SplitSuit.com

The last few days have been solid. I have just been chilling at my mom’s and taking it relatively easy with work. I did 3hrs of coaching yesterday, but took the day and today off as well. I actually went out and got an hour massage today which was 100% necessary. I really didn’t think when i told the tiny lil masseuse to “beat up my back” that she would destroy me…but I feel better none the less =)
.

.
I have one student tomorrow and then I am probably going to go back to NH. Not sure what I’m doing for NYE, but I’ll figure that out when I get there. I’ve been considering getting some writing done, but I think I’ll wait until I get back to Vegas. I haven’t really been able to focus here, which wouldn’t make for good writing anyway. O well.
.
Besides that, everything is well. I’m going to go crash out cuz I’m exhausted. Hope all is well!
.
*SS*

So Christmas came and went, and overall it wasn’t that bad. Christmas day was a lil tough, but I did my absolute best to keep focused and relaxed, and not dwell on things. Did breakfast and gifts with my dad/uncle/cousin/sister in the morning, drove down to the south shore, and did dinner and gifts with my mom/her BF+fam/sister. The drive sucked (my sister’s car’s passenger seat belt is all but broken and pretty much strangled my lap for 2hrs), but at least the weather was clear. I ended up getting sick, like always, but at least it’s going away today.
.

.
I ended up getting a lot of nice stuff for Xmas. Got some new clothes (jeans, shirts, socks), some stuff for my car (gift cards for my car stereo, new blacked out emblems, etc.), and some other money as well. People seemed to enjoy my gifts as well (mostly alcohol), so at least I didn’t fuck that up, lol. Today I am resting and starting to get back into the grind. Got some writing done, a lil proofing of some written chapters, and also got a schedule up for my protege program. I am trying to hit the ground running as fast as possible in 2011…so cheers to that.
.

.
I am debating what I want to do for NYE still. I can go chill with my friend in MA, or just go relax up north. It really boils down to how painful I want Jan 1 to be, lol. I scheduled a coaching session that day 1.) to ensure that I hit the ground running and don’t be lazy on the first official day of the new year, and 2.) to challenge myself. So I think I will flip a coin and figure it out from there. I also have a new personal schedule for next year, and will be trying to keep pretty hard on that (although I might take the first month of the year easy on the gym to avoid all of the “resolution hoorah!” people, lol)
.
Past that, shit is going alright. Hopefully this cold will be broken up tomorrow, and then I can keep grinding from there. We are in the middle of getting killed with 2-3ft of snow…so hopefully that doesn’t fuck up electricity and such. And on that note…time to get back to working before turning in. Hope all is well!
.
*SS*

Merry Christmas a day early =) I just wanted to get a quick blog post up before I started the holiday madness. I have been having a really tough time being home, and my depression is acting up pretty badly. It also doesn’t help that my allergies have been acting up really badly so I am taking meds daily that make me really drowsy. So at no point do I feel very functional nor good. Couple that with sleeping 12+hrs every night, I’m just trying to get through the holidays…
.

I got 98% of my Xmas shopping done today. Just need to do an alcohol run done tomorrow to finishing everything up. I love Xmas shopping, and have been lucky enough to not have to deal with any assholes while in stores. Even got a fair chunk of my shopping done online which makes life 38x easier. All in all, I will say that it was a successful shopping year =)
.
I also finished up watching the first 2 seasons of “Skins”, which was incredibly enjoyable. I also watched “Exit through the gift shop” yesterday, which I haven’t decided if i liked or disliked. If you know who Banksy is, it was all about him and street art. All I know, is that i have immense respect for Banksy. He is either a marketing genius, the most disciplined person ever, or just the coolest dude ever. Which reminds me, I need to buy some of his art, lol
.

.
With that said, I’m going to go get some sleep and hopefully snap this fucking funk. Hope all is well, and happy holidays to everyone =)
.
*SS*

I touched down in NH on Sunday morning (7:30a). I only got a couple hours of sleep on the flight, but at least i got something. Got picked up by my dad, and then we drove up to the lake house. I fell asleep right after breakfast until 10:30p, then crashed again at 3:30a. In that 30hr period I slept about 24hrs…oops, lol
.

