The Well: wpr101

[marcoloco]

Re: The Well: wpr101

after that third Supernova Elite year I'm gonna call you the midwife, because you just keep delivering.

[Jäämees]

Re: The Well: wpr101

I would much rather be known as a cash game player, and consider myself more so. The best tournament players are the ones who have run the best. The best cash game players are masters of their craft and literally the best players in the world.

Strangely cash game players seem to be cooler people too. I've met like 20-30 guys from the Full Ring forum on 2+2, and so many of them were unique and interesting people. I've met many MTT'ers, and generally they are much more clueless about poker and life.

Do you hate MTTs?
How much of a factor does luck play in MTTs and various kinds of SNGs in your opinion?

And a cultural question sort of...

Is the youth in America really so ''star'' obsessed as it seems to be on TV?

[inward]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Great well! Really interesting to read all your answers.

Just came up with random question. How would you comment that weird and impenetrable habit that some Americans tend to wear shoes at home, indoor you know... ? Where does this come from and why ?

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

What do you think of Estonian music? Any favourite artists?

I downloaded "Estonian music" from bit torrent... been meaning to go through it for awhile. I think I stopped cause the first couple albums were like these old marriage songs. Have any suggestions, or what do you like?

Are you planning to get a drivers licence here?

Don't think so, I thought about it, but I don't have a car here and easier to get rides from people or use public transport.

Any near death experiences?

2 memorable ones:

---- Near death #1 ----

I just started working for Lockheed Martin and they organize events for new employees to do activities together. This one is white water rafting in West Virginia. It's about a 3 hour drive to get there.

It was a group of about 20 people going, and for the rafts I think we divided into 3 groups. We get a raft guy, who's like the crazy guy, he wants to flip over and stuff.

The river starts off kind of slow, and he's don't worry the first hour doesn't have any rapids over a category 3, and then the 2nd half has categories 4 and 5. He mentions he will intentionally flip the raft at some point in like a level 2 rapid just so we get an idea for later on, what is it like to fall into the river. Already that sounds a bit odd to me...

We go over this rapid, and I can feel the raft about to flip to my backside. Now the guy opposite me is a big guy and he falls almost directly on top of me, knocking the wind out of me, and then I hit the water, oh fuck...

I didn't get a good breath at all before going under water, I already have some water in my mouth. But I am thinking ok, I will be like 2 or 3 seconds before I am up for air.

Something is really wrong though, it feels like I am spinning and I cannot figure out why I have no surfaced yet. After 5 seconds, I realize I am caught in some sort of whirlpool. Waves just keep crashing over my head hard, but my feet are being sucked back to the ground.

I can see the air above me, there is only like .5 meter of water above me, but everytime I go up for it, another wave crashes back down on me. I can feel the rocks below my feet, but they are really slippery, the water isn't even very deep, but I cannot surface at all! I am stuck like this for what feels like an enternity, maybe 30 seconds. I had a thought like man even at amusement park they have safeguards against shit like this...

I realized I was going to drown if I didn't try something else. I was lucky to remember something they said on the bus ride over, if your legs get stuck under a rock, they reminded you to let your body go limp and not fight the current, somehow I just thought of it!

So I stop fighting the current and give up. All of the sudden I am shot down the river very fast. But I still do not get air right away, it was almost another 3 or 4 seconds before I surfaced, and I almost just took the water because I could hold any longer. Finally, surfaced and took the biggest breath of air ever, but the water was choppy so I couldn't get enough as I wanted.

Then eventually another raft picks me up floating, not the original one. And they drag me on and are like "OMG ARE YOU OKAY???!!", Me: No

It takes me over an hour before I can breath totally normal again. I get transferred back to my original raft. I was so fucked up physically and mentally, I could hardly say anything for an hour. Everyone kept asking me questions, and I could only respond with very short answers. We made it to the end of the rapids, and we even flipped in level 5 rapids, but I never got stuck and was only under water for 2 seconds then.

One funny side story. The raft guide saw me drowning and keep yelling: "DUDE! DUDE! DUDE!" Just over and over, my friends on the raft were like wtf all he was saying, was DUDE and nothing else. I didn't hear any of that while under the loud rapids. So my nickname forever at work became DUDE. I was pretty much a legend at work after 2 weeks from this story. People who didn't even go on the trip kept asking about it :D

---- Near death #2 ----

I visit Santiago, Chile after there had been a poker tournament in a different part of Chile. A guy I was friends with from middle school lives there. I meet up with him and go out for beers with him and his friends.

