The Well: wpr101

[Rampage_Jackson]

What kind of music do you like?
Do you listen to music while grinding, or do you prefer silence?

I switch between audio and music, but I almost always listen to something. My favorite type of music is techno or trance, but I also listen to some latin songs, alternative, dance, and rap.

For audio I like listening to stuff on self improvement or self development. Some audio books, poker radio shows, political radio shows too. There is a ton of great self development stuff on bit torrent. Some guys I really like ranging from improving efficieny, to living a better life, meeting women, or becoming a spiritual master are: Eckhart Tolle, Jim Rohn, David DeAngelo, Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, and Thich Nhat Hanh.

What's your favorite drink during poker sessions?

I've started to like sparkling water (no homo).

[Rampage_Jackson]

Do you depend on your daily routine a lot? And if you break it is it hard for you to get back into it and does it affect your results/mindset being out of your usual routine.

The more of a break I take from poker the easier it is for me to play a longer session coming back. So if I just finished a really long session, the last thing I want to do is play more poker. I try and do something stimulating physically or mentally... going to the gym, going for a walk, or reading a book are my best ways to cool down. I think the worst is sitting there and going on 2+2 right after, or staying in the front of the computer, that doesn't rejuvenate.

It is a learned art to forget about your past sessions. If you can play a session, and then 2 hours later be fresh and ready to go again for more poker you have accomplished a great thing. When I started it would take days for me to recover from a bad session... I would spend hours thinking why did the King of Diamonds have to come on the river :D

[qbj0hn]

Why do you prefer grinding on laptop instead of decent setup?

[Rampage_Jackson]

Have you bought a TV yet?

Not yet! Actually the one thing I would really like it for is Estonian language learning. I've found I read a lot more without a TV though, and I get more enjoyment out of reading that watching. So I think no TV is beneficial for me.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Is it hard too see so much soccer around you ?

( Click to show/hide )

Soccer is not a sport

The reasons for this are:

1) Any activity in which a quick little Mexican guy is the best person cannot be considered a sport
2) They do not keep score in soccer; everyone is a winner after the game is over. There are no losers in soccer.
3) At any minor contact, the player falls down in extreme pain pretending to be hurt. This is more art than sport.

EuroVision can be considered more of a sport because they have judges and keep score

A real sport can be defined as one in which a big black angry guy is the best athlete. It is a well known fact that America took the strongest Africans it could find from villages to make these the slaves and start the training program. The results have been phenominal:







Now you may be wondering do I consider hockey a sport because there are so few big black angry guys there. The answer to that question is obviously yes.

They have the 2nd strongest race known to man, which is Russian. The Russians defeated the Nazis, can consume incredible amounts of vodka, live in Siberia, and have missing teeth. Exhibit D and E:





*Don't take this post too seriously :D

[toonesepp]

Haha, great stuff - I was just about to ask your relations with major league sports. Do you follow any of them closely? Favourite teams, players? Do you know how to skate?

[pokkerisheriff]

how would you explain, that you guys (americans) consider things like estonian saunas and being naked in the locker room with someone standing by weird, but in the same time some of the most popular sports in america are with homosexual subtones - basketball and american football both focus strongly on having "acceptable" body contact with other men (hockey also somewhat but at least its played on ice)? is it simply about subtle cultural differences or something deeper?

what kind of sports have you done while in estonia? maybe join fc pokkeriprod in the future? :)

EDIT: best sports event you have visited?

[ranka]

How many times have thought of giving up the supernova elite thing and how many times have you actually said fuck you supernova elite?

[Codecci]

Is the tax system for you any different now since you live in Estonia? What is the tax system exactly in US for poker players?

[MeelisV]

Im also a big MMA fan. Ive been a fan of the sport for 8 years but only trained it for 3 months. Have you watched all of the UFCs (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and who are your top 10 favourite fighters? Have you attended any live UFC events?

Also, thanks for The Well and good luck in your poker career and in real life! :)

[Rampage_Jackson]

Have you ever played poker while high on cannabis? Do you think it effects the game in a positive or negative way. Have you ever used other drugs while you play poker. (adderal seems to be very popular among grinders or something else)

Yea, I have played under cannabis, under adderal, and under cannabis + adderal :D

Cannabis probably hurts my game, I think I playmaster a little bit more, but I also get more into the games so maybe that aspect is beneficial.

Adderal definitely helps playing but I haven't taken any recently. Maybe a year ago, my friend had some and could occasionally give it to me. It helps to play much longer and concentrate... but after you have done it maybe 10x times it doesn't help as much, unless you want to up the dose you are taking.

[Fabulous]

If US got nuked/invaded my some other nation and you cannot ever go back there, where would you be living for the rest of your life?

[Rampage_Jackson]

Do you think that an average american is really not intelligent at all, but really confident about everything he/she does?

There is a certain superiority complex with Americans, especially ones who have never traveled. Maybe from the 1960s-1980s they were right about life being significantly better in America, but a lot has changed in the past 20 years where there are better places to live than America now imo.

Have you evern seen a "crack ho"?

Yea, def :D They can be easily found in DC, Detroit, and Baltimore... cities which I have lived near to.

Have you ever been at a party in the US where there's jocks with beer bongs shouting "DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!" and other stupid stuff like that?

University of Michigan has a big fraternity and sorority culture so there was a lot of that. I kind of hated their style though, and never joined one. Fraternities had a pledge semester and a hell week. The pledge sememster you have to do all sorts of stupid shit for your "older brothers". Hell week... my roommate who joined a frat was driven blinded folded with a friend up into Northern Michigan in his underwear, dropped off in the middle of a field and told "good luck getting home". Imagine some guy dropped you off in the Estonian forrest in winter, no idea where you are :D

Have you seen the Wire (TV-show), if you have tell us what you think about it?

