So I had a great PR day on Saturday. I completed five ladders of five with the 24 kg kettlebell, after only being able to do 3 ladders of 3 just four weeks ago. My body has been making dramatic progress and I couldn't be happier.

Then a Mr. Philip Davis had to come along and put up a video of him completing 202 snatches with the 32 kg, and all of a sudden my new focus became the snatch side of ROP. On Sunday night I thought, "Well, since I'm doing so well and breezed through the ladder side, the snatch side should be no problem. I'll do it tomorrow." There's mistake number 1. Monday was supposed to be a 50% day. A take-it-easy day. But if Mr. Davis can make it through with the 32, surely I can do the 24, right? Two days after completing the ROOP ladder challenge (followed by a heavy swing session for 10 minutes), right?

If you still don't know where all the foreshadowing is leading, you are probably a bigger idiot than I was this morning. I was doing 10/10 snatches on the minute, which gave me a 15 second rest. Going along until minute six when I start seeing stars and coughing. So instead of stopping, like a wise person would do, I just lowered to 5/5. So I got 150.

Not bad, but not great. And here's where I plunge off the cliff of stupid: because I missed my goal, I thought, "Well, I guess I'll just go ahead and do what I was supposed to do for my ladders today." And I thought, "Yeah, and my rest periods were too long on Saturday, so I should probably shorten those, too." So I went from four minutes of rest between down to two.

I got through four ladders and realized that Pavel's advice to do presses BEFORE swings/snatches is a GREAT idea, and that having a test day TWO DAYS after a test day is a BAD IDEA.

I'm stiff and I feel like I just played two hours of no-pads tackle football.

So, kids, listen to Pavel and STAY ANCHORED TO THE APPROVED PARTY PROGRAM!

On the same day as my quest for chalk, I committed two small acts of civil disobedience.

First act: I had just purchased about $50 worth of stuff from Fry's (which is a huge signal of self-restraint on my part) and there's the guy waiting by the door with highlighter in hand. Three people are queued waiting to show their Day Pass at the door so that they can get back into the Free World. I refuse to be a part of this rampant act of unnecessary (and completely unwarranted) act of detention. Did I steal anything? No. And even if I did, I haven't actually stolen it until I leave the store with it, and even then you have no right to detain me (if you're a security guard) unless you witness me performing a felony, which shoplifting is not. So, you want to see my receipt? Take down my license plate number, call the cops and report that you were witness to a crime (which you weren't because I didn't steal anything) and file a case with them. They'll say, what's the crime? And you'll say, not showing a receipt and the cops will laugh at you. They'll laugh at you just like I do as I walk out the store to my car.

Second act: I'm going to get an oil change. She asks for my name, then my address, and I say, "Look, this is just an oil change. I'm not giving you all my personal information." And she points at the computer screen (like the computer is the fucking boss) and says, "My system won't let me finish this transaction until I enter your information." I say, "OK. 123 Wonder Ave., Las Vegas, NV, 89114." Just then, a manager comes walking by and he says, "Sir, our computers require a real address." Now I know that's a bluff. You think their computer system is going to check that address against a database? No. So I say, "OK, tell me your address so I can have a real address." He says, "I'm not going to give you my address." I just smiled and shook my head. He turned to the cashier and said, "Just put in something." Score one for anonymous oil changes.

And I hear you saying, "Why do you even bother? It's not worth the trouble!" Yeah, that's the problem. Everyone just goes along and accepts "the way things are" or "the computer won't unless I..." and that makes the problem worse. More and more of our freedoms disappear slowly until we wake up and we can't go from state to state without showing a national ID card. Or without applying for travel papers that document your reasons for traveling and how long you'll be staying in the next state over when you go to visit your mom for the weekend. And they'll get so bogged down trying to analyze all that information for terrorist patterns, that it will take 4-6 weeks for them to issue the papers you need to go to Thanksgiving dinner at mom's house.

When I was in elementary school, the Iron Curtain was in place, the Berlin Wall was guarded by lots of gun-wielding guards and Soviets had to apply for traveling papers to go from city to city. And we thought that was horrible and sad and a symbol of everything wrong with Communism. Now, our government has tools the KGB and the Communist Party would have killed for, and all we can say is, "Well, everything's different after 9/11. This is a different world now." Yes, it's different. It's worse because the people who are really causing harm are doing it with good intentions and with your permission. But here's the rub: relying on the government to protect you makes you more vulnerable to attack.

