Soon’ (sort of lol). I will have a lot more to write about how this affects my own future as a poker player as these developments unfold. However, I will say the loss of Supernova status and potential loss of thousands of dollars in my online accounts is probably going to force me to get a real job at least until online poker for U.S. players becomes government regulated. There are some upsides to that, but overall this obviously is a total travesty. One of my checks from stars bounced over the weekend, and getting those funds returned to my online account is my greatest concern atm. We’ll see what happens I guess…

On a brighter note, I’ve begun seeing a 22 year old British girl. I’ve talked and done stuff with her almost since I got to Perth, but recently we’ve gotten a lot closer. We are doing the ‘friends with benefits’ thing mostly since we’re both only in Oz for two more months. Framing our relationship in this way was her idea, but I’m alright with it because it becomes a low pressure situation and she still sees me exclusively. So far I’m happy spending time with her watching movies, sharing meals, going for walks, yada yada.

I went to the zoo yesterday, which would’ve been even better if I hadn’t been sick and exhausted from getting almost no sleep this weekend. Since I’m not selfish, I’ve still posted pictures for your viewing pleasure. Needless to say, it wasn’t the highlight of my weekend.

I mostly skipped the gym this week, but did go Thurs-Fri-Sat with satisfactory results so it’s alright. The plan this week is to do a 4 hour 15 min workout Wednesday or Thursday, and go to the pool over the weekend if I’m not able to get in on the road trip my friends have planned (lack of space and I didn’t ask until last week). The upsides to not going on this road trip would be me spending lots of time in the gym, really exploring the city of Perth, and getting my portion of the group project finalized.

This afternoon I went to the pub at school and got smashed with my T.A., something that would never happen in America. The relaxed relationship between teacher and student is just one more thing I love about Australia! We started drinking in the afternoon and didn’t finish until 8pm, so I was pissed by the time I finally got home. I made a pizza and passed out in front of the TV watching Fight Club. Today was easily the best Monday I've had in Australia

I spent hours practicing scales and chords on the guitar over the past week, and my skills are improving daily. So far my grades look really good, and thanks to the Chem class I’m taking at Curtin I’m comfortably set to graduate in 3 semesters. I am finally cooking proper meals on the weekends; steak and broccoli dinners are relatively simple and delicious. I’m also at least hopeful I’ll someday get my money from Pokerstars, where 95% of my poker money is located. It may be months from now, but I’m fortunate enough that so long as I get it eventually I won’t starve or have to greatly sacrifice my quality of life in the meantime. Despite the tragic events of 15/4, life is good.

Here's a link to my photo album from the zoo; I'm the guy in the blue t-shirt in the last pic.

Photo Album - Imgur


Obligatory song of the week; I learned of Phoenix from my Mauritian roommate. It's a fitting track considering the recent events surrounding online poker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avXVv6NSIE0


edit: this entry needs an uplifting song by Phoenix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJDNw7o6so

FROM POKERSTARS STEVE ON 2+2

Re: Just Received Call From Isle of Man From PS

Originally Posted by ThePreacherJesse
The person speaking with me, Caleb, said that we can gain access to our account if we have an address overseas. We need to email PS a copy of our lease/bank statement and our ID. Which is the same process as before. You will not be allowed to access tables from the USA.

Can anyone confirm that they have spoken to PS and have heard the same thing? This, apparently, goes against emails first received from Poker Stars. I want to make sure that the person I was talking to did not make a mistake.

It's important to distinguish that Caleb told you that if you relocated out of the US you would be able to play on PokerStars, you would be able to play on PokerStars. Players will have to both show documents to back up their relocation and be physically located outside of the USA whenever they are playing on PokerStars.

PokerStars is not pleased to not be able to allow play from within the US. However, these restrictions are necessary at this point in time and they will be strictly enforced.

Send in proof of living in Aus and you should get access to your money(and/or continue playing)

wow cheers mate, I'm sending them an email right now!

