3 Good Years - Prologue

All of his life Marc had played by "the" rules. He didn't get into trouble. He did what was expected and very little to attract attention. He found a job after college. Instead of vegging out he went to grad school when he burnt out. Then he ground out a brutal two years, following his classmates' dreams. Getting laid-off in the wake of the '99 tech bubble would have been expected, but surprisingly his company perceviered. September 11th was a blow from which the company couldn't recover. Marc spent much of 2002 with nothing to do at work and nearly all of 2003 unemployed. Then he landed a temporary gig that lasted for 3 years. Temporary indeed. During that temp job three things happened. One event each year that each changed his life forever.

Finally, after 34 years of passively watching his life happen, Marc decided to participate. Too little too late.

*****************************
A Working List of Characters
Marc Evans - Protagonist.
Michelle Dennis-Evans - Marc's wife
Jeremiah Joseph Evans (JJ) - Marc's son
Leanne Kouts - Marc's Boss
Benjamin Butterfield - Leanne's boss
The Pigeon - Marc and Patrick's lackey
The Remorseless Shitter - Marc and Patrick's lackey
Porno Guy - Marc and Patrick's lackey
Jenny Jameson - Marc's unfortunately named co-worker
Patrick Irish - Marc's co-worker and confidant
Oksaloosa - Marc's Poker mentor
Jayme Clyff - Michelle's business partner
Alicia Walker - Nurse
Steve Blacksmith - Marc's former boss
Brian David - Marc's friend
Mason "the Iraqi" Mathers - Marc's friend
Captain Oliver - Police Officer, District Captain
Nigel Nottingham - Marc's Lawyer
Marta Evans - Marc's Mother
Bill Evans - Marc's Father
Lyle Dean - Marc's Maternal Grandfather
Helen Dean - Marc's Maternal Grandfather
Pricilla Maigert - Poker player and lounge singer
"Tippy" - Existentialist Poker Pro
******************************


I am outlining the story, but only in my head. Tomorrow I expect to write the first chapter and maybe the first two. Thats a goal of 5000 words and euphoria if I can hit 7500. Anything north of that and I will flame out in no time. I haven't decided if I will post chapters of not. Not that they will serve any purpose other than posterity for yours truly. 'Cause they certainly won't be worth a shit.

Monday Morning Notes

My parents were in town this weekend. They brought my octogenarian great aunt with them. We had a great visit. Is there anything better for a little kid than live in grandparents for the weekend?
********************
In chatting with some other baseball fans of the Pond Scum variety. I was told that David Eckstein was over paid and over rated. That there are several other short stops in the minor leagues just as good or better, sitting in AAA rotting away. Really? REALLY? I somehow doubt it. Even if there were guys with more physical tools down in AAA, do really think they are better players than Eckstein?

Okay, let me ask you this, would you rather your kid grew up to be David Eckstein, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose or Milton Bradley? I am not just talking about as a baseball player, but as a person. Lets face it. At 5'7" David Eckstein stands head and shoulders above most of todays professional athletes. His work ethic and determination can't be taught.

Just think about how Eck takes first base every time he makes contact. His hustle might get him 1 extra base hit a year. He busts his ass every time for 1 extra hit in 162 games. Why, because only assholes lolly gag it to first on a weak grounder to short to have the ball get baubled and miss getting on by a step.

I respect a player that makes the most of his abilities through hard work and determination. I can't respect someone who takes the easy way with steroids. I can't understand the ones that rest on their superior natural talents and fail to work hard.
**************************
Tomorrow is Halloween. The boy is going as Blue from Blues Clues and I will be doing my very best Steve, complete with a handy dandy notebook. For those non-breeders, please reference this photo.
**************************
I am playing a bit on FTP. $25 NL. I need fishier tables. These seem to have become rock gardens.
**************************
Go bid on some pokery type stuff on e-bay For Peyton.
**************************
Looks like the STL guys will be in Vegas. I will not disclose our hotel, only to say its on the strip and not where the majority of the degenerates are staying.
**************************

Friday News and Notes

Supergirl is a much better ma(t)ch for Superman than Lois Lane. You know her pelvis can take a super pounding.

-Shadowboy on Threadless.com



Exactly how many of the Tigers are on the take? I can't recall ever seeing a team implode with such a combination of bad luck (slipping in the out field) and errors (pitchers throwing into right and left field to score runs). My prediction: Pujols wakes up and has 2 HR's and 4 RBI's to clinch it tonight and earn himself the MVP.

I prefer to focus on the international angle to the UIGEA. In reading PaulP yesterday I found my way to this article via some guy who I can't find nows comment. This is, in my opinion, the easiest way to get relief from the UIGEA and our nanny government. The basics: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has already found that the U.S. is in violation of it's rules and now the country of Antigua can retaliate. The recommended retaliation? Non-enforcement of U.S. patents in Antigua. The little country could become the legal I.P. pirate capital of the world. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The UIGEA will unravel it is just a matter of how much time it will take.

Today is ultrasound day for the wife. We already have a good idea that we're having a girl due to a previous one, but we'll confirm today with this scan. Girl. Now I have to get a gun. I mean is there anything more disgusting than a 14-16 year old boy?

Steve Irwin was kicked out of Satan's Halloween party for not having a costume. I think Matt and Trey would be the first ones to tell you that if they believed in hell there would all ready be a special corner reserved for them. The entire set up to Steve getting kicked out is hilarious. highlight for spoiler: Someone tells Satan that there is someone in s Steve Irwin stung by a Sting Ray costume. Satan is offended because it's "too soon." So he goes over to bounce the guy for having poor taste. The guy protests by saying "But Satan, its me, Steve Irwin." Satan then runs him out for not having a costume.

It is raining here in STL right now. They meteorologists have stated that the rain should move out between 3:30 and 4:30. So hopefully they can get the game in tonight.

Pizza for lunch, pizza for dinner.

Hold'em, Fold'em and Cheat?

Rick Vaughn: What's that shit on your chest?
Eddie Harris: [wiping his finger across his chest] Crisco?
Eddie Harris: [wiping it across his waist line]
Eddie Harris: Bardol?
Eddie Harris: [wiping it along his head]
Eddie Harris: Vagisil. Any one of them will give you another two to three inches drop on your curve ball. Of course if the umps are watching me real close I'll rub a little jalapeño up my nose, get it runnin', and if I need to load the ball up I just...
Eddie Harris: [wipes his nose]
Eddie Harris: ...wipe my nose.
Rick Vaughn: You put snot on the ball?
Eddie Harris: I haven't got an arm like you, kid. I have to put anything on it I can find. Someday you will too.

Harris: This guy threw at his own son in a father son game.

I don't know if Kenny was cheating or not cheating. I just know that I can't believe that he had no idea that there was schmutz on his hand. I also can't believe that in todays MLB that a pitcher doesn't get run automatically for having a hand dipped in unknow foreign substances.

But then again I guess we should give good ol' Kenny the benefit of the doubt, right?

WPBT Random Funnies

http://billriniispartypokersbiatch.blogspot.com/
I found this while looking at my search referals. Bill, someone doesn't like you.

