i've been on absolute fire the last two months, the kind of run where i couldn't lose if i tried. today, for example, wasn't that great in terms of overall profit but when you look at my graph i should have got slaughtered and didn't ^_^ i think this is the most redline separation i have ever had (since I was primarily a HU player, anyway)
i've been meaning to make a video log for some time but haven't gotten around to it. sometime in the next month though..
I remember running like that... The year was 1967, and we had just invaded the military dictatorship of...
♦
Long time!
Life has been treating me pretty well. Michigan winters are always rough for me because of the lack of sunlight and lack of outdoor activity. For those that don't know, I have severe anxiety issues I have been working on forever it seems. But alas, Spring has poked its fine head out and we have experienced some warm days the past couple weeks so I have been feeling a touch better.
Poker is always a good therapy because it allows me to focus on a singular task. So that is what I have been doing a lot of. I have had a good start to 2013, running at about 7 percent ROI playing $100 and $200 HU games and a few six max and full ring. My red line hasn't been cooperating much, but I feel like I have been playing well, albeit running extremely well, too. I have also been sticking to my volume goals of playing 1,200 games a month (more or less).
I've also been trying to increase my rental house investments. I have ten now, and I just bought a quad plex that will provide a great ROI. I also am just finishing up a flip in a Detroit suburb that, while has had some hiccups, will almost certainly show a good profit. Since we are on the topic of money, poker and investments, it should be noted that tax season is upon me in the good ole US of A which has caused a decent amount of stress although it is almost over. In the game of life, taxes are the f***n rake Worm, not women.
I never officially made a goal post for 2013 but better late than never:
Monetary: Make $200K with poker and other investments, coaching, videos, etc.
Real Estate: Buy another ten houses to add to my portfolio.
Nutrition: Start eating better. A friend of mine has turned me on to a food delivery service that provides healthy meals for every day of the week. While pricy, I have come to the conclusion it is the only way I will stick to a healthy, nutritionally sound plan. I just hate cooking and food preparation and I know if left to my own devices I won't stick to it so this is a solution.
Overall health: I am not "unhealthy" by any means, I am about 6'1" 205 pounds, but I could do some good by leaning out a bit and exercising on a regular basis. I have been doing yoga 2-3 times a week and my mom just bought me 10 lessons with a personal trainer so that shall be interesting. Thanks mom ;-)
Music: I bought a really nice guitar a year ago but haven't made the progress I want to. I want to restart lessons with my teacher and really make a serious go at it.
Here are some songs I have been listening to -
John Frusciante "Carvel" - It is a little funky/experimental in the beginning but once it gets going it is epic.
City of Ships "Celestial Navigation" - A horse of mine plays in this band and this is a great song, give it a listen.
Danny Brown "Grown Up" - Detroit rapper who should be a lot more popular.
P.S. I have caught up with most of my video responses. If I failed to do so with one of your questions, let me know and I will check it out again..
Well, skills give luck better opportunities!
I have a question: do you think stars 9man levels go just gradually tougher, or there are some more distinctive differences between some levels, btw 15 and 30$ or 30 and 60$ for example?
If you are in need for some guitar lessons from Berklee graduate and teacher let me know ♦
Nice update. Wish I had the gumption to be a bit more ambitious with investing outside poker. Wouldn't know where to start...
Originally posted by Luupainaja
Well, skills give luck better opportunities!I have a question: do you think stars 9man levels go just gradually tougher, or there are some more distinctive differences between some levels, btw 15 and 30$ or 30 and 60$ for example?
I would say they increase in difficult in a linear fashion until the $100s then plateau from there. The same people who play the $100s typically play the $300s.
Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
If you are in need for some guitar lessons from Berklee graduate and teacher let me know ♦
Thank you sir although I am set for right now. Braminc went to Berklee too (same one?) for guitar.
Originally posted by Tim64
Nice update. Wish I had the gumption to be a bit more ambitious with investing outside poker. Wouldn't know where to start...
Eh it is just like poker. Have to start from the bottom and build a foundation.
The Truth About Money (Ric Edelman)
Good introduction to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, different kinds of banking accounts, etc. Very easy to read.
The Intelligent Investor (Ben Graham)
This is the bible of investing in stocks. This is the man Warren Buffett learned from. Definitely a little bit more of a thick read than TAM but if you want to dive in head first this is a good starting point. Learn how to read quarterly reports, figure out what type of companies you want to buy for the long term, etc.
