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. 

Why Everyone SHOULD Invest in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency NOW

I bring up cryptocurrency with almost everyone I meet but I get a mixed response. Some are as passionate as me and we share strategies and news. Some are skeptical but receptive. Some are outright against it as if it is the scam of the century. Like any investment, there are risks, hence there are rewards too. Like any investment, blindly putting your money in is not a winning strategy. It requires some knowledge and skill that you can learn from others, from studying the unlimited resources online or in books, or from your own experience. Today I want to share with you my journey in crypto so far and why I think everyone should invest in it, or at least have an open mind about it. (Not financial advice)

Blockchain technology is here to stay

Crypto is not a fad, get-rich-quick scheme or ponzi scheme. IT IS BASED ON TECHNOLOGY. There are over 9000 cryptocurrencies and sure, not all of them are good. Some are outright scams. But most of them have a very practical real world use, using blockchain technology. Think back in recent years what technologies have changed our lives drastically? The internet, smart phone, video streaming just to name a few. Which companies have profited from these technologies? Google, Apple, Samsung, YouTube, Netflix.... But before all this happened, were there skeptics? Were there opposing voices? Were there stubborn people and companies insisting on old tech that got hurt? Remember Nokia? Remember Blockbuster and other video rental stores? Remember non-cable TV? In general we don't like change, but sometimes it is necessary. Blockchain technology can be applied to anything from banking to tourism, healthcare to education, making it faster, cheaper, more secure, tamper proof, more convenient, more accessible, more comprehensive. Cryptocurrency is merely the fuel that drives the technology. 

Better than investing in Gold

Bitcoin is often compared to gold, but IT IS BETTER THAN GOLD. They are similar in a way because people invest in both to hedge against inflation because of their limited supply. But they both have very distinct differences that make crypto a much better choice. For example, we will never know when gold will run out but with cryptocurrencies we do. Therefore crypto prices are perfectly based on economics - supply and demand. Gold can be made into jewelry or items but other than that it has no other use. Other than storing and transferring value, crypto has other real world uses. It is very difficult to use gold to make purchases, very difficult to transport or store securely. Crypto on the other hand is easily transferable, but yet secure. In order to purchase gold, you would have to go to a dealer physically, and have somewhere secure to store it. Crypto can be bought and sold at your fingertips but also secured where it can only be accessed with a complex key. 

Better than investing in Real Estate

My father had a bad experience making his first major investment. He bought a house with another guy but in the end was scammed by his partner. Since then he became extremely risk adverse, and kept his money in the bank. But because of inflation, the money he kept lost value year after year. As things become more expensive, you lose purchasing power. That's why many people invest in property or gold. Because generally when your currency loses value, that means your property prices will increase therefore protecting your wealth. However investing in Bitcoin IS BETTER THAN BUYING REAL ESTATE. First of all property supply is erratic. Even though most property appreciate over time, but sometimes oversupply coupled with bad economy can affect the value. The value also depends on other factors beyond your control, for example what kind of neighbours you have, what other developments are in your area, land reclamation make your once beachside property now far from the shoreline, wear and tear, and buyer sentiment. Also buying and selling property takes time and money. If you are in need of quick liquidity, you might be forced to sell at non-optimum prices. Comparing to cryptocurrency, transfer is almost instant, the value is based on the market price so at the time of the sale/purchase, no one got the better of the other. And no pesky legal fees either. It is clear about the supply of the coin, and in most cases, there is a fixed maximum supply in circulation. Some coins burn their supply periodically making it scarcer and higher in value. Some coins can even EARN YOU INTEREST (between 5-20% per annum) while you hold it. You might argue you can lease your property for rental income, but the hassle of managing your tenants won't earn you the returns most cryptocurrencies offer. 

From my observations, those who oppose investing in crypto are those who don't understand it. If they take the time to learn what blockchain technology is about and how cryptocurrencies apply to daily life, it is such an easy decision to invest in it. "Let your money work for you" and I haven't worked a day since I started doing this. 

Please support me by using my links below:
Binance - Biggest Exchange around
BlockFi - Earn 5-9% interest on BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT (sign up to earn $250 BTC FREE)
Kucoin - Become a bank yourself and create loans to earn up to 50%+ with your USDT

What happened in April and May 2021

I just realized I didn't write a recap for April so I am gonna do both months at the same time. Sorry to say I still have not played one hand of poker all this time. However I do not intend to change the theme of this blog as it is still my poker journey. As soon as I am allowed to travel, I will definitely join tournaments or play cash around the world. I hope to be able to play at WSOP 2022/2023 in Las Vegas. There are still games available in spite of COVID and lockdowns but I don't want to risk it and I am doing well on crypto. I do miss playing though. 

