Toiletgate scandal

Nothing new in the world of politics, but more corruption/dodgy goings on made the Argentine press (and the world press too) last week.

Argentine Economy Minister Felisa Miceli was forced to resign on Monday, after a routine bomb inspection of her office turned up a bag of at least $64000USD in cash (denominated in pesos, dollars and euros) in the adjoining private bathroom. I say "at least" because some reports state $241000 USD was found.

A few excuses were given by Micelli at first: the cash was destined for a private property purchase, that it could be accounted for in her sworn income statements, but Miceli later told reporters her brother lent most of it.

Interesting that some of the cash was reported by Perfil to have been bearing a special seal from the central bank, which can only distribute cash to financial institutions.

LMAO, Miceli was clearly a character who could be trusted to run a countries $51.5 billion economy appropriately.

Snow in Buenos Aires

So, yesterday it snowed here for the first time in 80-odd years. The locals are loving it, but it's a stark reminder for me that I need to switch hemispheres, and fast.

If you're looking to get a flight out of Argyland your best bet is probably the Argentine site Despegar.com. I found a return flight to the UK for $1000 USD, about $400 cheaper than anywhere else I could find.

There is a catch for Johnny foreigner, as Despegar won't accept more than 2000pesos (about $670 USD) via a foregin credit card (we all know the Argentine banking system is far more trustworthy).

Not to worry, they have an office in the Capital (Av. Corrientes 587 3er Piso
Microcentro).

Also of note is that internal flights are far more expensive for foreigners than for Argies (presumably some sort of subsidy going on). Another nice example of the Gringo Tax.

More football violence in Argentina

This weekends tie between Neuva Chicago and Tigre was marred with extremely ugly scenes, one fan was killed outside the stadium, many were badly injured.

The cops were essentially useless for around 30mins. In fact the fan who died lay on the ground suffering convulsions for 20mins as the cops just looked on, refusing to help despite pleas from other fans.

Bizarre scenes as Chicago fans ran on to the pitch and actually mugged their own players of their clothing.

After over 18months in Buenos Aires I am still really struggling to get a handle on just how violent Argentine society is. On the one hand I am bombarded by images such as those below every day by the media (also daily shootings etc) yet on the other hand I have never once felt threatened or in danger when walking the streets here. (Common sense obviously dictacts when and where I walk the streets).

This Tube gives a good review of what these fucking animals got up to.

Crime in Argentina

I found this article produced in Jan 2007 by the OSAC (Overseas Security Advisory Council) that summarizes the current crime situation in Argentina quite nicely.

Having lived here for around 12 of the last 18months I find myself agreeing with practically everything the report states. Here are a few of the most pertinent sections:

Traffic accidents are still the primary threat to private sector safety in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires. Pedestrians should be vigilant when crossing streets and remember to look both ways, even if the street is designated one-way. Traffic laws are routinely disobeyed and vehicles often travel at excessive speeds. Recently published statistics report that over 7,500 deaths occurred in Argentina in 2006 due to traffic accidents.

Crime is a serious problem in Argentina that can be managed with common sense precautions.

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim

Theft

Carry no more than US $100-200 or 300-400 pesos. Criminals in Argentina frequently resort to violence if they perceive a victim is being uncooperative or if the target does not have anything worth stealing. The people most likely to be attacked or beaten are those without any money. If confronted, offer no resistance and immediately hand over everything demanded.

Do not wear Rolexes, or other flashy or expensive jewelry that draws attention.
Women should safeguard their purses while walking and when eating in restaurants or cafes. Criminals are often well dressed and crime can occur anytime during the day at any location. Use common sense and remain vigilant.

Travel in groups when possible. Always stay in the well lit, populated areas and avoid parks after dark.

Be alert to pick pocketing in tourist and shopping areas. Do not flash large amounts of cash, or carry expensive looking bags, briefcases, or laptop cases in public.

Do not carry all of your important documents in your wallet or purse. Carry a photocopy of your passport.

Use ATM machines located in public places like the hotel, shopping mall, or event venue. If the booth has a door, make sure it closes behind you.

If you are in a restaurant or other business that gets robbed, follow the instructions of the robbers and hand over valuables on demand.

