In Response to Re: Harebrained November Challenge - from £17.15 to Priority? : I've got some thrilling train anecdotes that I may be able to crowbar in, including slicing through centre of Australia on the Ghan and agreeing to marry a stranger on an overnight train from New York to Florida. Got some good tree stuff as well. Posted by SR23
Big Amtrak fan here, try to take an Amtrak every year. Have been on the Pacific Surfliner twice.
Amtrak's the nuts. Bought a month long pass a decade or so ago for, I think, $400 and went pretty much everywhere. Ran out of money towards the end of my trip, hence getting the train to Florida and back (from New York) so I had somewhere to sleep (and agree to get married to a half-Greek, half-Haitian woman who wanted a British passport. We kept in touch for a few months but it fizzled out. It always does).
Does the Pacific Surfliner run from LA to San Diego? If so, I've been on it. The scenery is pure ace. I can stare at a tree for hours.
I really liked the Ghan - managed to wangle a free upgrade to a cabin (are they called cabins?) which helped, and just sat staring at nothing for days whilst drinking wine. Planning, executing, then celebrating pulling moonies as you left train stations helped to hoover up a lot of hours.
Amtrak's the nuts. Bought a month long pass a decade or so ago for, I think, $400 and went pretty much everywhere. Ran out of money towards the end of my trip, hence getting the train to Florida and back (from New York) so I had somewhere to sleep (and agree to get married to a half-Greek, half-Haitian woman who wanted a British passport. We kept in touch for a few months but it fizzled out. It always does). Does the Pacific Surfliner run from LA to San Diego? If so, I've been on it. The scenery is pure ace. I can stare at a tree for hours. I really liked the Ghan - managed to wangle a free upgrade to a cabin (are they called cabins?) which helped, and just sat staring at nothing for days whilst drinking wine. Planning, executing, then celebrating pulling moonies as you left train stations helped to hoover up a lot of hours. Posted by SR23
That's the one, we've done it in both directions. It actually runs farther north than LA, but we've not done that yet.
The Bucket List includes the Sunset Limited (because it was in that film, "The Sting) & the California Zephyr. Trouble is I have a big bucket, & it's full.
In Response to Re: Harebrained November Challenge - from £17.15 to Priority? : That's the one, we've done it in both directions. It actually runs farther north than LA, but we've not done that yet. The Bucket List includes the Sunset Limited (because it was in that film, "The Sting) & the California Zephyr. Trouble is I have a big bucket, & it's full. Posted by Tikay10
Full buckets, eh? Well, I hope you manage them both, they look splendid. I don't want to turn this into a train journey thread (I do really) but did you know you can get the train and ferry from Dublin TO ANYWHERE IN THE UK for £45. And vice-versa. At least you could earlier in the year when I went over for the Norwegian Poker Championships. Bits of north Wales were stunning.
I was hoping to bink a tournament or two during the month and earlier managed to luckbox my way to winning the £1,000 freeroll earlier this evening for £100. Good times. Scooped up a seat for the UKOPS ME on Sunday for finishing in the top ten, too. More good times.
I love getting hammered on Friday evening and staying hammered throughout much of the weekend but it's not an optimal approach when trying to reach priority on a slender bankroll. So earlier I met a couple of pals, had two pints, then made my excuses and left. Drank water and camomile tea instead of booze whilst listening to Radio 3 (too granular?) and felt my game was better for it. Then started drinking neat whisky and felt my game was not better for it. Made some horrible blunders here and there and my thinking was often sloppy but managed to make a profit.
More granularity to follow over the weekend. Peace out.
Nice binkage and GL for Sunday ME. Enjoying the diary. You could tone down the train talk for me but it keeps the old fella happy so I'll live with it. Posted by Phantom66
Cheers Phantom, appreciate it. Planning on less train stuff* and less ooh-look-at-me-I'm-drinking-alcohol stuff over the next few weeks, and more of an emphasis on poker. I may actually post some interesting hands/spots so, you know, look out for that.