April was a great month for crypto as was the early parts of May. I was on track to a major milestone and before I knew it, two major crashes back to back took out more than half my profits. But I believe that crypto will be as common as the Dollar or Euro in the future, so I hung on for dear life. As at June 1st, my portfolio is almost the same as it was in April 1st. Still, I can't complain. So far still the best year I've had financially and its only June. I will share with you on another article why I think you should invest in crypto, for example how is it better than investing in property or gold, and now is the best time ever because the crashes has made prices cheaper to enter. 

One step at a time

I haven't been out much so football is out of the question. However recently I have tried to exercise more like evening walks, stretching and squats at home. I put on some lockdown weight because all I do most days is eat, sleep, check crypto and games/movies. I am by no means rich but I am easily contented. At my age I am super thankful to be living like a retiree. Just don't want the health or weight of a typical retiree that's all. 

Lockdown home delivery Indian food

It is getting harder and harder to stick to my 10% for charity pledge as crypto gains are not necessarily profits until you cash them out. But I still continue to do my best to help others. If you guys are interested, Yemen is still suffering from food shortages after that warehouse explosion coupled with civil unrest since then. You can participate through the World Food Programme. Recently I made another pledge when my financial position allows me to be heavily involved in the following causes. Cleaning up beaches and waterways, eradicating mosquitos and rats to curb the spread of germs and diseases and helping missionaries regardless of religion. 

I don't know what June has in store. I just pray that we can all #endCovid together, health and happiness to everyone, and #shutupElon LOL.

Please support me by using my links below:
Binance - Biggest Exchange around
BlockFi - Earn 5-9% interest on BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT (sign up to earn $250 BTC FREE)
Kucoin - Become a bank yourself and create loans to earn up to 50%+ with your USDT

What are NFTs and Why do they make sense?

When I first heard of NFTs I was skeptical. Why would anyone pay tons of money for a video clip that you can watch over and over again on YouTube? Or a tweet that someone typed? Don't even get me started about cartoon cats. I said to myself this is a bubble and it's just a license to print money. To a certain extent I think that is true, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

Since the beginning of time, humans have been into collectibles. Whether it's stamps, coins, rocks, watches, cars, sports memorabilia, antiques, artwork... people are willing to pay good money to have the privilege of owning something exclusive or rare. How much they would pay for them depends on the rarity, background story, sentimental value, difficulty to obtain, condition, and of course how much money they have. You may question why someone would pay $69 million for an NFT called "The Verge", but at the same time I question why someone bought Picasso's Les Femmes D'Alger for $179 million. Truth is, the value is in the eye of the beholder and we are not to question why, but just lament the fact that we are not rich enough to bid for them. 

"The Verge" sold for $69 million

Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes D'Alger sold for $179 million

Well, so much for a skeptic, I spent about 1 ETH to buy an NFT myself. It is a digital horse and yes, you can race it, bet on it, breed it, trade/sell it. So far it has won 3 races, finished 2nd twice and 3rd seven times. You can check it out HERE, and yes it is for sale for the right price. A friend of mine bought a super rare horse and sold it for 30 ETH recently (Roughly $63k at the time). 

My horse (Click for more details)

But why do NFTs make sense? 

1. Everything is digital 
So many aspects of our lives are now digital. From our calendars to banking, we have become a digital age, so why not collectibles as well?

2. Safe from Forgeries
Because of it's value, people have been forging artworks, coins, banknotes, deeds, wills, but "non-fungible" means it is unique, cannot be replaced, and the blockchain proves its existence, ownership and authenticity.

3. Safe from Theft
Depending on how you store them, crypto can still be hacked and stolen and that includes NFTs. However because it is a unique token unlike a Bitcoin, it would stick out like a sore thumb. The blockchain will show who it was stolen from and who holds it now. 

4. Safe from Deterioration
Mold, rust, rips, oxidation, most collectibles are super fragile and over time they deteriorate. Unless you decide to throw away the key, or a doomsday scenario where we lose all power and internet access otherwise your NFT will be here forever. 

5. Ease of display
What's the point of owning something cool without being able to show it off? Someone somewhere probably has cool collections but without knowing the person and physically visiting them, I would never be able to see it. With NFTs you can share it, invite people to your own virtual galleries, I assume frame them on a digital frame as well. 

Yes there is a lot of hype with NFTs at the moment, and I do think some of the prices are way inflated, but once the dust settles, and people grow into the idea of NFTs, I really think they are here to stay. 

Please support me by using my links below:
Binance - Biggest Exchange around
BlockFi - Earn 5-9% interest on BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT (sign up to earn $250 BTC FREE)
Kucoin - Become a bank yourself and create loans to earn up to 50%+ with your USDT

Poker vs Crypto

Due to COVID and other reasons I have not been actively involved in Poker for a while, and so I was kind of forced to look for alternative sources of income. Since then I have found what I've learned from playing poker to be applicable in my Crypto strategy, for example Bankroll management, reading and analysing your competition, finding ways to increase my edge, maximising value and minimise losses, etc. In this article I want to use poker as a comparison with crypto and why I feel that crypto is so much better than poker. Most of my readers are poker players and using this analogy might make more sense for you. I want to encourage all my friends to get into crypto before it is really too late, and you can thank me later. 