About half way into the night, he is like yo we are going to do DMT later in the night, have you ever heard of it? I had heard of it, and heard it was like some crazy hallicinogen that lasts for only 5 minutes. He was like you want to get in on it? Ok, sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyltryptamine

We go back to his place later. There are 4 of sitting on couches in a sort of circle. The first guy who smokes the DMT is just like zoned out for 5 minutes, not laughing and his eyes are closed the whole time. Honestly, doesn't look crazy at all. And I am experienced with other hallicinogens before and thinking okay this won't be crazy at all.

It is now my turn. You smoke it out of a bong. They showed me I take 2 smaller bong hits first and blow that smoke out, and then on the third hit, take as much smoke as you can and hold it for as long as you can.

I am holding the smoke in on the third hit. Now I look around at the other guys and they are looking back at me, but nothing has changed. I blow out the smoke and still nothing wtf, they are just looking at me.

Now it was in the middle of a song, and all of the sudden the song abruptly stops? I know the song doesn't stop here, so I am about to ask, hey guys why did the song stop? All of the sudden it feels like every atom in my body is shot at warp speed into outspace. And I see about 1,000 different Shiva gods a second:



The first 2 seconds are the farthest from reality I have ever been by a lot. There's not even anything from my subconcious, it's like I am being shown the whole universe all at once. It is so fucking scary. I have no sense I am even in a human body as all. It's really impossible to explain in words, except that it was farther from reality than I had ever been.

I knew it was only supposed to last 5 minutes, and that was my reassurance... but I had also figured the peak of the experience is probably 2 minutes in? So when the first 2 seconds were so intense, I thought it if got stronger I would likely die. Actually, man people report DMT trips as near death experiences. It really was.

Luckily that absolute peak is the first couple seconds. They didn't even tell me this lol. It eventually got less intense, and then as I returned to reality it was weird, because those shiva gods were still being broadcast to me, but then I could see the room I was in again. 20 minutes later though, I felt totally normal though.

I never saw anybody laugh or keep their eyes open it. It is by far the most intense hallucinogen in the world. Meant for the adventurous voyager only :D

[pokkerisheriff]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Don't think so, I thought about it, but I don't have a car here and easier to get rides from people or use public transport.

whats your impression of Estonian public transport (buses, trams, not taxi)? many local people complain that buses stink and are to slow and too crap and they say they gonna ride the bus because they have to get to work somehow or something, but they are would be idiots if they intended to pay for the ride. whats your take on that? do you think its normal that people in Tallinn openly discuss in forums etc, that they hate public transport, but still use it but dont buy tickets to support the budget for buying better buses in the future (basically they cheat and the ones who suffer are normal people who follow the law and buy tickets (which get more expensive because someone has to pay for the cheaters ride also :( ))?

[pastilaa]

Re: The Well: wpr101

I downloaded "Estonian music" from bit torrent...

Thats definitely not the proper way :D. If you do it for example for "german music" youll probably get a lot cool yodelings.

First 3 songs that came to my mind when thinking about suggesting good contemporary Estonian bands/music to forigner. Very subjective results:

(Klõpsa sisu nägemiseks / peitmiseks)

[YOUTUBE]w5W_JYI-BgM[/YOUTUBE][YOUTUBE]GVfPf006Vw0[/YOUTUBE][YOUTUBE]fvSQ7OnJMlA[/YOUTUBE]

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

What do you think about racism in Estonia?

Racism has a different meaning here than in America. If you said "Russian people drink a lot", by an American definition that would be extremely racist. Consider in America if you said "Black people eat a lot of watermelons". If you said this at your job, or in any public forum you would be fired. America is the country of political correctness. You can not mention any racial differences at all between people without it being a problem. One of the things I like about Estonia a lot is that you can mention differences between an Estonian, Russian, American, Latvian, or Finnish person, and nobody will be offended by it.

The high school I went to was supposedly one of the most diverse in the country. 45% white, 20% hispanic, 15% black, 15% asian, 5% middle eastern. But one interesting thing, is if you went to the cafeteria on any given day you would see the black people sitting together, the hispanic sitting together... not like as a rule, but that's just how is usually breaks down. Also, the white people generally get better grades and live in better neighborhoods. The hispanics were like lower middle class, and the blacks mainly came from poor neighborhoods.

We were constantly bombarded by propoganda that diversity is the greatest thing ever. We essentially got told: black people are the best over and over. Think about this:

- There is a Black History Month, but there is no month celebrating any other race
- Over 50% of black people in surveys say they should get reparations for slavery. Basically, your average black person thinks he should get free money for something that happened over 150 years ago.
- Black people say nigger all the time, but are incredibly offended if anybody else says it
- They vote 95% for Democrats. They do zero independent thinking.
- They commit by far the most crimes, and use the most welfare

Walking or driving through a black neighborhood at night is a frightening experience. You might be wondering why driving would be... often in the middle of the night there might be like 10-20 black guys in the middle of the street. If they see a car coming, they still stand there in the street. They will not move out of the way until your car gets close. This has happened at least 5 times to me before, every single time I've thought oh fuck I am about to be robbed. Then you have to inch through as they slowly move away. But they look into your car with a mean expression like "who's this nigga in our hood?"