Cool pics, I thought of you when this shit went down, hopefully you can at least get your funds since you're in Aus atm.

Who knows, the whole no more poker for lots of young American kids could really have a good impact on them (in finding things they feel better about doing, and make them happier even if at the start it's a greater challenge than the luxury of grinding from home). I say that as I myself am trying to face those challenges.

Gl!

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

New Way Forward?On a brighter note, I’ve begun seeing a 22 year old British girl. So far I’m happy spending time with her watching movies, sharing meals, going for walks, yada yada.

But you yada yada'd over the best part.

see if you can get shit sorted with stars to play etc.
pretty sure this would be of interest to a bunch of FTR-ers

yada yada

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

cheers mate!

aussie as!

i've been meaning to ask, on a scale of one to infinite, how much better is having colour/size coded, plastic (ie can accidently go through the wash), money? i mean, all the notes in the states are exactly the same except for the number on them right? and made of paper?

yea exactly in the long term this could be really good for my life prospects. I was telling my TA about the DoJ crackdown and he thought it would still be a net positive thing even if I didn't get my money back, since through poker I'm reinforcing capitalistic system principles. Of course that conversation happened 6+ beers deep.

(infinite minus 1). I haven't accidentally washed any of my money yet so I wasn't aware it was washer safe. I love the texture and color of the money, but the different sizes I don't like so much. I'd rather have all my bills roll up neatly even if that means I have to page through them in my wallet to pick out a specific bill. In America every bill is the same size, texture, and color; I don't think it ever occurred to me how boring our money is compared to other countries.


so far no reply from stars to either of my emails. they are obviously swamped so I won't start worrying about their silence until next week. I'm getting desensitized to the idea of being out $2000/$6600.

posted on 2+2 at PokerStars Email Response: Cashouts Resuming Soon? - Internet Poker - Online Poker Forum

I just received this email from PokerStars minutes ago:

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately we are unable to process any real money player to player transfers from and to accounts registered to US and US territories players as a result of the legal developments in the United States.

We will keep all our players informed of developments in this area and provide you with additional information as soon as it becomes available.

We were very pleased to receive the news that allows US players to cash out their real money balances.

In response to this update, the Cash Out option in the PokerStars Cashier will temporarily be unavailable, to allow us to prepare the technical solutions and formulate the plan and processes required to allow you to cash out your balance.

Decisions have not yet been made as to how or when we will make any compensation for unused T$, tournament tickets or other balances. We will make these decisions and any related credits in the coming days.

Please be assured, US player balances are safe. We will notify all US players as soon as the cashier is available to allow you to proceed to cashing out. In the interim, any pending cashouts will be returned to your account in order to ensure players have the opportunity to cash out orderly.

Providing you with the facility to cash out is our top priority right now, and hopefully all US players will be able to cash out via the PokerStars Cashier in the near future.

In the event that you are no longer living in the United States, and can prove it, you are free to play on our site from your new residence. However, to do so, you will be required to submit proof that you are actually resident in another location to have your privileges reinstated. You will be able to keep your VIP Status, as well as your yearly VPP total (as of April 15, 2011).

Acceptable proof consists of copies of photo identification as well as a recent utility bill showing your new physical address. Just an address, without actual proof of residency, will not be sufficient.

Once you have moved, and have the necessary documents to prove your new residency, please email the documents to [email protected] and we will assist you further.

We apologize for the temporary delay, and sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation, as we continue working towards providing you with a solution to cash out.

would think this blog will also be proof of you being in Aus as it started well before black friday was even a consideration

Thanks for getting me this information Keith, but I think I’m just going to cash out and be done with online poker for a while. I’ve not been particularly successful over my poker career so I’m not giving up much by sitting out until online poker is government regulated. A real job would have the benefits of networking for jobs after college and steady pay, things I haven’t been able to get from poker. I can’t even keep my supernova status anyways unless I relocated out of the U.S., which would be –EV considering I’m mostly done with getting my B.A.

