Lytspeed's Creativity Journal

Poker is a money making industry. Poker will not solve the global economic crisis. However, taking advantage of the popularity of the game can help to improve the global economic situation.

Poker could definately help the economy crisis if it were entirely legal in the states it could generate billions of $ in revenues

Despite the economic turmoil, the online gambling industry remains to be steadfast and least bothered.
A constant growth in online users. Gambling is a habit-forming activity, so even as the household budget tightens, gambling can carry on. With faster broadband speed available in many countries, new market segments are opened as an increment to this prolific online gaming arena.

Looking forward to meeting you at #milehicon!

Go for it! What have you got to lose? Worst case, you get something started, and you gain some organization in your life.

Success! Now to get the other sites moved over.

I'm William Gibson. (yeah, right)

I'm Hal Clement, which is cool because he's been a favorite since high school. Go Mesklinites!

(sorry, I seem to have forgotten my login)

Thanks, Marlene. I like the name, too. :-)

(By the way, I deleted the duplicate comment for you.)

I loved your story. I was born in Durango but moved away when I was 10. I was to young to experience it like you did but it has forever been in my heart. I've been back a few times and every memory I hold near.

If there is another name for the falls it aught to be changed to Brothers falls. The perfect name.

Thanks for the comment, Melody. I appreciate you stopping by.

Stace, Durango has many beautiful places, although La Plata Canyon is stunning. I have no doubt the memories of your time there with your brother will stay with you forever. Thank you for the pictures and your story.

Thanks, Michael. I appreciate your kind words.

Thank you for your beautiful essay Stace. It seems that both you and your brother are both at peace with his life. I can think of nothing more fitting and sacred than Brother falls. I hope some day to see them myself.
Peace and love,
Michael

Nice metaphor. I like it. I also agree with what you said about the transition, with a slight alteration.

In my admittedly imperfect vision, the law enforcement community would not be the ones performing the oversight. Legitimate online sites already have it in their best interest to prevent underage citizens from playing real money games and prevent people from using stolen credit cards to make deposits, so they have the controls in place. The reputable sites basically police themselves out of necessity. The oversight would come in the form of a gaming commission that would have access to the sites' logs.

I think "flying without a net" is an overmild description of the current economy.

The net was sold of years ago, acrobats are lying in heaps on the ground, the elephants are dying, and there are ominous creaking sounds coming from the pole that holds up the big tent.

While there's not much to be done for the elephants (and wasn't it a little foolish and cruel to keep them around anyway?), the acrobats will recover. Most importantly, the new ringmaster seems to have a clue, and the audience seems willing to stick around and give him a chance - even the ones in the red hats.

The real question is if that big ol' pole has suffered too much neglect for too long.

Given all of that sure: I'm for legalizing poker. It's one of those victimless Puritanical crimes. People should be allowed to go to Hell in the handbasket of their choosing.

The problem is in the transition. You'll see more than a few casualties in the stampede from the forbidden to the banal. That will demand additional oversight, at a time when there are already heavy demands on the law enforcement community. So maybe right now isn't exactly the right time, but definitely put it on the agenda for discussion.

IMHO

As some in my family tend to say, "Progress is our most important product." Glad to hear you made some, and feel you will be able to make more.

(In looking at the logs, I had the other players' cards wrong. Both of them showed Aces, not Kings. Only one had a King. I've edited the post above to reflect that.)

To answer your question, if not for the river card, I could have won the hand by getting just one more 9.

Here's how the final hand broke down (with the extraneous stuff removed):

*********** # 139 **************
PokerStars Game #23131573622: Tournament #170000000, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII (175/350) - 2008/12/21 17:18:59 ET

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lytspeed [9h 9c]

Lytspeed: calls 350
Svenza: raises 3820 to 4170 and is all-in
Norman79: raises 1775 to 5945 and is all-in
Lytspeed: calls 3683 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1775) returned to Norman79
*** FLOP *** [Kc 4s Ks]
*** TURN *** [Kc 4s Ks] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 4s Ks Jc] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Svenza: shows [Kh Ac] (a full house, Kings full of Aces)
Norman79: shows [Qc As] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Lytspeed: shows [9h 9c] (two pair, Kings and Nines)

We went all in pre-flop, so I was betting on the (admittedly questionable) strength of my pocket pair (99). After pre-flop bets were placed the other two players' hole cards showed AK and AQ, respectively. So, pre-flop, I had the hand won. Unfortunately, when the flop hit KK4, that gave one of the players three of a kind while I had two pair. At this point, I was behind, but I only needed one more 9 to have a full house.

The turn card (J) had no bearing on the hand, but the river card (A) killed any hopes I had for getting a full house. In fact, it gave the player with AK a full house, Kings over Aces.

In a perfect universe, if the river card had been a 9, I would have won the hand. I didn't have to have four of a kind to win the hand, just a full house.

Unfortunately, it's not a perfect universe. :-)

As soon as those Kings came up, you were dead, no? You didn't know the other kings were out there, but *two* more nines would have had to come up for you to beat them, right?. Not criticizing your play, just trying to learn.

Didn't log in before. That seems to be working too. Now, off to Buy*n*Large (not)!