One time I was driving through a black neighborhood with one of my black friends. We came upon what I am talking about. 20 teenagers in the street, riding bikes, smoking weed. I say to my friend like fuck what is this... he's like "mannnn don't worry, i know these niggas, they are some bitch ass niggas". Meaning like they wouldn't do anything.

I found it hilarious a couple times when some Estonians asked me if we call them niggers in America lol... it sounds so ridiculous. Maybe to give you an idea what that sounds like it would be like me asking you if you call Germans Nazi Scum in your country. Nigger is pretty much the worst word in the English language, and you would get insta fired for using it in any public setting at your job. You can say fuck or anything else, but black people and American culture in general has become hyper sensitive.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

after that third Supernova Elite year I'm gonna call you the midwife, because you just keep delivering.

ohhhh snap!

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Do you hate MTTs?

No, but then can be easy to hate or love depending on how you run. One thing that is really annoying about MTT'ers is when they run good, they think it is normal variance. Joe Hachem complains all the time how bad he runs, but he's won one tourney for like 6 mil, and another one for 2 mil. If he losses a flip, he thinks it's like the sickest down variance ever.

How much of a factor does luck play in MTTs and various kinds of SNGs in your opinion?

Absolutely enormous. It is impossible to play enough MTTs to get a realistic winrate. With sit and gos, you have 10k tourney samples with a 15% ROI, and then the next 10k have a -15% ROI

Is the youth in America really so ''star'' obsessed as it seems to be on TV?

Definitely not. From what I've seen it seems like most of the TV or news that is exported here is star related though. It seems like the same 30 club dance songs are played at every bar. I could easily see why that impression exists.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Just came up with random question. How would you comment that weird and impenetrable habit that some Americans tend to wear shoes at home, indoor you know... ? Where does this come from and why ?

I don't know where it originates. However, asian parents ALWAYS make their kids take off their shoes still in America. When I would go over to an asian friend's house, he would usually say something "like sorry guys, my parents are asian, you have to take off your shoes".

I started taking off my shoes here though. I guess that is one of the customs I have inadvertantly picked up.

[Maxi]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Are you religious at all? What do you think about estonians not being religious at all?
Do you know who is estonian president? mayor of tallinn?

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Thats definitely not the proper way :D

Yea, actually one of the albums was like Estonian marriage songs for a long time ago, it was pretty brutal trying to get through that album :D

Is any of this good though? These are some of the artists in the music pack I download:

-Anu Taul
-AveNue
-Bonzo
-Chalice
-Dave Benton
-Genialistid
-Kuumad Eesti
-Metsata
-Oort
-Pastacas
-Popidiot
-PROPELLER
-Ruja
-Vagilased
-Vaike Hellero
-Vanilla Ninja
-Vennaskond
-Various Artists: Unealbum, Eesti Leegioni Laulud, Eesti Kaheksakamnendad, Pulmalaulud

[virukunn]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Well, the rule of thumb is: estonian music sucks. I wouldnt waste my time..

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

whats your impression of Estonian public transport (buses, trams, not taxi)?

I don't really use them too much, cause I don't understand where they go that well lol... I usually walk everywhere, or take a taxi. It seems like the tram system is geared more for locals and not tourists. The bus system seemed fairly intuitive though... was surprised how easy it was to get to Parnu, Riga, and Viljandi.

[Rampage_Jackson]

Re: The Well: wpr101

Are you religious at all? What do you think about estonians not being religious at all?

I am not religious, but I don't consider myself to have all the answers. I am attracted some to aspects of spirituality like Buddhism, and infinity of the universe.

Do you know who is estonian president? mayor of tallinn?

I know the name of the Prime Minister and President, but not familiar with their records or whether they are doing a good/bad job. I do not know who the mayor of Tallinn is.

I am familiar with Mart Laar, as maybe you saw with my avatar selection. The first time I saw the name Mart Laar I thought wtf that cannot be a real name, and thought of Farva:



Then when I saw his picture, I was like wtf how is he so young, and thought of Office Space



I then read about his record and it was incredible. The best transition for any ex-Soviet state. I am interested in economics, and it seems like he was able to implement a system that was nearly ideal by learning from history and the failure of other ex-Soviet states that switched a little bit earlier such as Hungary. I find him to be an inspiring figure and man of character. Also, the avatar selection seems like it might induce tilt :D