Iggy's IM status yesterday was "Mr. Clean". I asked him if that meant he shaved his fucking hippie head of hair or if he joined AA. He assured me it was something else all together.

Felicia is closing down her blogger site (kinda). You might want to post that notice on a forum that more than 3 people read if you really want to get the word out.

Today Iggy's status message is TGIF. You fucking sellout corporate drone. How dare you quit living the lifestyle that all others only dream about to return to the corporate machine. Next thing you will tell me your shilling for Full Tilt instead of Party.

Anyone have an extra World Series ticket? Anyone?

Where the hell have these guys gone? Otis is playing hippy, but what about the other two? Its bad enough we have to suffer with CJ and BG acting like they know football, but 1 post all week? WTF?

Pauly posted a portion of his novel and a bunch of dipshits decided to play copy editor. He asked if you would buy the book, not if you took grammer. Guess what, when the good doctor gets a deal and sells his piece, the publisher will hire someone to copy edit the fucking thing. If you really are concerned about his grammer, email him that instead of commenting trying to inflate your own ego at the expense of others. If I asked you how to get to Detroit will you tell me I need an oil change?

Online Poker Scenario

With the recent legislation including the UIGEA, the suspension of Habeas Corpus and the legalization of torture via the Military Commissions Act of 2006 America, nay the world, is fraught with peril. That's right, in America we make online poker illegal and torture legal. Hooza!!

So how is this for a scenario?

I happen to know and know of several people that own or work for, are sponsored by online poker sites that continue to do business in the United States. One of the key reasons that the UIGEA was passed was the mythical potential for terrorists to be able to launder money through online gaming. Lets be clear. Terrorists can easily launder money in a bricks and mortar casino, but we don't have anyone cracking down on that.

Said U.S. citizen and employee of online poker site based overseas decides that they would like to come home for Thanksgiving/ Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanza/ Funeral/ Birthday/ Wedding/ Blowjob/ Party/ etc. Said employee is detained by the FBI/ CIA/ NSA/ DHS/ Army/ Navy/ Marines when their international flight lands at New York's JFK airport.

Said employee is accused of being in violation of the UIGEA by being part of an organization that accepts illegal gambling transactions. Now the employee of online poker site says, "BUT WAIT!! The UIGEA doesn't make anything I did illegal! Poker is still legal and having a job is still legal! I want my attorney!"

Ooops. As these transactions may include the laundering of money by terrorists the employee is deemed to be and enemy combatant and then detained as such by the U.S. goverment. This employee will receive no legal counsel and will not have his day in court. I repeat, you, an American Citizen don't get an attorney and you don't get a day in court. Why? Because as an enemy combatant you are not subject to Habeas Corpus.

Instead...

You are subject to legal torture at the hand of your own government. For those of you that think this is a ridiculous scenario need to get a clue.

For those of you that believe the above scenario is impossible because the Military Commissions Act of 2006 specifically exempts American citizens I offer you two alternatives: 1.) How American Enemy Combatants were treated before this law and 2.) Change the lead characters citizenship to Canadian and see if that makes it easier to swallow.

Yes I offer you an extreme example. You can argue that it is highly implausible. I agree, it is highly implausible. That is exactly my point. Thank you for agreeing with me. You didn't see that coming did you?

The scenario outlined above is highly implausible. A few days ago it was impossible.

Bugged

I received this email from Bugsy, a site on which I have only ever played play money games. The cash games seem to have too little traffic, but maybe that will change. Also a $500 bonus on a $100 deposit? Might make it worth while to a least check out the requirements.

500% First Deposit Bonus

Come and have a go at knocking out "Bill_Frist" in the $5,000 GTD Frist Big Stack Bounty Saturday 21st October 9pm CDT. Let the rest of the poker world know that Bugsy remains open to USA players and has put a bounty on Frist. Knock Frist out of BugsysClub and win $500. Join the players at BugsysClub and celebrate eliminating "Frist" from the cardroom. I will be present looking in and offering plenty of assistance to players by way of trivia questions and random cash prize giveaways. Take advantage of my special first deposit bonus offer of 500% to a maximum of $500 bonus, available until midnight Sunday.

Luck, Bugsy

Party Double Talk? (Live blogging with customer service)

I received an email from Party telling me that they were going to deduct another $5 from my account. It turns out that my account had $5.88 in it, which has since been deducted down to $0.88. So they emailed me to tell me that they are going to take $5.00 from my $0.88 balance. Goodluck with that one. Is Party still accepting wagers from US based clients? I thought they shut the door. Note that I have logged in since a couple of weeks ago I cashed all but $5.88 out. I don't know why that amount was left, but it was. IDIOTs.

Original Email:

Our records show that that you have not logged in to your account for 180 days.

A $$5 administration fee* has been charged to your inactive account. The next charge will be deducted from you account balance on: 15-Nov-2006.

However, this fee will NOT be charged if your account, or any related account, is reactivated on or before 14-Nov-2006.

Reactivating your account is easy: Just log in and place a cash wager, enter a tournament with a cash entry fee, or play a raked hand.

*TERMS & CONDITIONS If you do not access your Account by "logging on" to your Account using your Account name and password for any period of 180 days, then after those 180 days (the "180 day grace period") your Account (and any related account with any ESP) will be deemed "Inactive". If your Account becomes Inactive, then the Company is entitled to charge you an administrative fee (the "Inactive Account Fee"). The Inactive Account Fee shall be deducted from your Account Balance at the end of each calendar month in accordance with the Inactive Account Fee Schedule. We will stop deducting the Inactive Account Fee from your Account Balance if your Account is re-activated.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our Customer Care team is available 24/7.

Sincerely,

Party Team

My Reply:

Can't you just cash me out? Seeing as how you are unwilling to do business with me any more. My account is inactive because you won't accept me as a customer.

Dumbasses.

Party's Retort:

Dear Chilly

Thank you for contacting us.

With regard to your query, I would like to inform you that there are no
restrictions on youraccount at present that should prevent you from
logging in. Further, the balance in your PartyAccount is $0.88.

Hence, I request you to make a deposit at the earliest so that you can
enjoy our real  money games and cashout your winnings as well. Your
account will become reactivated as soon as you log in and place a cash
wager, enter a tournament with a cash entry fee, or play a raked hand.

If you still wish the cashout the balance of $0.88 in your account,
please let us know, so that we may assist you in this regard.

If you have any questions please contact us, we are available 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week to assist you.

Sincerely,

Anu
Transaction Customer Service, Pay-Pro

My Second Reply:

Great! I am glad to hear that Party Gaming is once again accepting wagers from U.S. based customers!! I can't wait to tell all my friends!! Do you have a press release that I can post on my website that gives details?

Thanks,

Chilly

Their Final Word?:

Dear Chilly,

Thank you for contacting us again.

Firstly I sincerely apologize for the miscommunication.

