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April 17, 2007
Negreanu vs. The Bible
One thing I never stop enjoying is the hypocrisy of religious people. Take Daniel Negreanu's latest blog post , in which he extols the virtues of a closer relationship with God for example. Isn't what he says there pretty much antithetical to what Christ preached? Let me give you some examples by quoting from his post and then from the Bible.
Daniel Negreanu says:
She has an Emelda Marcos like shoe collection, I have a few too many hockey jerseys, and overall, we found that we had little closet space which made things cluttered around the house. That's not a problem anymore. The new house is about 5000 square feet and there is tons of closet space.
The Bible says:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19-20)
Daniel Negreanu says:
Stuff Always helps make life a little more fun, and with the new house there is a lot more room for some of the things I've always wanted as a kid:
The Bible says:
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. (Proverbs 21:17)
Daniel Negreanu says:
-Pool Table. I bought a beautiful Briarwood Brunswick table.
The Bible says:
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24)
Daniel Negreanu says:
Swimming Pool. A much nicer pool and room for a volleyball net.
The Bible says:
The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke (Proverbs 13:8)
Daniel Negreanu says:
Golf Stuff. Eventually I want to build a green in the yard, but for now I bought a chipping net.
The Bible says:
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3)
Daniel Negreanu says:
Basketball net. A small area for a net.
The Bible says:
He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)
Daniel Negreanu says:
Game Room. Two Arcade Games (Golden Tee, NBA Showtime/NFL Blitz), and X-BOX, X-BOX 360, Playstation 2, and a Wii on the way. Dart Board, Putting Green, etc.
The Bible says:
Invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:13)
Daniel Negreanu says:
Home Gym. A mirrored room designed for working out exclusively.
Office. A sweet office for my computer. A plasma on the wall, trophies, books, DVD's, etc.
The Bible says:
If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me (Matthew 19:20)
Just to clarify here, the Bible and Jesus are pretty clear on one thing: you can't be rich and a good Christian at the same time. You can be one or the other, or, I suppose, a hypocrite. Which is it Daniel? Pool table or Jesus?
Just so you know, nobody ever picks Jesus over a pool big enough for a volleyball net. It's never happened. It will never happen. It could never happen. Few people could even pick him over a cheeseburger.
People who come to that crossroads either choose the tangible, or simply rationalize those totally unambiguous Bible quotes to mean something else, or not apply to them. "Surely, if I give some money to the poor, I can keep my Golden Tee machine" they think. They read "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" and think to themselves "well, God could shrink a camel down pretty easily. It's really just a metaphor for something. I think it means don't get too fat."
I've spent enough time studying the Bible, and even more studying Christians. Trust me, it always ends up the same.
Posted by themaroon at 11:03 PM | Comments (49)
April 14, 2007
Hilarious Comment
Hilarious comment today, presumably from a Vegas Nighter:
matt u have no idea of what ur talking about in the vegas nites and besides ur not welcome back and ur buddys are on thin ice also so i advise u to drop the subject u have no idea what ur talking about MORRON
Wow, misspelling moron while calling me one, that has to be an all time low. I'm guessing from their English mastery that this isn’t one of the shot put silver medalists. More like honorary mention in the ring toss. I wonder why those games are so good…
Posted by themaroon at 5:36 AM | Comments (2)
April 12, 2007
Can’t Win
Apparently a bunch of Vegas Nighters are mad at me for my last couple entries. Ah well. It's funny, the same people who are mad at me kept asking me when I was going to blog about The Nights. And then I did, and didn't even say anything insulting about those guys in particular, and they're angry. Reminds me of a tiff I had with the poker bloggers long ago.
I think some of the operators are worried that I talked about what really goes on behind the lines. I don't know why. The only people who care (the FBI and local law enforcement) already know, and anyone who spends a couple weeks there would see right away that the dealers aren't exactly philanthropists. They're not donating time. I only mentioned it because it's yet another way the state robs itself of income by fighting an unwinnable war. These are people who are providing a service that most people either desire or are at least not morally opposed to. They should be paying taxes and not have to worry about legal troubles, but instead they can't even deposit their earnings in a checking account for fear that the Feds will use it as evidence.
Also, I don't really know anything. No dealer has ever specifically told me they were paid, and no operator has ever told me what they give to charity and/or keep for themselves. I wouldn't even want to know. I couldn't testify in court, and I like it that way. I wouldn't even if I could because it's against my moral code, but it's best to just not have the option.
As far as the house games, I know (unfortunately) from firsthand experience that the cops know everything about them. I'd never give them any information anyway, but it doesn't matter because they don't need it. Anyone who runs a house game knows that, or should. Still, I do wish I hadn't mentioned them because it could cause me some trouble later for refusing to cooperate.