Spring Break in Australia

So, I am in the middle of a weeklong break from classes… no labs, lectures, or discussions! I have no big trips planned for this week, so I plan to be somewhat productive over the break. I do have a presentation the day we get back from break that still needs hours of work. I got an A on my first history essay, but there's another longer one due in two weeks that I've barely started. Ideally I'll have most of my coursework for the rest of the semester done by the end of this break.

Unfortunately I was sick the first half of this week and didn’t get to the gym until Thursday. My fitness progress has definitely stagnated the past two weeks, but I can work hard in the gym for the next several days and get closer to my top form again. Also, the Wesley Pool is closed for the next several weeks (treating the pool with chlorine) and I need to find a new place to swim train. I think I still have the PM daven sent me re: ‘Perth pools’ to reference when I’m ready to swim again.

Yesterday I went to Scarborough beach to get some color back in my skin. Getting to and from the beach was a breeze; the public transportation system here is exceptional. We never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus or train, and the seats were clean and comfortable. The beach was fairly crowded (unsurprising on ANZAC Day, the American equivalent of Veteran’s Day), but the weather was perfect and there was still more than enough room to find a spot in the sun.

On Saturday I went to King’s Park, one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever visited. It was situated on a hill above the city, so the view was spectacular. There was a walkway that went through the trees, tons of open space, and hundreds of different types of plants. I am definitely going back to King’s Park before I leave Perth. I didn’t take many pictures, but I’ve attached them for the sake of being thorough.

The British girls cooked an Easter lunch Sunday. It was great to spend the day with company and the food was incredible; they really know how to cook! We spent the evening playing Monopoly and watching a movie, pretty similar to what we did Saturday night after we got back from the park.

I’ll know on 29 April when my Chemistry final is scheduled. Once I know that, I can finalize my travel plans for the end of the semester. So far I have decided I’ll definitely see Tasmania and Melbourne. I will have at least 2 weeks so I need at least one other East Coast destination. I’ve considered visiting Canberra and the Gold Coast, but there may be better places for me to visit. I’ve got to do more travel research!

I am going to Burswood casino this Friday… it will be the first time I’ve played poker in almost three weeks. People ask me if I feel withdraw from not being able to play online; no one believes me when I tell them I don’t. I guess my relationship with poker can’t be understood by someone who hasn’t grinded for years and had their soul crushed dozens of times.


I’m still looking forward to playing some poker later this week!


imgur: the simple image sharer

Yeah after you've grinded for years on end, I don't think you'll 'miss it' since your relationship with poker has become a grind and you don't relate having fun with poker or gambling for that matter.

Cool pics, that park looks amazing. I really have to visit Australia/NZ sometime fak, so many things to do!

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I’ve not been particularly successful over my poker career so I’m not giving up much by sitting out until online poker is government regulated.

"success" is way too relative for you to be dropping these kind of bombs! i'd say up to 90% of the registered members of this forum haven't achieved near the success you seem to have. and we're in the "(at-least-remotely) educated about poker" poker players camp. i for one would be stoked to be playing profitably and regularly at the stakes you play.

not saying i think you should necessarily continue playing or whatever, that's obviously a personal choice based on a million factors outside of perceptions of personal "success".

just giving an outsider's perspective

thanks rpm, I think your perspective is better than mine. I should appreciate the success I've had with online poker instead of only seeing how much harder I could have worked or higher in limits I could have gone. If I were earning a good five figure income from poker I would certainly be steaming about Pokerstars being closed to U.S. players. As it is, I can probably make a comparable amount of money working part time. And like Rav said, poker has become mostly a grind for me. I plateaued at 200nl 2-3 years ago and have never really moved beyond SSNL.

I'm leaning more towards living in Australia once I get my B.A. The unemployment rate here is only 5%, the weather suits me (sunny and hot), the people are friendly, public transport works great, and oh yeah f*ck materialistic and egocentric America. I would hate only seeing my family once a year, but it's still tempting to call Oz home seeing as 'Life in Australia' seems to be of a higher Quality. If you have the time and money to come to Australia, do it.

