Aquila

Sry about your dad, regardless of your relationship! There were times I didnt talk to my parents and they also moved away far away, thus I haven't seen them for some years now, so I know the feeling of distance. Still they are my parents. People I grew up with. Hope you have fond memories, cherish these, forget the rest, when you look back (without ignoring the bad stuff).

In the books you have read or in your personal opinion: How do you become process oriented? How do you apply your knowledge to become this person?
Also: I would focus on 2-3 things, stop constantly consuming new stuff. There is no way that you can absorb it all and apply it. (maybe you can, but I couldn't). Do you feel or have pressure to make it with Poker?

Good luck and all the best,
Aquila

Do you consider Podcasts on Spotify as Social Media content? I feel Like i should. Listening to someone Like huberman on a regular basis makes me feel „inferior“.
I think my biggest lever is to work on my ability to work focused (3-4 h per working Day). And to be Patient about the process. This is actsully really hard for me.

Is it a good idea to Write down one or 2 things I am grateful for after every Session/day?
Stuff Like : ending Session because of Overall Plan.

Jan Philippi what are positive things (~around 10 Minutes)?
Are these Daily small things like in my case: Sports, drinking Espresso, Meditation?
I have started to pair „hard“ things with a reward (like Espresso). So I need to finish a 45 minutes Session of xyz, then I get the reward.
Also with regards to willpower, I used to do Sports often before lunch. Now I moved it to the end of my work, so that I get the reward then. I want to do Sports, so I don‘t want to waste willpower in the early hours for something I will do regardless. Do you think These are good approaches?

Cheers,
Aquila

Jan Philippi interesting Video. Thank You.
I can attest to age changing priorities. When I was Young I loved playing Games, now they bore me. (Especially pc Games). Also watching Series or Movies is really much less appealing to me nowadays. I much prefer to read Books, they are just deeper.
Overall I have really changed over the last 20 years. I used to sleep in until lunch, now i get up between 5-6 regardless of the day.
I also agree about the financial success. I Hit a milestone recently and I did not care. Nothing changed.
The thing that has become extremly important is being a learner. It’s an attitude I try my best to Share with my son.

Did you read Oliver Burkman‘s Book? 4000 weeks. He also has a new one out. Might be worth Reading.

Last Note about Essentialism: the take away is one Page, there was no need to write 200 Pages about it, but they want to make Money too 😆

Cheers,
Aquila

Hi Demondoink

why does it have to be a "next year I change xy" approach?
I strongly believe that we should change gradually, small steps over time. Work our way towards a life that we are good with on a daily/weekly basis. This Jockostuff might be very motivational, but we gotta ask ourselves, if thats truly what we aspire. I dont know your sleeping regime, but I guess 4:24 is closer to the time you go to bed than your waking hours :)
What is important to you? In no Order:
- Poker
- a social life
- Sports
Those 3 seem to me your most important assets. Try to to improve these with small steps. Forget about the rest. Obviously I dont know your 20 experiences for 2024, but maybe they sound good but arent really that important in the end. I find that eating selfmade cake with my son and wife on a saturday afternoon is one of the best things in life right now, it's a tiny thing, but it makes me feel good. Thus it is much more important than training for Triathlon (to prove to the world that I still got it).
Good luck with selling your house! I hope everything works out!

I wish you the best,
Aquila

Orca206
The only one blogging here actively is leaving.. ;()
Inspiring work ethic for sure. I am sure you can make it!

What was your take on "make it stick"? I read a reading sample, but didnt really like it that much. I am currently taking a free course on coursera "learn how to learn". Barbara Oakley, the author of "Learn like a pro" is one of the producers. It's quite basic, but it's for free and has some good elements.
What I personally realize again and again is how difficult it is for me to live the same daily rhythm over several days (longer periods). Especially at work, small/medium/large tasks are constantly thrown in between and then I'm very quickly out of the desired “ideal” routine again. Silence at work is also extremely important to me, but it's not that easy to enforce. I have to go to the office two days a week and I can't do that anyway. And it's not easy at home either. When I do work on something in peace and quiet, I'm always surprised at how quickly I make progress. Focused work (learning) is also very strongly emphasized in the course and I can fully agree with that.