Please note that our company has ceased to accept wagering or deposits
from US customers as the online Gambling lesgislation has passed in to
law. However,you PartyAccount is active in order to facilitate cashouts
from your account. As mentioned in our previous mail you account balance
as of now stands at $0.88. You may go ahead and cashout this balance via
eChecks by IGM Pay i,e. to your bank account absolutely FREE!.

Please follow the below mentioned instructions in order to cashout via
IGM Pay:

1) Click on *Cashier*.
2) Click on *Cashout*.
3) Go to the *eChecks by iGM-Pay* and then click on 'cashout'.
4) Enter the amount that you wish to cashout.
5) Eenter your bank account details.
6) Click on *Cashout*.

Once your cashout is processed, you will receive the amount in 3-7
business days.

When you register your bank account, two Small Initial Deposits
(less than $1)will be sent for bank account verification. These will
reflect on your bank statement in 2-3 business days. You will need to
identify the amounts and verify the registered bank account for future
cashouts.

Note: For security purposes, cashout requests are submitted to our
internal review team for approval before they are processed, which
normally takes 24-48 hours. You can also track the status of your
cashout by clicking on 'cashier' and then 'cashout history'.

If you have any questions please contact us, we are available 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week to assist you.

Sincerely,

Kaustubh
Transaction Customer Service, Pay-Pro
24/7 Customer Support:

My Stone Cold Reply:

I hope Dikshit chokes on the $0.88. I hope you have another job lined up 'cause your company is going into the toilet. Oh and jsut why did you chicken shits remove the player counter?

-Chilly

"I gonna' paint his town red and paint his wife white. West Coast Pussy for my St. Lou players."

They Come Back:

Dear William

It is our utmost pleasure to have you play on our site. Unfortunately,
as the legislation prohibiting online gambling is passed into law, it
is illegal for players from U.S. to access their real money accounts
or play at real money tables. I request you to kindly understand that
your not being able to play at the site is not because we would not
like you to do so. In fact, it is our sole desire. Yet, we have to
abide by the regulations set by law. We are at present working on
providing more games and services for our U.S. players that will come
within the regulations of the law.

While writing the earlier mail that you were sent, informing that you
can log in and play, I had overlooked the fact that your location is
U.S.A. and replied to the message you sent about the inactive account
fee. That message is an automated one, that any player who logs into
the account after a long period receives. I apologize most sincerely
for the mistake.

I would also like to inform you that you can indeed cashout the balance
in your account. The minimum amount has been reduced to $0.01 to
facilitate withdrawals through IGMPay. In order to do this, please click
on 'Cashier' and 'Cashout'. Find the option 'e-checks by IGMPay-
and click on the blue link 'Register Bank Account' next to it. Please fill
up the form and click on 'Submit/Continue'. Now, you should be able to
proceed to request a cashout to the bank account that you registered
for the entire amount in your account.

Cash outs via iGM-Pay take anywhere between 3-7 business days for you to
receive from the day they are processed.

I hope this has cleared any misunderstanding that might have been present.
We are sorry about this unfortunate turn of events, optimistic at the same
time that better times lay ahead!

If you have any questions please contact us, we are available 24 hours a day,
7 days a week to assist you.

Sincerely,

Anu


  

Yeah, because I am going to give them my bank account data for $0.88. So I volley back:

Let me get this straight. In order to get $0.88 back I need to provide you with my checking account number, routing number and give you permission to make transactions into and out of my account? The risk/reward ratio on this transaction seems to be a little bit off.

Like I said before. Dikshit can choke on my $0.88. I don't want it, I don't need it and quite frankly It would cost me more than $0.88 to re-install your shitty software back onto my computer.

Also let me clarify something. I have logged into your site in the last month. I logged in via my PC and via my MAC. I was unable to get seated at a table with either machine. I could join a waiting list but your shitty interface was being buggy and would not allow me to sit down. So I cashed out. for some reason you had $5.88 of my bankroll squirrled away and I didn't get this money out. Now you keep sending me emails telling me that you are charging me $5 for inactivity. I think this charge is in direct violation of the UIGEA and I will be contacting the IRS, FCC, FDA, Bill Frist and Jesus. You see the way I figure it I gambled $5.88 that Party Gaming had a decent soul with some sense of customer service and loyalty. I lost that gamble and you took my money!!! VIOLATORS!!!!

So I expect a full refund of my entire $5.88. Not the $0.88 that is currently in my balance, but all the fees that you illegaly took from my account. And do NOT email me back a copy of your Terms and Conditions! I don't care what it says and neither does Bill Frist!

Ignorant Journalists Kill Online Poker

I was reading my hometown paper online and came across this article. Its shitty uniformed pieces like this that will make it impossible to "put the toothpaste back in the tube. Not only is the article factualy inaacurate, it contains sentences that make no sense. Hell Waffles writes better than this. My comments are in red. I am writing this up and will be forwarding it Mary Challender, the author. (mchallender@dmregister.com)

Internet gambling law targets banks

The legislation requires financial institutions to stop payments to and from illegal Internet sites.

By MARY CHALLENDER")
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
October 14, 2006

A federal bill that adds serious muscle to ineffective state laws prohibiting online gambling has counselors in Iowa ecstatic, bankers nervous and Texas Hold 'Em fans detouring to casinos. (To be clear: the lawdoesn't prohibit online gambling. This sentence is just obtuse enough to make it sound like online gaming has been banned.)

"I'm very excited about it," said Lisa Pierce, director of the Central Iowa Gambling Treatment Program. "The primary people playing on the Internet seem to be high school and college-age, and I only see it getting worse. ("Seems to be?" Nice job on getting some facts into this article. Was it too hard to get any actual statistics?)

"Seven percent of phone calls that come in over the crisis line are now in reference to online gambling. I don't think this is a cure-all, but it's a deterrent." (Has the total number of calls increased by 7% or are the same troubled souls just troubled online instead of at Prairie Meadows? You are trying to make it sound as though online gaming is responsible for a 7% increase in crisis line calls, when we both know that is not the case)

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement provision signed by President Bush on Friday was buried as an amendment in the SAFE Port Act. (Don't mention that the powerful labor unions we able to get a portion of this law removed. That portion? The bit about not allowing felons to work in our ports. Safe ports, as ling as those felons are trustworthy.)

It includes elements of legislation that U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, R-Ia., has been pushing for eight years.

Passage of the amendment is the federal government's recognition that online gambling is illegal in nearly every state, including Iowa, yet it continues to experience stunning growth, Leach said. (This is a grammatical trainwreck. Go back, add some punctuation and try again.)

The legislation exempts legal forms of gambling such as horse racing, state lotteries and casinos. (The legislation exempts ONLINE horse betting and ONLINE state lotteries it has no impact on bricks and mortor casinos. Way to muddy the waters with this sentence. Of course horse tracks and lotteries are still legal, but the online versions we specifically exempted because gambling isn't immoral if the lobby (horses) or revenue (lotteries) pads campaigns or state coffers.)

Under the bill, financial institutions must stop payments to illegal online gambling sites. (This is in fact true. This is what the bill does. )

Thus, the new legislation attacks gambling in the purse strings, prohibiting banks, credit card companies and third-party payment systems from completing transactions. Typically, Internet gamblers create accounts with third-party payment services similar to PayPal to finance their poker playing or other transactions, said Aaron Albright, spokesman for the American Bankers Association.