I cashed out my Pokerstars roll this afternoon. I've got a healthy live roll and will be visiting the Crown Casino in Melbourne when I get out there in June.


I know I'm not the only person here who tries to live out the philosophies in Fight Club...

YouTube - Fight Club - This Is Your Life

Damn, very cool. Do you have any idea what the process is for getting a full time visa or however that complicated stuff works?

And yeah the not seeing family stuff sucks, but you gotta be your own man at some point.

Glglglgl.

worrrd. don't know how the game selection is in crown, i hate the place.. the beers to expensive, and it feels like a giant money sucking monster to me.. but then I don't frequent casinos so maybe thats just the norm. I beleive there is a 2/5NL game on thursdays and a 10/20NL on fridays, 30/60 limit earlier in the week plus some other mixed stuff on other days.. some PLO, and 5 card stud.. I've never played though, just seen fliers

that said, would be cool to catch up for a drink or something when you make it to melbourne. I don't ever get to talk to people in person who actually have a clue about cards. PM me if your interested.

i've played a decent amount of 2/3 and a small amount of 2/5 at crown and it has never not been soft.

as for migrating to australia, i think you just have to have a secure job lined up here, or be marrying an australian citizen. oh you also have to pass some bullshit "citizenship test" which is arguably aimed at keeping non-english speakers out (ie should be ez game for someone who is fluent in english, from what i hear)

there may be more to it than that, i don't know.

ps fight club is the best film the human race has created thus far. i haven't read the book unfortunately

Originally Posted by rpm

you also have to pass some bullshit "citizenship test" which is arguably aimed at keeping non-english speakers out

anyone thats been here 5 minutes could pass this test. I've seen dummy questions for it..

there's like culture questions, ie. what is don bradman famous for (a) golf (b) cricket (c)swimming (d)polotics

and there's stuff thats aimed at your understanding or our system. It tests whether you understand things like freedom of speech and the raw basics of our governmental system. I'm also guessing that they probably give you a citizenship booklet with all the answers in it when you register to take the test too..

I checked out the official Australia immigration website. I may need to come here on a work visa first and then apply for full citizenship once I've been here for four years. I'm not positive this is the case.

Thanks for the info on the crown casino/immigration scott/rpm.

Some Friends

I made my plane/hostel reservations this weekend for my end of semester 'Tour of Australia'. First I'm going to Melbourne for 4-5 days, then Cairns for three days, and the last three days in Sydney before I return to America. I decided not to go to Tasmania since the weather is supposed to be cold and rainy in June, and I'd probably need to shell out a couple hundred bucks to rent a car to see all the cool Nature stuff. The hostels I'm going to be staying at look pretty legit -- esp the one in Sydney which has an unobstructed view of the Opera House. There will be a lot of free breakfasts/dinners/wifi at the hostels so I think value-wise I'm getting my money's worth. I've never stayed in a hostel before and the only things I have to go on are the movie Hostel and the downsides I've heard about from others. I'm sure it will be a lot nicer than I've been told since I didn't pick crap hostels, and if nothing else it's another life experience I'll be happy to have.

I'll post a full expense report for my trip and the entire semester at the end of my time here, as I'm sure that information will be of value to others interested in doing a semester abroad in Oz.

Because I have two papers and a presentation to prepare for this week, I didn't end up going to Burswood on Friday. I'm going to try and go this Friday when I'll have most of my remaining coursework behind me. I spent most of my break sleeping, watching movies and going on walks with Louise. There's a large green space about 1km from our apartments and more than once we've gone out there to stargaze and talk. It'll be one of my favorite memories of Perth. We also went to Fremantle to explore and have lunch at Little Creatures, a fantastic brewery/restaurant. Brag: she paid for the meal

I had a relaxing Easter break and am going into the last third of the semester well prepared.