Beware of the "mustard on the back scam." Unknown to you, a liquid is squirted on your back. After a few steps, someone, often a middle-aged woman, will inform you that you have something on your back and offer to help clean it off. Meanwhile, she or an accomplice picks your pockets. This scam is common in tourist areas such as San Telmo, La Boca, 9 de Julio, Recoleta, and Florida Street. Fortunately, this is one of the least confrontational crimes, just say "NO" and walk away.

Pay with exact change as much as possible. If you pay for a small item with a large bill, you risk being shortchanged or getting counterfeit in change. Only take pesos as change.

Use credit cards only at the hotel and major stores and restaurants. Watch your bills carefully for fraudulent charges.

Transportation

"Remises" (hired car and driver) are the best public transportation.
They charge by the kilometer and are reasonably priced. Hotels, many restaurants, and shopping centers can call one from an established service.

Radio taxis are the next best choice. Taxis are black and yellow in the Capital, and white with blue lettering in the Province.

Avoid black and yellow taxis with the word MANDATARIA on the door.
These taxis are rented on a daily or hourly basis and are often involved in criminal acts.

Do not take rides offered by people on the street or outside an airport.

Depending on circumstances, visitors in need of taxi services should either call for a remise or taxi, take one from an established stand, or hail one on the street (but not in front of a bank), in this respective order.

Use the seatbelts, lock the doors, and keep the windows up. Do not place your purse or other valuables on the seats in plain view from the outside or unattended.

Subways, buses, and trains are safe but watch out for pickpockets and be ready for work stoppages.

Watch your bags at airports, bus, and ship terminals.

Fun on the Subte

One of the things the Argentines have got right in Buenos Aires IMO is their underground train system, or "The Subte".

I've attached a map of the system, taken from the official Subte website, the system covers the majority of the Capital and runs from 5am to 11pm (with variatons according to line/day). You can go from anywhere to anywhere on the Subte for a flat rate of 70 centavos (approx 13pence or 25c US).

I've used the Subte practically every day in my time here and the vast majority of the time it runs beautifully. It can get very overcrowded at peak times (9am-12noon, and 4pm-8pm weekdays) and subject to occassional delays (usually due to bad weather). But of all the underground systems I've used in the world, and considering this is Argentina, the Subte here is amongst the most efficient I've experienced. I've also never encountered any problems with undesirables. In my experience Portenos overwhelming agree with me that the system is remarkable crime free. (There was a spate of rape cases during the 2006 World Cup, consequently security was upped).

As an added bonus the majority of my journies on the underground are usually accompanied by some sort of entertainment. Today for example two young men dressed in orange overalls boarded my carriage and proceeded to perform a well-rehearsed comedy act. Most passengers, including myself, enjoyed the performance and were happy to toss a few coins their way afterwards. I've also seen magicians, musicians, jugglers, singers and actors working the subte. You'll also find a lot kids/homeless selling all manner of cheap tat trying to make a few pesos.

Somewhat surprisingly for me I have rarely seen outright begging in Buenos Aires. There are beggars dotted around, but they are nearly always badly crippled or extremely old, basicaly in no fit state to work. I have however seen countless people, and even whole families, searching through the trash for anything of value (plastics, paper, cans etc). Extreme poverty is widespread here, yet even the poorest of the poor do not expect something for nothing. A marked contrast to my experiences in the UK and USA for example.

My favourite Argentine chocolate

For obvious reasons....

Rental costs in Buenos Aires are rising

The Argentine media reported that rents have risen by nearly 30% over the past 12 months a couple of weeks back. A pretty significant jump.

Browsing the plethora of short-term, tourist-orientated apartment rental websites I can see this is clearly true for vistors too. An apartment that would've cost $600 USD per month when I first came here in late 2005 is now being advertised at $800, often more.

Simple law of supply and demand I guess. As more and more tourists arrive here so prices will rise. Still, chat with your average Porteno and mention that a tourist will happily part with $1000/month for a luxury one-bed flat in Recoleta and his jaw will drop.

I've actually left the Capital Federal for the forseeable. Here's a few shots of what I left behind at $600/month. An unfurnished apartment in the same building for an Argentine (with Guarantor) runs at approx $300/month.

