Thanks, pope, but I won't be sneaking in. I am a disappointment to myself but truth be known I'm hooked on BJ as a stress reliever and, wowzers!, my extended family situation is very stressful atm. Best to step away.

Too damn bad that I don't play golf, the year would pass quickly. I suppose I'll be seeing every single movie in the theaters which is rather a fun prospect.

You likely don’t remember, but I met you back in 2007 when I played a night at caz. Thought you were great then and think the same thing now. It takes an extraordinary person to realize their weaknesses and addictions. If you can do this and overcome them, you’re in elite company. I wish you the best.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm definitely doing the right thing by me and in a year I'll re-assess.

Ya got balls, kid.

good luck Howard.

Does that casino ban apply to poker as well? Thought you were a fixture there (unless you quit that as well).

I won't be able to be on any casino property in AZ at all for any reason i.e. concerts and such. If I'd stuck to poker there'd be no problem but I've been playing only BJ for a while now and it's time to stop. Now that I know that I can't go I've got peace of mind and if I play again after a year's withdrawal I'll just apply for another ban.

Thanks for the support, everyone.

Howard is now a poker player who is guaranteed to break even in the next year. Congrats - you are far ahead of many other players.

Good luck, Howard.

Damn. Good luck Howard!

Too bad that can't just ban you from blackjack. Or that you can play California blackjack. That game is so awful that it would cure you from wanting to play it.

Good luck with this.

When I used to visit LA I was never tempted to play their version of BJ. If that's what they offered in AZ I would never play it. TBH, I should've quit when the rules changed so that dealers hit soft 17.

When they introduced BJ I asked if I could be barred from playing it but, no. Right now I feel fine. One year to not be able to indulge my urge won't be terrible. And I just might take the time to write my book if I can find someone to convert the raw text into the form Amazon requires.

I'm surprised you can't just bar yourself from the table games area. In CA (or at least some card rooms), you can bar yourself separately from the pit, poker room and bar.

Source:

1 year barred myself from playing poker at a cardroom but was still welcome to go there to drink back in ~2010

Recently requested paperwork to bar myself from drinking at that cardroom but ended up deciding it would be easier to just be an adult and not drink there

A friend who is employed at that casino as a prop is barred from wagering in the CA games section

As long as it doesn't come to light that you owe a ton of money to a ton of people you might be able to get Mason to do you a solid

40/80 Live at the Bike tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a3jgwxuUiY

Does Danny C still prop at Oceans?

I can confirm that this is a good game. Was fun would go back again.

I was at the 5/10FLO8 table (with a full kill) at Winstar last night. The gentleman to my right was pulling out a c-note, playing every hand until the chips were gone, pulling out another c-note, lather, rinse, repeat, and I swear within 2 or 3 hours he was stuck at LEAST $800. The thoughts that were running through my head: 1. Well, with THIS guy at the table there's no debate about whether or not the rake is beatable! 2. I sure hope he doesn't have a gambling problem. 3. It's not my problem to help him if he does. 4. What is so hard about LEARNING HOW TO PLAY?!?!?!?!? PICK UP A *($*($#@ BOOK MORON!!! 5. I'm glad there are so many people who DON'T have the motivation or initiative to learn how to play - poker would be a more expensive hobby!

And, perhaps more than all of the above put together, WHERE THE &^%$ IS HE GETTING ALL THAT MONEY?!?!?!?!?

Way to brag

I saw multiple people doing this at 8/16 last night. I'm a rec player now so my feeling is that I'm going to play how I play and they'll play how they'll play. I enjoy my few nights a month of poker my way, they'll enjoy however often they go to the table their way. But years ago when I was getting all my spending money from poker I started to have concerns about the morality of me taking thousands of dollars a month from people who were probably gambling addicts.

There is no room for empathy in poker.

there is, but it probably cuts into your winrate some. the same is true for nonpoker life too though. in poker the competition for money is just more direct.

There is no room for playing poker correctly with empathy*.

Money is relative. quantph's game at Ameristar would allow that person to be $800 in on the turn. There are plenty of losers in that game who would love to be stuck $800 in three hours. Heck, there are sessions where you'd be thankful to be only stuck $800.

Many people confuse winning at life and winning poker. Even beyond poker, every hobby tries to set up a hierarchy and then claim lifewinning based on the hobby's ladder. They aren't related. In the extreme case, what if spending 10-20 hours learning to be a decent poker player would cost him more than $800? What if playing that way would suck the fun out of it for him.
People willing to lose at poker is required for people being able to win at poker, QED.
Go to a track day a local racetrack with someone with a good sportscar. A set of tires (which you'd ruin in a session?) costs more than that. The car costs way more. Money = relative.

More on this important one
Gambling problems are related to addiction and life impacts from gambling. Oldschool poster Bona had a wonderful post about it, but I can't find it. Guessing it was in a Beginners digest/magazine which makes the title hard to search. Your opponent spewing off a bunch of money might or might not be a sign. The real life consequences are what matter, and at this point you don't know.

In all things human, there is room for empathy. How you feel about people in your game who lose money is one thing. If you knew someone was an addict and was destroying his life? I personally believe you have moral issues around that. However, I'm also empathetic to a person who makes a living playing feeling differently than I do. The one thing I'm certain of is that the quoted statement is wrong.

GOOD PEOPLE OF THE THREAD:

Who is confused about my intended meaning? All I'm saying is that you're gonna ****ing raise a junkie with the nuts as often as you raise a reg with the nuts. Come on, guys.