The last couple days I've been especially bothered at how little effort my friends back home have made to get in contact with me. On the one hand I understand people are busy and have their own lives to live. On the other hand, besides my brother and Anders, the only time I can remember skypeing with one of my close friends was because he needed to borrow money. I've been in Australia for three months! When my friends have moved far away I'm pretty sure I got in contact with them at least once a month. Of course they would remember better than me, being as they were the one who was 'out there'.

Experiencing this isolation firsthand has given me a deeper appreciation for the transient nature of person-person relationships, and that it takes consistent energy to maintain a close connection with someone. A year ago I would have said my close friendships would stay strong for forever, but in my mind the connections I have with some of my friends have become a lot weaker. I'm pretty bummed out about the whole thing. A big thank you to my family, who make an effort to meet me on skype almost every Sunday!

Even if I'm generally pissed off at my friends (some of whom do read this -- though they're not the ones I'm directing most of my frustration towards) I understand they haven't deliberately ignored me which makes it easier to forgive them for it and move on from here. Things may or may not return to the way they were when I left -- that's life I guess.


YouTube - Arvo Part - "Spiegel im Spiegel&#39;

/emo rant

Nice post. Friends change, sometimes I don't talk to someone for a year but when I see him, I am reminded why I trust the person and he's still one of my closest friends. Other people I see more often but don't have same relationship with. And family is family, if you have strong family ties all the friendships become bonuses!

I'm sure you'll enjoy the east coast, try to check out the great barrier reef if you have time!

Drama (continued)

RE my friends: not much changed between when I last updated except that I'm not as upset about it as I was then. At this point I regret even putting my feelings into writing since they came from a self centered POV, but whatever. What I'm more concerned with today is whether life back in Minnesota will be comparatively enjoyable to the time I'm having out here. The urge to travel and live in new places is starting to grow on me; I can also see myself living in Oregon, maybe Canada, maybe even somewhere English isn't the main language. I wouldn't mind learning French or brushing up on my Spanish.

So I went to a club on Saturday*. As a consequence of too much alcohol and drama and not enough sleep, I woke up Sunday afternoon with a serious migraine. With the blinding sun in my eyes, I stumbled to KFC and ordered a 1.25L Pepsi and Large Popcorn Chicken which I could barely bring myself to eat. Then I stumbled back home and passed out until 5pm. I spent the rest of the evening peacefully reading, studying, and watching the Shawshank Redemption.

Today I've been working on my American Empire paper, and after a solid 3 hours of research and writing I'm still a little behind schedule. I need to have it written by tomorrow night so I can edit the rest of the week before turning it in on Friday. I've got a Chem test tomorrow that I'll study for tomorrow afternoon. I'm watching Schindler's List tonight, as I'm on a mission to watch all the Top 10 Movies on IMDB's list. I also watched Godfather's I and II for the first time last week; they were masterpieces.

lol btw I didn't go to Burswood on Friday, but I am absolutely confirmed going after I turn this paper in. So I will have a casino TR for my next update -- my first poker update in over a month!


Slightly Stoopid: On and On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvqKoJL3E9k

Before I went to boot camp 2 years ago I had probably 5-6 'close'/best friends, during the 6 months I was gone for everything, I stayed in contact with just one of them.

I'm only friends with that one friend today, the rest are just acquaintances that I see when I go out from time to time. Shit happens, people change. You'll find you're a better/happier person when you get back home after the time gone. The people that actually matter will matter more to you now, the people that don't, won't matter much at all.

Enjoy the casino trip!

Thanks for the wise words and your perspective, I've got a feeling that's pretty similar to how my situation is going to turn out.