I wrote about them honestly because, well, that's how I write. I had actually, at one point, considered an entire book (narrative nonfiction probably) about them, but couldn't find a story arc. There really isn't one without adding in some fiction, because they just go on and on. Every week they run, at some church or bingo hall or armory. Every week the same people gather and play the same way. Every now and then a robbery or a police raid shakes the joint up a little, and the cast of characters doesn't really change but maybe some of them switch roles. Nothing ever changes.
And so I guess I should have suspected someone to get mad. As two different people have told me though, I probably gained 20 new readers because of it.
Welcome to my blog.
Posted by themaroon at 3:16 AM | Comments (6)
April 11, 2007
The Final Chapter In My Poker Career, Pt. 2
So I played at those games pretty much full time for a month. And I won a little bit, but not much. I'm glad I did it though. For one, I got to see a lot of the people I hadn't seen in a long time. There are a number of people there I like who I hadn't really had a chance to talk to in a year or two. One thing about poker is that everyone who plays it has a lot in common. If you like poker and are put in a room full of other people who like poker, it isn't hard to make friends. Despite the number of nutjobs and degenerates, there are still plenty of genuinely good people there.
And for another, it made me realize how much I hate this game. I'm at a point where I have no desire to play whatsoever, so I think I'm going to take a break. Maybe a very long one. The bad streak I've endured over the last year is the sort that you can only get through if you really love the game, and I just don't anymore. I'm not sure I ever did. I haven't enjoyed playing poker in years, but until this downswing began I could at least tolerate it. Now I can't, or maybe I can but just don't want to.
I'm not sure I even could play my way through this if I wanted to. My outlook is so negative that I can't play anywhere near my best. During previous bad streaks I always had confidence that I'd pull through, and I always did. My outlook stayed positive and the bad luck had as little effect as possible on my game. But this one has been so bad, so long, and so demoralizing that I go into every session expecting to lose, whether I play well or not, and unsurprisingly I usually do. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
So now I find myself playing a game that I hate and not making any money at it. Poker eats my time and makes me miserable, and that was acceptable when it gave me something in return. But now it doesn't, and I feel, whether correctly or not, like it won't any time in the foreseeable future. It's like a really bad girlfriend, and just like I would with one of those, I'm cutting it out of my life, at least as a career.
I don't mean to sound bitter, because I'm not. Poker has been very good to me. I've made a ridiculous amount of money at it. I've made some great friends that I otherwise would not have. This blog introduced me to writing, which is still a favorite hobby of mine. I've used the contacts and experience I've gained over the last few years to segue into some rather profitable business ventures, and I've learned more about internet marketing than even a lot of professionals know. I've only set an alarm clock maybe a couple dozen times in the last four years. I've stayed in many of the world's greatest hotels and eaten some at some of its finest restaurants. I've even published a book. I feel as if I'm further ahead in life than most people twice my age, and without poker I probably would have just gotten a computer science degree and some job I hate. Right now I'd be slaving away over not much money and wondering when some guy in India was going to replace me.
And all the while I've avoided most of the pitfalls of playing poker for a living. I haven't become a gambling addict. I don't owe anybody money, and nobody owes me. And if anything, I'm probably more employable now than I was when I started this, as I've since been published and incorporated my own business. Those are probably the three biggest traps poker players fall into, debt, gambling addiction, and unemployability, and I'm further away from all three than I was four years ago. I wish I could say the same about a lot of the professional poker players I know.
I don't like the culture that's sprung up around poker over the last few years. I feel that the media, in their pursuit of profit, has done both players and the public a great disservice. They've taken an underground that was more or less a meritocracy and put it through Hollywood's ringer. It used to be that the poker players you read about were the ones who had a track record of excellence. Now more of the well-known players than not are just the best looking people ESPN could find anywhere near a top table. Every time a skinny girl makes their buy-in back in a major tournament she gets an endorsement deal. That's the exact opposite of poker.
The new poker culture celebrates luck, both genetic and at the tournament table, over hard work and intelligence. They've glorified the game and the culture around it and made it into something it isn't. They've made even people who should know better think that the best players are the ones who win the big tournaments, when most of them couldn't even beat a $2/$4 NL game. Hell, half of the people who win a million in a poker tournament are broke a year later, and some are broke after a couple weeks. The siren song promises riches and pseudo-celebrity, but the reality is that the few people who win more than they lose usually just end up gambling addicts in major debt. The new poker culture is a disservice to the game and an even bigger disservice to the people who are actually good at it and work hard at improving their play.
