Dynamic Mrs. Fox: Victors of the Discussion Board and Engagement of the Blogging Arena in May
Phew, it's sweltering out there! May on our forum was action-packed: we had our fair share of laughs, captivating tales, and even a dramatic marathon - a tragedy that left both forum members and the editorial team feeling a bit down.
Today, we're dishing out awards to those brilliant forum authors who knocked it out of the park with their exceptional posts. Thanks to our sponsor, CoinPoker, creativity on our forum always proves lucrative! Let's get to it, shall we?
Forum Heroes
We evaluate the best posts in each category, with winners receiving a cool $100 and runners-up earning our respect!
Theory and Practice
🏆 Winner: AlwaysRaiseRiver for their series on playing on blinds, especially that third post detailing strategies for playing on the turn after a check-raise on low connected boards and exploiting opportunities within this branch.
📖 Learn when to check it down
Nearing the end of May, AlwaysRaiseRiver impressed us again with their post on calculating and exploiting bots! The main ideas were previously covered in "What's on the River?"
🏃♂️ Runner-up: zgirovsky, who put together a guide for returning to poker after a break, highlighting essential strategies for getting back to top form without any sudden shocks.
The general idea is to gradually and cautiously adjust your game, starting with tighter selection, lower volume, fewer tables, and playing at lower limits before mixing things up. Bear in mind that it often takes as much time to regain form as there was lost (1 week off means 1 week to recover, 2 weeks off means 2 weeks to recover, and so on).
📖 Read more
Around the World
🏆 Winner: edRock, who laid out 79 compelling reasons to move to Buenos Aires immediately. Impressed by virtually everything in the country, edRock was particularly impressed by the feeling of freedom and safety the country offers. Here are a couple of highlights on this point:
- The government minimally bothers you, leading to a lack of random police stops and the absence of an illegal status.
- It is incredibly safe; the safety level is comparable to Naples, allowing you to walk and use your phone in most areas. Yes, it is still possible to have your phone snatched, but such occurrences are no more common than in other big cities!
- The value of human life and freedom is high, making Argentina incomparable to its neighbors on all sides in this aspect and almost a first-world country in terms of these values.
This post is filled with beautiful images, making it impossible not to want to pack your bags and head to Argentina!
🏃♂️ Runner-up: UnDAbu, who took us on a tour of... brothels in Jakarta. A reminder that our site and forum are for adults only, so please clear the room for the little ones! UnDAbu notes:
You wouldn't expect a sizable market for sex services in a massive Muslim country, where women on the streets are typically covered head to toe. Brothels, bars, massages, "spas" in hotels... It's amazing the girls are so attractive (with minimal silicone, tattoos, or plastic surgery) and may very well be the best in Southeast Asia to my taste. The prices are reasonable too.
The post received a high rating, no doubt because UnDAbu attached a dozen selfies with naked women. We won't copy those here...
📖 ...but the photos are waiting for you here
Jokes and Memes
🏆 Winner: Koté, who penned an essay about failures in Counter-Strike. He imagined his 20-year-old hands wouldn't forget how to land headshots and thought teammates in ITC tournaments would play like he did back in the day:
But reality turned out to be far from my expectations:
So, I start playing and realize I can't aim. Kids are fucking me up, just like in poker.
There's never any money. I can't buy anything because I'm being killed constantly.
It's good that there are chickens running around on the map, and I can get them with my knife. Now it's clear why the knife was needed; otherwise, I would have starved to death.
📖 Read about the CS2 tournament
🏃♂️ Runner-up: salova, who answered an inappropriate question on a poker forum with grace and humor.
Investments and Business
🏆 Winner: AAlexPlayer, who calculated how much Telegram earns from selling gifts. It turns out that it's already in the tens of millions of dollars, with even more profits to be made in the future, according to the author.
Here's a screenshot of all the gifts that have been fully sold out:
As of 10.05.2025, we have:
- Total gift collections created: 106
- Total sold in units: 17,242,000
- Total spent in stars: 2,281,925,000
- Total spent in dollars: $34,228,875
Alex goes on to explain why this is only the beginning of their profits and why Pavel Durov will see even more money in this sphere. The author also made a profit, including buying 1,500 "light swords" and spending $10,000 on gifts, according to reports. They plused a five-digit amount, even selling one of the last sabers with a 100x markup! A new gold rush has truly started where it was least expected. Welcome to a wonderful new world!