Really loved it especially living 45 minutes from Baltimore. Incredibly deep series. I think people only focus on the outer events. David Simon planned to create 5 seasons and achieved his vision. Deep character development which I like. Also so many mysteries between series, like forshadowing from season 1 to events in season 5... just google The Wire theories, or look on the HBO message boards to see what I mean.

Favourite TV-show and movie?

Deadwood is my favorite show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN5cCiXt6IM

Movie would be Shawshank Redemption

What do you think about other parts of Tallinn besides old town?

I guess they are not as nice lol... I've seen some parts with the abandoned houses before. One thing that is different to me is that a poor neighborhood in America automatically means dangerous, where as a poor neighborhood in Estonia can be just poor people living there and not necessarily all drug dealers and criminals.

Have you ever tried:

Those foods look pretty disgusting :P

What do you think about the supermarkets and shoppingmalls in Estonia?

Pretty high quality, about on par with what I find back home.

First and last thing you bought from Estonia (food and beverages don't count)?

One of the first things I got was a cheap cell phone. Just some shitty Nokia used to make calls and basic txts, I don't like using phones that much so didn't want to get a smart phone. Last thing I bought was a bunch of pens from the mall... the pens I brough from America finally ran out of ink recently lol

[Rampage_Jackson]

Why do you prefer grinding on laptop instead of decent setup?

I have come to prefer the laptop. I can overlap 20 tables easily. It took me a long time to figure out a setup that would work... I do 4 rows of 5, and overlap the buttons so there are rarely misclicks. Also, I don't need to move my head or neck from one side to the other on a huge monitor... sounds like a strange thing, but when you play for a long time it's easier for meto focus on one smaller region of screen.

I had a dual monitor system for awhile back home which was nice too. That is much better for like watching a movie on one screen and a couple tables on the other when I want to just chill.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Haha, great stuff - I was just about to ask your relations with major league sports. Do you follow any of them closely? Favourite teams, players? Do you know how to skate?

Man I just haven't followed any sports at all this year. The teams I would follow if I was watching are the Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, and Baltimore Orioles. The reason I follow the Baltimore team for baseball rather than the Washington one, is because when I was a kid the Washington one didn't exist.

I kind of overdosed on football and don't like watching it nearly as much. Every sunday, Americans act retarded when football comes on. Even just logging into Facebook on Sunday is annoying, I get updates that like 10 people posted status updates about Tim Tebow. Also, I watched a lot of college football. Spending 10 hours a week watching a sport you don't care about gets old lol

I have skated maybe 5 times in my life. I can stand up okay, but not great at it.

[Rampage_Jackson]

how would you explain, that you guys (americans) consider things like estonian saunas and being naked in the locker room with someone standing by weird, but in the same time some of the most popular sports in america are with homosexual subtones - basketball and american football both focus strongly on having "acceptable" body contact with other men (hockey also somewhat but at least its played on ice)? is it simply about subtle cultural differences or something deeper?

Contact through violence can never be considered gay :D There is nothing gay about physically injuring or killing another man, in fact that is very heterosexual. Something that would be seen in the animal kingdom as an alpha male characteristic. American sports are all about violence and explosions... two of the least gay things in the world.

The sauna seems gay to me because it is mixing pleasure with male nudity. The branch slapping on the back seems masochistic. I was told "We wouldn't all be doing it if it didn't feel good" :D Also, in the sauna, this one guys balls were hanging really low, it was impossible to walk into the room without seeing it... even one of the other guys said to him "dude, why are your balls hanging so low" and we all laughed.

what kind of sports have you done while in estonia? maybe join fc pokkeriprod in the future? :)

I went to watch one of the fc pokkeriprod events. I suck at soccer though. For now I just go to the gym to stay in shape. When I come back from vacation, I plan on starting yoga here... finally found a place. I like the breathing and spiritual aspects of it.

best sports event you have visited?

Local MMA matches with my friends fighting in them. Man you get into it so much more when watching someone you've trained with and is your friend.

[Rampage_Jackson]

How many times have thought of giving up the supernova elite thing and how many times have you actually said fuck you supernova elite?

Once I decided to do it, I never really thought about quitting. It was more about making the decision that I am going to definitely do it. The first year was the hardest because I left my job in July of 2008 and had like 300k points, had to play a shitload to get in then. I found out how much I needed to earn each day to get it, like I needed I think an average of 4.9k each day. I decided I would earn at least 5k VPP every day no matter what. After awhile and having played some 6k VPP days too, the average went down a lot towards about needing 4k VPP a day, and then it got inevitable from there.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Is the tax system for you any different now since you live in Estonia? What is the tax system exactly in US for poker players?

I still have to pay US taxes unfortunately. Next year though, if I live outside the US for 330 days, I don't need to pay taxes on the first 90k I earn.

My understanding is there is no taxes in Estonia for poker earnings from official sites? Do I still need to file a return somewhere though? Or does anybody know a tax person to talk to?

[Rampage_Jackson]

Im also a big MMA fan. Ive been a fan of the sport for 8 years but only trained it for 3 months. Have you watched all of the UFCs (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and who are your top 10 favourite fighters? Have you attended any live UFC events?

Also, thanks for The Well and good luck in your poker career and in real life! :)

Most of the MMA I watched was from 2007-2010. I have seen about half of the UFCs. I liked Pride fighting more than UFC.

Favorite fighters are:

1) Nick Diaz
2) Rampage Jackson
3) Fedor

Other guys I liked in no particular order: Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffen, Kenny Florian, Frank Mir, Aoki

[Rampage_Jackson]

If US got nuked/invaded my some other nation and you cannot ever go back there, where would you be living for the rest of your life?

Wherever was safe or stable. Estonia might be a good place to hide out :D