The building, brand new (and virtually empty) when I first moved in.





The Pool.





The Parilla (BBQ)


The not-so million dollar view

Buenos Aires in March

Around this time last week I was thinking about writing about just how great the weather is during the month of March in Buenos Aires. It's the very late summer/early autumn and typically temperatures average around 27 degrees C, humidity is relatively low and there's nearly always a cool breeze. A great time to walk around the city and explore.

Then this week happened, my god has it rained. Short (but heavy) showers are relatively frequent here, but they usually pass after an hour or so. Not this week though, today for example it's rained non-stop for about 12hrs. As I'm spending a lot of time in the Provincias now (more on that in a few days) it's really hit home that Argentina really is, in many ways, still very 'third world'.

An hour or two of heavy rain is enough to flood many streets here (not a significant problem in the capital) causing schools to be shut down, work for many to be cancelled, and the major roads to be turned into parking lots. Productivity really takes a hit.

Drainage systems outside of Buenos Aires are either non-existent or terribly inadequate. After 2hrs (60mm) of heavy rain 10 days or so ago the flood water lay around for a couple of days and the entire city suffered a swarm of mosiquitos. Repellent sold out within 24hrs. This week 6 barrios (neighbourhoods) of Buenos Aires were without electricity for around 12hrs (some 80000 people affected), and much of the underground system was shut down. All beacuse of 2hrs of heavy rain.

Having said all that, I would still recommend coming here in March, early March especially. Along with October (late spring) it's probably the best month to investigate this unique city.

Renting long term in Buenos Aires

Most visitors come to Buenos Aires for a few weeks or perhaps a couple of months at most, such visitors are very well catered for here.

For those coming for a week or two there's an abundance of reasonably priced hotels in the city. Expect to pay anywhere from US$40 to US$200 per night depending on your standards.

For longer term visitors short-term rentals represent much better value. Fully furnished apartments can be rented on a monthly basis starting from US$500 per month upto US$3000 for a high-end luxury pad. Spend a bit of time searching and US$800 per month will get you a very nice apartment in the 'right' barrio (Belgrano, Recoleta, Palermo) with AC, a pool and weekly maid service included.

Before arriving for the first time I had contacted www.baplace.com and www.bahouse.com via email, and made appointments to view four apartments on my second day of arrival. Within a week I had moved into my current apartment, paying one months rent ($600) as a deposit, and one month in advance for a studio apartment.

My personal life here has now changed, I now need a bigger place with two bedrooms. Portenos typically pay $300-$400 (900-1200 pesos) per month to live in the 'right' Barrios, i.e. at least half that of a tourist. But for this they get quite literally an empty apartment. Often the kitchen won't even have an oven and the apartment won't even have things like light fittings.

The system here is completely geared to protecting the apartment owners, and not the tennants. Firstly, it's almost impossible to rent long term without a guarantor...a property owner who is prepared to vouch for you by putting their property on the line. Fail to pay your rent, or fail to move out when your contract is up and your guarantor is liable. This is a massive hurdle to overcome for tourists with no family or strong connections here.

Secondly, owners will also demand to see proof of your income...not easy if you're a poker player!

I've spent several days in the past two weeks viewing apartments and talking with owners. Four of four owners flat out refused to rent to me without a gurantor, despite the offer of one years rent upfront. I naively thought waving a wad of pesos in their face would solve the problem, surely cash is more important than a signature? Clearly not.

Then, last week, a friend of a friend tells me she knows an owner who was keen to rent his place without the Inmobilarios (estate agents) taking their 20% cut. He listened to our plight and agreed to meet with his lawyer. A years rent upfront would suffice....or so we thought.

Our next meeting two days later and the rent has suddenly jumped from 9000 pesos per year to 12000...."administration" and "expenses" apparently. Gas, electricity, water etc are all to be paid for by us. Clearly another example of the Gringo Tax being applied. Affordable? Yes. Fair? No.

I have since told the owner where to go, and am continuing the hunt.

Football Hooliganism in Argentina

The media here has been awash with reports on the recent violence that marked the opening of the second half of the Argentine Football season last week.