How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes (Peter Schiff)
My favorite economist with a simple parable-style narrative to explain how capitalist economies work and how governments screw them all up.
I sent this email to Stars support hoping to get a "Deal" option similar to Full Tilt. I suggest you do the same ^_^
To whom it may concern,I would like to suggest that a chop option similar to Full Tilt be implemented on PokerStars for a few reasons.
1) Given the decreased quality of the poker economy, the ratio of regulars to recreational players has increased dramatically. In most given SNG tournaments with 2-3-4 people remaining, it would be convenient to do ICM chops if all players agreed.
2) Given the nature of the heads up lobby, it would be great to be able to chop with other players when both players join at the same time. This happens frequently because the lobbies are so hotly contested. There have been two instances of where I have agreed to chops with people who didn't end up paying their fair share when they won the all in. PokerStars supported me in both cases by intervening and returning the funds in each instance, but it could have been avoided with a deal option built into the software.
3) It would relieve some of the pressure on Stars personnel in all kinds of tournaments when they must be called on to oversee a chop.
I know my opinion doesn't hold much weight since I am only one player and have only played at Stars for a couple years, but I think if polled, most players, recreational and regular, would agree it would be an improvement. Thank you for your time.
Originally posted by faarcyde
Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
If you are in need for some guitar lessons from Berklee graduate and teacher let me know ♦Thank you sir although I am set for right now. Braminc went to Berklee too (same one?) for guitar.
Ah yes, I saw on his site some funny clips with Steve Vai's signature guitar!
He is a cool dude, say hi to him and hope you learn bunch of things with him!
Nice posts!
You are saying that you will buy another ten houses this year? You do that from the $200k monetary goal, or you have some other serious incomes?
Do you rent them out?
Like Tim, I'm also very interested in investing, but I'm a fish. I obviously have a much smaller capital than you, but I've been thinking about mutual funds until I have a bigger sum.
Pardon me if I'm being out of line here, I hate talking about my finances openly, so I absolutely don't mind if you prefer not to answer 
But you were so open so far I thought it's worth a shot.
A fan of yours,
akrammon
Thanks for the investment book advice. In return, I emailed stars along the lines you suggested and received this not entirely unhelpful reply:
"I have seen a few other players suggest the same and perhaps this is an idea worth considering more now than it may have been in the past, for the very reasons you mentioned.
I have forwarded your thoughts on this to our Poker Room Management Team for their review.
Please keep in mind that we receive thousands of emails containing ideas, suggestions and feedback each month, so unfortunately we cannot respond on the merits of every one. However, we read every single email and give each suggestion careful consideration.
We really appreciate the time you have taken to suggest improvements to PokerStars. Many of the features in our software were developed following suggestions received from our players.Please let us know if you have any other ideas or questions, and thanks for playing at PokerStars!"
Fingers crossed.
Liked the word "Freedom"
Walking myself the same journey but in different way.
Freedom life. Freedom, Fun & Adventure.
"A mans wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no money stream to refill it. Income that is the thing"
every dollar we save should be our slave. Slave that works for us. Put the dollar to work for you. Not the other way around.
GL
Originally posted by akrammon
Nice posts!You are saying that you will buy another ten houses this year? You do that from the $200k monetary goal, or you have some other serious incomes?
Yes, ten this year. Using my own money, leverage, have partners, etc.
Do you rent them out?
Yes, they are all rentals.
Like Tim, I'm also very interested in investing, but I'm a fish. I obviously have a much smaller capital than you, but I've been thinking about mutual funds until I have a bigger sum.
Keeping it simple, stay away from actively managed mutual funds, particularly if you are a fish. Index funds are your best bet. Reason being management fees. Research shows 80 percent of actively managed mutual funds fail to beat the market because of fees. Index funds passively invest in the market (.2 expense ratio as opposed to 1-2 percent actively managed). Using the trusty poker analogy, it is the difference between paying 10 percent rake or 2 percent rake..the rake structure can be the difference between winning and losing.
All that being said, your most valuable asset is time, and in turn, compound interest. As I have said on many occasions before, if you invest $10,000 a year for ten percent return (pre tax obviously) for 40 years, you will have $5.2 million ($480,000 principal invested) when you retire. Given most of you are in your early 20s, retiring at 60 with $5 million should be a livable wage
Pardon me if I'm being out of line here, I hate talking about my finances openly, so I absolutely don't mind if you prefer not to answer
No worries, I love talking finance. It is a full-time hobby of sorts.
