Just kidding, I suppose it takes time to pay all the gemstones and things. And William Hill takes 3 days to give me my money from the points ($375).
If I got a dollar from every "EV is broken!!!1" thread I would be a millionaire by far. As I said in this thread 99% of the time it's just misunderstanding what the stat shows, and how i works.
Speaking of EV, I run 4bin under EV in today's session. But that doesn't matter, I still had 42bb/100 winrate. 
Note that "ev line is broken" was never claimed there! But I can tell your salty about the subject so we will leave that at that.
Now onto what I really came in here for. Nice blog. Read through it all. As fr stars vs wh problem, stars is great for traffic but it's not really worth playing unless u know you will get sn and save all your fpps until that point. If you base a lot of bankroll cushioning on monthy bonuses and rakeback you should stay on a site that pays that out on a monthy schedual.
Anyways subbed and gl at the tables!
That "EV is broken!" was universal referance for all the EV threads in the past, present and future. ♦
I am sorry if I sounded somewhat offended, I wasn't. It's just that for years people have misunderstood the thing. And I really can't understand how one thing can cause so much debating, when it's not complicated at all.
There have been some flaws in EV stat, some time ago HEM couldn't calculate it for side pots which caused some errors when playing with a lot of short stacks. But that is fixed, and as far as I know the EV stat shows exactly what it's supposed to. The problem is that most people think it's showing something that it isn't supposed to.
If it's changed to "equity adjusted winnings", I think people would stop misunderstanding it a lot.
Oh yeah, equity adjusted EV would be the nuts. Should sell that idea to HM and PT lol.
No time for poker, I got my ESP guitar and amplifier today! 
I haven't played electric guitar since 2005, so it's been a looooong time since I smashed some metal riffs. And now my fingertips hurt.
January of Lazyness. After grinding that gemstone and Diamond in December, and then some points at January to get a bonus, I haven't played poker at all for few days. One reason is my new guitar ♥ and the other is that I used a lot of my spare time in December to play poker so I need a break.
That gives me something to think. As from fall, I am planning to make a big portion of my income from poker. But how much I am able to play, so that I won't burn myself down? It's always easy to grind 4h a day in dreams, but when it comes reality it might not be that easy. Luckily my living is not dependable on poker from fall (when I quit my dayjob and focus on studying) so the pressure is not that big. But without any money from poker the income is barely manageable. Going to be an interesting fall, at least.
Or then I just win $215 tournament on Sunday, which I am playing. $35K would be nice pocket money.
finnish fishh!!! 
I just saw your blog, i dont expected to see you here 
Miten kaikki menee muuten?
Originally posted by pelator
Miten kaikki menee muuten?
Going fine, lots of good things happening in life. I guess I am fortunate, as I really enjoy my life at the moment. Things could be better, but that isn't a reason not to enjoy what I have.
Yawn. Played 4,5 hours in $215 Sunday Special, and then lost JJ vs KQo flip and busted at 230. or something when 153 got money. Sucks to play tournaments.
Played also 4 other tournaments, and I was in top10 in all of them. But flip, flop, bang! and I was out on 3 of them. Got $3 from the smallest one, yay! The last one was $5 PLO rebuy, where I managed to finish 9th and cashed $46. In last hand villain raise-called pre with K442r against my AQT4. Hit his 1 outer for set.
Hmm. I had something in mind that I wanted to talk about. But can't remember what it was. It wasn't anything poker related for sure, as I haven't really played any poker in last week or so (besides those Sunday tournaments).
Anyway, my school started this week with an introduction day. Sort of boring day, all I got was numb mind and information that the chairs in the school are not comfortable. The education starts at next Monday, and from there I will have quite a lot of things to do until the summer comes. I am hoping that I have enough time to play poker to get at least one green gemstone a month. That would be a good goal, as it's $500 in rake and about 20 hours at PLO20.
Looking forward to Sunday too, NFL conference finals baby! And NHL starts, and soon the national hockey league here in Finland is getting close to playoffs and things really heat up. What comes to NFL, I really don't care which team wins it from these 4, as long as it isn't Pats and Brady. ♦
I haven't really put a lot of effort to losing weight after Christmas. So now it's time to stop lazyness and get back to work. Current number is 87.3kg, and next goal is 85kg. After that the goal is 80kg.
I am super happy with my current weight, as I didn't watch it during the holidays. I thought that as long as it's even close to 90kg, it's all good.
I have a feeling that this blog is winding down. It's time to resurrect this. But I need help on that one. As I don't really want to post my PLO stuff in here (I already post it and some nice hands to Finnish community blog) it's up to you guys to make up the content. Ask for anything, open some discussions and do something. From views I suppose there are people who are reading this, but only reading.
