I'm currently back in the USA for a few weeks. I had a great 2 weeks in Rome (jetlag aside) and will post a few pics at the end of this blog. Julianna and I saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the outsides of St. Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum. I also really enjoyed Piazza Venezia, which is hyped much less but is quite a spectacle. As for the food, some was excellent, some was less so. The grocery store by my apartment didn't have much aside from Italian food (sauces, marinades, etc.) and I wasn't a huge fan of the beef I got. There was good chicken and we made that a few times. We ate out a bunch too and my favorite two places for that were Gino's, a small, hidden place near the Pantheon with a simple traditional Italian menu, and The Library, an even smaller place that was great to take a date to and had some awesome gnocchi and pork. No other restaurants really wowed me but there were some other really solid ones, including one right next door to Julianna's apartment. Also, the weather was surprisingly nice, highs hit the mid 50s (Fahrenheit) for most days I was there. It's been quite a downer coming back here and getting freezing cold temperatures and wintry weather.

Back in Pennsylvania, I've been focused on a few things. One is getting back into a good workout routine, as I had gotten away from it over the past few months and don't want to look like my FTP avatar does. To help pique my interest, I ordered the Starting Strength book and DVD. The 2+2 Health and Fitness forum people swear by it, and although they tend to annoy me sometimes, I do suspect that they know what they're talking about. I've been particularly focused on getting form down at the beginning, so far concentrating mostly on my squatting form, which is easier said than done. In one workout last week I actually just did 8-10 sets of 5 reps squatting the bar, which made me feel kind of awkward, especially when I thought I saw people watching me, but I think getting down the form first and worrying about adding weight later is the way to go. Yesterday I got up to 3 sets of 85 but I'm not sure my form was ideal; one problem is that my flexibility is weak. I'm gonna do some stretching and reading today.

As for something you guys actually care about, I've been focusing on poker over the past week too. I'm taking a bit of a hiatus from the nosebleeds, but there is no shortage of action in the 25/50/ante PLO games and the 150/300 and 250/500 10 game mix. I certainly haven't put in enough volume to be confused with an actual professional poker player, but I've played a few (relatively) long sessions this past week and plan on putting one in this afternoon as well. I've been booking some decent profit in the 5k or so hands I've played, but a bunch of it seems to be PLO rungood. I am also losing my shirt at O8, and I'll post a few of those hands to see if I'm making any glaring mistakes. I feel like it's hard to find much good shorthanded O8 advice, so I might have to go back to basics and just rigorously study my play, although I need a bigger sample size first. Also I may grind some straight O8 games at lower stakes too. Anyway, some hands:

http://weaktight.com/3196396

not sure about my line there, tough spot. with A2 instead of A3 I'd peel but I think I'm in really bad shape alot. that said, maybe I should fold to the first cold 2.

http://weaktight.com/3196399

I think I'm happy with my line on this one, although I could be convinced otherwise.

http://weaktight.com/3196402

Largest pot I played BB wise last month

http://weaktight.com/3196408

Fading a monster draw, I'm still a slight fav (52%) here.

And now I'll leave you with some Rome pics. GL at the tables!









-Brian