And right now I accept that YouTube - gabin - it&#39;s gonna be

Burswood Casino Trip Report

Tonight I got on the bus at 6:45pm and was at Burswood Casino at 7:30. My roommate came out with me and wanted to get something to eat so we went and had a quick dinner. At 8:00 I finally sat down at the poker table. Since I haven't played live poker in four months and wasn't familiar with the nuances of Australian live poker, I sat down in the $2-3 game (max buy in: $100) rather than $2-5 (max: $300). Outside of limping the blinds, I played at total of two hands the entire time I was there. This was because by 9:30 Maurice had busted at the Blackjack table and didn't have enough cash to get a cab home alone! Considering how slow the action was and the 10% rake on every pot with a ridiculous $15 cap, I was fine getting out of there ahead. I finished +85 at the table, but subtracting $30 for dinner and the cab PLUS losing my pack of cigarettes on the bus it was a pretty unimpressive evening.

Now that I know how to get to Burswood and am a little more familiar with the place, next time I'll probably go solo so I can stay as long as I like. I'm glad I sat in the smaller game tonight because going home -500 my first time out would have been very frustrating. I am looking forward to sitting in the $2-5 game sometime soon and trying to build a 1k stack!

why on earth has their $2/5 game got 60bb buy-in cap? i can understand it at typically recreational stakes, like $1/2.

btw $15 cap is pretty standard here i think. $2/3 and $2/5 at crown (iirc) are raked at 10% capped at $15, plus $5/hour time charge for 2/3 and $10/hour at 2/5. my local casino in tassie has 5% (rounded up in blocks of $50, so a $51 pot is raked the same as a $99 pot) AND IT'S UNCAPPED! i've had over $100 raked from pots i've won before. that said, i don't play there much anymore.

I personally didn't mind 60bb max starting stacks for $2/5 since it gave me an excuse to play less speculative hands. Nor am I really rolled to be playing $2/5, so not being allowed to sit with $500+ is good. When I was talking with other players they also said 10% rake is std which seemed staggeringly high compared to what I see in U.S. B+M casinos. But then I thought about it more and realized I have probably been paying 10% rake in those games as well, and that doesn't include tips (you can't tip at Burswood). So the rake situation is not as bad as I thought.

Burswood Casino Trip Report (Part II)

I went to the casino again on Saturday, but this time I went alone. Getting there was a breeze this time (last time we started out on the wrong bus), and by 6pm I was sitting with $300 on a $2/5 table. Like last time, I laid my chips out incorrectly the first time I wanted to make a preflop raise so I had to call instead -- I repeated this mistake in a larger pot later in the session.

Here are the interesting hands from Saturday:


Hand 1: I get dealt KQdd in MP; we are 8-9 handed at this point, ~$300 effective. Two limps, I raise to $25, 7 players call.

Flop QJ2dxx. It gets checked to me and I bet $85. Shortstack (in SB) shoves for $120, and BB who has me covered reshoves. I tank and eventually fold. SB shows 22 and BB shows QJ.


I reload, then grind it back winning small pots with cbets as I have a nitty image. About 90 minutes later the next interesting hand comes up.

Hand 2: I get KJs on the BTN; 7-8 handed with ~$450 effective. Two limps and CO raises to $30. CO is clearly the 2nd or 3rd best player on the table and I figured he could be isolating with mid Ax or middling broadways. I 3bet to $90, rest of the table folds and CO flats.

Flop comes Kxxhhh (x = <8). CO checks, I bring out $95 in chips but only lay the first three red chips in a single motion. The dealer says I only bet $15. CO calls. Turn is a low black offsuit card, he checks to me again I bet $125 and he quickly folds. He tells me he had QQ.

Then I win some more pots with cbets and get my stack to about $600. My image is still pretty nitty, but maybe now they can tell I'm an internet player as I can only remember not cbetting once.


Hand 3: I get ATcc on the BTN; 7-8 handed, $600 effective. Three or four limps and I raise to $30. One of the EP limpers calls and everyone else folds. My reads on EP are that he has played very similarly to me, only a little tighter. Earlier he had barreled twice and then check/folded the river and said his flush draw missed.

Flop comes Q85dd and EP leads into me for $50. I tank for 10 seconds, thinking it's strange that he would lead into me like this, and raise to $150. He instantly goes AI; I say 'nice hand' and snap fold. I'm not sure my raise was good, but then again the only made hand that might make sense is 88. I think it's more likely he owned me with Axdd or some kind of combo draw.