I look at my crypto investments as buy-ins in a poker game. As any responsible poker player would, I would split my bankroll into at least 20 buy-ins. So say I have a $20,000 bankroll, each buy-in I would spend on a coin would be $1,000. Some coins that I have more faith in I can buy in 2-3x but generally one unit is 1/20 my entire roll. 

1. ODDS OF WINNING / LOSING

The best hand you can have in poker is AA, and the best scenario you want is getting it all in preferably heads-up vs KK. In this situation you're risking all your chips for a 100% return (assuming similar stacks and there's no rake) However even in this ideal situation you still have a 19% chance of losing it all. You have no control of it at all.

On the other hand in crypto, you can decide the fate of your buy in yourself. You can sell it at any price, all or parts of it. Sure we won't know the odds of winning/losing however you can take profits or cut losses with full control. In poker you can't take profit before the river even if you have your opponent drawing thin. You always have to see it till the end/river and have to survive the variance. In crypto, there is almost zero chance of you losing ALL your money. Barring a world-ending apocalyptic event, your coin value will never drop to zero. And if you do your homework right, and set a stop-limit/cut-loss say 20% of your investment, then you can never do worse than that and all the room for the upside. 

2. RISK VS REWARD

On a poker table, at any given hand, the best return you can have is to get 9x your money, assuming the whole table goes all in. Which NEVER happens, unless you're in a flip out tournament. But yet in that scenario, even if you were holding the best hand your chances of winning is at best ~30%, meaning there is a ~60% chance of losing it all (keyword ALL) Most of the time the best return you can get on a hand is to double or triple your money, minus the rake. 

In crypto, if you pick the right coins, (especially now that the market is bullish), you stand to earn 300-1000% of your investment. If you have a diversified portfolio, you can multiply your chances of hitting a gold mine. 

Took a calculated gamble on XRP

3. PREDICTING FUTURE MOVEMENTS

How many times have you looked down at a premium hand, build the pot preflop only to see a disappointing flop like 789, or a monotone flop but you don't have that suit? Raising preflop with KK or QQ only to see an Ace on the flop? We all know the best hands to play but no one can predict what will come on the flop, turn or river. 

In crypto, you can sometimes predict how the price will move based on price history, market bull/bear, market news, coin announcements, regulatory decisions, market capitalisation, coin supply, market adoption, heck even Tweets or YouTube videos! In some cases you can buy/sell in anticipation of what will happen in the future, hence increasing your chances of making a profit. 

4. FREEROLLING / RATHOLING

You're running hot on the table. You manage to turn your 100bb buy in into 500bb, which is a good day for you. But there are players on the table that covers your stack. One wrong move might cause you to lose everything. You want to switch tables so you can down stack, or come back after one hour to restack, or worse, I've seen players sneak chips off the table. I have zero respect for people like that. Please don't be like that.

In crypto however you can sell your coins anytime you're satisfied with the profits. Some players have a strategy of selling a portion of their coins to recover the initial investment and keep the rest as a freeroll. Taking profits along the way but still keeping some in case the coin price continues to rise. Then you can use that money to invest on another coin or consolidate your portfolio by increasing your BTC or blue chip holdings. 

5. EARN / LOSE WHILE YOU WAIT

The small and big blinds are there for a reason. It forces you to play more hands otherwise if you just sit there you will lose 1.5bb every round. Most players don't realise when your stack dwindles, your potential profit does too because you can only win with what you have. 

In Crypto the prices do fluctuate and sometimes you find yourself having to wait for the market to recover. I waited 4 years for one coin which is now 10x my entry price, but am still waiting for it to go higher. But with savings, staking, lending and yield farming products, nowadays you can earn passive income on most coins. Most returns range from 1-25% per annum.

While some people may not be swayed by modest returns, many people do not understand the difference between crypto earnings vs bank saving products. Say you have $10,000 and you put that amount into a savings account / fixed deposit at your bank for a 3% annual return. At the end of the year you will receive $300 as interest. However in crypto, you invest that same $10,000 onto a coin. If the coin is $1 each, then you would buy 10,000 coins. Then you put it into crypto savings/staking for a 3% return. At the end of the year you will have 300 coins from your interest/dividends. But if during that time the coin you bought appreciated to $3 a coin, the 300 coins you earned are now worth $900. Your ROI is actually 9% instead of 3%. Of course your coin price might fall as well, but like I mentioned above, if you study and pick the right coins, they should appreciate over time (especially at this stage of the market), but the money you put in your bank would have depreciated because of inflation. 

