one of my friends in europe is curious about poker, so i gave him some pointers and got him started on some fundamentals. hes a super talented gamer who is sickly smart. ontop of that the guy is a machine capable of sitting infront of a computer for 16h straight making right decision after right decision while not getting emotional when things arent going his way. honestly he should have made the transition into poker sooner. its funny that over the years of online gaming i've done, there are some people who have the raw talent for potentially being great at poker, but lack the emotional control. however, i think this guy, pointed in the right direction will be sick within a few months. he is finnish too and we all know that finns are sick.

i decided that since i wont have too much time to put in hands, i'd surf the forums and post some stuff. i was never really one to write strat posts, but i figured i'd give it a try. its weird how many posts i see where people just say 'this is without reads' or 'villian is 22/18 over 100 hands' it just boggles my mind. i leave two computers on 24/7 and have them datamine the stakes i play. sitting down with a bunch of unknowns never happens. if someone i dont know appears and is playing several tables, i make the generic assumption that hes probably someone tagish. the thing that irks me about the '22/18' statement is that not all 22/18 are the same. i actually happen to play in and around that area, but since we are now in the HEM and PT3 generation, we can, in realtime see peoples ranges by position. i can almost promise you that my positional stats are not the same as another 22/18. therefore, i think when people are posting reads. it should be, this guy LOOKS 22/18, but hes 28/23 in the co, or 13/13 UTG.

also, if you play on a site that doesnt allow datamining. i feel sorry for you.

lately somnius has found this new program, and he is all about it lately. its an interesting little thing that has caught my interest. however im definitely nowhere as keen in regards to sitting down and punching in numbers. we've gotten into some pretty indepth discussions and arguments about ranges and its totally fun. he is such a sick person to talk to, since i like being stubborn but definitely have my moments. we argue and argue. then conclude ok this is cool. then out of nowhere i'll say something like ok, but what if we check raise the river instead and then the discussion starts all over again.

with poker friends like that, its amazing how fast your game can evolve. when you have two or three people playing the same stakes and you can bounce ideas or lines off one another. im super lucky i have a few trusted individuals i can do this with. it sure as hell beats sitting down and grinding out 5000 hands a day but not really learning anything. i'd rather play 10000 hands a month, but advance my game, plug leaks, evolve into a sicker player as opposed to grinding out 50000 hands and having some boring 2ptbb winrate or something.

in other news, one of my friends took me to a hockey game today. it was my early birthday present i guess. i was kinda taken back when we got there and she told me these are awesome seats. i figured oh i'm not going to be in the nosebleeds. turns out she got us seats 7 rows up from ice level. i was the happiest boy there. being a huge hockey fan it was a definite treat, there is no way i deserve to be spoiled like that. unfortunately, my team put out a stinker, and we got served 5 - 2 by toronto. toronto of all teams. the team that will probably never lift a stanley cup. sigh. i also lost the shots on goal prop for that game. i totally jinxed myself when i texted my friend after the first period and the oilers had 13 shots.

now its pretty late, i'll hit the books for another 20 mins.

oh yeah, i also had this 'caesars' drink at the game. im kinda a noob when it comes to alcohol since me and jack daniels have been best friends for 10 years. clamato juice and vodka is disgusting. you people who drink this stuff and smile are sick. whats wrong with you.