After that hand my enthusiasm for staying to play was diminished, so I played for another 15 minutes and was home by 11pm. After paying for a beer, taxi, and a pizza I was down $20, so at the very least it wasn't the -500 night I had feared. I think I played well overall, and if I can just start putting my chips into the pot correctly I think I can make some money at Burswood!

neat trick for not string betting is to put your chips between the two fingers next to your thumb and close the sides of your fingers on them, then move your hand into the table propper and just open your fingers above the table (but not too high!) so they fall together, when you get in the habbit it feels kind of cool and there's no chance of being caught on the string bet!

Nice one on quitting when your enthusiasm was low

looking forward to the next report!!

dont bet the flop in hand 1 if you are gonna b/f
hand 2 wtf. you know hes weak. and announce your bets
hand 3 just fold to his lead

thanks for the tip Slev, I'll give it a try next time I go to Burswood so I can minimize the self-ownage when I'm playing live.

@bikes

Hand 1: I think b/f flop is better than c/c, and I'm definitely not c/f. I'm not always getting shoved on when I cbet this flop -- there should be value in getting calls from worse made hands on the flop (i.e. worse Qx)

Hand 2: are you saying I should have bet the turn smaller? I just checked the maths and yea I could have gone with a $90 bet instead and still denied him the correct pot odds to call with a flush draw (i.e. QhQx).

Hand 3: yea I shouldn't have tried to get FPS


Life in Australia Update:

I went on a shopping excursion to the nearby town of Fremantle on Saturday to get my mom some Australian souvenirs. I have been sick the past couple days, but finally felt better today. I went for a run, cleaned my room, ate some expired pasta and am currently hoping I don't start feeling sick again. That pasta was the last meal I had in the house, and the grocery store is closed on Sunday...

My fitness has really fallen off the tracks the past six weeks. As you may have noticed, Fitness Reports in this blog have been non existent since early April. It's been a combination of me being alternatively sick with colds and lazy when I'm healthy enough to be exercising. When I have gone to the gym I've been doing more lifting; there has been some improvement, but it's likely I'll be back at approximately square one on Monday.

School is going alright; I'm looking at A's in two of my classes, and a B in Chemistry provided I don't do horrible on the final exam. I really cannot mess up on the exam, because if I don't get at least a 40% I don't get credit for the class. Fortunately I have two weeks to study for that one exam (it's the only exam I have this semester) so the opportunity is there for me to get some really good grades and ensure my Chemistry class was time well spent.

This week I intend to make it to every lecture (as this is the last week of classes) and go to the gym every day between Monday and Thursday. On Friday I'm going camping/sightseeing with Louise; we're going to Margaret River, the Valley of the Giants (which is a tree top walk), and a national park with some cool waterfalls. I will have a detailed trip report when I return, with lots of photos.

This semester has absolutely flown by -- I can't believe that it's almost the end of May already! In less than four weeks I head out, alone, to the east coast to see Melbourne, Cairns, and Sydney. I'm going to miss the people I've grown close to -- particularly my roommates and Louise. I have no regrets.

YouTube - &#x202a;Red Hot Chili Peppers - Bob&#x202c;&rlm;

hand 1 if u bet 85 and get shipped on you are always getting nearly 2:1 on a call and folding is just dumb as such. 60bb tpgk just gotta go with it esp the way the action played out. also adjust your pf raise sizes live. if your getting 7 callers on a 5bb raise you might as well just limp or raise bigger depending

Road Trippin in Western Australia (Part I)

I woke up very excited on Friday morning, and couldn't wait for Louise and I to begin our road trip through Southwest Australia. I foolishly drove around with the handbrake on for the first 15km (and almost went back to return the car because of the weird sounds it was making when I was pulling away from campus), but despite this we managed to get on the road by 1:30pm. Driving on the left side of the road and dealing with roundabouts were new challenges, besides the fact that I hadn't driven in almost four months. Fortunately I didn’t end up making any critical mistakes behind the wheel this weekend (though I did go off the road onto the shoulder at least twice)!