I'll emphasis my point by starting another paragraph. Relying on the government to protect you makes you more vulnerable to attack.

If you rely on some entity outside yourself to protect you, you let your guard down. You relax. You don't pay attention. You don't take care of your body or take any self-defense class, because we can rely on the government, right? Did you happen to forget that this is the same government that "helped out" after Katrina? They thought the Iraq war was a good idea? That can't even make a decent road anymore? Can't educate your kids beyond what used to be a fourth-grade education (but is now called a high school graduate)? These people are incompetent. The tools they have for detecting terrorism are blunt and ham-shaped. The amount of data they have to mine is mind-boggling, which makes finding true threats exponentially more difficult, and you're telling me that if they gather more data, watch more people and have more power that somehow they'll be better at it?

Wake.
Up.

And next time you're walking out of that box store filled with Chinese widgets and sub-grade food, breeze right out the door guilt-free and excited to be leaving with your newly-purchased goods while the rest of the unquestioning, obedient, fearful citizens stand in line and act as another symbol of a dying free America.

It's really starting to get hot in Vegas, even in the early morning, when I work out. I exercise outside, so that means my hands start sweating by just thinking about the kettlebells, let alone when I'm in the middle of a snatch workout. I quickly realized that chalk would be essential if I wanted to keep up the outdoors workouts without throwing a kettlebell through a window.

I stopped by a Big 5 Sporting Goods store on my way home from work one night. They looked at me like I was crazy. Mind you, they had lots of pilate equipment, yoga bricks, and Under Armor all over the place, but the heaviest dumbbell they had was a 35-pounder, so that should tell you something.

Today was my day off, so I tried a couple of other Big 5's with the same result. One guy recommended Dick's Sporting Goods in Henderson, so off I went. In a huge two-storey building, they did not have chalk either. However, Sports Chalet, across the street, had chalk!

I was so excited about finally finding chalk, I came home and did 36 on, 36 off for 12 rounds with the 16 kg kettlebell. And the chalk made a HUGE difference!

I had most of the day off on Sunday, and I was itching to get out of the city. The heat and the traffic were getting on me. I called Banu and said, "Where can I find some trees without driving clear to Cedar City?" She recommended Mt. Charleston, which is about a 45-minute drive from where I'm staying.

After turning left off highway 95 and heading up highway 157, elevation started going up dramatically. Signs along the way let you know just how thin the air is getting. The trailhead I chose (Cathedral Rock) started above 7000 feet. Perfect. Temperature went from 95 in the valley to 73 when I got up to the trailhead. Felt great!

I hike wearing these. They're a little odd, and I found them when I wanted to get some moccasins for hiking. These were the closest I could find to what I was looking for. Here's a picture:



I love how they feel, and my body has adapted well to essentially going barefoot. I normally really enjoy these for hiking, but the trail at Cathedral Rock had long stretches of hard-packed gravel that was slightly larger than golf balls, and sharp. I avoided these stretches completely on the way up by taking some hidden back-way game trails, and the shoes were great. I came down the main trail, however, and my feet were definitely sore on the way down. I think there's a reason why white people didn't find gravel trails everywhere when they showed up in North America: gravel is hard on the feet when you aren't wearing mattresses strapped to your feet. On natural trails, I zip along with the fastest hikers, but on gravel, I was forced to pick my steps carefully and I moved as quickly as I could to end the pain. The good news is that as soon as I found a spot to get off the gravel trail and back to pristine forest floor, the pain quickly subsided and I was back to my quick stride.

Overall impressions of Mt. Charleston: a lot of people were up there because it was a Sunday afternoon. Harleys could be heard frequently in large thunderous packs that climbed around the windy mountain roads. Everyone I met on the trail was very polite, but if you're looking for solitary forest time, you'll have to venture far from the trail.

I found two springs in my explorations and drank heartily from them both. I am grateful for the media scare campaign regarding mountain spring water and giardia because it means I don't have to share one of nature's most enjoyable gifts with a bunch of yahoos from the city. As I was dipping my hands in the water for a drink, some guy asked me, "Is the water safe to drink?" I said, "Not if you're from the city. It will make you very sick. You should stick to bottled water." He bought it hook, line and sinker. I felt no ill effects and appreciated the refreshment of natural mountain spring water that can only be fully appreciated after an hour and a half of hard hiking in warm weather in full sun.

I will head back to Mr. Charleston again soon, but next time I'll try to find a more remote area to explore.