"No one thought it would ever pass," Leach said of the bill. "The gambling industry knew about it but thought it could be blocked. Just the passage has caused a couple of Internet gambling companies to say they're going to leave the American market."

Internet gambling adds nothing to the economy, he said, but carries heavy costs in terms of higher credit rates and as a vehicle for money laundering. (Saying that it adds nothing to the economy is a lie. It has less of an impact on the American economy because the Federal Government will not allow the companies to be based here. Many of the major companies are publicly traded in Europe. Has anyone ever even been investigated for laundering money via online gaming? How is this work? How does it differ from potential money laundering in a live casino?)

The negative impact has been enormous, Leach said, not just on families that have lost homes and seen marriages dissolve because of rapidly escalating online losses but also on American society as a whole. (Really? Point to one example. How is this different from the impact of live gaming? )

Members of the banking industry say they are uncomfortable with the position the new legislation puts them in.

"There's still some regulatory processes to go through, but at the end of the day, it really sets banks up to be the policemen for social issues," Albright said. "We're willing to do our part in helping, but there are billions of transactions made every year. To find those that are strictly illegal Internet gambling, it could become a compliance nightmare."(yes the Law asks your bank to monitor your bank account and play police in your matters. It is likely an unfunded mandate that will cause banking costs to rise for all consumers.)

The uncertainty over what will happen to those accounts under the new legislation has some gamblers shying away from online betting.

Rick Novak, 39, who owns a construction company in Fairfax, said the ban persuaded him to put his twice-a-week online Texas Hold 'Em habit on hold for now.

"I don't know how I would be able to cash money out legally," he said. "No one knows how to get paid out or if they're the ones breaking the law or the Internet companies or if they're going to get arrested." (Really? Every online poker site has been up front about how to get money in or out under this new law. You interview the one guy that plays poker that doesn't read his email?)

Novak, whose online poker playing got him all the way to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in 2004, thinks the federal government is taking the wrong approach when it comes to online poker and other gambling.

"I think it will be impossible to completely eliminate it," he said. "If they taxed it and regulated it, it would be better for everyone.

"Right now, the profits are going to the offshore companies that are doing the Web sites, and of course they don't have to pay taxes and they're not regulated," Novak added.

Overall I think this was a poorly written an hardly researched piece about a major issue confronting Americans today. This is another example of personal freedoms being taken away by a Nanny Government. You quote Jim Leach a major proponent of the legislation. You quote a gambling crisis worker and pass her opinions as facts. You could have easily contacted the Poker Players Alliance for an informed opinion from the other side of the issue, but instead you talk to one uniformed guy that plays online twice per week.

“If you could be a Spice Girl, which one would you be and why”

When the question was posed “If you could be a Spice Girl, which one would you be and why” I took the immediate action of contacting my resident expert. You see my brother-in-law is currently a 20 year old college student. He plays bass and guitar. He sings. His punk band has performed at some of the clubs here in St. Louis. He is also a *cough* poker *cough* player, with a penchant for bluffing and overplaying top pair. Party pulling out of the US is going to hit him especially hard.

So why is my BiL my resident expert on the Spice Girls? Long ago (10 years), before he was a punk turned emo come singer song/writer, Andrew was a total fanboi girl power wannabe. I crush him every year at Christmas when I gift him a Spice Girls CD or DVD or lunchbox and respond to his looks of disbelief with “What? You don’t like them anymore?”

Upon consultation with Andrew we decided that being any of the Spice Girls would be a less than stupendous experience. So we will decide which we don’t want to be the least. Andrew provided me with in depth descriptions of the ladies and I highlight the characteristics that let me eliminate them.

Geri Halliwell aka Ginger Spice – She is fat/thin/fat. I couldn’t handle her diet. She is the one that got Posh all anorexic. Plus everyone has already seen her mommy parts. I am nothing if not shy and demur so Ginger is out.

Melanie Janine Brown aka Scary Spice - Scary is the only ethnic spice. It is intriguing to think of having the opportunity to experience being a Nevisian-English woman. Be lets face it, she’s nuts and she is currently dating Eddy Murphy. No way I am sleeping with Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock maybe.

Victoria Caroline Adams aka Victoria Caroline Beckham aka Posh Spice – No way. The Brits are way to much up in her business. She has to hang out with head case David Beckham and she weighs like a buck o five. He major enemy is Naomi Campbell. No way I am crossing swords with Naomi “Speeddial” Campbell.

Emma Lee Bunton aka Baby Spice – I had no idea her name was Emma. She is pretty vanilla and not a bad choice. I could live my life only be famous when it suited me.

Melanie Jayne Chisholm aka Mel C aka Sporty Spice – Hmmm. She is skinny, but has the most edge of any Spice Girl. Her music sucks the least of all of them as she tries to RAWK! \m/ I obviously don’t have to care what I wear or if I bathe. Plus I get to be a Spice Girl and still sleep with women. Winner!

So here I am, I am Sporty Spice. My days are filled with kicking transient lesbians out of my bed at the crack of 3 pm, watching Billy Blanks videos and drinking Gin and Tonics. If its Saturday I will take a shower whether I need it or not. I hop down to the cleaners to see if my track suits are ready. I will troll over to the corner coffee house to check on the “new hires” to see if any are to my liking. Like Benjamin Franklin with a key on the string of his kite, the result proved electric. We are soon across the street at the pub drinking pints until she is fully ready. Back to my flat for a few more G&T’s and we wake after noon on Sunday. Whew. The life of a pop star.

Harrah's, Campaign Juice and Poker Juice

I was reading Change100’s report on satellites into big events and I started thinking about recent events that have happened in the (my) poker world.

• Online poker takes a blow with the passage of the UIGEA.
• Harrah's announced they will not accept third-party registrations for the 2007 WSOP.
• The Harrah’s poker room in St. Louis was recently expanded and made nice with glass walls and a true smoke free environment.

Change100 and Dr. Pauly (in Change’s comments) make the point that Harrah’s could make some sweet bank off the juice from running satellites in the Amazon at the Rio during the WSOP. I think it goes much deeper than that. Also Change made the point that Harrah's could position itself as the sole provider of satellites to the WSOP, both live or online.

This led me to start asking myself a bunch of questions, for instance:

• "Self, why was Harrah's on the sidelines for this battle against the UIGEA?"
• "Self, was Harrah's really on the sidelines?"
• "Self, does Harrah's make political campaign contributions?"
• "Self, how much money might Harrah's stand to NET due to the UIGEA?"
• "Self, exactly how many insider trades went off just before the LBO bid was announced?"

So I have decided to throw my hat into the ring and write up a piece that is part investigative and part conjecture. I am not trained in these things, but I hope to provide some facts and some insight so that real journalists (actually talented bloggers) or Keith Olberman pick up the torch and run with it. The theory I will follow is this "Follow the money, stupid”. So that is what I am going to do. Follow some money. I will provide you with some raw numbers and some back-of-the-envelope calculations as to why I think that the UIGEA will be a net win for Harrah's and why I don't think Harrah's is all that upset by its passage. I am still baffled by the WPT's stance, but then again I think Steven Lipscomb is an idiot of the non-savant variety.