So-called fans of Argentine club River Plate fought in the clubs social area last week, hours before the start of the opening game versus Lanus. Four people were injured as River fans fought amongst themselves, terrorising families who had come to the club to use its swimming pool and barbecue area situated next to the clubs 1978 World Cup stadium the Monumental.

The ugly scenes resulted in Interior Minister Aníbal Fernández handing out a five match ban to the club...Rivers next five games will be played behind closed doors.

I was watching the news on TV a couple of days ago and to my amazement the BBC reported that the violence stemmed from River Plate's failure to pay the $20,000USD per month that the clubs 'barra bravas' (hardcore 'fans') alledgedly extort to keep the peace (grrr, can't find link).

Further incidents at other clubs across Argentina suggest that extortion is rife:

On Monday, supporters of first division Quilmes painted the club headquarters with slogans threatening directors after they were refused money and free tickets for the game at Estudiantes.

On Thursday, Banfield president Carlos Portell said he had been threatened by the club's fans after also refusing free tickets and money for away games.

ESPN report

To add to the madness there are now reports that La Boca's notorious hooligans 'La Doce' (the 12th man) are exporting their brand of hooliganism to clubs in Mexico.

The newspaper, Ole, quoted a government source as saying members of Argentina's barras bravas - a hardcore groups of fans - had travelled to the two countries to meet supporters and organise conferences, charging for their advice in US dollars.

The subject matter included terrace chants; the use of weapons and methods for extorting money from club directors and players.

In the words of the head of La Doce, Rafa de Zeo, "As far as the world's hooligans are concerned, La Doce is Harvard. They come here to learn.

If you have 10mins to spare here's a youtube video that give's a little insight into just what a lovely bloke Rafa de Zeo is.

Mancha de Rolanda

Probably my favourite Argentine band right now: Mancha de Rolando (Stain of Rolando). They hail from Avellanida, a barrio in the Provincias (the working class districts surrounding Buenos Aires). If you're into Fun Lovin' Criminals, and the likes, I think you'll like Mancha too.

I love their video to "Cabron"*, particularly the little Bolivian dude who slimes all over the reluctant ramera (who is Paraguayan...I think) in the first half of the video.
(If you want to bust your South American friends balls you say they are from Bolivia....a light-hearted racial slur of course).

The video gives an amusing representation of the mix of life that is Buenos Aires IMO.



And my rough translation into English:

The opening text:
This story is dedictated to the people of Latin America
And all your forms of expression...

Lyrics:

Hey, dude*, where are you from?
You are different, because of this we kill you.
Hey, dude*, where are you from?
We are different!

War, that which kills a thousand times,
Hunger, that which kills slowly
Luck, that which guides my steps

It was the blood of Simon Bolívar
It was the war, it was the lie
On the radio they say what they say
There is misery then comes recovery

This Land was born blessed
It has water and all climates
We continue to Simon Bolívar
We unite Latin America

Land of Prosperity, raise yourself and go.

Closing text: In Iraq, The Golf and South America, those that do the war are always the same.

*Cabron....hmmm: rascal, bastard, a derogatory term for someone.

Dia de mala suerte

Interesting little difference in superstitions I discovered today. Here, in Argentina, Tuesday 13th is considered a very unlucky day: "Dia de mala suerte", and not Friday 13th.

Confirmation that Tridecaphobia is a global phenomenon however.

"No te cases ni te embarques" (In my Spanglish = don't get married nor go anywhere.)

What does Ramera mean?

More fun with the Spanish language yesterday. I decided I needed a couple of new T-shirts so I took a walk along Avenida Cabildo, where there's plenty of stores to chose from.

I step into River Pass (local equivalent of Diesel, I guess) and the cute young assistant immeadiately greats me and asks if she can help in anyway.

"Estoy buscando para rameras" I say....I could chat to this girl for ages, no problem, I'm thinking.

I'm rewarded with a slightly confused and embarrased look on her face....she's blushing. So I repeat what I said, this time pointing to my T-shirt at the same time.

"Estoy buscando para rameras" I say, gesticulating.

"Ahhh, REMERAS?" she says, with a relieved look on her face. "Aca". She points, and leads me towards the back of the store.

"Bollocks" I think to myself, yet another pis-pronounciation.

