Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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You live in Argentina, correct? Do you have to still pay US taxes? Do you pay taxes there too? Basically just explain your tax situation as I would [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] to live abroad.

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I pay USA taxes. I don't pay taxes in Argentina. I get approximately ~$18k knocked off my USA tax bill for living abroad plus no state income tax.

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favorite movie?

favorite book?

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I suck at picking favorite anythings. For books, I'm currently trying to read some Spanish novels and short stories and I find them very interesting.

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do you know roughly what percent is knocked off for living overseas? Ballpark it if it's not a simple answer, I'm just really curious.

Also make sure to check out Gabriel Garcia Marquez (though you probably already have since he's a pretty huge Spanish writer), his big epic novels are good but I really like Chronicle of a Death Foretold and it's a lot shorter.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

It's no USA income tax on the first ~$80k of earned income. You still owe self-employment taxes, however.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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what do you charge?

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Currently $300/hr.

My hourly over the last 6 months from playing poker is about $600/hr.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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How does one master stack-a-donk at SSNL? A short lesson?

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I have no idea what this means.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

Favorite all time Tekken character?

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

looking at the party lobby, there are never many tables running at 10/20 and 25/50, do good games run often?

also, at these stakes what would you consider a good table.
so what sort of stats would a fish have. at 25/50 are there some really bad players or is it just sharks feeding on smaller sharks

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Favorite all time Tekken character?

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To play with: Lei

For sheer badassness: Devil

For laughs: Gun Jack / The Bear

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

When did you go to Cal Poly? Major?

Seems like there are a lot of us in the poker world!

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Poker story?

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I started out playing $25NL and $6 SNGs on Party Poker at the end of 2004. At the time I was holding down a $10/hr crap job so the money was big. I busted my initial $100 deposit, but re-deposited like a good fish. I went on a whole bunch of luckboxing until I started to lose again.

At this point decided that I didn't like this losing stuff and couldn't afford it, so I went to pick up some poker books and for some reason got the 2+2 stuff by chance. Like everyone else I read it, found the web site, and started posted.

Began playing $.50/$1.00 limit (since the book taught limit) and moved up to $15/30 within months (ill-advised, under-rolled, players way better than me move). I was running good at $15/30 and was like "wow, I can make so much more playing this poker stuff than working... I'm going to stop working."

That was January 2005. Predictably, I got my ass handed to me and had to move down to $3/6 and $5/10, but eventually I made it back to where I started. Moved to Vegas in January 2006 and hit a snag where I propped for a while to make my money, but eventually moved up to $20/40-$50/100 limit. Moved to Sweden in August 2006 and then Buenos Aires in January 2007. Went on a retarded downswing at limit and swore it off. In February 2007, I spent the entire month learning No-Limit at $1/2 realizing I would probably break even on the month which was fine. Won around $5,000 and moved up to $2/4 in March and by the end of March was playing $2/4 and $3/6. Won $30,000 in March haven't had a worse month since. Since I've moved up to $5/10 and $10/20 which I currently play and want to start getting more $25/50 into my game as time goes on. My goal for next year is going to be half a million dollars and I think it is achievable.

I move to Bondi Beach, Australia (just outside of Syndey) in January 2008.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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When did you go to Cal Poly? Major?

Seems like there are a lot of us in the poker world!

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2002-2004. Economics.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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looking at the party lobby, there are never many tables running at 10/20 and 25/50, do good games run often?

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Depends on your definition of good.

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also, at these stakes what would you consider a good table.
so what sort of stats would a fish have. at 25/50 are there some really bad players or is it just sharks feeding on smaller sharks

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There are bad players sometimes. I just look for loose players who go to showdown too much. If I can get position on one of them, the rest of the table is irrelevant.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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if you could go back in time a year and give yourself 1 bit of poker related advice, what would it be?

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I really can't come up with much good here. Generally, to take time and think through hands as they are happening instead of just autopiloting everything. For a long time, I didn't think for nearly long enough before making plays and although I could later come up with the correct play, I wasn't doing it while playing.

Specifically, that at mid-stakes NL everyone isn't screwing with you constantly and it isn't OK to go crazy playing back at them. This is tilt, not "making a stand". Figure out their frequencies by using PT and adjust yours to take advantage of that. Also, when someone 3-bets you the last 3 orbits, it CAN be that they have a hand every time. You don't need to ALWAYS play back.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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if you could go back in time a year and give yourself 1 bit of poker related advice, what would it be?

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I really can't come up with much good here. Generally, to take time and think through hands as they are happening instead of just autopiloting everything. For a long time, I didn't think for nearly long enough before making plays and although I could later come up with the correct play, I wasn't doing it while playing.

Specifically, that at mid-stakes NL everyone isn't screwing with you constantly and it isn't OK to go crazy playing back at them. This is tilt, not "making a stand". Figure out their frequencies by using PT and adjust yours to take advantage of that. Also, when someone 3-bets you the last 3 orbits, it CAN be that they have a hand every time. You don't need to ALWAYS play back.

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this is advice i would give myself too 2-3 months back lol.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Moved to Sweden in August 2006

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What did you think about it? Would you consider living there again?

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Moved to Sweden in August 2006

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What did you think about it? Would you consider living there again?

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If I move back to Scandinavia it will be to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a good experience though and the woman are gorgeous.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

For how long have you been a "perpetual traveler"?