Does Learn like a pro provide some new techniques? Except focus, pomodoro, recall, chunking. Those are well covered in the online course.

Take care!
Aquila

Hi Demondoink
havent posted here for a while, but thought I would add something to your post above (House moving, selling and so on):
I would definitely advise you to go to Australia for 1 year. The number of hours of sunshine alone could have a very positive impact on you. I think it can be a great country for sports enthusiasts.
But I wouldn't buy a new house or apartment beforehand. What if you want to stay in Australia? Or you think you want to go to xy. Your life situation can change “radically” very quickly (partner or something else). I would think that it would be easier for you not to have any extra luggage in mind.
What options do you have to play online in Australia?
I think live is just super bad in terms of times to participate in normal social activities. Which judging by your post is the most relevant.
All the best!

Hi man,
just wanted to selectively comment on your post. With regards to being old: There is no need to rush. Take good care of yourself (Eat, sleep, train in some capacity and rest well) on a daily basis. Thats what your focus imo should be on, not worrying about your life expectancy and being too old (Just because the topic of not feeling rushed is mentioned here I link this video as well:
Mark Lewis

I would strongly recommend to get into meditation. The app I would use is called "waking up" by Sam Harris. You can try it for free for 30 days, and if you cant afford a subscription, theres a lower price or actually free version. Try to live in the presens. It makes all the difference.

I am also impressed by your effort to keep at it. Listen to this as well: Growth Mindset

I would also add, that you might want to look out for a softer pool. Why dont you play on a site like wsop.com or so? I dont know the American market, but arent there softer sites? Fuck rakeback and such, play 4 tables, focus on your game play and rinse and repeat.

--> Also, dont watch Poker stream or other shows on the site while playing! Thats not professional :)

Cheers, Aquila

Quote should be from Easy Game (Balugawhale) 👻

Jan Philippi
What would you say about:
How many things should one change at the same Time?
And how long do you think it takes to establish a new habit?

Yeah, but it also prevents overshopping (if thats the right Word)

With regards to Shopping I would add:
- always have a shopping List with you and only buy these things

The solution to everything is mindfulness :) if you master it ....

Jan Philippi
Thanks for the reply. Do you know the waking up app? There is a new series about procrastination. Quite good, might be of interest to someone like you.

Poker This week:
- practice Anki everyday so far (4 out of 4 so far)
- create new cards check
- watched only one video so far (on monday). Tomorrow will be video number 2. Today was a holiday and thus family time.

Also, in my last post I asked for suggestion on Poker videos, but didnt get any replies.
I was thinking that it might be better if I offer something in return. Thus for some advice on the poker front, I am offering advice on fitness/health and (meditation) in return. I dont have a degree in this, but I am quite the fitness enthusiast. So, feel free to dm me on RIO or contact me via skype ("nm_peregrinus") or discord (Aquila#8102).

Cheers and all the best,
Aquila

Hi Jan, thx for passing by :)

not going to write it down here, but basically:

Blue Quadrant (Goals/Values):
- Longterm winning Poker Player (consistently learning)
- become financially (more) independent
- live a life according to what I value (independence, healthy, active, being a reliable and supportive Dad, gardening, sports, good food)

Red Quadrant (Actions, that are "bad"/not helping)
- these are things I wrote down above

Black Quadrant (emotional and mental barriers)
- thinking I should be better/ have achieved more
- believing I am dumb, incompetent
- believing, I don't need to learn/study (opposite to the one above, that's an example of one where my beliefs make 00000 sense ^^)
- believing everyone is better, especially when variance shows up
- ....

