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Hey all. 

Bit too long since I update my blog. Month going well although I haven't played much. I played almost 3k hands in the first couple of days but then I had to go on a short trip up to San Antonio, Texas. Stayed there for a few days, was pretty fun as my fiancée was with me and we basically chillaxed and shopped around. I had a mad $70 certificate for Best Buy but ended up walking out with home appliances. 

We did see The Hangover II, which was pretty funny although not as much as the first, if only because you already know what to expect. Ken Jeong is the nuts though. Him and Zack "Fat Jesus" Galifianakis. The best part about it was we saw it at an Alamo Drafthouse (http://drafthouse.com), my favorite cinema theater. Apart from having all kinds of delicious beer they organize a lot of events like quote-alongs, movie-mocking, and the use of props. Really cool they've decided to franchise it. We also visited a Meditation Center I was curious about. It was a nice experience, met some friendly people and one of them gave us an intro and then we practiced for a while. It was my first time going to a meditation center, as I usually get my Buddhism on online at the Insight Meditation Center's Audio Dharma (http://www.audiodharma.org/). Really glad to see they're building a Retreat Center so I've donated a bit because I know I'm planning on going someday. Also joined Buy-in to Giving (http://www.buyintogiving.org/) and started lending, definitely encourage you poker players out there to join and help out.

Anyway, when I got back from my trip my internet connection was out and I spent the weekend reading. Went through Mind Set! by John Naisbitt. Enjoyed it, I think it did actually change my way of looking at a lot of things, I feel a sense of  fun and curiosity now as I'm more often searching for opportunities or realizing how people have done it, in poker and in business, instead of thinking about it in terms of looking for problems and then how to solve them. It's also kind of a driving force that motivates me even more to grind and improve a lot in the upcoming months.

Oh, I've also been on a sort of Paleo diet for about a month and a half now, maybe two months. I've dropped like 15 lbs since I started, which is pretty good imo. I basically cut out a lot of dairy and grains from my diet, although I am still eating a lot of tortillas. Simply too delicious to give up, I'm starting to think I'm addicted to them. Otherwise didn't change much, still just regularly walking my dog and I include a bit of short but intense sprinting sometimes. Those invisible sabre tooth tigers never get me though.

I will probably be making a video sometime soon, so if you're reading this let me know what format you'd like it to be in. I'm personally leaning towards a video review of myself playing, that way I can go deeper into hands and come up with interesting what if scenarios or run equity calcs if needed. Lately I think my game has improved the most by simply asking as much questions as I can when reviewing hands. It's harder to do when you're playing since you're brain is usually also trying to absorb as much information as it can at all your tables and at the same time focusing on each decision point and thinking ahead of the hand you're currently playing, etc. This is why it's so important to review hands, especially if you can talk them over with other poker players. It's also much easier to think about what our best action would be better different opponents without a 30-second timebank.

Here's a few basic tips to force yourself to answer questions and develop a deeper sense of ranges and alternative plays:

- Whenever you're value-betting (-raising), ask what hands in your range should you be bluffing with.
- Whenever you're bluffing, ask what hands in your range should you be value-betting (-raising) with.
- Whenever you fold because calling is -EV, don't forget to ask if you could've profitably bluffed (-raised). 
- What do you (or your opponent) always or never play like this? Especially useful when reading hands on the river.
- Finally, always be aware of the 'air' someone could potentially have in their range and what they'll do with it.

When routinely asking these questions you will also develop the ability to figure out who else asks himself which questions and it will also be easier to find out what level people are on, how they approach poker, and how to best exploit their strategy. Of course it's always changing and dynamic so don't stop asking questions and stay open-minded.

Thanks for reading! 

Orestto