Later that night I double check how to pronounce various items of clothing with The Misses, I tell her how I'd messed up earlier when I bought the T-shirt....she starts pissing herself with laughter.

Turns out I had said to the pretty young assistant "I am searching for sluts".

Ciber Cafes here I come

My laptop has died, ceased to exist, is no more, has expired to meet it's maker....it is an ex-laptop.

Many Argentines can't afford PCs (they're 50% more expensive here than the US or UK) so, internet access in Buenos Aires isn't a problem, there is at least one 'Ciber' cafe on every block (at least in Belgrano), the going rate is 1.5 pesos an hour.

This is my 3rd laptop, not one has made it to it's 2nd Birthday.

Concepcion del Uruguay, Provincia de Entre Rios

A couple of weeks ago I was kindly invited into the house of an Argentine family who live in the Province of Entre Rios ("Among Rivers").

Agriculture constitutes the bulk of the local economy (rice, soy, wheat, maize, cattle), but tourism is (according to the locals) steadily adding to the regions coffers. Due to the Argentines love of the coast most parts of Entre Rios are still relatively undeveloped and unspoilt.

It takes approximately 4.5hrs to get there from Buenos Aires by bus (I used FlechaBus, the total cost for a return ticket being 75 Pesos).

Founded by the Spanish Military Officer Don Tomas de Rocamora in 1783, the city of Cencepcion del Uruguay is located some 300Km North of Buenos Aires, to the west of the Uruguay River. My hosts had a small, but charming house a couple of Kms outside the city in the Barrio of Lobo...blissfully free of any housing greater then two stories high.


If you get to this region make sure you check out the sandy beaches along the Uruguay river. Banco Pelay and Paso Vera being the best known spots. A taxi from the city should cost you know more than 10 pesos, there's also a 1 peso per person entry fee once you get there. The main beaches can get a little crowded during the summer holidays (Dec-Feb), but being 5km long it's not hard to find a quieter spot if you desire. There's places to buy drinks etc, as well as several places to grab a meal/beer. Make sure you arrange a time for your taxi to pick you up at the end of the day in advance.

Another popular day trip well worth taking is a visit to the Palacio San Jose, built between 1848 and 1858 as the residence of General Urquiza. Here you can enjoy the fine architecture, walk through the beautiful gardens and peruse the museum.


My trip to Cencepcion del Uruguay coincided with the annual Carnaval, my first experience of such an event. Crazy colourful costumes and an abundance of beautiful scantily-clad Senoritas compensated for the 45min queue to get a burger.






Finally, you might want to spend a day relaxing at the Parques Termales (Thermal Parks). Kinda in the middle of nowhere (15min walk from the house I was staying in as it happens) this new development has outdoor and indoor swimming pools, a thermal pool and a decent restaurant.

Massive thank you to the family who took care of me. They were wonderful guides to the area and helped me improve my Spanish significantly (none spoke English), the kids being particularly amused by my frequent pispronounciations.

Useful sites:

Hotels
www.hotelcarlos1.com.ar, www.postadeltorreon.com.ar

Bungalows/Cabanas to rent
www.airesdelcampo.com.ar, www.eldescansobungalows.com.ar, bungalowssantarita.com.ar

Car hire in the region
www.costadeluruguay.com

Avoiding the Gringo Tax

"I promise I'll post something interesting eventually later this week". LOL.

In the 3 weeks since this hollow promise I've actually managed to leave the city for a week, after being invited into the home of an Argentine family in Concepcion del Uruguay. Report and photos to follow; the whole week was blissfully technology-free.

The annual event of Windows crashing and me losing the contents of my C:drive came and went......30000 hands in PokerTracker, and a maybe 50 photos lost forever.

The last week as been spent house-hunting. The hoops that I will have to jump through to get a deal equivalent to a local (thereby avoiding the Gringo Tax) requires a post of its own. Suffice to say the whole process is typically South American: if only I could find the right person to bribe. ;-)

PT

Maradona was off his tits

A huge game of football in Buenos Aires tomorrow: Boca Juniors and Estudiantes play off for the Argentine championship. Boca managed to screw-up royally, as they only needed 1 point from their final two games to be crowned champions for a 3rd successive time. They managed to lose both games, meaning the top 2 sides finished level on points. For the first time in the leagues history there will be a play off to decide who wins the championship.

