We created this resource page to share products and services that we are using in our journey and/or that we believe are valuable. We will update this page regularly as we learn more about the resources that will help us on our pilgrimage.

Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. However, we highly recommend all of the products and services on this page . We will not share anything on this page that we have not either personally used and loved or verified through extensive research. For more information, see our Disclosure page.

Your Poker Game

Advanced Poker Training: Here we offer a disclosure upon a disclosure. We both serve as Advanced Poker Training Ambassadors. This is one of our many Side Hustles, and frankly the one we find the most rewarding. Advanced Poker Training (APT) is a different kind of Poker Training website. Advanced Poker Training’s web-based software matches you up against more than 100 computerized opponents, with 10 levels of play. These opponents exploit your weaknesses and learn how to beat you over time, just like potentially expensive human opponents. Their Beat the Pro Challenges pit you head-to-head against pros like Scotty Nguyen, Jonathan Little, and Mike Caro, playing exactly the same 20 hands in a variety of categories and situations. After you play the 20 hands, you can watch a replay of the pro playing the same hands, explaining his or her logic the entire way. APT offers a variety of other training resources as well. We think that Advanced Poker Training is one of the best training resources around for No Limit Hold ‘Em. You can get a taste of APT by signing up for a free membership.

PokerGo:  PokerGo boasts 100 days of live tournaments a year. They also have a beautiful studio where they feature final tables of a number of WSOP, WPT, and other events. They’ve even brought back the much beloved Poker After Dark. If you love poker and you haven’t given it a try, we recommend you use a free trial to check it out.

MasterClass: Daniel Negreanu’s Masterclass is a nice supplement to your other poker training efforts. Daniel covers a wide range of topics, from basics such as position and hand range, to more advanced concepts like controlling tells. With a combination of video content, written material, and class discussion, the MasterClass can speak to all types of learners. You can get an unlimited pass to all MasterClass content for a year for only $180. We find this to be an excellent deal with so many other great classes on offer.

Blue Shark Optics: If you are a sunglass-wearing poker player, Blue Shark Optics offers some of the best out there. As an added bonus, Blue Shark has glasses that are fabulous at blocking blue light, protecting your eyes from the negative effects of spending too many hours looking at a screen (not that we would ever do that…). I don’t have a pair of Blue Shark glasses yet myself, but I promise that they are on my Christmas list!

Travel Hacks

VRBO: VRBO is a great home and apartment rental resource. We have rented through VRBO multiple times for vacations with our children and have always been quite happy with the homes that we have stayed in. Home rental is generally less expensive than a hotel, especially when travelling with 6 family members.

Airbnb

Airbnb: From the small to the large and the funky to the traditional, Airbnb offers a wide variety of accommodations for every type of traveler. We have only used Airbnb twice to date, but have had good experiences with them and are planning to more fully investigate their pricing and options as we consider longer stays in certain locations.

Side Hustles

User Testing: We have been making extra money with User Testing for close to a year now. This is a great side hustle in which you test or review websites for various companies. User Testing records your voice and captures your screen in order to help companies learn how consumers experience their site. Most tests pay $10 and take 10 minutes or less. Thus the hourly rate is much higher than what you might make on many other websites.  The only downside is that man companies are seeking specialized populations. I have found that I rarely qualify for more than one or two reviews a day. Nonetheless, User Testing can be a great way to make some extra money each month.

Start Your Own Blog

SiteGround: We are now hosted on SiteGround. While we have only recently transferred hosting, SiteGround gave us wonderful customer service through the transfer process. For a reasonable price, Siteground offers more bandwidth, more storage, and excellent customer service. We can highly recommend SiteGround if you are looking to start your own blog. SiteGround now even has a custom migration plugin which allows you to migrate any WordPress site to SiteGround in just a couple of clicks. A real boon for any technophobe bloggers!

MailerLite: We are currently building our email list (sign up in the sidebar!) using MailerLite. We have been very impressed by MailerLite’s ease of use, options, flexibility, and segmentation abilities. And best of all, it’s free when your list is small.  We look forward to building our list to the point we need to start paying for the service.

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of the Making Sense of Cents blog teaches an incredible online course about how to get started with affiliate marketing on your blog called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. We took this course as we planned Poker Pilgrims. The course was thorough and detailed, complete with worksheets and step-by-step procedures explaining how to market, what to market, and where to market. The course also covers bringing more traffic to your blog and the magic of Pinterest. As I write, we are very early in the life of Poker Pilgrims, so I have no outcomes to report. However, we are following Michelle’s advice and hope to earn some affiliate income to contribute to our trip budget. While Michelle’s course is not cheap, I am hoping that in the end, it will have been worth it (and I will definitely let you know!)

 

 

Blogs We Love

Cardplayer Lifestyle: Site founder Robbie Strazynski, along with a wonderful group of contributing poker writers, regularly posts interviews with top poker personalities, top-notch poker strategy articles, poker op-eds, and engaging poker lifestyle pieces. Be sure to check it out!

Side Hustle Nation: Nick Loper’s blog and podcast have taught us much about side hustling and provided inspiration and motivation in our journey toward Financial Independence.

The Bloggess: Because who doesn’t love the Bloggess? She is the only blogger that can make me laugh out loud on a regular basis.

YoungHouseLove: I find this family so appealing and they are a great source for product recommendations and home hacks. I am particularly fond of their Instagram page, and their now defunct podcast.