📖 See the incredible new world
🏃♂️ Runner-up: HuanXIV, who challenged the S&P 500 index. He wants to prove that putting money there is far from being the most profitable option for passive investors, even for those just starting out. He put $5,000 on this idea:
I've been struggling for a long time and finally set aside $5,000 for this experiment. I decided to create a lazy investment portfolio, weighted average. Not by sectors, but from companies whose prospects for the next 5-10 years I evaluate as high, and therefore evaluate the investment potential of these stocks higher than the index.
Huan made his experiment public, the list of stocks bought is attached, and he also promised to report on all future actions.
📖 Peek into Huan's portfolio
Motivation
Winner: Shtirlitz, who left his job at Russian Railways to become a professional Chinese poker player! He's been living a new life for exactly a year now, and his takeaway: he's earned about as much as he did "at the factory" but gained something far more valuable.
Before, I combined poker with work. Now that I'm well-rested and well-slept, I think I'm doing better. Plus, there's time for theory study, which is essential. What makes me happiest about this whole adventure with quitting is that I can spend more time with my family. I've always missed that so much! Fear nothing and march boldly towards your dream!
What can I say? The poker world is exceptionally diverse and intriguing.
📖 Read about a career in Chinese poker
Another winner: attvaS, who completed a MTT bankroll challenge, going from $317 to $10,000 in just 4 months.
An unusual situation: in the editors' voting, the authors received an equal number of points, so both will receive $100 prizes.
Hiro writes that the announced marathon helped him maintain motivation:
The marathon format and the social declaration of it helped keep focus on continuing to act, rather than giving up on work due to mistakes or being in a state of tilt. In a clear, emotion-free state, I was able to find my game and push off primarily from dry analysis and numbers in all aspects related to poker, and even beyond.
Once again, I'm convinced that a big, clear goal built on smaller ones unites everything into a single whole. And when there are clear and understandable tasks in line with it, the process becomes most effective.
💔 In Memory of Lera msBonanza
Let's take a moment to reflect on someone who sadly won't be contributing to our forum anymore. On May 27th, we learned that one of our forum's brightest members, msBonanza, had passed away.
She began writing a blog in September 2024 and immediately won the hearts of her readers. Despite her health issues, Lera remained optimistic, streamed, wrote about travels, and shared happy memories. Here are the top posts we've discovered on Telegram:
A heartbroken fan wrote a piece, concluding with:
I apologize for drawing a poker analogy in this situation, but I believe this exceptional game is the best reflection of human life. We must fight for our Expected Value (EV) at any given moment, regardless of the actual outcome that awaits us. It doesn't matter what our EV is - for some, it's money, for others, family, emotions, travels, careers, Dota, stocks, crypto, or cats and dogs, and so on. We can only influence our decision in the moment; the rest is up to chance.
Rest in peace, Lera.
📖 Read the post
Blog Battle
Winners and runners-up from each league receive $175 and $125, respectively, as well as $100 tournament tickets on CoinPoker. Authors placing 3rd to 10th get $10 tickets. Some posts overlap with those discussed above, as the tastes of the editorial team and forum readers sometimes align!
If you've been keeping up with life on our forum, this victory might not surprise you! Lisenook, of "Simply Diary" fame, took the top spot. On May 1st, she launched a marathon with a demanding goal: to make $2,500 in 2 weeks on Rush PL25 at PokerOK and accepted 1:1 bets against herself. Backers were quick to join, while comments buzzed with excitement as the $4,000 offer disappeared like hotcakes, and people lined up to place side bets.
However, after a couple of days, it became clear that the optimism (or rather, pessimism) of the backers was unfounded. It was tougher than expected, but she persevered and triumphed at the last moment on the final day. A legend! Lisenook, however, remains skeptical of any praise, declaring she's no different from others.
That wraps up our May awards! Hope you found some informative and inspiring reads, whether you're poker enthusiasts or saavy investors. Remember: Face your EV, wide awake, and boldly pursue your dreams, whatever they may be.
See you in June!
📖 Read the inspiring stories of these incredible winners
- In the 'Forum Heroes' section, Koté was the winner in the 'Jokes and Memes' category for his essay about failures in Counter-Strike.
- HuanXIV, in the 'Investments and Business' category, challenged the S&P 500 index, aiming to prove that putting money there is not the most profitable option for passive investors.
- Shtirlitz, in the 'Motivation' section, shared his experience of leaving his job at Russian Railways to become a professional Chinese poker player, earning about the same as before but gaining something more valuable - time for rest, study, and family.