We arrived in Prevelly, where the Margaret River empties into the Indian Ocean, at around 5pm. We searched for a suitable campsite for over an hour, yet ended up staying at the place we had seen when we first got there. I must confess that after driving for hours, being hungry, and facing the prospect of setting up our tent in the dark, I was feeling a little grumpy. However, the weather was spectacular and the actual camping experience turned out great. Our fire was close enough to the tent that we could lay inside and still feel the warmth. The night sky was filled with stars.

We headed out for Walpole around 10:30am on Saturday; any driving pictures are from this portion of the trip. We climbed the 75 meter tall Bicentennial Tree, located about 10km down a dirt road off of the main highway. Even I got a little nervous climbing this tree, but we both made it to the tree house at the top and were treated to an incredible view of Warren National Park. This part of Australia is surprisingly well endowed with massive trees; for as far as we could see in every direction was lush forest. We got to Walpole in the late afternoon and checked into a Bed and Breakfast. When I made this reservation I had no idea that Walpole was a town of only about 400 people, as it seems like a prominent town in Western Australia if you were to just look at a map. It was still a very scenic town, and the B+B proprietor took us on a “Kangaroo Safari”/sightseeing tour (cliff notes: we saw kangaroos and got lots of pretty photos).

On Sunday morning we had breakfast and headed further south to see the Valley of the Giants, a forest with some seriously massive trees. It was the main attraction we had embarked on this road trip to see, yet after having climbed the Bicentennial tree I was actually a little underwhelmed with the safety of the walkway and it being a "mere" 30 meters off the forest floor (lol). After the Treetop Walk, we began slowly making our way back to Perth. We stopped at two spectacular beaches; we had a lovely swim and picnic at the second one. We made it to Albany (popn 25000) in the afternoon, a metropolis compared to the other towns we had seen since leaving Perth. Like everywhere else I've been in Australia, the people of Albany were incredibly friendly and helpful, even providing us with turn by turn directions to find Torndirrup National Park. While driving to the park, our final sightseeing location, we glanced into a nearby field and saw about 50 kangaroos; I instantly pulled over, climbed the fence, and approached the mob (this is what you call a "pack" of roos). I wanted to get even closer, but: 1. I didn’t want the kangaroos to run away, and 2. I didn’t want to be kicked to death by any paranoid moms. Once we actually got to the park, we saw a natural bridge carved by ocean waves. We walked down to the ocean, took a few more photos, got in the car, and drove home. We took the Albany highway for 400km to get back to Perth; however, I can only recall passing through one town the whole night before we reached the Perth suburbs. This experience was closer to what I had expected of Australia; very long, empty stretches of road.

Everywhere we went in Southwest Australia was remarkably pristine and beautiful, as I expect you’ll notice in the photos I’ve included. The entire vacation was exactly what I wanted out of our road trip; it makes me excited to take a road trip up the Northern coast and see the sights there before I head out east. Despite making almost no solid plans before we left, nor having certain directions or maps of where we were going, this road trip turned out great. It was relatively unplanned and focused on appreciating natural beauty, something this part of the world has in abundant supply!


Photo Album - Imgur
* I won't forget to get a picture of me in my FTR T-shirt on my next trip!

YouTube - &#x202a;Red Hot Chili Peppers - Road Trippin' (Video)&#x202c;&rlm;

great pics, looks like fun. Jealous of you out there traveling it up. The trips of the unplanned kind almost always end up the best if you're with someone else that's able to just go with the flow.

looking good. I grew up in albany, best beaches in the world if youve got time to explore properly. I take it you did a bit of research about where to go. As soon as i read southwest i thought "hope he went to the valley of the giants, and if you go to albany the bridge/gap.. Further, i sincerely hope you didn't visit the night club in albany.