Day 11 of the World Series of Poker. Lunches eaten in Poker Kitchen: 11. Pretty sick of crappy sushi and Caesar chicken wraps. And here are the drink choices: Red Bull, Diet Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew, Lipton Tea, Lipton Green Tea, water. Yep, that's it.

Total hours so far: 131. Workouts: 9. Bags of free peanuts eaten: 17. Brownies eaten: half a pan. Loads of laundry washed: 0. Days slept past 7:00 am: 1.

Times new video site has been wrecked by database problems: 4. Light bulbs blown: 1. Tapes used: 32. Compliments on new site: legion. Complaints about new site: they were in another language, so I couldn't read them.

Poker hands played: 0. Hands of blackjack played: 0. Alcoholic beverages quaffed: 0. Drunk guys messing around on the mikes in an empty conference room: 3.

Our new video player has finally launched! PokerNews TV. I couldn't be more proud. When I came to PokerNews, the videos were difficult to find and the player had some severe limitations. All of our video was hosted on one server in the United States, so if you lived somewhere outside the U.S., the load times were unbelievably long.

We came in with quite a few goals and expectations for a new player, and while we haven't met them all yet, we're a lot closer than we were when we started. We'll be adding search and comments soon, and we'll be rolling this out in other languages soon, as well. You can link to your favorite videos, and they're a lot easier to find.

Please take some time and check out what we've been working on since January.

PokerNews TV

Most people think that all vodka is made from potatoes. Those people would be uncircumcised Philistines, to use an Old Testament phrase that means "uncultured idiots". Most vodka is made from grain or grapes. That actually makes a very profitable prop bet because everyone "just knows" that vodka is made from potatoes. This prop bet must be executed properly so as to not scare away the mark with overconfidence (which, by the way, is the skill that lies behind any good prop bet), however.

Potato vodka is fairly difficult to find, but worth the hunt. Why? No nasty aftertaste, and more importantly, no hangover the next day. The advice to drink potato vodka and eschew grain vodka came from my dad, who has more experience with alcohol than most groups of five people. I asked my favorite bartenders and liquor store clerks about their preferences, did some of my own testing, and came up with the list below. Enjoy!

Ordered from best to still pretty damn good:

Chopin Vodka (Polish vodka from potatoes) - $35

Luksusowa (pronounced Luke-suh-SOH-va) Polish vodka from potatoes - $17

Blue Ice Vodka (American potato vodka) - $17

Teton Glacier Vodka (American potato vodka) - $25

Russians usually bite a lemon wedge, then drink a shot of vodka. You can also mix it with tonic or soda. And vodka is best if it's kept in the freezer with chilled shot glasses.

The last post sounded like your mom sending you a letter of advice, so I thought I'd share a few more tips that you may find more relevant.

Between cocktails, drink a bottle of water. I ran with some pretty serious alcohol imbibers during past WSOP's, and the only way I could keep up was to stay hydrated. This will also help minimize your hangover the next day.

"Talking with the ladies" is a great buzzkill. You will go from having a great time to feeling like Sigmund Freud twiddling his thumbs in the space of about five minutes. The fact that you're in a strip club means you've got some kind of confidence or insecurity issues. It's no different for the strippers. It may even be more rampant among them. That's a brutal and competitive culture, and it's cutthroat for some of them. One girl said that after she would ask guys if they wanted a private dance, another girl would come along and say, "You probably don't want a dance from that girl. She has herpes/AIDS/STD/insert other repulsive disease here." So if you're out, drunk, at 3:00 a.m., do yourself a favor and enjoy the lap dance without asking about where the girl is from and how long she's been in Vegas. That's the door away from fantasy and towards the brutal reality of where you are and what you're doing. And whatever you do, leave the place before they turn on the lights.

I hesitate to share this, but only eight people (and my parents aren't included in that number) actually read this site, so I'm just going to throw this out there: the $4-$8 Limit game with a half-kill at the Gold Coast is the best game in Vegas for low-stakes players. Period. I have officially retired from playing poker and from any casino gambling, so I'm not afraid to share this secret with my friends.

The Japanese restaurant in the Palms (Little Buddha) is a great place for sushi, and the Mexican restaurant there is pretty damn good too. But if Mexican is your thing, go west on Flamingo and five minutes away from the Rio is a local secret called Ricardo's. Have a margarita and think of me. Better yet, invite me!

Alcohol and special enhanced brownies do not mix. Well, at least for some people. Do not try this blend at home. Could ruin your night.

