The Well: wpr101

[Rampage_Jackson]

"A stranger is being shown around a village that he has just become part of. He is shown a well and his guide says "On any day except Sunday, you can shout any question down that well and you'll be told the answer" .

The man seems pretty impressed, and so he shouts down: Why not on Sunday? and the voice from in the well shouts back: Because on Sunday, it’s your day in the well . "

Tere! My name is William Ross and I live in Tallinn, playing poker professionally.

A little about me... I've been playing online poker for about 10 years, and for 2.5 years professionally. I used to work as a software engineer for a company called Lockheed Martin, before leaving to play poker full time in the summer of 2008.

I am from the Washington D.C. area in the United States. I moved to Estonia one month after Black Friday. It was a difficult decision at first. I first thought about Canada, but could not get excited about the country. I had been to Estonia for the EPT in 2010 and really loved it. I had met some guys in the poker community like Ranka and ESTPatrick who were pretty cool.

This is my third year doing Supernova Elite. I just finished getting 1 million VPPs yesterday! I play so many different games it is hard to answer "What do you play?" with one sentence. Lately I have been playing the 20 BB CAP games (200nl-2k), and $100-500 sngs. However, when I first relocated to Estonia I was playing $60-100 sngs (due to a lower bankroll), and 200-400nl hold Em, and PLO.

I have traveled quite a bit in the past couple years and played in most of the major tournaments, WSOP, PCA, Aussie Millions, EPTs, LAPTs, and APPT.

Some other random stuff about me. I trained jujitsu and MMA for 4 years from about 2006-2010. I do a lot of long term investing in the stock market. I also like to read a lot, a huge variety of subjects, but history is one of my favorites.

[IamAllin]

What do you like about Estonia and what do you not like?

[numnuts]

Do you play chess?

[leits]

What "sucks" in estonia comparing to US?

[nikitheone]

what is the best beer in estonia?
where do you usually party in tallinn?
have you tried millimallikas or "holy shit"?
have you been in closet with ranka?

[Codecci]

What are weird things in Estonia when you compare with US? What do you like more in Estonia than in US?

[Provoker]

longest BE stretch? hands and days

[ranka]

how long do u intend to stay in estonia?
lifetime winnings obv (graphs)

[muruntau]

Some offtopic qustions:
You said you invest quite a lot. What kind of instruments do you use (stocks, funds, index funds etc)? Also, what are your favourite places to invest region- and sectorwise currently?
About history pretty much the same question, what eras and regions are you interested in the most?

[Vandalar]

If you have done some MMA training and stuff, then how many pushups is your personal best, of course if you do pushups :), same for pull-ups, palms facing inward.
What have you gone through to learn poker and become a winning player or whatever player you are at the moment.
Do you have tilt issues :D if so then what have you done about it, pls tell, unless it's too personal.
What kind of poker books you value the most if it's possible to value some more than others, what poker forum you value the most?
Thats all from me.

[mikk2468]

Have you ever gotten lost in Tallinn, if you have would you write about what happened to you?
Funniest thing happened to you in Estonia?
How does your typical day look like while trying to achieve SNE? Is it the same in Estonia?
Did your friends in the States think that you were out your mind when they heard that you will be living in Estonia (probably thought that you will be moving to Russia)?
Did you even know where Estonia is before you visited us the first time?

[Rampage_Jackson]

What do you like about Estonia and what do you not like?

Things I like:

- Free internet in many places
- Beautiful women everywhere
- Very safe in Old Town... have never felt threatened even walking around late at night
- Estonians are very relaxed, they worry less and are less aggressive than Americans
- Nightlife is incredible. The bars being open to 6am.
- Lots of variety in resturants
- Medievel culture and the Old Town in general. So many cool places to explore just walking around.
- English spoken in most places, and suprisingly better than other countries in Europe!
- Lots of newer technologies, like a touch screen directory at a mall... I've never seen that in America
- I like that nobody in America knows about Estonia, people still think "Eastern Europe" is like some extremely dangerous place. I cannot wait for some of the dumb questions I will get when I am home in 3 days :)
- Cheap real estate rental. I live above Nimeta bar and pay 550 euro a month.
- I love the free market spirit... often cabs within 100 meters of each other, one you pay .40 per km, the other 3.5 per km
- The poker community is really cool here, a lot of players interacting and friends. Back home I knew zero people in real life from my area that played poker for a living.
- Drinking effectively allowed in the streets, alcohol sold at places like Taco Express :)
- The society is way less judgemental overall... you could have a fine resturant, next to a strip club, next to a souvenier shop, next to a sex shop. Nobody there to say THAT'S A SIN!


Things I don't like:

- Saunas with other naked men :P I went to the "gay sauna" once, that was too much. Back home I've never seen any of my guy friends naked, here it's like super standard to get naked with guys you hardly know :D
- The extreme drinking culture. I am used to either having just a couple drinks, or when I would get drunk maybe drinking for 3-4 hours. I cannot handle a 12 hour marathon drinking session. Seems so pointless, and I feel terrible the next day lol.
- There's a lot of Estonians who just refuse to believe that I like living in Estonia.
- No dryers for my clothes, WTF

Neutral:

- The weather. It was cool when the sun was out forever, although it felt like the Twlight Zone and I wished it was dark just some of the time. The winter is not as bad as I expected so far, but I hear it is a mild winter.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Do you play chess?

I actually don't know the rules. I've wanted to learn.

However, I know it is an extremely complex game, and I don't have the energy to devote that much time to it. My understanding is there is very little luck in chess, and that usually the best player wins.

[Rampage_Jackson]

What "sucks" in estonia comparing to US?

Most things you can find in the US you can also find in Estonia. Strangely one thing that does not seem to exist is a bagel with cream cheese lol. I do miss driving a car. One huge difference is America is more spread out and you have to drive everywhere. Although I like that I can find most of what I need in Old Town.

[nikitheone]

i can teach you chess, if you teach me poker. deal?

[Codecci]

- I love the free market spirit... often cabs within 100 meters of each other, one you pay .40 per km, the other 3.5 per km

How is it in US then and why do you like them? I have even got hustled in Estonia when I couldn't be bothered to read how much they charge but it's my fault (do hustler taxis write prices clearly in English?), but in Latvija they write in local language only and I was super pissed when they charged me like 15 LAT-s for 1km ride. I hate these hustler taxis.

- Saunas with other naked men :P I went to the "gay sauna" once, that was too much. Back home I've never seen any of my guy friends naked, here it's like super standard to get naked with guys you hardly know :D

LOL, this sauna story Ranka told me is awesome :D
How do you guys in US change clothes in gym's locker room or take a shower then if you never see each other naked?

[pastilaa]

i can teach you chess, if you teach me poker. deal?

fair deal, niki is estonian champion in "rapid chess" (not kidding).

1. how you see yourself at 5y perspective - still grinding, at estonia? (if there`s no black friday 2)
2. have you visited any extreme places in estonia? seen moose or bear in wildlife?

[Rampage_Jackson]

what is the best beer in estonia?

I like the Turborg Lime a lot. Also alcoholic cider is awesome.

where do you usually party in tallinn?

Anywhere and everywhere :D Nimeta, Shooters, Cat House, Balau, Baila, Hoov, St. Patricks, Deja Vu, Vabank, Kuku Club, Texas Honkey Donk... some others I cannot remember the name of too

have you tried millimallikas or "holy shit"?

haha yea, of course! I held it down. That bar is hilarious. I went there once at 22:00 and there was 2 guys on opposites of the bar totally passed out with their heads down on the table, not even moving.

have you been in closet with ranka

Not yet, but a man can dream.

[ranka]

- Saunas with other naked men :P I went to the "gay sauna" once, that was too much. Back home I've never seen any of my guy friends naked, here it's like super standard to get naked with guys you hardly know :D

It was Kalma sauna, standard public sauna, so its far away from "gay" sauna :P

[nikitheone]

but holy shit also?