Bond18 - Around the World in 90 Days: Day 91

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

As I mentioned in the previous post I think it’d be a fun idea to list out what I’ve learned on this trip. So without further adieu, I bring you “Shit you learn by going around the world in 90 days”:

Sleeping on planes will never be comfortable, unless you can afford first class, which unless you have roughly $15,000 to spend on every long flight you take you can’t. Instead, you get to sleep in the luxury that is a singular degree of decline in the economy seats, insuring that one day you’ll be spending $15,000 at a chiropractor.
Europe is expensive. There’s no joke here, Europe is just expensive as hell.
Turkey has a very low divorce rate. This is obviously because of the system of arranged marriage.
There is no such thing as a Venetian. Everyone in Venice is a tourist.
There is no risk of live poker drying up in the near future.
People from other countries don’t really hate normal Americans. They hate idiot Americans and there is an important difference. A normal American speaks politely, doesn’t impose, asks questions, and shuts up about that which they don’t know. Idiot Americans talk at a volume that automatically makes them the center of attention, constantly imposes their expectations from growing up in the US on other countries and their systems, doesn’t bother to get cultured and figure out how things work in new places, and talk like they know everything. If you’re an American reading this, be the former.
When it comes to Scandinavians, don’t bluff, don’t fold.
Way too many people get way too wound up about the World Series main event. It’s just one tournament people, and if you’re among the best players you stand to win it once every 60 or so life times.
The poker community is full of degenerates and scum bags you can’t trust with a quarter. Way too many notable poker players are just complete douchebags who shouldn’t even be allowed in a place as low class as a casino. Then there’s the group that might be ethically clean but feel their D- celebrity status allows them to treat everyone else like total shit after spending the last few years masturbating to their own pictures in poker magazines.
A huge percentage of online players are massive pot heads. I’m not quite sure what the cause of this is. Sure marijuana is pleasant and all, but there seems to be a real high correlation between the two. Perhaps everyone is really a massive pot head but their having a normal job prevents them from walking around stoned all the time. I’m not quite sure. This isn’t a complaint or condemnation of any sort, simply an observation.
There is a very, very short list of live pros who understand the following three concepts; stack sizes, position, having a plan.
Outside Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas is a never ending chain of strip malls and similar looking houses. Nobody seems to have been born there. Only locals sleep.
I am my own worst enemy. Both in my relationships with people and my play at the poker table I tend to shoot from the hip and clean up the mess later far too much. This is what happens when your boyhood hero is Brett Favre. Sometimes people appreciate the honesty, other times they tear me down for being inconsiderate. Sometimes the hero call works perfectly, sometimes they table a set and I look like a total retard. I think quite a few poker players are likely guilty of this. My best guess is that it’s a result of years spent without rules, structure, or legitimate responsibility outside the Adam Smith inspired code of “Make the money and do what’s best for you.” Invisible hand baby (go ahead, Wikipedia Adam Smith.)
Trying to be clever in your writing will only come off as you looking like you’re trying to be clever in your writing. It needs to just…flow. I guess that’s the word. Oh, and you should edit it too.
Getting enough sleep is everything. Few people seem to appreciate this, but the difference in most peoples functionality between sleep deprived and fully rested is enormous.
How the hell do the people who work at airports actually show up and do it everyday? Okay, obviously that’s not something I learned, but it’s still a worthwhile thought. I mean, can you really think of a place more depressing that an airport? Cemeteries aren’t even close, their all green and flowery and shit. Airports are grey and bland and everyone there looks like they’re the one in the coffin at the cemetery.
You never really know about people. This wasn’t something I specifically learned from going around the world, but I had enough happen to me and heard enough stories from others that it’s made me eternally suspicious of just about everyone around me. If you have a friend you consider truly genuine make sure to appreciate that.
Tournament poker is very hard for most people. The vast majority of poker players just can’t stand the variance that comes with tournaments. It took me a year to get out of make up in live poker tournaments, and there were times during that period I legitimately questioned myself. If you’re going to play tournaments for a living you better be educate yourself on just how massive the swings can be and do what you can to prevent them (without reducing your equity of course.)
My girlfriend has inhuman patience for dealing with me. I have inhuman patience for dealing with my girlfriend.
I don’t want to go around the world in 90 days again any time soon.