In reality the poker table is the last true meritocracy. It's the one place where racism and sexism can only cost you money. There's no wage gap, there's no social stratification. No good old boys club. It doesn't matter who you are, who your parents are, what degree you have, whether you're a felon or a priest. And it certainly doesn't matter if you're an anorexic Asian girl with a boob job. You're always welcome at the table and none of that has any real effect on your results. There's just people competing with no handicap and, in the long run, the best player wins. It's a beautiful thing, but it isn't very sexy or exciting and I totally understand why the real game doesn't make for good television. I certainly don't subscribe to any worldview that sees Hollywood as evil for trying to make something more popular and, therefore, more profitable. I just wish for more insiders who are open and honest about the game and let people know that what they are seeing is not poker. It's entertainment that vaguely resembles poker.
But none of that Hollywood bullshit has anything to do with the game itself or me. Though it makes me sad on occasion, I'm pretty far removed from it. Poker still has the potential, for me, to be enjoyable as a hobby, though it will be a while before I get back to that phase. I just need to get some things in order, and maybe get to the point where it isn't my primary source of income.
Really it's just not a good way to make a living. I really think that most people who make a good amount of money at poker could make ten times as much in the business world with greater satisfaction. Paul Phillips said that long ago, and he's right. I didn't realize it until recently, but he is. I feel that even though I've made more money off of poker, I'm considerably more proud of what I make from other pursuits. And on an hourly rate basis, they crush what even the best players make.
Don't get me wrong, poker is definitely a great way for a young person to make a bunch of money. But there comes a point where it's best relegated to hobby status, and that's where I am in my life now. I think. So I'm not entirely certain what my main source of income will be in the long term, but I'm tired of it being poker. So for the near future, I won't be playing much, if at all.
I have some projects I'm working on anyway. I'm currently fixing up RakeSucks. I plan to overhaul the site, making it better looking and more functional. I'm going to add a couple more sites to the roster and then maybe work on promoting it a bit. I should be able to make considerably more than I do off of that site with a little effort.
Then I'll overhaul TheStarsExchange as well. It's perfectly functional, but could use a better design and a little more promotion as well. It's been more profitable than I had anticipated, but I think it can do even better with a little work. I know one of our competitors is still doing much more volume than we are, and I can't figure out why since our rates are so much better (even than his typical private deals). So I'm going to work on getting the message out a little more.
And I've got a couple projects in the early stages that I'll talk more about later. They're not poker-related (though I do actually have one of those in mind too) so it won't be here. I even got invited for one of them to meet with the guys who run a program called YCombinator. From what I understand a low percentage of applicants get that far, and if they like us we'll be spending much of the summer in Boston working on the project, which would definitely mean no WSOP for me. If we don't make it in I might play the main event, but that would be about it.
The most frequent comment I've received over the last couple days is "don't stop writing." I appreciate that more than you could know. This post alone I probably spent three hours on, and while most don't take up that much time, they all require a lot of effort. Good to know it's worth it.
So have no fear, I won't. I won't even stop writing about poker. It's one of the many things I want to do with the extra time. Writing is near the top of the list, along with becoming fiscally responsible (I actually purchased Quicken! Hell hath frozen over) and exercising more regularly. I do expect my non-poker blog will be updated far more frequently, but I'd guess that the few of you who commented (though not the majority of passive readers on this site) like that one better anyway.
And really all of this doesn't mean much. Being a professional poker player is a lot like being a psychic. There are no real qualifications, you just hang a sign on the door that says that's what you are. I'm just flipping the sign over to the other side. I'm not entirely sure what it says yet. Who knows, maybe it's blank and there will be an epilogue.
Posted by themaroon at 4:31 AM | Comments (17)
April 6, 2007
The Final Chapter In My Poker Career, Pt .1
I mentioned that I've been playing a bit at the live games around town again. I actually played a lot in March. I put over 40 hours a week, and over 50 for two of them. That's a ton for me.
Akron's poker scene is pretty interesting. It basically consists of the Las Vegas Nights, and the house games. The Vegas Nights are what I refer to as pseudo-legal, meaning that they are run under the aegis of Ohio's charity laws but violate pretty much all of them. The dealers are supposed to work on a voluntary basis only, but they're there 60 hours a week and you can tell from looking at them that they aren't exactly philanthropists. I've seen better-dressed people putting floor lamps on layaway at K-Mart. The operators are also supposed to give all of the money to charity. I've heard a lot of rumors that place the charity's actual take at roughly 25%. I've also talked to some people whose charities sponsored them and if anything I think that number is high, given what I've estimated the rake to be.
Needless to say this has caused a lot of legal problems for the operators in the past. Every so often the FBI steps in and charges everyone there with all sorts of stuff, but in the end, as with every other case in recorded history, the game goes on. Attempts to stop people from doing something they want to do and that the vast majority of citizens don't find morally abhorrent always fail miserably and do nothing but cause a thriving, non-tax paying underground, and that's exactly what happens with gambling in most states. Whereas poker, if legalized, would bring in zillions in tax dollars, the quasi-legal status ensures that all of the profit goes to people who are (though most probably shouldn't be) criminals.