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best advice ever received ?

word of advice to anyone trying to improve their game

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

Tell me about BA, Argentina, and skiing in the Southern Hemisphere in general.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

Top three books a limit player should read before shifting to NL?

Favorite Beer?

How large was your roll when you quit your job?

Favorite thing about the US you miss? (If anything)

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so which countries are you considering getting a citizenship in to avoid paying taxes?

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For how long have you been a "perpetual traveler"?

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I'd say August of 2006? Though I'm not sure if it was my intention at the time. Probably didn't realize it was what I wanted to do until the middle of this year.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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so which countries are you considering getting a citizenship in to avoid paying taxes?

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The citizenship isn't to avoid paying taxes. It wouldn't do that. I'd like to get an EU citizenship and I have a couple of ways I can go about it. I'm really mad at myself for giving up my Swedish residence permit when I lived there though [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Tell me about BA, Argentina,

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There is a gigantic thread in EDF, read that.

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and skiing in the Southern Hemisphere in general.

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Didn't go skiing this year down here though I have a possible plan of living in Bariloche for 2 months next year to ski.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Top three books a limit player should read before shifting to NL?

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The only NL book I ever read was Miller's SSNL. It's been a long time and I don't really remember it but I don't think it was very helpful as I remember still having to learn a lot as I went along.

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Favorite Beer?

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Easily available favorite beer? Probably Negra Modelo.

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How large was your roll when you quit your job?

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$20k with no savings. Not advised.

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Favorite thing about the US you miss? (If anything)

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Good mexican food, California girls, family/friends, driving my old car, fried chicken, not being able to have a super nice and elaborate computer set up.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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best advice ever received ?

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"Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first…It is the only decent way to live."
-M. Scott Peck

Save and invest your money. God more poker players really need to do this.

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word of advice to anyone trying to improve their game

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Work hard and analyze your play. If you are hitting walls, try posting more. If you are still hitting walls, get a coach.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

hey, thanks for doing this.

can you give a brief description of your coaching services? I am interested.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

hey met, great thread.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

Are you gay?

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

What people did you coach and how much did they improve?

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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hey, thanks for doing this.

can you give a brief description of your coaching services? I am interested.

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Sure, it can be found on my blog, but I guess I'll expand a bit here.

Basically, the way it works is that my student records an hour long video of himself 2-tabling while he gives audio commentary on his thoughts in as much detail as is possible. The more detailed the student is with his comments, the better all around I think.

I then take that video and watch it while taking notes on things of interest that I'd like to discuss. I then re-record new audio over the old audio in the video and send it back to the student. This usually takes me 2 1/2 to 3 hours and allows both myself and the student to avoid scheduling conflicts as well as allowing him to have a finished product to refer to later on if need be.

The cost is $300/hr with a minimum purchase of 5 hours.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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What people did you coach and how much did they improve?

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I just very recently started coaching formally in no-limit. I coached a long time ago when I played limit and I've "coached" friends in no-limit, but for paying students that I've coached I just started very recently.

I have my first 2 students that I gave a discounted hourly rate ($200/hr) that I'm coaching right now to get a better feel for this coaching format I'm using. Assuming all goes well, I'll be starting with regular students very shortly.

This question is also misguided. Having students who have improved greatly is more a function of the effort the student was willing to put into it than of how good the coach was, though obviously a good coach is better than a bad one. But it'd be wrong to assume because a player got better that it was all because of who his coach was.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Are you gay?

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Depends on who is asking...


no.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

Are you available on AIM for hand discussion during coaching and/or after the 5 hour video sessions?

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

what stats do you use in your HUD setup?

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Do you adapt greatly your style depending on the game conditions at the table?

What degree of attention do you think is enough to win at a table? How many tables do you usually play?

How is it that people says that the games are getting more tough but players like you keep beating them the same as before?

Thanks.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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what stats do you use in your HUD setup?

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Heh, my HUD is very customized. I don't think I use any that aren't there by default but I have 12 showing without a need for clicking the pop-up stats.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Are you available on AIM for hand discussion during coaching and/or after the 5 hour video sessions?

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Within reason, of course. I'm not going to spend 2 hours discussing hands with someone who bought coaching 2 months ago obviously.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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Do you adapt greatly your style depending on the game conditions at the table?

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I think any good player does this.

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What degree of attention do you think is enough to win at a table? How many tables do you usually play?

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Not sure I really understand the first part. Around 5-6 usually.

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How is it that people says that the games are getting more tough but players like you keep beating them the same as before?

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Regulars don't for the most part get tougher over time. They just follow a new trend and play differently. It isn't the most difficult thing in the world to analyze someones play and find weakness. Luckily, most regulars play approximately the same so it makes finding their weaknesses less time consuming.

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

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What degree of attention do you think is enough to win at a table? How many tables do you usually play?

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Not sure I really understand the first part. Around 5-6 usually.

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Questioning it other way. How much do you think your game deteriorates from 1 table to 6 tables? (I am asking this, because sometimes I'm not sure if I'm playing too many tables.)

Thanks

Re: The Well: TheMetetron
 

You had 20k roll without any savings when you quit your job for poker and you said it's not recommenced. At how much should someone consider turning semipro and live fully with poker?

When you quit your job, were you thinking for a while on what could that mean to you in a near futur (not being able to get back on a 'normal' working schedule etc)? Have you ever considering not quitting your job because you thought poker isnt a secure way to live your life?

Woud you recommend to someone to become a pokerpro? What would you tell him that you think is important to understand when you're starting your poker career?