Green Quadrant (Actions (preferably daily??? Jan Philippi) that are helpful/beneficial
- daily anki practice
- exercise
- quality sleep
- being patient (in many aspects of life)
- focus on one thing at a time
- eating that frog (do the difficult stuff first, stop delaying)
- studying poker and taking notes (ask questions if they arise, in the hope of getting answers...
- take relaxation serious (Sauna, Massage, Books)
- play only when time is really available and I am not fatigued or stressed out (see patience)
- think, think, think
- enjoy the challenge (chance to improve --> positive way of looking at "hard" things)/ take failure as a means/chance for improvement

thats mostly it.

So, take it serious, while seeing the positive in life (be grateful that I can go and work out, or work on topic xy at work, or play Poker when I can... (I am in a good position and life is good)

Also, I stopped drinking alcohol some weeks ago and it has improved my overall mood so much, its unreal! I do drink alcohol free beer from time to time. I like some types, which is great. Also, I cut down on red meat and instead try to eat a lot more fish. Not sure if the Omega 3-Fatty Acids are boosting my mood as well....Definitely looking forward to tomorrows barbeque with fresh sea bream (whole), stonebiter and tuna (fillets). What a life xD

Good video. I did the cheat sheet :)
wrote down some of it as well here:
https://www.runitonce.com/chatter/this-time-things-will-be-different/
At least one member followed up on your wish ^^

Thanks for your reply :)

Week:
- Watched 4 (3 Cash, 1 mental).
2 Cash were good, 1 was meh :)
Mental was good.
I watched Jan Phillipis video on long term success. I did the exercise (cheat sheet). It's funny, there are mental things, that are completely opposing. Like there is no way this makes sense. I can only do it wrong. Maybe this is common, but it was good to write it down and become aware of it. Maybe it helps me to realize how futile some off the stuff is that the mind is coming up with. I also realized that I have a shit ton of doubt about the futility of the whole process. Is it even worth it. Would I be really doing x or y. There is no doubt that working out x amount of times per week is "mandatory" to me and my health. Also, getting in quality sleep. Poker is much more murky.
Leaks (wrong actions) that were very obvious are:
- playing too much, while basically not studying
- switching game type
- cashing out and then returning and starting "fresh" (what a stupid and childish idea)
- playing when other stuff was more crucial or I was not in the right mindset/ had no time really
- Forcing action
- being impatient
- having a bad mood because I lost 30€ (while happily ordering 7.5 kg of protein powder for over 200 € or signing up for over 2.5k for a hunting license)
- not playing serious/focussed
- switching study approach (GTOw for 5 days, then back to this, then that...)
- dont stick to rules
----> theres clearly more :)(

Watching videos from 2 different players was interesting, because they seem to have extremly opposing recommendations. One is more like "shut your brain off and just follow this". The other one is like "poker is complex". I clearly prefer the second approach.
I like the puzzle aspect of poker, the way you can adopt your strategy to the playing style of your opponent and so on. But I am also quite time restricted.
For now I will continue with my study approach. And continue to put the notes down into Anki and practice them on a daily basis. I need to practice patience, learn from the videos and put the pieces together.

Maybe you can recommend some videos about SRP, 4betting preflop and just good theory videos. Would be much appreciated. I enjoyed Frankie Carsons video this week, even though I thought that shaving off his beard was a -EV play. ^^ I wish I had that kind of beardgrowth, haha :)

Cheers,
Aquila

Hi Frankie Carson

What about paired flops? I think you mentioned that these boards can be good for donking as well, or did I get this wrong?
I would assume low pocket pairs vs early position raises are best? What about the side card?
Or is it very difficult to "simplify" a donking range on these boards?

Good video, enjoyed it.

