Grinding daily on ICE Poker

One of the resolutions this year was to create income streams. On the 14th of January I was lucky enough to buy one of the NFTs on Decentral Games' Ice Poker. The first few rounds were minted at 0.25 ETH but unfortunately my round was 0.5 and the most recent drop was 0.75 a piece. However on Opensea the floor is at 2.3 ETH. If you have no idea what I was just talking about, well I bought something that allows me to play in the fishiest poker room that I've ever seen!

Welcome to the ICE poker room

The way it works, everyday you're given 3000 chips for free, and three tasks you have to complete to get rewards called ICE tokens. These tasks range from "Seeing the flop 20 times" to "Getting fullhouse 1 time" etc. Each task will award you 25, 100 or 200 ICE depending on difficulty. And the kicker is ICE is worth real world money. If you complete all your tasks for the day, you will earn 330 ICE. But if you are a winning player on the day, you can get up to 660 ICE because of the 1.35, 1.5, 1.75 or 2x multipliers. If you lost for the day you might also get less like 0.75, 0.5, 0.4, 0.35 multipliers. So there is an incentive to play well to win. 

My recent results daily

You must be thinking that's easy, crushing fishes all day. Well my recent results have proven that to be kind of true. HOWEVER most of these guys play without much of any poker logic and it is sometimes frustrating to play against them. Some of them are vomit inducingly bad where they can call 6bb with K2o with 2bb behind, or call all the way with A high and spike it on the river. The game is 10/20 and it allows a maximum buy in of 2000, however a lot of players buy in for the minimum 400 which is unseen in any poker game I know. But in the last week or so I have adjusted my play to be profitable in this game. 

Contrary to normal logic, the goal is not necessarily to win pots. For example if you flop a set on a wet board, in a normal game is to bet for value and protection. However in ICE poker, if your top task is to get a full house, it is more profitable to slow play in hope to see a turn and river for the house to fill up. This task for example will gain you 200 ICE which at the moment is worth about $30. Doesn't seem like much but coupled with the multiplier, and hopefully the value of ICE increasing over time, and doing this consistently everyday, it adds up. 

Ever since owning this NFT on January 14th, I've played 18 sessions, each session taking me between 2-4 hours a day. So far I've earned 6074 ICE worth roughly $880 in today's prices. The floor price for one of these NFTs is now at 2.23 ETH which means for now I am up 1.73 ETH and that's worth $4700 at the moment. Since I have nothing much to do anyways, I will continue to play and hold until I get bored of it. But even if I do, I can still delegate it for someone else to play on my behalf and get 40% of their earnings. 

Joker shirt, kinda suits me don't you think?

If you're interested in getting one of these, there will be a drop tonight. However to qualify for this one is a bit more complicated than usual. I definitely will try to mint one tonight if possible. Metaverse poker, maybe that's the future. 

2022 Goals and Resolutions

Usually by the first or second day of the year I would have my resolutions ready. This year I was actually at a loss about what I want to achieve. But after the last few days, I have learned my lessons and am inspired about how to better myself for the year.

Looking forward to my challenge that is 2022

I have matured a lot over the years but one thing I still can't overcome entirely is my discipline. This past weekend I took a shot that I didn't have to. It was a game that was still comfortable for my bankroll but not my cash roll. There is a degen bone in me that I have to address. I am addicted to the rush that has adversely affected me throughout my life. So my first resolution is 1) to be hyper disciplined. For the past 3 weeks I have been on a one-meal-a-day diet except one day mainly for health purposes and secondary is losing weight. I am surprised I have the discipline to keep it up especially when watching my friends have delicious food right in front of me. I hope I can continue to push on and I highly recommend some sort of fasting or intermittent fasting regime for my friends who are looking to improve their health.

2021 was a "blah" year for me. I barely made any income and I was stagnant the whole year, only watching the crypto market fluctuate throughout. Thankfully the trend is still going upwards but I feel I cannot be so passive instead I need to make things happen. This year I will 2) focus on creating streams of income. 

Omicron has put my plans to travel on hold. The backend of 2021 there were more and more countries open to tourists but since then they have locked down again. But I hope I can still play at least a couple of tournament series in 2022. If any case I also would want to play more cash games. The other day I jumped into a game and I felt so at home and in my element. After so many years of playing I still love the game and have the patience and passion for it. So 3) Play more poker in 2022.

Poker in Granada, Spain

Every year I say I want to be healthier but don't actually do it. This year I've started well. With my new eating schedule I've lost 4kg already and feeling sharper and healthier. It is actually easier than I thought and more effective than any diet or calorie counting. At this rate I should be able to hit my targeted weight and keep it off. But the beauty of my fasting regime is it's health benefits and weight loss is just the bonus. 4) Maintain healthy eating lifestyle

Without any income last year meant I didn't have any profits to give away. I tried to help as much as I can but it was nothing close to what I did in past years. This year if I am focusing on creating income streams, I hope to be able to allocate actual funds to helping the needy. 5) Give 10% of money and time to charity and helping others. 

Wishing everyone a great year ahead and hope you will also achieve what you set out to do!