♠ A Show of Force ♠ Mid-Highstakes Action

your gym video looks great and congrats on the supernova!
you did work a lot for it so you diserver it

Oh ffs...Seeing that video
Pretty much means I have go cut now
You've got similar muscle mass but damn those abs look good!
I think your fat pct is around 8-10%? (sustainable?)

For that girl stuff... I've frankly spent more time on learning approach to life, dating and relationships in general than poker this year. Because it felt more important in the long run to get at least reasonably good at this.

I'd very much recommend this podcast:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/menprovement-podcast-self/id914595630?mt=2
Especially the ones with Dan Munro on authenticity.

And Meditation + presence for mental game and dating alike. According to Ike haxton most nosebleed players are doing it
And even one of the characters in The Game recommended it (and surprisingly situational openers being by far the best, coming from a guy who is a co-inventor of routines etc. As you are present to your surroundings)

Sick track of desire, play and let's go

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@Zanardi - thanks, if stars.fr gets a Romanian license I may get SN there as well haha (currently 75k vpps)
@bonecore - appreciate it! Some people think I work a lot, but I don't feel I'm working that hard, def feel i can work harder. Guess everyone kinda knows his own limits, right?

@LemOn - yup, you do have good muscle mass (stalked some pics of urs) - about abs: combination of nutrition, genetics, fast metabolism
I think my bodyfat is more at like ~12% (my estimate) - def sustainable for me, it's my default shape I am in without putting in any kind of effort - after so many years, my nutrition is on autopilot (eating 85-90% healthy) as well as hitting the gym.
I want to get at ~7% eventually and I do think that would require some deliberate focus.

Def agree on the girl/life stuff, makes sense to go on the more +LifeEV at first, to get a good base. The podcast seems a pretty good resource, will check it out, authenticity is also a big topic i'm interested in.

According to Ike haxton most nosebleed players are doing it

Haha I'm certainly more motivated now to keep the meditation going, thanks for that! Keep sharing the knowledge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After rushing the supahnovanova I decided to take some time off to relax, ending up taking the whole week off. Main reason was that my whole summer was so boring - all I did was grind and cry (fu downswing). Decided I will enjoy the last week of the summer before I hit the grind hard again.
Even so, I felt somewhat guilty about taking so much time off. Firstly, my mind was so used to grinding everyday it was weird to unplug. Second of all, was feeling in a positive momentum with poker (playing+improving) - last time I felt that was so long ago so of course I will feel bad about deliberately interrupting it.

First part of the week I was at the mountainside with gf, I love nature and mountains. This was more of a relaxation trip, although pretty adventurous as well.

^ endlessly climbing on these forest paths for several hours

^finally getting to a sick landscape after gf kept insisting for the past hour to turn back. worth it haha

Afterwards, time for a seaside trip with some bro's to party it up, have fun and mostly be retarded.

^had a really good time - a good mix of clubbing, adventure, swimming, talking to girls. I'm the one on the right btw lol. On the social side, although talked to a lot of girls, I certainly wasn't in the mood for it most of the time - required me pushing myself a lot, which wasn't really fun. That said, I should take it easier on myself, since I haven't been out of the house socializing almost at all for the past months so no wonder it wasn't that smooth.

Interesting dilemma between staying in a comfy zone (not socializing) and pushing discomfort upon myself to do what my mind doesn't want to - jump in interactions. Am I here to have fun or to get better at pickup? This should be relaxing, not consume willpower which I should use in poker. Pushing myself was the least bad option I guess and I am satisfied with my choice ha.
Had an interesting thought - when you want to have an epic time / adventure, that shouldn't be based on external circumstances (eg people's reactions to you) which you cannot control; instead, make your criteria of fun entirely based on what goes on inside you/your actions - only things you can control. Of course, way more easier said than done.
Getting flat/negative reactions from most girls you talk to surely does not qualify as an epic fun time from the first perspective.

So now I am back home, ready to get back into grind mode. Feels weird, got so disconnected from poker, one week was enough to completely take my mind off it. Don't know whether it's good or bad. Anxious that my poker game may have went down, so that's why I will try to slowly rebuild my momentum, playing max two tables of zoom and getting back on dat improvement track.