Also for future videos:
Cbetting strategy in SRP oop vs regs or rec's. Of course SPR cbetting IP with exploits vs regs or recs and general applicable takeaways are much appreciated :)

Lets wrap up this week:
Poker:
This week sucked! :) I didn't follow up my own rules/ thinks I know I should avoid (like playing tired zoom) and lost some (5 buyins or so).
Good news:
I realized that I really, really (really) suck at Poker, actually got some help pointing out my flawed assumption.
I am a nitreg and I play fucking weak!
Which means that I can improve so much. I have started to study with some good RIO videos and they already helped me a ton. I challenged myself to study for the rest of the month, to really get down certain ranges and just make the new knowledge stick in my old brain...Let's see how I feel after basically one month of study. I know Phil recommended to split study and play, but there is no reason for me right now to grind it out at NL10, when I can just study/improve and then deposit more, so that I can start at whatever the level is above (depending on site). I am also limited with time and it feels really necessary to me to take a step back, stop putting in pointless volume and not improving. It annoys the shit out of me and I really want this to work out!
I wonder how much a cfp can increase your learning curve. I just have to watch whats available and this will be allover the place in some regards / it will take time to put thinks together.

Health:
After having a bad cold, which took me out for 3 weeks (2 weeks sick, 1 week recovery), I am now back to Gym (3x per week) and cycling with Zwift. I will start a training plan on Zwift called Fondo. It's 4 weeks long and aims for cycling 100 km at the end. Usually there are 3 workouts per week. I don't want to go above 5 h of cycling per week (the fear of losing too much muscle is real!) I also want a training plan that is mostly centered on building a good base. Intense workouts are too much for me combined on a frequent basis with the gym.
Feeling much better overall and part of that is also that for my cut (6 kg) I don't drink alcohol. This really has a big impact on my recovery and overall well being. I am actually and surprisingly much calmer and more relaxed. Very nice indeed.
I tried a new natural protein powder today and it was one of the most horrible experiences in my entire life! I will try to mix it with a vanilla type and see if I can stomach it then. Otherwise it shall remove itself to the garbage bin! NASTY SHIT! ;) I was close to puking, but forced myself to drink the whole glass. moron....

Cheers,
Aquila

Frankie Carson

can you give general recommendations where 1/2 pot is good? So that I am more aware of the situations where it does make sense vs the ones where it doesnt (like the AQ77 example in the video).

If I xraise river on the Bet-X-Bet line and get called by Top Pair weak kicker. What is my takeaway/adjustment (assuming a reg)? I see people taking 1/3 betsize w TPWK a lot on the rivers. Seems similar thinking on their part (get value, don't lose too much vs better hands).

RunItTw1ce

some suggestions:
- Find out what kind of body you want to have
--> seems like you now realized that just cardio is not the style you are looking for.
If you are not the pure cardio type of guy, then I would suggest hitting the weights at least 3x per week. Boostcamp is a good app and has free good programmes. Start light, get the technique down and then slowly increase the weight. Imo the best channel for weightlifting right now is this one: RP
--> Cardio:
Swimming is great, but there are 2 downsides imo:
- It's mainly technique, you really need to have good technique for it to be a "cardio-exercise". Otherwise it will interfer with the gym. I would suggest to find a coach and really learn it. Everyone believes they can swim, but most are just surviving. There is good free content available online, but I think it is very difficult to transfer it into the pool. I found a coach to be much much more superior. (good channel on youtube: Effortless swimming)
Also, swimming takes time-- get to the pool, change clothes, swim, shower, dress, get back home-- I personally really enjoy zwift on my smarttrainer (gravel bike) at home. It is super convenient and low impact (very important if you also hit the gym). But cardio is about what you enjoy!

Training Vo2max is said to be extremly beneficial. Once you have a solid foundation, mix in some really hard sessions, but you should be quite fit in the first place. Otherwise they take up too much energy and the gym will suffer.