The quality of games at The Nights is phenomenal. It's as if a hold'em game broke out at the Special Olympics, and you're there with 8 honorary medal winners and maybe the guy who got silver in the shot put. They play the limit games 10 or 11 handed, and if you're at a table where only 5 people see the flop on average, you're at a bad game. Back in the day three of us were able to make almost $18/hr at a $3/$6 game (with a 10% up to $5 rake too) and that was over a combined total of something like 4,500 hours of play, so it wasn't a fluke. I'd suspect that with immaculate play you could make over $50/hr at the $10/$20. For a game requiring something like a $7,000 bankroll, that's quite a bit. The ROI is pretty amazing.
Then there are the house games. I've always greatly preferred those to Vegas Nights. For one thing, the clientele is far better. Most of the people there, while still bad at poker, at least aren't stupid. They're largely just successful people who like to play a few nights a week. And unlike the Nights, where you get the feeling that almost everyone is going to have a hard time making the car payment if they don't get lucky, most of the house game denizens can afford the entertainment.
Also they're quieter, more comfortable, and have good food. They're always in one place, so you don't have to worry about driving an hour sometimes, and you have a rough idea of when seats will be available, so you never get stuck on a list for hours.
If your credit's good you don't even have to show up with money. The books at those games are often so large that the success of whoever is running them depends largely on their ability to collect. I've always stayed out of that part of poker culture, preferring to never borrow and never loan (you have to do both or neither), but a lot of the people who play every week don't even bother bringing cash with them. The games rarely if ever get robbed because there's nothing but ink and paper to steal.
Posted by themaroon at 5:56 PM | Comments (11)
April 1, 2007
Random Thoughts About The UIGEA
It seems that the online poker operators are finally doing what they should have done five years ago, which is throw some money at their legal problems. I don't know why they raked in billions and sat idly by as politicians rallied against their industry. I guess they forgot the old cliché; a lobbyist in time saves nine.
But luckily even now they can still afford nine. I've been reading stories like this about Barney Frank wanting to repeal the UIGEA. It's good to see someone trying, but I'm not holding my breath. Poker players have had their hopes up since the Democrats took power in November, but the reality is that they've been almost as opposed to online gaming as Republicans have. Bills prior to the UIGEA showed a high level of support for an internet gambling ban among both parties. Democrats just never made it a priority, as it didn't really help endear them to their base like it did for Repubs.
I don't really have any idea whether or not Frank will be able to do anything about the UIGEA, but it seems like an underdog. Still it's better than nothing. And it is nice to see that the PPA hired Alfonse D'Amato to help with lobbying efforts. I don't know much about him, other than that he has a high profile name, but I can't imagine having him on your team could possibly hurt.
I'd really like to know where Harrah's, MGM, and others are sending their lobbying bucks these days. I'd have to think Harrah's is in favor of online gaming, as I shudder to think how few people will attend the WSOP this year without online entries. Poker is big money nowadays.
On the plus side, it is good to see Neteller's business swirling down the drain. At first I felt bad for the company. They'd spent years building a legitimate, solid business. But since the troubles began they've treated U.S. customers with nothing but contempt. You can't get a phone call through to them. You can't get a response to an email. They don't bother to inform us what's going on with our money, and they don't seem to be in any hurry to pay us either. I'm glad to watch them piss their company away. I just hope I get my money back.
Now they're pulling the plug on Canada too. And I have to think their antics have run off customers even in the markets they still serve. Their share price is still frozen, which I cannot believe. I don't even know why the exchange would allow that. They're only forestalling the inevitable. They can't hold it forever.
I'm still interested to see what payment service takes their place. For some reason ePassporte continues to be treated like a redheaded stepchild by poker rooms. Deposit limits are low, even if, like me, you've used the service frequently. The sites seem loathe to increase them. People complain that ePassporte has ridiculous load fees. I wouldn't know because I never really put any money in there the conventional way, but if that's true it's probably something they should fix. I have a feeling that they're charging poker rooms and players so much that they're pricing themselves out of becoming the default payment processor. Maybe all those extra fees make up for the reduced volume they could be processing, I really don't know.
Either way, I think someone could make a nice chunk of money starting a little site to trade chips on sites for a small fee. I.e. you pay me $100 on Full Tilt (or PayPal even) and I'll pay you $95 on Stars. As an American, I'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole, but if I lived in the U.K. I probably would.
Posted by themaroon at 8:11 AM | Comments (4)