Btw, I did play a bit on Monday, so I guess I should update for the week results lol
Weekly BR Challenge Report
Played Hands: 1.113
Results: $36
Current BR: $6314
11 weeks
srong volume

Food for thought
I discovered a latin quote (love them) today which got me thinking.

Quod me nutrit, me destruit.
aka
Whatever nourishes me, also destroys me.

Angelina Jolie has it tattooed on her, which is pretty cool.

How I interpret it is that comfort is death. The things that make you comfortable, seem good for you, actually help you stay the same, stagnate and not reach your higher goals. That's why a comfortable life is a blessing but also a curse.

When you step out of comfort, out of the 'known', proactively tone down a bit the things which nourish you - that's where growth takes place.
Worth thinking about.

Until next time,
Daniel SoF

Originally posted by M1rCea
Even so, I felt somewhat guilty about taking so much time off. Firstly, my mind was so used to grinding everyday it was weird to unplug. Second of all, was feeling in a positive momentum with poker (playing+improving) - last time I felt that was so long ago so of course I will feel bad about deliberately interrupting it.

I know the feeling. A few of my chody friends are also passionate gamers and have about 100-150 games each on Steam. I followed suit and, after the initial hype, I began feeling guilty that I am wasting my time on Steam rather than play poker, go outside, etc. As a result, I uninstalled it.

I guess we have working work ethic.

Yeah I know dat feel, in a way I'm sorry I can't enjoy videogames anymore, but ye this is a good example of negative emotions (feelin' bad about wasting time) actually being good for you, helping you move forward.

Time for another installment of the weekly review. Hmm totally freestylin' this one. Let's see...

Specific goals and a schedule
After taking the whole past week off, I guess it was normal to find it hard to get back into momentum, so no pressure on myself for volume of play.
On the other hand, I def feel the negative impact of not having specific goals, with a date attached to them. Add to this the fact that I don't have a clear set schedule I follow regardless of how I'm feelin' at the time, and my recent progress starts to be quite impressive lol.

I remember waking up one day very motivated to grind and crush life, but in a way I felt bad. Why? I thought 'hey this is all well and good, but I don't want to depend on these emotions to get my grind on'. In order to remain consistent, I think it's vital to have rules for yourself - where you will put your time in day after day, regardless of how motivated you are.

Mental Game of Life + Inchworm
I think J Tendler's inchworm concept - where you need to work on adding new stuff to your game but ALSO working on your weak parts at the same time - can very well apply to our lives. I was thinking that it's not GTO if I focus on incorporating some small productivity edges of like 0.5% in my life, while I have big focus leaks that drain 15-20% of my productivity (youtube/fb/watsapp etc). So this concept of cutting off bad stuff instead of always looking for the new 'idea' that will drastically improve your life can be pretty powerful.
Overall, I am starting to see the benefits of looking at the mental game of your own life exactly the same way you would look at your poker mental game.

Poker
Feel like I keep improving. Running well does help. Playing only 2-3 tables of zoom also helps. Got a GTO solver (Pio) - if anyone has it also and wants to study together, let me know.
Weekly BR Challenge Report
Played Hands: 10.407
Results: $804
Current BR: $7118
12 weeks

Girls girls girls
Srsly do not know what the fuck is happening. Going from minimal contact with other girls a week ago, I find myself talking to ~6 girls right now, without it being my intention. I used to think that girls sense when you're on ur path, happy and crushing life and respond to you differently. The weirdest is when they are the ones that hit you up, after not talking in months! My theory def holds. Anyone else experienced that?

Train Girl Grind #TGG
On the more notable side, I was travelling by train to my hometown, running some crEV sims and I see a cute girl with nice boobs, but also a swag to her which I really liked.

I'm like 'maybe I'll go talk to her'. Keep running my sims, focusing on my mission, but also sneaking peeks at her lol #creeper. A few minutes before getting to our (common) destination, my laptop battery dies. She is looking out the window, listening to music. Even though I'm a bit anxious (talking to random girls def isn't my strong point right now), I decide I'm gonna do this.