--> losing weight
In this video Losing weight the one thing I find to be really important is that you see losing weight as a phase. Set a goal of maybe 10 pounds, just get through with it, and then get back into a maintenance phase for some weeks. Then cut more if you need to, rinse repeat.
Most people basically think of it like an endless phase and thus feel like its only about restriction, giving up and so on. It is much easier to let go of drinks, snacks for maybe 6-8 weeks and then have some of it again for a while.
Get rid of snacks and alcohol in your house while you lose weight. Makes it so much easier :)

Also, completely irrelevant, but this trystin guy is carnivore no more. He also looks sick (bad health), I am quite sure that he will look much better in the near future, now that he is listening to Dr. Mike and Jared.

Adjustments to the pool sound good! Good luck with the grind!

I wish you much success! Sounds very ambitious and I hope you have calculated it well and do not start from too positive expectations!

Weekly update:
Played horrible on monday on GG (also forgot that rake is taken by "default").
Switched to PP on Thusday, been playing there since then. Tables are a bit hard too find, but so far so good. The amount of rake I am paying seems to be "okayish" compared to 888 and GG. No rakeback, but that's the german life! ;)

Overall good week, back on track after a severe cold. Happy to be exercising again.

I don't care about work at all at the moment, but my superiors are also on vacation and everything is very quiet.

Grilled tuna steaks for the first time and it was super tasty! I will definitely do that more often. Have the opportunity to buy freshly caught fish on Wednesdays and Fridays. Use that usually for sushi, but now comes so slowly the barbecue season rolling and there I want to grill not only steaks and sausages.

When it comes to sports, I started with Zwift and it's amazingly fun. On Sunday I start a structured program. For the gym, I'm trying out Bootcamp. Looks very good, although unfortunately it doesn't show the pauses between sets. You only see the total time. Could record that myself with my watch though.

For poker stands to study from next week at least 2 videos per week concentrated. Then transfer the notes to index cards and then repeat daily with Anki. This is my frog! (Demondoink knows what I'm talking about ;) )
Time to play I have probably only Thursday and Friday. Monday is a holiday.

Take good care!

Okay:
First week:
- played more than 10 h, because I am on sick leave and felt fine enough to play (not sure my brainfog agrees on this up until wednesday).
- up ~75 €, after being down 80 right away, then i was up around 160 or and felt like I lost all momentum from that moment on. Slowly bleeding and running into overpair or KK with AK etc.
- not happy about my mental. What a wild ride! ;(
- too much volume and not taking enough breaks.
- I consider switching over to GG, there were times where not even 4 tables were running. Rake is very high as well. Guess GG has high rake too.
- it sucks to be german in the current poker environment.
- It is so ridiculous when you have someone playing 95/0 and you get nothing for the 15 minutes he is at the table.
- players are underbluffing rivers at an insane rate, especially when it comes to big bets. I counted the ratio of river bets seperated into bluffs/value and over a small sample of something like 70 riverbets, there was not a single bluff when the betsize was over 75%.
- I need to fold so much more on rivers, its insane. The tendency is so extreme, they love to call ,but they hate to valuebet. Maybe this is different on other sites, but at this stake on this site it seems very common. You find the occasional "maniac" who just loves to bomb the river, but they are easy to spot (they are just so different). I wish I would just fold/fold/fold/fold. I am such a fish! ;(
- I overfocus so strongly on shortterm variance. I need to find a better balance, maybe with more buyins,
- take your time, breath. Take it slow. I react to quickly in many spots, it's a strategy game, not an action shooter...

Next week:
- back to work, thus less time to play.
- Play for 1 h and then take at least 15 minutes away from the table.
- got plenty too improve, but games are beatible. no doubt,
- focus more, breath more, think more. take it serious!

Good luck mate! Hope you can crush it!

you are a pro and you play with 50 buy-ins? Do you have a cash reserve?
Just curious.

What happened between those two posts? Do you need to cash out?

Cant help but post this:
Japanese Natural Farming

"Know your enough"
actually there is a chapter about this in Psychology of Money as well. Worth reading, too.