POLITICS

First, let’s look at the political money. According to this website (http://www.tray.com/) Harrah’s Operation Company, 1023 Cherry Road, Memphis, TN and Harrah's Entertainment, Las Vegas made to following campaign contributions:

• 2002 Election Cycle - $763,620.00
• 2004 Election Cycle - $150,000.00
• 2006 Election Cycle - $52,670.00

If you login to that website you can get more details about to whom the contributions went. A cursory look seems like it was mostly to Democrats, but the Tennessee connection proves to be worthy of follow-up to see if there is any Harrah’s Frist connection. In addition I do not know the rules of reporting but the 2006 contributions seem small. So maybe there are more to come. No huge revelations, other than Harrah's contributed a bunch in 2002. One possible theory, Frist makes run for President in 2008 and taps home state Harrah's for large contributions. Frist works to get Harrah's a poker exemption. - Status: Doubtful.

BUSINESS

Harrah's will be the sole provider of satellites to the WSOP, of course these will be live sats, with higher juice. Online poker sites will no longer run satellites into the events because Harrah's will not accept third party registrations. I am going to run with numbers for the main event, disregarding the smaller events, for now. Here are some swag numbers:

I'll guess that in 2007 ME 6,000 entrants qualified online. The number might be higher. The average prize package was $12,000 for each of those entrants. That's $72,000,000 in prize money and I would guess $18,000,000 in juice for online poker. The juice number is higher than you might first think due to super satellites. How might Harrah's capture more of that $18M in satellite juice? Hold its own satellites all year long, of course

Now live satellites are something that Harrah’s already does. Harrah's typically charges around 10% juice for its live tournaments. To capture $18M they would need to have 1,800,000 people pay $100 for a shot at the WSOP ME. A likely Scenario is that Harrah's runs $100+$20 satellites to the WSOP in all of its casinos nationwide. Winner gets what amounts to $13,000 in value. The WSOP ME is $10,000 + $600, I believe: $10,600 buy in, $1,400 cash and a room for as long as 2 weeks ($1000). Believe me those rooms are being paid for out of the prize pool, not the pockets of Harrah's.

You need 130 runners to make that happen. Any entrant over 130 and an additional prize pool is set for finishers 2-5 or something like that. Harrah's take is 130*20 = $2600 per satellite in juice.

That means that Harrah’s has to run 6900 satellites or the equivalent, to capture the $18M in juice available. Assume they could run 25 larger buy in satellites per day that equal 75 of those described above for 30 days during the WSOP leading up to the ME. That takes care of 2250 of the 6900, leaving 4650 to be completed during the rest of the year. That’s 90 per week across 38 properties nationwide. Let’s say that 30 of those have poker rooms.

Now throw in the super satellite SNG's - $25+$10 10 players (yes that’s a lot of juice, but I think it’s realistic for the Joe Sixpack), top two cash for $240 total and $100 in juice. Now, they really have something. Harrah’s could run 5 SNG’s per day and 10/day on weekends, issue lammers, etc. 45 SNG's per week * 30 casinos * $100 *52 weeks. That's $7.02 million. Just from SNG's.

I am not saying that each of Harrah's properties could achieve or sustain these numbers, but on average across all properties I don't think this is too much of a stretch, especially when you consider the only way to Satellite into the WSOP ME is via Harrah's. Realistically, however……..

Last year Harrah's took in $5,217,838 from 8,773 runners into the ME. (Figures via Dr. Pauly). Let’s guess that they ran 10 satellites per week, on average and collected $1.35 million in juice in total from satellites. So the satellite revenue I am forecasting is not all incremental, but much of it is. That's $6.56 million in juice for the ME.

I think they will do better. Harrah’s could easily collect 2340 satellite entries (45 per week over 30 casinos) for $6.08 million Juice + $4 million in Super Sat Juice + 1.8 M in ME Juice (3000 runners) for a total of $11.88 M. And don't forget about the 2340*1000 in hotel revenue from satellites = $2.34 million. 13.88 M.

Harrah’s will run into less revenue from the advertising side. Party, FTP, PokerStars etc. will not be pouring money into the WSOP. In addition the sponsors such as Milwaukee's Best and Degree will pay less. However the tourney will be 1/3 as long, require less management and dealer problems. I doubt the advertising fees will be 1/3 as much. What is the structure of the ESPN contract? How long are they in bed to gether? Is it guaranteed?

I know that Harrah's ran satellites to the ME at properties across the country, but had serious competition for the easier to access and cheaper online poker sites. In addition when it is all said and done Jamie Gold, Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker are not out there stumping for Harrah's. Moneymaker and Raymer do make appearances at/for Harrah's Properties, but their main deals are with PokerStars.

I don't think it is much of a stretch to see Harrah's capturing a larger share of the now shrinking poker market. This could be a genius move. With the WPT unable to satellite Joe Sixpack into the events and the major stars of poker boycotting the WPT Harrah's is in a great position. The WSOP can still capture the Joe Sixpacks and the WSOP Circuit can crush the WPT. Harrah's could easily be "sitting this one out" knowing that it can capture a larger share of a smaller market, there by growing its business overall and then in the...

FUTURE

The future is actually quite easy to predict. Harrah's launches its own online poker site by getting an exemption or finding a creative way around existing laws (such as using frequent player points online that can be earned and redeemed in real casinos). Because it has been the only game in town for quite sometime due to the marginalization of other online poker sites Harrahs.com/poker becomes the go to place on the web. It is, after all, the only place you can qualify online for the WSOP. The WPT at this point is defunct and Steven Lipscomb is sitting on a pile of cash that he made mostly from his "Champions of Poker" slot machines for which he had to pay no royalties.

CONCLUSION

I by no means am trying to say that Harrah's supported the UIGEA. I am saying that their silence was not necessarily one of ignorance. I think Harrah's stands to profit handsomely from recent events. It will take some time to pan out, but in the long run Harrah's will own American Poker.

Guitar Hero - Meet Your Match

I think I might drop the $8 on this little gem.

Lets Make a Deal

I would like to make use of my dwindling supply of Frequent Flyer Miles on American. I have 23,299 miles, only 1,701 short of a free ticket. In addition I have 8,438 Marriott rewards points.

Marriott Rewards Points can be used to buy AA miles at a rate of 10,o00 points for 2,000 miles. So I am short 1,562 Marriott Rewards points of getting a free ticket on American.

I managed to tap out my entire bank of Starwood points converting those to FFM's on Northwest so I could fly a few times from St. Louis to Brainard, MN to do some fishing. I tapped the balance of my NWA points to get some magazines.

American will let me buy 2,000 miles for $55. That seems a bit steep.