Great reading, yes less of the booze as you make silly mistakes. You can do this, just need to get yourself in the right frame of mindset. Looking forward to reading more of your poker grind blog. Good luck in Ukops. Run golden.
I find jasmine green tea with a spoon of manuka honey is the nuts before playing, for optimum effect should be drank 37 mins before playing. I met Will Kassouf recently and that was the best bit of advice he gave me.
Nice start to the month for your challange, hope it continues, gl.
You're dead right Darkangel - the right mindset coupled with run good is a heady mix. Let's hope I wrestle the former to the ground and the latter continues. Thanks for the support. You too Rainman, I appreciate it.
LmfaoAllin - bowled over by your kind words, thank you very much. Green tea with manuka honey sounds like a goer - non-alcoholic drinks often make me feel a little dull and empty but that won't, I reckon. I've just dodged a bullet, booze-wise. Was going to meet a pal and his Dad for drinks before Bournemouth-Sunderland. His Dad is one of those Dads who when they get out of the house they drink three pints an hour until they have to go home again. Luckily, there were queues outside the pub so I couldn't get in. Going to grind for a bit instead. Saturday afternoons are my nut-favourite time to play poker: Giles Peterson on Radio 6, healthy tables, and the brief excitement of potentially life changing football accumulators before they slowly wither then die.
Did you play live with Will Kassouf? Other thoughts?
Knowing when to quit is a skill. At least that's what I told myself yesterday when my mind was all crudded up and I was making hilariously ambitious river calls and generally playing disgustingly. Managed to survive a couple of nerve-shredding all ins at a 50p/£1 capped table to swell my bankroll somewhat. Felt I could have gone a little feral, poker-wise (weekends can get boozy), so restricted my access to the site for a day. Think sticking to nl10/20 a better idea than getting involved in such stuff - £60 all-ins - considering my bankroll.
Playing the ME tonight and have no ambitions beyond playing as well as I can. Corny but, well, you know, true.
Quick update. Busted the main - ghosted around for a couple of hours in it but had to do a lot of deeply unsexy check-folding of flops and deeply frustrating folding of flopped sets on the river when villains had caught up. Cash was better, though. Good old cash. Actually played pretty well here and there and ran golden.
If this thread was called, "Harebrained November Challenge - from £17.15 to £500 in a week?" I'd be home and dry by now. But it's not, it's called, "Harebrained November Challenge - from £17.15 to Priority?" which means a fair bit of work over the coming weeks.
I know - not sure what to do now, even though it's far from done and the poker road can be a bumpy, unpredictable one. Make it more harebrained? New challenge? Just plod along? Slither off? Think plodding along for a while is best. I've got a thrilling poker-based story about crying into a boiled egg, which I may have to write up if this diary continues along the lines of, "Ran golden. Made profit at cash. Points have gone up."
I know - not sure what to do now, even though it's far from done and the poker road can be a bumpy, unpredictable one. Make it more harebrained? New challenge? Just plod along? Slither off? Think plodding along for a while is best. I've got a thrilling poker-based story about crying into a boiled egg, which I may have to write up if this diary continues along the lines of, "Ran golden. Made profit at cash. Points have gone up." Posted by SR23
The poker results are interesting but it's little nuggets like this that will keep me coming back.
Comments
Big admirer of trees, too. People take them for granted, but they come in so many shapes & sizes, & each shape & size is for a reason.
The Bucket List includes the Sunset Limited (because it was in that film, "The Sting) & the California Zephyr. Trouble is I have a big bucket, & it's full.
I find jasmine green tea with a spoon of manuka honey is the nuts before playing, for optimum effect should be drank 37 mins before playing.
I met Will Kassouf recently and that was the best bit of advice he gave me.
Nice start to the month for your challange, hope it continues, gl.
Luckily it is very good, I shall be keeping an eye on this one.
Good luck.