Barfing over sports betting

The headline in the New York Times screamed:

Cash-Hungry States Eye Sports Betting, to Leagues’ Dismay.

The really serious screaming, however, came from the various organizations that run major league sports and, of course, the NCAA. The article discussed recent moves by several states to consider legalizing sports betting to generate much-needed revenue and the predictable and utterly hypocritical hand-wringing and breast-beating from the usual quarters. The NCAA, Major League Baseball, the NFL, NHL and the NBA went into full panic mode stating that such a move would destroy the integrity of sport in America. All, not surprisingly, have already filed suit to stop New Jersey from legalizing sports betting and are geared up for similar actions in other states should they emerge.

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Carded in Chicago

One of life’s little WTF moments occurred recently and I can’t resist sharing it. Rhiannon and I were in the decent-sized city that is O’Hare Airport. We had a two-hour wait between planes and took a stroll to find lunch. Perhaps surprisingly, there are several good places to eat there. We found a sushi bar, sat down and I ordered a glass of wine.

“I need to see ID,” said the waitress.

“You what?” I said incredulously. [That’s me with my friend the bronze boar!]

“I need to see an ID,” she repeated, completely straight-faced.

“But surely ….” was all I got out. She looked at me and said, “We have to check everyone who orders alcohol.”

“Drinking age in Illinois is 21, right?” I said.

“Yessir, it is,” she said her expression never wavering.

“Just of out of curiosity,” I laughed, “how old do you think I am?”

“I’m sorry sir, we’re not allowed to think here.”

“You’re not allowed to what?”

“Think.”

“So you really do want to see my ID?” I asked.

“Yes sir, otherwise I cannot bring you your wine.”

So I got out my driver’s license while Rhiannon sat there snickering quietly. The waitress looked at it, nodded and walked away.

A few minutes later she returned with my wine. Being an ever-inquiring soul I asked, “I’m curious. What would happen to someone here who stopped to think?”

“Hasn’t happened in the two years I’ve been here,” she answered and walked away.

The wine, a French Viognier, was quite good and the sushi excellent. The waitress, who I hope was a stand-up comic working on a routine, was best of all.

Thoughts on Full Tilt Poker and Howard Lederer

If you’re not a poker player that title might be a bit obscure, so here’s a quick primer: Full Tilt Poker (FTP) was founded in the early 2000s by a couple of poker’s biggest stars, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. Other pros including Phil Ivey, John Juanda and Andy Bloch invested in the start-up and a day-trader named Ray Bitar, who was a friend of Ferguson’s, became CEO. The company became wildly successful and was, before its dramatic demise, the second largest online poker site in the world (behind Poker Stars).

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Is Life a Game of Skill?

Okay, poker’s a game of skill. What about the rest of life? I’m serious. Is life a game where skill dominates luck, where talent and aptitude trump the RNG running in the background? This isn’t an idle question. It’s attracted the attention of social scientists and some interesting things are known – perhaps the most interesting is that the ol’ fickle finger of fate plays a larger role in our lives than we realize, and a far larger one than we like to acknowledge.

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Is Poker a Game of Skill?

Is poker a game of skill? If you ask a seasoned player, they’ll tell you “of course it is.” In fact, many of my poker playing friends, the ones who make their living at the game, are so sick of this question that they will walk out of a room if it is raised. They know that it is a game of skill because if it wasn’t they wouldn’t be able to pay the bills, put food on the table and, in some cases, afford that new Porsche in the driveway.

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