So my question is this - Does anyone have 2,000 American Miles or is it possible to gift 2000 Marriott rewards? The other alternative is to get an AA credit card. The annual fee would be stiff but compared to the $55/2000 it a better deal. Since the annual fee after 12 months is $85 and you get 20,000 miles after $250 in purchases (that I'd make anyway). But then I will have and extra 18,000 mile and be thisclose to another free ticket.

Not in this NFL

The Bronco's cut ephedra using punter Todd Sauerbrun. Todd's agent had this to say.

"If it had to do with winning football games, they would've kept him on the roster," Canter said. "He's one of the best. He's disappointed. He feels he could've been a catalyst on the team."

Not ever, once, in the history of the NFL has a team had a punter that was a catalyst for the team. Okay, maybe Ray Guy, maybe. That is one. Todd Sauerbrun is not two.

Upcoming Shows

St. Louis has a cool music venue that is just down the street from my house. I don't take advantage of it that often, not nearly often enough. I am always hearing about a show too late.

Here are some upcoming events.

MMJ I might have to check out My Morning Jacket based on Pauly's ravings alone.
DCFC. Of course Death Cab is sold out.
Dweezil Zappa is playing too. I think I'll pass, though seeing Steve Vai might be worth it.
Black Label Society is coming too. I am not a huge Zakk Wylde fan, but I due hate my eardrums.
Two days before BLS arrives Joan Baez will be rocking the house. I will likely go stand around outside just to get a contact high from the 60 year old hippies that can't hold their smoke.

Other acts that are coming, Indigo Girls, Five for Fighting, Pet Shop Boys, Kris Kristopherson, Dresden Dolls, Ian Anderson (the flautist from Jethro Tull!!!) Dane Cook's Tourgams sans Dane Cook (that good because Dane is the least funny guy on the tour) and Story of the Year.

THE PET SHOP BOYS??? WTF?

TypePad Calls me a spammer

I have tried several time today to post a comment on typepad.WilWheaton.com. Apparently I do not pass the Geek Test. I tried it with the links and without the links. I tried it sideways and upside down. Now I am obsessed with it because I spent so much damn time attempting to post it that I feel it would be a waste to delete it. Hell I even made up a couple of email addresses for @wilwheaton.net. I must be a stalker.

This is the post. Here is my comment:

"Would this work or not? The only real issue, as far as I can tell, is whether the hardcore audience for Show X is big enough to financially support a project like the one I'm suggesting."

This is essentially an application of the idea of "capturing the tail" from Chris Anderson.

The concept is much easier to apply to music because the costs to produce a single product (song) are much lower and the cost to sample the product range from $0 to $1.

So would this work? It depends on the price point of the output and the volume of purchases. I suspect that funding could be secured via loans based on pre-orders. Or even the pre-orders themselves. If you went to the fan base of Firefly today and asked them to each contribute $40 to purchase in advance a new season before it was produced would they do it? How many? What if it were $10?

Alternatively you are forced to go the traditional funding model in which the producers receive some amount of creative control simply because the want the largest audience possible. What Hollywood is slow to pick up on is that capturing 100% of 3 million is better than capturing .5% of 300 million. Hollywood still tries to capture everyone instead of capturing specific groups.

Lucas’s point is that out of 50-60 new pieces a few will be home runs and the rest might be turds but you have diversified your product portfolio such that you are more likely to make something that hits home and make money overall. This is a simple concept borrowed from finance.

If you'd like me to draw a Laffer curve or augmented Phillips curve that is completly irrelevant to this discussion I'd be more than happy.

Gunfight at the L.A. Commerce Casino

Paul Harris was playing poker at the Commerce Casino and a gunfight ensued. Read the details on his blog. My guess is that it was some guy looking for "The Luckbox" after getting two outed one too many times.

The GOP Platform 2006 - Midterms

Here are the GOP's current talking points. I was able to collect these on Google. I think this is just a draft of the points they will be making as the midterms edge closer. My thoughts are shown in italics.

1. Pedophilia - We're okay with it as long as 1.) It is man on boy (big NAMBLA campaign contributions I am guessing) and 2.) We have outs with alcoholism and warped sense of self due to molestation when they were young. We'll avoid morality and any thought of "The Buck Stops Here" when discussing the matter because that is how Dem's think. Avoid "personal responsibility" at all costs. Just deny we knew the guy was a sleaze ball and hope nobody produces the paper trail to prove otherwise. If pressed use the lines "I reported it" or "I told my supervisor." Don't mention who you reported it to or who your supervisor was. If member of your staff suddenly resigns please send all evidence for villification to Karl Rove and Fox News. If at all possible frame this as a question of homosexuality, not pedophilia. This has two effects. It frames all liberal homosexuals as pedophiles and it deflects from the fact that Foley is a pedophile. If you're Dennis Hastert, eat more pie.
   
   
2. Torture - Great. We love us some torture. Hell we even have John McCain on board. But don't worry, we won't torture you, we'll only torture those that deserve it until they tell us the story we want to hear. See #3 below. CYA - We will attempt to enact laws that remove ambiguity from previous tortureous actions and make them perfectly legal. In other words, we realize, after counsel with Kissenger, that war crimes really do exist and those European sissified hippies might grow a pair and bring up the Geneva Convention. Since violations of the GC are felonious, we could be screwed, but at least we'll be able to work as longshoremen, see #6 below. We are in a war, if that means we can suspend your civil liberties. Otherwise we are not in a war because that would mean that we would need to behold to the treaties we have signed regarding the conduct of war. - Kay?
   
   
3. Suspend habeas Corpus - We might need to lock you up and throw away the key. We won't charge you with anything and we might torture you as per #2 above. It is for the good of the country, but don't worry because this won't happen to you if you have nothing to hide, we promise.
   
   
4. Domestic Spying - We will perform warrantless taps of your phones and review your financial records. Since searches are without warrants, if we find anything suspicious we won't be able to arrest you because no judge would issue an arrest warrant based on evidence that was procured from a warrantless search. So we will have to declare you an enemy combatant in the war on terror and detain you in a military manner. Of course that means then, that #2 and #3 above would apply to you, an American citizen. (Might want to call Rove and get clarification on this. It seems like we're are setting up a scenario in which we can detain American citizens and give them no redress in the judiciary and then subject them to waterboarding. I don't that that's what the founding father's had in mind when drafting the Bill of Rights, but I'm no lawyer.).
   
   
5. We will continue to rely on our Christianity as a source of right versus wrong. The religious right has proven that they are an infallible beacon of morality. This means that we will listen and act on the whims (and pocket books) of large religious PAC's. Please ignore the tenets of personal responsibility and the Golden Rule per #1 and #2 above, respectively.
   
   
6. It is more important to curb internet gaming than it is to make sure that felons don't have jobs at our all ready swiss cheese like ports. Why? Well the Unions (and the MOB) make lots of campaign contributions and they were worried that too many former felons are employed on the docks. They are dues paying union members so they must be protected. Notwithstanding their felonious histories and associations with known criminals that may or may not be selling missiles to terrorists.
   