Now I have played poker for 6 years. Most of that time I have tried to improve. By books, videos, articles, buddies, coaches etc. I have been active in Finnish poker communities for that whole time, so I have met a lot of different players and seen the rises and falls. And now as I have been coaching for PokerStrategy.com for amost 2,5 years I have seen the other side of poker too.
So if you have any questions or topics in mind about poker in general, don't be afraid to ask them. Any game type specific discussion should be in strategy discussion areas, so please don't ask about PLO blind ranges against lagtards.
Also if you have any ideas about how to improve our educational content, feel free to discuss about that too. Especially PLO, as that one is so close to my heart. I can tell all the great ideas to Big Bosses, you know... 
1. Have you got that ice cream machine? Any interesting recipes? Please don't mention that bacon combo again 
2. Have you been satisfied with your weight loss progress? One thing is to lose it but something else is to stay at certain level without forcing yourself. So the real question is have you changed your life style enough that you don't have to worry about your physical form from now on?
3. Since I'm NLH player I would like to hear your opinion about one aspect of poker as a hobby. When people are younger they study but have lots of free time and they have almost no real life obligations. When you go over 30 you eventually settle down, find job, create family, get a ton of obligations, have to pay many bills, but still have some time for hobbies. Do you think this people can comfortably play lets say NL50 and not working too much on their game due to lack of time? Or are they forced to choose between investing some real time into poker and grinding it out or just beat NL10/NL20 with relatively low time invested in their game progress? Games are changing and one style is good now but maybe won't be next year.
Originally posted by Riverdiver
Why don't you want to post PLO stuff?
Cos I would like to save strategy discussion to strategy section. And I post some hands and things to my Finnish blog. I have found out that posting same stuff to 2 different blogs is a great way to kill the motivation for posting.
Originally posted by yaxkukmian
1. Have you got that ice cream machine?
Bacon ice cream! Thank you, I have totally forgot this one! I will make bacon ice cream tomorrow, and post some pics and reports about the taste.
I have used it twice, both times the ice cream was good. But still the effort to make a cup of ice cream is maybe a little too much if I just want to have ice cream. But as with cooking, the process of making it is part of the fun.
2. Have you been satisfied with your weight loss progress? One thing is to lose it but something else is to stay at certain level without forcing yourself. So the real question is have you changed your life style enough that you don't have to worry about your physical form from now on?
More than happy. Over 20kg is pretty much for a procratinator like me. I have changed the way I eat, that's the only big change. And now as I am going to do some competition stuff at taekwondo I am excercising more than in last couple of years too.
I have never had super bad habits in eating. I got my overweight back in 2002 when I had chronical lungs infection (due to not resting enough after a flu and having wrong treatment and medicines TWICE from the doctor). I gained 15kg in one summer, didn't actually notice it until the summer was over. And it has been with me since, slowly increasing until I hit the top of my weight in last summer. As I am the coach in weight class sport, I have a lot of knowledge in nutrition. So I have had the tools all the time, but lack of will power has been the reason. Now that it's achieved, I don't really see myself going back to what I was before.
3. Since I'm NLH player I would like to hear your opinion about one aspect of poker as a hobby. When people are younger they study but have lots of free time and they have almost no real life obligations. When you go over 30 you eventually settle down, find job, create family, get a ton of obligations, have to pay many bills, but still have some time for hobbies. Do you think this people can comfortably play lets say NL50 and not working too much on their game due to lack of time? Or are they forced to choose between investing some real time into poker and grinding it out or just beat NL10/NL20 with relatively low time invested in their game progress? Games are changing and one style is good now but maybe won't be next year.
This is an interesting one. As most of the young players think that there is just one way to play poker, and that is to maximize your $EV. I would say that the most important thing is to think why you play the poker. If you play it for $$$ you need to work on your game. There is no such thing as an easy money anymore. To beat micros, you really need to know how to play.
When you have limited time to play poker, financial goals can really ruin it. As your volume is low, and you can't overcome swings with volume. So if you play 1K hands a week, and you hit 25K hand downswing, it's 6 months. I would suggest that the less you have time, the more you focus on enjoying it instead of expecting to win money. Poker is a great game, but if the negative things overcome the positive things it's bad.
I know a man who plays couple of hours a week, mostly at Fridays and Saturdays. His game is definitely -$EV, but he likes to play. So he deposits few bucks at Friday and then plays for couple of hours while having a sauna and beer. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. But he accepts that he can lose the money, and it doesn't bother him. When he wins, he is even more happier. So basicly he pays few bucks for an entertainment. He doesn't have the expectation that he should or deserves a win. Now some players say that his way is wrong, that's the wrong way to play poker. I say it's right for him. His goal is to have fun, and he gets that. There is no right or wrong way to play poker. Not all of us play for pure money.