Let your money work for you ~ Kiyosaki

6. FISH VS REG RATIO

During the poker boom, making money from poker was very easy. A lot of players didn't know what they were doing and any pro worth their salt had such a big edge. Because of the hype there were many new entrants to the game. I remember making a decent living playing poker in 2008 but looking back I was such a bad player! I just happen to be slightly better than the players who learned from Zynga. But now, you have to navigate GTO math freaks that do not tilt, have deep bankrolls and play with no fear. Solvers, HUDs, hand charts, you name it. 

Crypto may have been around for about 12 years, but it is still very new to most people. But it is slowly becoming something you cannot ignore. In the coming years there will be millions of new entrants bringing new investment dollars into the market. Not only does that mean the market will grow stronger and bullish with the injection of new blood, that will also mean there are more fishes in play. You might think in crypto you're going against the market, instead of individuals. But these new buyers/sellers that are prone to making mistakes will allow a seasoned trader more opportunity to capitalise on their lost value. 

One of the biggest mistakes a crypto fish can make is they get excited when they see the market moving up, so they buy as the prices increase. But a sudden dip makes them panic and they sell at non-optimum prices. An experienced trader would be make preemptive moves therefore buying cheaper and selling higher than the newbies, therefore maximising their value when others mistakenly loses their value.

A crypto fish BUYS when prices RISE, and SELLS when prices FALL. A crypto pro BUYS when prices FALL, and SELLS when prices RISE 

I am not an early adopter of crypto but I have done well for myself in a very short time, and I foresee the coming 5 years there will be more money poured into crypto than ever causing it to bull for the longest time we have ever seen. If there is a time for you to enter the market it is now. So far quite a few people have come for me to help them get started. I AM NOT A CRYPTO EXPERT nor financial advisor but I know more than the average person and can explain it to you in the simplest way that makes it easy to understand. All I ask is to use my links to sign up as your way of helping me back. 

HOW TO GET STARTED

Binance is the largest crypto exchange for you to start your journey of buying and selling. 

Kucoin is another exchange but has a great lending system where you can earn much higher interests (for example the USDT interest on Binance is 6-7%. On Kucoin you can earn 40-48%)

On BlockFi you can earn higher interests than on Binance

In order for you to capitalise on the profits of newer coins, you need to buy them before they are listed on the major exchanges because most people are lazy. This is an easy way to get another edge on the other market players. So some smaller and sometimes slower exchanges are:

Hotbit I bought some high potential coins here like Statera (STA), Rocket Pool (RPL) 

Bitforex is the exchange that launched Ecomi (OMI), one of the hottest NFT companies that have partnerships with Superman, Batman, Ultraman, Star Trek, Disney, Capcom, etc. 

You can also contact me at happyriverpoker@gmail.com if you have further questions or if you have any tips you would like to share with me! 

What Happened in March 2021

In late February four women flew into Cambodia via private jet. They were supposed to be quarantined for 14 days but somehow they bribed the guard and escaped. They went around partying and drinking but turns out some if not all of them were Covid-19 positive. Since then they have caused an outbreak of more than 2,000 cases and 9 deaths. I know this number isn't huge compared to other countries, but so far Cambodia has managed to stave off the pandemic. The actions and decisions of four selfish women and a corrupt guard have and will cause much damage to the country and its people. My last poker game happened to be on the 18th of February. 

Since I did not play one hand of poker in the whole of March, I had to do something else to fill my day and also make ends meet. Thankfully I got more and more serious into Cryptocurrency recently. I truly believe right now it is a golden opportunity to make some serious money. Exactly two years ago Bitcoin was less than $4000. Today it is touching distance from $60000. During that time the world was battling COVID-19, most businesses were suffering, people lost jobs, property market tanked, but at the same time the crypto market grew. Whilst a 15x growth in two years is impressive, some Altcoins have higher gains than that in a matter of weeks. If you know where to look, opportunities abound. If you're still not involved in crypto you should be. There are so many reasons everyone should put at least some of their money into crypto. If you want to know more please ask, I would be happy to share with you what I know.

Because of the recent outbreak, I spent most of the month at home only going out to get groceries. I couldn't go out to play football like I used to. Instead I had a lot of time in the kitchen cooking up new recipes. However in order to combat weight gain I have been on a 15-hour intermittent fasting schedule. In spite of the cakes, cookies, biscuits, and meat heavy meals I have actually managed to lose a little weight.

Southern Style drop biscuits with cheese and garlic

Malaysian Bak Kut Teh

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

I do miss poker and hope I can get back to a regular game soon, but with how crypto is going and the outbreak with no end in sight, and I don't enjoy playing online poker, it might be a while before I can call myself a full time poker player.