   
   

***********************************

There is "the right" and then there is right. Partisan politics have gone too far. I am sick of my civil liberties being eroded and I am tired of waiting for someone else to take action. I am not safer than I was 5 years ago. Consolidation of more powers under the President is not the answer. Let us hope the Dems take over the house so that the mindlessness of this administration might just come to a screeching lame duck halt. It is a long two years until we can hit the reset button, let's hope pause is enough.

************************************
Special thanks to Wil, PaulP, Dawn and Karol (really Karol, but I didn't want to hear it from Dawn if I didn't include her name), Ace of Spades, and Jon Stewart.

I didn't pull the fire alarm

Jordon over at highonpoker has a point that is right in line with my way of thinking. I am right there with him. I so much more enjoy live games. I tend to only play live when in the mood. I get giddy in anticipation of live sessions. Online has become this huge time suck in my life. I don't play well enough or often enough to get really good, just enough to let other things fall by the wayside. I am going to make a concerted effort to play live at least once per week and leave online alone for a while.

I will get far more utility out of 1 four hour live session per week than I will from 5-10 hours of online play. My play will be more focused and I won't have that online poker guilt of staying up until 1:00 am, getting nothing done around the house blah, blah, blah.

For instance last night I played the WWdN. That tourney starts at 7:30 central, a really bad time for me because the boy's bedtime is 8:00. So I was standing, watching "ELMO!!!" with the laptop on the mantel simultaneously trying to get the kid to settle down for night, night. I had pocket KK 3 times and AA once. I managed only to get action on KK once and I played that right into AQ that flopped an A. I managed to bluff raise the river and almost get him to go away, but no such luck. Crippled I hung in for 2.5 more orbits and was finally broke by some old lady. What a waste of time. I had no business playing in that tourney. I pushed KK into a pair of Aces knowing that I was beat, trying to make a play into a big stack. My focus was split and I made poor decisions all the way around. But, now I only have like $12 left on Stars. I think I run that through a $10 SNG and be done with it for a while.

*******************************************
During my life I have had a few re-occurring dreams. When I was young there were two, that seem to be standards. The first was showing up at school (elementary school) naked with only my faux leather Park Avenue Panthers tote bag slung over my shoulder. The second was of the fall down the basement stairs variety. I haven't had either of those in quite a while.

My new recurring dream, that I have been having since around 1995, involves football. Many of you know that before I became a slovenly bastard that I was actually an athlete. I played four years of high school soccer (swashbuckling left middle), two years of high school football (heroic placekicker responsible for 2 game winning kicks), and four years of college football (second team all-conference and 2 career tackles one of the suplex variety on an all-conference linebacker who blocked my PAT the other a flying decapitation style hit on some defensive back that blocked one of my PAT's). For those keeping score that's 5 high school varsity letters and 3 from college. Like I said I was an athlete.

So the dream is never quite the same, but it always has the same theme. I show up at my college coach's office and try to accertain certain things. First, what day do I need to report to two-a-days, second, what is my locker combination, and third how much eligibility do I have left. I always wind up wander around the locker room and then talking to the coaches semi-alcoholic secretary. I wake up not when the Studins twins laugh at my nekkidness or when I crash into the bottom of the stairs, but instead when I get the news that I used all of my eligibility.

Once I have had the variation where I actually got to play again. It was vivid as I remember lining up against Butler, in the Butler Bowl. Last nights variation was even weirder. I first went to my high school, got a note that I only played two years of high school football and took that note to my college coach's remodeled office and ask to apply my missing 2 years of high school to college.

I don't think its the actual football I miss. Its the team. I don't miss two-a-days, bus trips or practice in November in Iowa. I do miss eating dinner with the team, parties on Saturdays after homegames and going to dinner with my grandparents. I played in 27 varsity games in college. My parents and grandparents didn't miss one. One of the very last things my grandfather and I did together was listen to my college team play on the radio. We were in his hospital room and he faded in and out of sleep but would ask for the score every once in a while.

The second part of my psyche involved with this dream has to do with regrets. The summer before my freshman year I played soccer up until the middle of July. I spent a week fishing with my dad and grandpa and worked out 2-3 times per week for 3 weeks with two of my high school friends. I had no idea. During freshman and sophomore year I managed to pack on 45 pounds. Some of it muscle and some of it fat. I benched double what I did when I entered and squatted triple. Those feats still left me at the bottom of the weight lifters on the football team. Summer between Sophomore and Junior year I worked out twice a day. I lost 25 pounds from May 15 to August 15. The remaining 20 pounds? All muscle baby. Junior year was the year I was second team all-conference.

I kicked two last minute game winning field goals Junior year, in addition to having 2 games in which I scored 11 points. I set a bunch of school season records and was on pace for several career records. I basically took off the summer between Junior and Senior years. I didn't work hard and it showed. I regret it. I think that's what my dreams are really about.

Time travel is not a possibility. Recapturing youth is impossible. Reliving your glory days unattainable. Living with regret is avoidable.

For the first year or two after college I would get asked about football. I never really knew what to say. No I didn't talk to the NFL (this guy did, though) Yes, my longest in a game was 46 yards. No I don't think I was ever good enough for the pros. But I don't think I gave myself a chance to fulfill my potential either.

Those 45 pounds have sprawled into 100. As I sit here writing this my ankle throbs from a kickball injury (man can I kick the shit out of a kickball). Poker is a filler for that competitive gap, but it is a round peg in a square hole. It gets me most of the way there, but it lacks something. Co-ed kickball doesn't do it either. I don't feel sorry for myself. I just have regrets. I am looking for that certain something to fill that hole in my life.

I don't want to project these feeling on my son. One of the reasons I think I enjoyed sports so much was because my parents never made it feel like a job or a burden. It was always fun. The lesson of regrets is one that I think you have to experience for yourself. Making the trade between a summer of parties and summer of staving off future regret was easy at the time. I don't think that I don't remember the parties because they were sooo good. They just weren't memorable.

Hindsight, 20/20 all that. Most importantly, learn from your mistakes.

Notes on Poker

I think Jamie Gold plucks his eyebrows. That gives him that "made-up" look. It looks creepy.

Jamie Gold and this guy have the same exact tell. It is unreal at how the tells are exactly the same. Don't think that Allen C. didn't pick it up too. I saw it on the hand with Allen's Jacks vs Jamie's turned gutshot with 52. I picked up on it watching last weeks coverage tonight.

I cashed out of FTP and Paradise. Neteller is Fat. Here are some stats.

• I made my first deposit on April 22, 2005. It was for $54.45.
  
• Lifetime ROI= 122%
  
• I have played on Party, Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Paradise.
• I have about $12 left on PokerStars

You know that you are in love when the hardest thing to do is say goodbye

Poker blogs are dying. F-Train was the first to pontificate on this. I seconded or thirded or fourthed his emotion and several others have weighed (haha) in on one side or the other. The mechanism for death is the lack of new ideas or content as outlined by BG. This lack of new ideas and interesting content has reduced readership and interest in the meme. I remember once at the outrage (a bit much?) I felt when poker blogs were dissed from having entry in Wikipedia. Now I see their point.