I get up, go to her, tap tap on shoulder, she removes headphones, I introduce myself, tell her I thought she was interesting so I came at her. 'Also, my laptop battery died' (lol). She seems receptive, I feel myself being goofy, saying all kinds of stupid shit (lol, lack of practice def shows) like where I went to kindergarten (wtf?) but at the same time I don't put pressure on myself.

We get off the train, I know my mom and brother are waiting for me at the train station outside, in the car. While I'm talking to her, I see they actually came at me bro, they're 20m away and I'm like oh fuck gotta move quick lol. So I just randomly bust out my phone and tell her 'do you have watsapp?'. 'Yeah, I do, but that means giving you my number, right?'. 7m away. I just shove my phone in her hands and she puts in her number while I pass my brother who's telling my mom to not interfere lol.

Get her #, say goodbye, return to family, ezgame, ezlife. I go out with her that same night, comes to pick me up in a sick SUV, I try to pretend I'm not impressed lol.

Small adventures like this are good for keeping dat pimp hand strong. Felt really good to reconfirm to myself I can meet a cute girl anywhere, anytime and create something out of nothing. I feel very grateful for having this kind of freedom of choice, I def wish for any guy reading this to experience it.

On this positive note, I'm gonna take off to bed.

PS. This whole post captures pretty well the tornado of topics and thoughts usually in my head

Pretty strong interview on hustlin', thought I'd share with fellow hustlers

Interviewee is the author of '50th Law of Power' - a book on hustlin' based on 50cent's life. Would def recommend.

Post containing update + some mental game thoughts + talking to cute girls

haha, how you made sure I come here! ...with the reference to the mental game, of course!

#worthit!

Originally posted by SvenBe

Post containing update + some mental game thoughts + talking to cute girls

haha, how you made sure I come here! ...with the reference to the mental game, of course!

#worthit!

Lol cheeky Sven . welcome - this update might interest you then ha

So guess who came over this night? yep, #TGG timez. Got me a brain teaser while I was enjoying quality times

Seeing the girl as a toy
Ok, now that everyone's got their 'stop female objectification' banners up, let me clarify.
I don't mean it in a bad/disrespectful way, I really respect girls and like to connect to them as humans, especially when they are in their homeland, the Kitchen. How I mean it is if you think she is there for your enjoyment (like a toy), you can relax, be playful and creative, which gives her a very good time as well.

I am saying this because I've caught myself often enough being in analytical mode (tx poker), trying to overmanage my behavior and creepy stuff like that. Seeing a girl for the first times shouldn't be just another episode of 'problem-solving' and pressure. She is there for you to 'use' her, but in a gentle and caring way - that's where masculine dominance comes in.
Just imagine a girl you really like wanting to 'use' you as she pleases. Few of us would mind that (hopefully very few #nohomo).

Let go of trying to control stuff and enjoy that cute girl like you were (hopefully) enjoying a new toy when you were a kid - exploring it creative and carefree.

Even if she doesn't react like u want her to, eg. not allowing you to touch her boobs, it's still all good and fun, it just adds to the unpredictability.

As you might tell, this is a lesson mainly directed at myself, but also to my fellow playas - #anxietyCrew respresent. When so much of your day consists in you putting pressure on yourself to perform (gym, poker etc.), it's so easy to get stuck in that mode and bring it to other areas.

I think this concept can apply to most interactions with girls, even when a girl is being bitchy and mean, she becomes much less threatening.

Conclusion is to just be an innocent kid who enjoys boobs. Hope this post didn't creep everybody out

Daniel SoF

Hi there, i summarized for everyone - tl,dr:

Originally posted by M1rCea

Seeing the girl as a toy

... I really respect girls ... especially when they are in their homeland, the Kitchen.
...
She is there for you to 'use' her, ...- that's where masculine dominance comes in.
Even if she doesn't react like u want her to, eg. not allowing you to touch her boobs, it's still all good and fun....
....
Conclusion is to just be an innocent kid who enjoys boobs. Hope this post didn't creep everybody out

Hi there, i summarized for everyone - tl,dr:

Thanks for the help!