A fan of yours,
akrammon
Originally posted by Tim64
Thanks for the investment book advice. In return, I emailed stars along the lines you suggested and received this not entirely unhelpful reply:"I have seen a few other players suggest the same and perhaps this is an idea worth considering more now than it may have been in the past, for the very reasons you mentioned.
I have forwarded your thoughts on this to our Poker Room Management Team for their review.
Please keep in mind that we receive thousands of emails containing ideas, suggestions and feedback each month, so unfortunately we cannot respond on the merits of every one. However, we read every single email and give each suggestion careful consideration.
We really appreciate the time you have taken to suggest improvements to PokerStars. Many of the features in our software were developed following suggestions received from our players.Please let us know if you have any other ideas or questions, and thanks for playing at PokerStars!"
Fingers crossed.
Word up, ty sir. Based on some noise on 2+2, I am optimistic some basic improvements will be made to the software relatively soon.
Originally posted by BustoTinker
Liked the word "Freedom"Walking myself the same journey but in different way.
Freedom life. Freedom, Fun & Adventure.
"A mans wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no money stream to refill it. Income that is the thing"
every dollar we save should be our slave. Slave that works for us. Put the dollar to work for you. Not the other way around.
GL
Nice poast. Good advice. I consistently find myself having to rebalance my life to make sure I am not focusing on money too much. It is difficult though given we work in dollars and cents all day every day ♦ Money only has utility if spent and henceforth enjoyed.
I plan on setting tomorrow aside to study hands which I haven't done in a long time.I also plan on migrating over from HEM1 to PT4 and CoffeeHUD which I purchased a while ago but couldn't be bothered to set up. A friend recently convinced me I was leaving a lot of money on the table by holding on to my antiquated HUD...that was enough to give me a swift kick in the bollocks and get movin ♦
Originally posted by faarcyde
Originally posted by akrammon
Nice posts!You are saying that you will buy another ten houses this year? You do that from the $200k monetary goal, or you have some other serious incomes?
Yes, ten this year. Using my own money, leverage, have partners, etc.
Do you rent them out?
Yes, they are all rentals.
Like Tim, I'm also very interested in investing, but I'm a fish. I obviously have a much smaller capital than you, but I've been thinking about mutual funds until I have a bigger sum.
Keeping it simple, stay away from actively managed mutual funds, particularly if you are a fish. Index funds are your best bet. Reason being management fees. Research shows 80 percent of actively managed mutual funds fail to beat the market because of fees. Index funds passively invest in the market (.2 expense ratio as opposed to 1-2 percent actively managed). Using the trusty poker analogy, it is the difference between paying 10 percent rake or 2 percent rake..the rake structure can be the difference between winning and losing.
All that being said, your most valuable asset is time, and in turn, compound interest. As I have said on many occasions before, if you invest $10,000 a year for ten percent return (pre tax obviously) for 40 years, you will have $5.2 million ($480,000 principal invested) when you retire. Given most of you are in your early 20s, retiring at 60 with $5 million should be a livable wage
Pardon me if I'm being out of line here, I hate talking about my finances openly, so I absolutely don't mind if you prefer not to answer
No worries, I love talking finance. It is a full-time hobby of sorts.
A fan of yours,
akrammon
Thanks for the answers! As for active/passive management, I'm very happy you said the things you said. You see I study math, but I took some economy courses this semester and they gave me the exact same 80-20 stat on active vs passive management.
So yep, I'm thinking index funds, I just have to make up my mind about currencies as I live in europe, but in a country that doesn't have € yet (and I get paid in $, just to make it more complicated...). So I have to check for the options, I'm definitely thinking either some german euro-funds or maybe S&P 500 in dollar, depending on the availability/cost in the banks.
In any case, thanks a lot for the quick advice!
I just had my first losing day in about two months today. P0k3r sux
I just bought a new setup since my old tower was 3-4 years old and was showing wear after importing mirrions of hands. Unfortunately, it came with Windows 8 which is plain horrific. I hated the feel of it so I ordered Windows 7. But there is no better feeling than having a brand new, clean PC. I don't do anything on my poker computer for security purposes so it performs just how I like it.
I am trying to quit smoking and am in the thick of it. Smoked two yesterday, had one today. Felt guilty. But I shall prevail. I can, I must, I will!!