.
I am well-rested today, and just decided to take a day off. I did some email stuff, but mostly just kicked it and relaxed. It was also a lil hard to get stuff done today as my converters are missing (thanks sis!), which means I can’t use my external monitor. I went down to the store to get more, but they were closed at 6p (i missed them by about 15min). fuck. hopefully I can get them tomorrow before coaching.
.
I also broke out in hives today due to my allergies. I’ve never had such a strong reaction in the winter…but i guess the pine or something is affecting me. It sucks, but what’re you going to do? I’ll just be taking meds all month long to hopefully keep me from getting really sick. O well.
.
Everything else is going alright. Just chilling and going to start getting some work stuff done tomorrow. I have most of my xmas shopping done, and will finish the rest in the next few days. BTW, if anyone saw any odd things in the last few hours on the site, my appologies. I was testing some stuff and failed, lol. O well.
.
On that note, I’m going to go get some sleep. Hope all is well!
.
*SS*

I just wanted to put a quick post up before I left for the east coast. I actually don’t leave until tomorrow, but tomorrow will be a busy day between coaching and packing and such. I should really try and get to bed early tonight, but I’m going to hit up a comedy club and crash after. I got very little sleep last night (randomly decided that I was going to do some graphics work until 3a), and had to wake up early for coaching. My day was super unproductive as my ADD was really acting up, so I jumped out to see Tron and kick it.
.

.
Tron was actually really entertaining. I had no prior knowledge of the game/concept before seeing it, and was really only drawn in because Daft Punk did all the music. I really enjoyed it, and it was actually the first imax movie I’ve seen since Batman, and the first 3d movie I’ve seen since some cartoon movie years ago. But let’s be honest, if you put Olivia Wilde in anything where Daft Punk does the background music…it’s going to be decent at least =)
.
Speaking of movies, I DLd some new stuff for my trip. I rarely watch movies, and planes are usually the best time for to catch up them. So I got “Salt”, “Get Him To The Greek”, and “Date Night.” Not really sure what to expect from any of them, although GHTTG came highly recommended from a few different sources. I’ve also been watching more TV on Netflix and got into the British version of “Skins.” Very awesome show for those looking for a solid 45min/episode show to jump into. I love that the British are able to take a dramatic show and make it not suck total balls. I, for one, appreciate that.
.
On that note, I’m going to go play some halo and then bounce. I also got my custom plates for my car, which still make me LOL every single time =). Hope all is well!
.

.
*SS*

This week kind of just snuck up on me. I ended up having 4hrs of coaching yesterday, 2 today, and am almost fully done with the protege contracts. The new forum is up and rocking, is organized, and should make next year a much easier process. I finally have a day off tomorrow and plan on getting some solid writing done. I might also go play some disc golf, as I have done nothing but sit inside and work the last few days. O well.
.
I also got some reviews for my book on DailyVariance. It seems as though people are enjoying it thus far. I think andyhai summed up thoughts well with “what i found was a clear, comprehensive book, covering imho all the fundamentals of sound FR play, and seemingly covering almost every conceivable spot the reader might find himself in, with a solid thought process explained and used in the copious hand examples that accompany each idea/spot.” Hopefully some more good reviews come in soon, although they will come in more slowly due to the size of the book, lol. I really don’t know how I let the book get that large, lol.
.
Also, I was doing some site research this morning and was very confused when I was doing some keyword tracking (over the last couple weeks):
.

How the hell that became a searchable way to find my site is beyond me, lol. I’m guessing some bot randomly found my posts about “grinding my ass off” and then continued the query, but I LOLd. The site volume has been really good actually (much higher than last year)…and I still always find it awesome that so many people google my names. As a random side note, I was planning on releasing a free video, but might hold off until after the new year. It will be incredibly cool when I do release it though…I promise =)
.
And on that note…I’m off to go grab some sushi. Hope all is well!
.
*SS*

So I’ve decided to dive head first into writing my next book. I have the writing bug and figure I might as well get as much written while I’m motivated to do so. The TOC is currently 16 chapters (not including intro/outtro/preface/etc.) but could grow if I think of things that need to be added. This book will not be specific to any game, and will be more of a NLTAP of online games (so a lot of focus on things like HUD stats, DB stuff, etc.). It’s shaping up to be a beastly project…so we’ll see what comes of it =)
.