The late show at the Palms is a good way to unwind after a long work day. I enjoyed the self-aggrandizing owner of the place that has his picture with some celebrity in every other ad before the movie.

BJ Nemeth is the source for all arcane poker-related knowledge. Well, between Nolan Dalla, BJ Nemeth, Jen Creason, Dr. Paully and Change100, I don't think you can stump them. Those are my go-to sources for information about all things poker. I'm not talking about gameplay. You can find better teachers than these guys! But for anything about the history, culture and mythos of poker, those are the people I'd want on my QuizMaster team.

$50 for a massage once a week is money well-spent.

I may come up with more WSOP survival tips, and if I do, you'll be the first to know.

This is the fourth World Series of Poker that I have worked. A few of the people I met that first year are still lurking about the Amazon room, and we all look at each other with the knowing look that only people who have worked together in difficult and stressful conditions recognize.

When I first started, I tried to live the "Vegas lifestyle" in addition to working 14-hour days. This included all-night poker sessions, drinking and general carousing and rabble-rousing. (Yes, that was intentionally vague.) I have mellowed considerably, due in large part to quelling the flames of my OCD, and learning to see the "Vegas lifestyle" for the mirage in the desert that it really is. Many people in Vegas are lonely or bored, and seek all kinds of self-destructive ways of quieting that voice in their head that says "There's something wrong here."

That got heavy. Sorry! I just wanted to post some tips about what I do to survive the World Series of Poker. These are hard-won strategies for dealing with a high-stress environment over a seven-week period.

• Drink more water than you think you should. Vegas air is already dry, and air conditioners remove humidity from the air. I am currently working in a room that has three air conditioners (it's a server room) and I got a cold on day 2 of the World Series because my throat was so dry.
• Get sleep. Under stress, cortisol and adrenaline are released into your system, which causes all kinds of problems over time. Sleep helps repair the damage of these hormones, and really helps your focus through the day. I find it much easier to stay calm when I've gotten plenty of sleep the night before. This may mean you have to say no to that drink after work or just playing poker "for an hour or two." Get home and get some sleep.
• Exercise. I wake up, answer the urgent emails, and head outside in the sun for a workout. This has two great effects: the obvious benefits of exercise, and I get my daily 30 minutes of sun exposure that helps my body make vitamin D and fight off disease. Humans have only spent the majority of their time indoors for the last 100 years or so. Don't ignore 100,000 years of evolution.
• Eat less than you think you should. A lot of people around me grab junk food or eat huge buckets of food and say, "Hey, it's the World Series." You don't need as much food as you think. Really.
• Go outside. I talked about this in number 3, but I don't want to scare you away if you "just aren't into exercise." At least go outside in the morning. Eat breakfast or lunch outside where you can get some sun. "But the sun is dangerous! It gives you cancer!" Not getting enough sun is just as dangerous. Reference material here.
• Don't shoot video of players playing in the Amazon room. Ever. For any reason.

Do I follow these every day? No. Do I get upset and disappointed in myself? No. I just notice that I'm slipping off track and re-focus on doing what works and avoiding what doesn't. Late nights and drinking don't work for me when I need my full attention and focus throughout the day. Exercise and sleep help sharpen my focus and ability to remain calm, so I'm sticking with it.

If you come down to the Amazon room, give me a call, or drop me a note on Twitter, and I'll grab some sushi from Miranda's Kitchen with you!

Third day of WSOP action behind me. Here are my stats for the World Series of Poker so far. Total hours so far: 35. Total junk food so far: One Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream Bar. Total throat lozenges eaten today: 21. Number of Vice Presidential candidates interviewed: 1. Number of 1-liter bottles of water quaffed: 13. Number of videos that have been put up, pulled, corrected, and re-posted: 7. Number of text messages received: 314. Number of times accosted by creepy carnie-like massage therapists in the hall: 4. Number of bags of free peanuts eaten: 9. Number of workouts: 2.

And the level of multitasking required to be a manager/team-leader-type person is amazing and right on the edge of what I can keep in my head. Small things slip through but I have been relying on using iwantsandy.com to send me reminders, and that's helped a lot. But this manager stuff is a whole new ball game. Scheduling? Coordinating equipment needs? Making sure everyone is happy? A lot more challenging than I thought it was going to be, but my team has definitely gelled a lot faster than I thought they would. Everyone has stepped up, learned quickly, and we're turning out some damn fine videos already.