I just found out that Burger King sells bacon ice cream!!!
I have used it twice, both times the ice cream was good. But still the effort to make a cup of ice cream is maybe a little too much if I just want to have ice cream. But as with cooking, the process of making it is part of the fun.
this is originality in its best
More than happy. Over 20kg is pretty much for a procratinator like me. I have changed the way I eat, that's the only big change. And now as I am going to do some competition stuff at taekwondo I am excercising more than in last couple of years too.
I have never had super bad habits in eating. I got my overweight back in 2002 when I had chronical lungs infection (due to not resting enough after a flu and having wrong treatment and medicines TWICE from the doctor). I gained 15kg in one summer, didn't actually notice it until the summer was over. And it has been with me since, slowly increasing until I hit the top of my weight in last summer. As I am the coach in weight class sport, I have a lot of knowledge in nutrition. So I have had the tools all the time, but lack of will power has been the reason. Now that it's achieved, I don't really see myself going back to what I was before.
Nice to hear that. Some friends of mine were skinny while doing sports and were in top shape are now far from it. Now they're over 30 and they have unhealthy living and eating habits and they gained 10+ kgs and I don't see them losing it...ever. Reading your answer I see you have that figured it out and sure hope you will keep it up. 
This is an interesting one. As most of the young players think that there is just one way to play poker, and that is to maximize your $EV. I would say that the most important thing is to think why you play the poker. If you play it for $$$ you need to work on your game. There is no such thing as an easy money anymore. To beat micros, you really need to know how to play.
When you have limited time to play poker, financial goals can really ruin it. As your volume is low, and you can't overcome swings with volume. So if you play 1K hands a week, and you hit 25K hand downswing, it's 6 months. I would suggest that the less you have time, the more you focus on enjoying it instead of expecting to win money. Poker is a great game, but if the negative things overcome the positive things it's bad.
Agree with you especially with your last sentence! I'm 30 now and things are starting to change drastically lately. I've been thinking about it since I would like to play from time to time after 2014. I've been wondering whether I will able to beat NL10 (maybe NL20 if I manage to climb up) without investing too much in the game. It's really not logical since game changes but honestly I don't expect NL10 players to be very good in the future. I still think most of them will be recreational players but I'm not sure I will be able to beat them constantly with only grinding. Having in mind being tired, irritated from day to day issues...this is definitely - life EV.
I know a man who plays couple of hours a week, mostly at Fridays and Saturdays. His game is definitely -$EV, but he likes to play. So he deposits few bucks at Friday and then plays for couple of hours while having a sauna and beer. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. But he accepts that he can lose the money, and it doesn't bother him. When he wins, he is even more happier. So basicly he pays few bucks for an entertainment. He doesn't have the expectation that he should or deserves a win. Now some players say that his way is wrong, that's the wrong way to play poker. I say it's right for him. His goal is to have fun, and he gets that. There is no right or wrong way to play poker. Not all of us play for pure money.
I hate this kind of people 
Have few buddies which come to play poker when I organize poker nights and they come just for beer and to have fun.
And they insta call me with Q3o and say how can you go all-in preflop when you don't know what will come on the board. I proudly turn over my AQ and start giving them arguments why their call was bad (my mistake). They're nodding and wait until I finish and they say:"all nice man but look what turn brought me" and I go like 
Will never be or understand people like this ♦
Enjoying = winning 
I have worked as a dealer in pub freerolls for few years, and I see recreational players there all the time. In terms of winning poker, they play badly. But they have a lot of fun, and they enjoy. Is that a wrong way to play poker?
Think back when you didn't know about pot odds, equities or EV. The early days of your poker career. The game was full of excitement, you had adrenaline rush when you got allin, all that stuff. Then you learned about equities, long run, winning strategies etc. and that excitement vanished. Instead you got a lot of expectations, lot of anger when those expectations don't fulfill, lot of frustration, tilting etc.
Sometimes I envy those recreational players. They can enjoy poker in a way that I can't anymore. And when you realize this, you can enjoy playing with them. Forget financial issues. Get a beer, and enjoy. Don't start "you played your AQ wrong there" attitude. That is just your ego that is hurt, when you say things like that. Just say "nice catch!" when they hit river, get another beer, reload and laugh with them. Worry about equities and money when you grind online.
What comes to bacon ice cream, I forgot to put the cup to my freezer so it goes to tomorrow 
...