The last few days have been all over the map. I increased my lift load at the gym, so I have been more sore this week than normal. I’m also trying to give myself an extra day between lifts to ensure I don’t strain myself too hard. I’m not really lifting for any specific goal other than to be in shape. I don’t care about power lifting, and I don’t really care entirely about “beach muscles”…I just want to be in shape and stay that way. I just hate that I am going to have to take so much time off while on vacation…but I’ll try to figure out something…
.
I also spent 5 hours on Thursday trying to build a forum for my protege program. it took forever because phpbb is the least admin-friendly software ever. I think I finally got it working, which will make things like answering hands and organizing things easier. Last year was all done through skype…but I’m thinking with 4x the number of people, it could be really hellish to follow the conversation. Also, the protege program is fully filled, so no more needing to send in apps. I will decide by the first if I want to make everyone known…so we’ll see =)
.
Everything else has been going well. I got some slider truck today, and some noodle asia yesterday. Also went to comedy club last night which was really good. It is amazing some of the talent you can find at a free comdey show sometimes. Of course, I’ve been to really bad free shows…but I’ve been incredibly impressed with what Vegas offers (even though I had seen some of these particular comics before). It’s been nice getting out of the house more…as I can only sit and type in front of a computer while listening to the same song on repeat for so many hours per day. And with that said, it’s time to go sit in front of my computer and type while listening to this song on repeat for hours. Hope all is well!
.

.
*SS*

I am in this really odd mood, and have been for the last few days, where I need a vacation but am super motivated to work. I am like fearing boredom right now, and am pretty much working or doing something every hour of the day. Not really sure why I’m feeling like that, but some switch flipped in my head and I have been hungry ever since. I finished writing all my contracts today and need to get that all sorted out in the next few days. I also finished up RUSH week strong last week, which felt good to do. And the new book is started and underway as well.
.
Not sure if yall have heard about the new legislation, but it has a chance at passing. Here is a link where NoahSD breaks it down (the closest to solid cliffnotes that I have seen thus far): http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=23347946&postcount=2530 . There is no guarantee that it passes, but if it does, the 15mo blackout could make for really rough times. I’ve had a contingency plan in place in the event something like this happens, but I hope it doesn’t come to that. I don’t want to go off on a political rant right now, so I will leave it to you to do so…
.

.
Everything else is going well. I will be heading back east next week, and will be out there for a few weeks which will be nice. Not looking forward to the snow, the cold weather, the holiday stress….just looking forward to seeing family and getting a solid chunk of my new book written. I have decided to take some co-writers for this project as I think it will help me get some different points of view as well. Not sure who all is going to be involved, but I think it will make for a very awesome book (it won’t be geared at any specific game (FR v 6max)…and probably won’t be done for like 6 months). And speaking of books, I think SlowHabit mentioned that ebook versions of DFRP are being shipped…so get your copy =): http://dailyvariance.com/poker-books/dynamic-full-ring-poker/
.
I should probably go pass out. I need to be up early to get some disc golf in before i start coaching and writing. I haven’t played disc golf in what feels like a long time…so we shall see how that goes. Hope all is well!
.
*SS*

So I got an email from an applicant yesterday. He gave me a top ten list to help me choose my protege team. I thought it was too perfect not to share:
.

.

I assume you have roughly 9 guys your sold on and 3 you have trouble deciding on… and to help lighten the mood here is a top ten ways to decide your last few guys:
.
10. Gladiator Style combat
9. Poker decathlon – HUSNG’s, 6 man SNG’s, PLO, Razz, Stud, PLH, NLH and MTT’s
8. Get head shots, the best looking advance.
7. Names – the best sounding, in real life or online win.
6. Random.org – the slackers way out.
5. Dartboard and a monkey – How can giving sharp objects to a monkey ever go wrong?
4. Ask a a fellow poker pro to help
3. Randomly assign applicants to Keno numbers, wait the necessary four hours for 3 of those numbers to hit to decide.
2. Play Truth or Dare with the remaining contestants/applicants until you find the 3 guys willing to do anything to win.
1. Ask them about online games they play, the people with the most level 80 toons in Worlds or Warcraft lose.

.
Probably won’t choose by any other those methods…but thought they were funny enough to share. On that note, I just finished a quick 1.5K hand session (I made a whopping $1.55) and am going to get back to writing. Hope all is well!
.
*SS*

DailyVariance released an excerpt from my book today. It is ~50 pages and shows some snippets of a few different chapters (including my favorite chapter, chapter 10 on SDV). It looks really good imo and this is the first public draft where pictures and charts are imbedded. Enjoy!
.

“Dynamic Full Ring Poker: Beyond The Basics” Excerpt

.
Let me know what you think!
.
*SS*