I watched Boca lose to Lanus on Saturday. (More accurately I watched the crowd watch Boca lose to Lanus on Saturday: live coverage of local football here doesn't actually include any football). The camera mainly focused on the antics of former Boca player Diego Maradona (El Tramposo, as I always refer to him in conversations with the locals) during the 90mins of play.

He was clearly off his tits, on booze and/or coke by the looks. His daughter and a couple of friends/bodyguards had to repeatedly restrain him, it looked like he was going to fall from his VIP box several times. He also spat on the crowd below him on at least one occasion and threw water on them several times. Actually his behaviour was way more entertaining than many football matches I've watched.

The nation is still completely obsessed with this little over-weight fucker, despite his drug-abuse and womanizing.....and no, I'm not bitter:





I'll be cheering for Estudiantes.

Barrio Chino - Buenos Aires

I want to publicly thank my friend Blaxjax for dramatically improving my quality of life in Buenos Aires.

You see, one of the biggest down sides to living in this city for me is the food: it's decidely average IMO. There is very little variety on the menus, it's either pizza, pasta or meat. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy eating pizza, pasta and meat....just not every fucking day.

As for vegetables/vegetarians - forget it, to order vegetables over here is equivalent to stating you are homosexual.

The supermarkets are very good, plenty of fresh produce. So if you are happy to cook at home you'll have all the variety you need. However, being a lazy so and so, I love to eat out as often as possible. Also, don't expect to find things like coconut milk, curry paste etc etc on the shelves.

This is where blaxjax comes in, he pointed me in the direction of Barrio Chino (China Town to you and me) It's only two stops on the Subte from my place (get off at Juramento, Linea D) and a short walk (5mins) along Juramento (see map below, click to enlarge). Cross the train line and you are there. Admittedly it's a tiny Barrio, but they do have Chinese restaurants, Sushi bars and Chinese supermarkets selling all the ingredients you could hope for: Thai curry paste, fresh corriander, coconut milk, fresh prawns etc etc. Heaven.

So, as a thankyou here's a link to his flickr site, he's got some excellent photos of Buenos Aires.

I want The Good Life!

It's been 24 days since my last post. Shocking. Excuses? Well, I'm a PT........I've been travelling, this time without my laptop. Deliberately remaining offline for a week or two helps keep me sane.

I posted about PT in a forum today (one of the relevant ones that is ranked top 10 for the search term "Perpetual Traveller". P.S use "") in the hope of generating a discussion on the lifestyle. My theory is that most PTs don't even know they are PTs - i.e they dont even know the term "Perpetual traveller" even exists. For those that search the term via search engines there isn't a whole lot around.

My 4 months in Argentina are coming to an end, I have just 3 weeks left. The consistent Buenos Aires breeze is now probably 7-8 degrees cooler, but recently the days have been cloudless and the sun strong.

A couple of weeks ago I managed to escape the chaos and noise of this city by heading west to Mendoza, then south to San Rafael. I think I fell in love with San Raf, it's just a perfect place to 'disappear' for a while.

When I was in San Raf I viewed several small farms (Fincas). Some had houses, others were just big fields of mainly olives, grapes, walnuts, peaches or plums. The region has a Meditaranean climate and is within approx 1 hour of the Andes. Las Lenas, one of the finest ski resorts in the southern hemisphere is within 2hrs drive of San Raf. I've always dreamed of retiring to somewhere like this, and I've always wanted to retire in my 30's! (I turned 30 last week). In seems to be the perfect place to adopt The Good Life.

In fact, I'm going to shut up about this region, I want it to remain as much of a secret as possible for a little longer. ;-)

It's 3am, time for bed.

Sweet dreams.

Musings on Buenos Aires and intro to Strategy 2 - a definition of sorts.

I'm opening with some musings on life in Buenos Aires. If poker's more your thing then you can skip the next 5mins by jumping to straight to the heading "Strategy 2".

Like many countries Argentina has had a turbulent history, it's very recent history being no exeception. The economic woes of 2001 still linger fresh in the minds of so many here.