Originally posted by SvenBe
Hi there, i summarized for everyone - tl,dr:

Spoiler

Originally posted by M1rCea

Seeing the girl as a toy

... I really respect girls ... especially when they are in their homeland, the Kitchen.
...
She is there for you to 'use' her, ...- that's where masculine dominance comes in.
Even if she doesn't react like u want her to, eg. not allowing you to touch her boobs, it's still all good and fun....
....
Conclusion is to just be an innocent kid who enjoys boobs. Hope this post didn't creep everybody out

hahaha genius ♦

sup cheeky kunts

^got control of my soulll yeaaaah cool track

have so many things to say and so little at the same time lol

girls area is seamlessly taking up more and more of my life.. not sure if it's good or bad, riding the heater atm... passion for poker is def still there

loving my life and feelin' like i'm blessed

went carting with some friends today.

some foot tennis yesterday

some TGG times the day before

rent contract expires in less than 2 weeks. not rushing to get another place here. haven't decided i still want to remain in bucharest. open to move almost anywhere (in Romania or outside). until other opportunities arise will go back to hometown to live with parents. will def be interesting mentally.

thinking about getting a new phone and use it to make more youtube vids, higher quality. if I am looking for overall quality with an accent on camera specs, samsung galaxy S6 seems the way to go. thoughts?

pokerwise, i'm getting more and more interested in studying GTO patterns, trying to understand why a solver chooses to do what it does and implementing the principles in my game.
still delaying working on some mental game stuff like goals and schedules, which kinda makes me unhappy because I can observe myself being less engaged when I play.

Weekly BR Challenge Report
Played Hands: 9.755
Results: -$576
Current BR: $6542
13 weeks

yep rungood paused, felt disengaged mentally as well.

got control of my soullll
Daniel SoF

So I am playing a 2 table zoom100 session, blaring a tune up in my speakers and the following hand occurs:

Poker Stars, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

SB: $61.54 (61.5 bb)
Hero (BB): $100 (100 bb)
UTG: $97.50 (97.5 bb)
MP: $205.04 (205 bb)
CO: $98 (98 bb)
BTN: $184.05 (184.1 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5 A
2 folds, CO raises to $4, BTN calls $4, SB folds, Hero calls $3

Flop: ($12.50) 2 A 9 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($12.50) 9 (3 players)
Hero checks and starts thinking about hand at the other table, CO bets $1, BTN raises to $5, Hero snap folds unconsciously seeing a bet and a raise out of the corner of the eye

Immediately afterwards I realize what I did and jump out of my chair. That's how I openfold QQ-AA pre once in a while.

This shows how unconscious I can get during my sessions sometimes, how low lvl of focus can get.

I do find it really hard to stay focused sometimes, to get my mind engaged. I do realize it's best to shut off all distractions - inability to browse webpages, disable wireless on phone so I can't chat to ppl, shut off loud distracting music etc - but it would feel like forcing myself to stare at a blank wall for the entire duration of a session.

Shorter sessions? Work on motivation?
Thoughts?

Daniel SoF

isochronic tones, google it or search on youtube. For focus, public speech anxiety, get in the zone, i find them useful.

Originally posted by veeretas
isochronic tones, google it or search on youtube. For focus, public speech anxiety, get in the zone, i find them useful.

Yo, thanks veeretas checked it out seems pretty good, will try the next time I play a sessh.

Not puttin very much into poker lately. Since I'm gonna move out from Bucharest at the end of this week, I'm seeing all kinds of friends lately, so many good times.
Should have plenty of time to grind it out when I get back home.

On that note, I've been working on the motivation aspect of my life recently. I will maybe delve more into that in my next update, since I want to do it thoroughly and I don't think I have the mental capacity right now (too tired).

Just paying my dues with the
Weekly BR Challenge Report
Played Hands: 9.866
Results: -$160
Current BR: $6382
14 weeks

As I said earlier, a bit unfocused during sessions. Still feel my game has gone up lately. Poor volume because of few tables (2 zoom) and quite some time spent in the lab.

Just ordered a new phone - LG G4 - today, finally time to change my old ass iphone 4s. More vBlogs could ensue.