I still read Chris Fargis because hand histories at that level are interesting. Reading about even $200 NL games is boring. Unless its live and someone throws a punch. Or there is a good story about G-Rob tilting (himself or others, either way, funny) Watching tournament poker is now boring. I haven't seen more than 2 hours of WPT in the past six months. How many ways can you play KT UTG at a 5 handed table? High stakes poker is a great show, but I assume that it will wear thin in another season or two (watching Daniel take horrid beats will never get old). I am sick of your shitty writing and poor techniques (like parenthetical comments, lol). No not yours, of course. I sit on the edge of my seat waiting for your next word.

I used to get that poker high just from reading about your latest conquest or watching it on TV. I used to tune into party and watch a certain player tear up the highest limits, thrilled watching him bet 5-10x my bankroll in a single hand. Now I am lucky to get that high if I am playing. I have converted to a hard hearted seasoned poker player, oblivious to AA and impenetrable to bad beats. That doesn't mean I am any good, it just means that I have played enough that I have been there and done that. I guess I have made it a good distance in my poker journey, after 2 years I can leave most of my emotions at the door. (Less gifting F-Train 7 BB's after he makes the nuts).

Poker blogs are dying, just like poker is dying (attrition and a reduced rate of growth). Both will never cease, just level off into a sustainable plane. I also predict that the last WPBT event will be the high water mark of attendance. It was a blast, but I doubt it is really sustainable. Not only that, but who wants it to be? I go to Vegas to hang out with friends. I am not friends with the majority of the 100 people that were, hell I don't even read most of them. Especially in light of recent events damming online poker, the fat lady is in the wings gargling warm saline.

For those of you who survive, best of luck. For those of you who plow forward and rent a proxy in Canada, fund via money order or expat friends and accept the associated risks, best of luck. For those of you choosing to get off at the next stop, best of luck. Personally I have enjoyed our time together, but I am forced to predict the end, my end at least. I am planning on cashing out tonight when I get home. I don't want my bankroll caught up in a poker version of Risk.

The St. Louis boys are planning on being in Las Vegas over the weekend of December 8th, 9th and 10th. By St. Louis boys I mean me and this guy. We're not planning on a tournament. We're planning to sling chips and get drunk. We'll mourn the passing of online poker and we'll cheer to new beginnings. We will celebrate friendships new and old. Join us if you like, consider this the invitation. Just don't expect us to arrange speeches or swag. We'll be in town to forget and forgo reality for a day or two, not to propagate a lifestyle. I likely have 2 Vegas trips left in the next year. The one in December and a second that will have more to do with strippers and shots (DonkeyPuncher knows what I'm talking about). I see that after that I will have two children at home and semi-annual trips will be replaced by what I hope are annual excursions.

With the impending death of the home based gambling machine I take solace in the knowledge that if I am in need of a homegame, no matter where I am, I can find one. In several cities around the country there I people I can call to go get a beer. I have a confidence in myself that didn't exist 2 years ago. I am more open and much better at making new friends than I ever have been. All of that is due to blogs, online poker and you. So I say thanks to those of you that actually read this corner of the world. Thanks to you that talk to me on the girlie chat whilst I play poker. Thanks to you whom I still owe a drink. Thanks to all of you, you know who you are.
While I don't predict the end of this blog, just the final nail in the coffin of less than occasional poker posts. I do predict that my spare time will be split among my other pursuits. I have started to blog about the project that is my house, and I blog about my ever crappy work catch 22. I hope to kick off a project that I have been meaning to do a for a long time, tracking and reviewing restaurants. That's right I am trying to maintain four blogs. This one will remain my outlet for daily rants, photos of the kids and of course my forays into the local card rooms.

R.I.P. online poker. Long live the poker blog.

Confessions of Greedy Republican

I admit that I voted for George II. I did it. At the time I even clashed with my MoveOn.Org volunteer co-workers and friends. I was unabashed in my support of Georgie for several reasons. First and foremost was that I love me some tax cuts. Being naive I also thought that my Libertarian stance for a smaller government might make some headway. I was certain of two things if Mr. Kerry were elected: 1.) My taxes would increase and 2.) Government would get larger. Lets go back to the first election. Al Gore? Really, that's the best the Dems had?

What a swift kick to the political junk the past couple of years have been. I mis-read the board and my hole cards and totally over played the hammer. All in one hand. I felt that it was completely plausible that Iraq had WMD's. I thought that even if they didn't have WMD's Saddam was a heinous dictator that needed to be stopped. Yes those were my actual thoughts. In the back of my dark mind I may have even seen images of $0.75/ gallon gasoline and a $50 road trip across America. I bought it all because I wanted to believe. The stories made sense and fit nicely into my vision of what the world should be.

To recap: My support of "The Deuce" was based on

1. Kerry raising my taxes and growing government
2. Deuce Lowering taxes and shrinking government
3. Kerry being a wussy that wouldn't defend America ( I dunno, but those wind surfing videos looked wussified to me)
   
4. Deuce holding responsible terrorists and those countries that harbor terrorists.
5. Kerry = less money for me
6. Deuce = more money for me

I have been re-thinking my political stance over the past few months. It has been a long time since I thought I made a correct decision. I remember telling my Liberal friends that even if Deuce was the zealot that they believed he would be kept in check by the system that keeps us from having a coup d'etat every few years or decades.

I am a libertarian. My conservatives are Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Milton Friedman and Robert LeFevre. I think the New Deal was a good idea that ended up with a lot of bullshit policies. I think that charity begins at home and that welfare is best left to local governments and most importantly local ministries.

Kerry was not my man, El Deuce could be.

But in retrospect, no he couldn't. El Deuce was far to gone into being Big Business's (Cheney's) lap dog. Far to into Jesus and not nearly smart enough to realize any of it. He had too many debts to repay to be an effective leader. The facts prove El Deuce wants a bigger government. He has a bigger government. We are ruled by fear. I am told that if I get out of line or disagree I am not a patriot. The casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom certainly outpace any projections of deaths that Saddam would have accounted for over the past three years. In fact the casualties of the war on terror will likely surpass the total of all American lives taken by terrorists before long.

Here are videos to watch:
Clinton gives it to us straight
Olberman takes up the Clinton Challenge


I was never a fan of Clinton's politics. He is much to socialist for my taste. But after reviewing some facts this weekend and reflecting on the current idiot in office vs. Clinton I have a new found respect for the man. Lets face it, Clinton was a draft dodging Rhodes Scholar and Bush was a draft dodging moron. I am not saying that I would have ever of voted for him. Wait a second, I did vote for him. My very first presidential ballet was cast for Clinton. Then I voted for Dole.

Seriously, could we get a real conservative in office? You know, one that believes in the separation of church and state, smaller government and personal responsibility?


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I started writing this well before I new that the dipshits were going to actually cut off my poker. Cest le vie. The poker boom is going bust. I am going to withdraw my funds to stake my live bankroll and move up and start playing the baby NL games at the casinos here. Hopefully the PPA can get this quashed, but for now, catch you in the card rooms.

When you vote, vote libertarian.