The economic problems have benefited foreign visitors. Averagely wealthy Americans and Europeans can afford a pretty high standard of living here. My 1 bedroom brand new, modern flat with AC and pool costs me US$600/month. If I was renting for 6-12 months I could get this cost significantly reduced. I get weekly Maid service (with fresh towels, bedding), broadband internet, local telephone calls all included in that price. The cost of living is just so much lower than back home.

BA hosts 11 million people. It's a noisy city with very little quiet/open space. It's a cliche but the people really do make this place. They are mostly warm and kind. Certainly much warmer than your average Londoner IMO. I have to say the Argentine women are incredibly beautiful. A mix of Italian and Spanish influence togethor with some native South American beauty thrown in. As I walk the streets of this city it seems never more than a minute goes by before the opportunity to catch the eyes of pretty girl presents itself.

Oh yeah, it's summer in Argentina when it's winter in the UK, another reason I love this place.

So there you have it, I love being here because: it's cheap, the local girls are beautiful and numerous, and it's summer in December!

Now, back to poker:

Strategy 2

I have'nt played any poker for several days. I did do some "live support" for my buddy. I want to tell you his story because it outlines strategy 2 quite nicely:

He´s been my drinking buddy when I´m in the Uk for 2 years. Last year we drank a lot! He graduates from University this year and has decided to become a personal trainer (another PT!) in Australia of all places. I don't blame him. Australia seems a lot more attractive then the UK, especially October time. Anyway, he's decided he needs 3-4K GBP, some to pay for the flights, the rest to take with him. He'd rather not do the 40hrs a week minimum wage it'll take to achieve this.

This is where I step in. I know he's pretty smart so I suggest on-line poker. I figure I can teach him to play well enough to make $5K USD in the 5 months he'll have. He has one book to read and I have given him the web addresses of some sites with solid information about how to play. I have also given him a relatively simple starting hand spreadsheet that I made. He has signed up for a free $10 via my website and proceeded to play 10c/20c limit Holdem. Because I can watch his play he has been able to ask my advice via msn when he needs it. He has started by displaying good discipline. There's a lot of folding involved and it can get pretty boring. The temptation to play weak hands out of position is occassionaly too much for him, but I guess we only learn from our mistakes, I know I still do. By jumping to 25c/50c after getting to $20 his BR is now $60 after 8 sessions I guess. I was available for advice for 3 or 4 of those sessions. I was usually playing a $1/$2 or $2/$4 table myself at the same time.

I don't think I'm violating any site T&Cs here, I've never once sat down at the same table as my buddy and I never will. I would be endangering my source of income by doing this, just too much risk for too little reward IMO.

I have one other player in the UK who has taken to poker like a duck to water. He used to play at FullTilt I think, for fun money. After quitting his job he wanted to test to see if it was possible to make money doing something he genuinely enjoyed. I advised him to read one good book and off he went. He didn;t ever need one support session from me. I've never watched him play a hand. I advised him where to play for the best bonuses, he turned $100 into $300 in 6 or so sessions. His domestic situation has changed and he's taken another job so i don't think he's playing much right now. He'll be playing at least a little again soon I hope.

So strategy 2 is plain and simple: by demonstrating to others how to build a bankroll of US$5K, mainly through good play and bonus collection I will hope to garner their loyalty through signups. I'm hoping they'll also get involved in the development of my website too. Writing content, forum moderating, development suggestions, etc. I figure the online market is still very friendly to new players. I hope strategy 2 proves to reward all involved, as it should.

I hope strategy 2 can generate US$500 per month for me, and anywhere from $500-$2K per month for my players. I don't expect it to consume more than 5-10hrs per week (with luck). If the site ever gets serious traffic (highly unlikely) it could generate a lot more.

Remember, I'm expecting strategy 1 to generate $1.5K/month simultaneously.

Strategy 3 comes next time. It's pretty straightforward, but I want to spend 10hrs per week at it and hope to add another $500 to the monthly pot.

I guess I should start talking about bankroll too, I am fortunate in that I am adequately bankrolled to cover all 3 strategies simultaneously, but I like to keep a close eye on things to make sure all is well.

The weekend is coming, I intend on playing some poker so there'll be more blogging in a day or two.

Until then: be well.

P_T