Well, until next time my dearests!

Daniel SoF

Was sleeping over last night and I had a lesson in a dream... Really got me thinking..

Life's too short to spend on low quality girls. Fo'real now. Instead of spending time with a low quality girl I could use that time to grind / try to get a better girl / do smth better. I've been getting too complacent lately in the girl department. Spending too much time with the wrong ppl.

Life's short, enjoy it while it lasts - DMX

Daniel SoF
`

Originally posted by M1rCea
Life's too short to spend on low quality girls. Fo'real now. Instead of spending time with a low quality girl I could use that time to grind / try to get a better girl / do smth better. I've been getting too complacent lately in the girl department. Spending too much time with the wrong ppl.

Exactly. This is why I think that, after JWT, there will be socializing with him, between us there and with some girls in Bucharest. Psyched up... cannot wait for next Saturday. It's gonna be epic!

Originally posted by Zanardi1
Exactly. This is why I think that, after JWT, there will be socializing with him, between us there and with some girls in Bucharest. Psyched up... cannot wait for next Saturday. It's gonna be epic!

What now? Sit back and let me Play the Room

Don't Stop

Well, here I am, retreated to my hometown aka Grindaland aka Grind Camp to focus on... grindin' ofc.
Yep no longer livin' in Bucharest for now. Got my old room back, livin' with my parents, which has its advantages - no longer wasting time on cooking, dishes, way lower expenses, ez life. Pic of my new grind setup:

Overall plan is to live here for the cold season and crush poker. If I get too bored I'm moving back to Bucharest / other cities.

As for poker...
Weekly BR Challenge Report
Played Hands: 8.055
Results: $1.872
Bonus from SuperNova $2.000
Current BR: $10.254
15 weeks

Strong stack at 100z (my biggest ever)

RIP

So the Grind Camp welcomed me with a big nice heater. Played good, ran better. Still feel I've been improving noticeably.

Some mental game changes which I feel helped quite a bit
1. Now taking breaks around the 1h mark - zoom format makes it very easy. Feel increased quality of focus.
2. Not checking results for the whole week - helps a lot with focusing on playing right.

A deep inner game concept - When Do You Stop?
When does your brain think 'it's time to take a break'? I noticed a consistent pattern in myself - everytime I get nice results (+5k month, 4k SuperNova bonus), I start letting go a bit and unconsciously start to relax. Slowly fall off momentum. After a good result, I feel like there's the tendency to 'take it easier' for a while.

I think this is a pretty powerful success barrier. I think we all have a threshold where we start to relax and slip back down, until we feel the pressure again. How low/high do you have yours? How do we expect to make remarkable progress when we keep stopping and slipping backwards?
So I think instead of stopping, you should keep pushing even harder, ride the momentum. Having farther reaching goals I feel is essential here. So if I get a good week/month I don't feel like I've arrived and I can relax. Instead, it gets me more motivated because I'm closer to my goal of beating NL1k.

The idea is to keep pushing, keep the system moving.
The idea is to persist, persist through volumes, persist through the hardships, persist. But keep pushing.
Push till things work out. Push and persist, persist and push. The idea is to keep pushing.

What's next?
I plan on shooting NL200z again for 6BI's. I'm not very sure of my ability to beat it for now (thus only a 6BI shot), but i'm gonna try my hardest. Gonna play 2 tables only, try to keep focus sharp. Also, I will keep working hard on my game.

For now my goal is to have at least 1bb/100 over the coming month.

Stay Strong,
Daniel SoF

Weekly BR Challenge Report
Played Hands: 5.339
Results: $650
Current BR: $10.904
16 weeks

Played ok, bad volume.

Hey mate!

Following your blog (also followed your streams, when you did them!), nice progress! I have one question though. I see you usually play 7-10k hands/week. Isn't that super low? You are Zoom player right? Even if you play 2 tables (cca 500 hands/hr), that is like 14-20 hours/week? Or am I getting my math wrong somewhere? If the numbers are right, you should consider focusing your force more on poker then on other things ♦

But anyway, keep it going, I'm following!

MJQ