Wait, so do you really think poker ruined your life, or did you become the directors puppet and basically were acting out the lines he fed you?

Either way you come off as a real pos for what you said in that movie, and if the music thing fails don't just randomly walk across the country spreading propaganda about it thanks.

What was the directors name? I want to get to the bottom of this, that's how much you guys tilted me when I saw this a while ago. Please confirm that the director fed you lines to say, if that remains your excuse.

Notice how I didn't pointlessly walk across the country to punish myself for watching this crap and spread lies about my story?

I don't think 2 plus 2 is the right forum for you Michael. Watching the documentary made me feel like you are not in touch with reality. If you don't gamble anymore then you shouldn't be on this forum.

The director fed me the line, "Poker almost ruined my life." As I have said in previous posts on this thread, I take full responsibility for my actions. I wasn't "blaming" poker as a way to shirk responsibility. I also understand that a lot of what I say in a poker forum is going to fall on stone ears.

Not sure what you mean by "spreading lies." There weren't any lies from in this video, and I'm not a piece of ****, even though I may appear to be one in this silly short. And I'm not sure what you mean by propaganda, but my only message -- if that's what you want to call it -- is that gambling addiction is something that exists and affects millions of Americans, and deserves attention. I'm not anti-gambling, and I don't blame gambling for what happened to me because of it, but it had a negative affect on my life. My story is not unique, as far as the gambling problem goes. I'm not going to try to make you approve of me, because I already know that won't happen. Forget about the short at the beginning of this thread. That was a rough draft. The final cut of the full-length version is finished. I think you'll like it. Here is the official trailer:

Thanks, kev. Appreciate the concern, but If that's what you got out of the short (i.e. me being out of touch with reality), then it is misleading. I am very in touch with reality, especially since putting poker behind me. I think you, also, will enjoy this film.

I'm here because most of the audience of the film will be people like you, who (I assume) play online poker and spend time reading the content on this forum. This is where I can interact with its most likely audience.

To be clear, I have no financial stake in this film, and it doesn't paint me as some sort of hero. But I think it does tell my losing side of the story pretty well, and also the winning side of it.

I forgot to add in my post that I am glad you recovered and moved on, I entered this thread having no idea you were in it and that changed my whole post. "Pointless" was the wrong word to use i'm sure you had a reason to, I just think all that time could've been better spent if you could resist gambling.

My spew should have been given to the director as much, I just remember hearing how you were walking across the country spreading your tale of how *poker* ruined your life(propaganda in my eyes) and I was very tilted. Sorry for my comments but one way or the other there was a mixup in this movie and I find it now to have no credibility. I will be emailing the director to let him know my displeasure in manipulating his film to sex it up.

Looking forward to checking this out!!!!!

I've only seen the preview, but at the end Dusty and Michael Walks should play heads up!!!

people who play live poker will from time to time be in a situation where someone at the table is piss drunk, can't see straight and keeps losing stack after stack while not looking like he can afford it. usually sooner or later someone will tell that guy to maybe call it a night.

i think the people who complain about this film being anti-poker-propaganda are the same people who try to stop this someone and try to get the drunk guy's last money (sadly enough, this is usually almost everybody at the table).

we as a poker community don't need to always choose the path that extracts the most money out of recreational players.

poker has ugly sides and it's not propaganda to show them. i actually like the idea of this documentation to try to show both sides of the story, the winning player and the losing player. i hope it doesn't come across like every losing player has a gambling problem, because I'm sure the majority of losing players just gamble away some of their disposable income without a whole lot of negative effects. but overall it's a nice concept imo.

as an aside: for me threads like "degen stories" give me a healthy respect for table games and gambling and i think it could help some people with destructive tendencies.

Looking forward to this documentary. The only thing I'm worried about with the propaganda argument is that our ******ed government here in the USA has a habit of passive legislation to supposedly protect us all from ourselves. This government as nany role always ends up in piss poor legislation that restrict our freedoms, and ultimately make us dependant on the establishment

Where can I watch the full film?

@Michael I'm not trying bash you or offend you in any way, But Poker is not for everyone, And I think someone said this before, Poker was not the problem you were the problem. Not everyone can handle there emotions and gambling can be addicting, but it's not addicting to everyone, some people play poker for a living and have no urge to gamble after they play.

Thanks for your input -- you're right and you're wrong. Yes, most people can gamble without having any problem at all, whether it's recreational or occupational. Yes, gambling was a choice I made, and the things I did while I was gambling were things that I take full responsibility for.

But it is incredibly naive to say that I -- and millions of other gamblers who become addicted -- would have still made the same bad choices had gambling not been a part of our lives.

So, back to the point. Yes, of course I was the problem, but my problems had direct correlation to gambling. Gambling is not a good thing and gambling is not bad thing, and I do not take a position for or against it. However, to say that poker (or gambling, on a broader level) was not part of the problem is simply not true.

Let me be clear: I'm not railing against poker, or gambling. What I'm trying to say is that people should be more aware of what's at risk beyond the chips on the table before they place their first bet. If there were higher awareness, there would be fewer people like me who put their health and livelihood at stake when they gamble.

Interesting documentary and story, Mike. Kudos at actually waking up from your wakeup call. Pay no mind to the flaming you are getting here; its just sour grapes. I think a lot of guys here (most of which are on the same path) actually feel physical pain when faced with the eventuality, like you were, that they will never be the player they have deluded themselves into thinking is possible. And as a result some lash out in denial, because everyone thinks they could be the next pro, but in actuality 99.9% of the posters here are just steps behind walking the same ditches as you. Unless one operates a room and collects rake, most simply do not understand that the act itself of playing poker is not an industry in the way that the manufacture and sale of a loaf of bread, a car, a Big Mac or even a bag of heroin is. With no tangible manufactured value added commodity, poker itself is actually not much more than the first cousin of a ponzi scheme to concentrate the wealth of many into the hands of a few. And nobody likes to be reminded that the money required to live the "baller lifestyle" that poker pros are envied for is not "made" through hard work but merely taken with no compensation out of the hands of the exploitable, incapable or ignorant. Mom's basement has been a place to hide from reality, and instead this message hits the poker forum trolls in the face with it like a mackerel thrown across a thai fish market.

Read your whole blog of the trip last night - interesting for a couple or reasons:
1/ It didn't seem like you raised much awareness for your cause - apart from a few local radio & television interviews towards the end. And of course the people you talked to along the way.
2/ The only people you talked to who didn't jump at supporting you or your cause (the guys in their garage ) you walked off in a hissy fit from without getting your point across to.
3/ America really is a ****hole once you get out of the major cities and tourist destinations.

easy river fold imo

No, I didn't. Without a big budget, it's tough to raise awareness about much of anything. As I have said in an earlier post, the trip turned into more of a personal exercise in taking things slowly -- one step at a time, if you will. Now, with the documentary, my story might get across.

Haha, "hissy fit." Perhaps. But it was one pair of guys out of all of the hundreds of people I met along the way who thought I was a crock. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the blog, but they were obv drunk. I'm glad you mention it, though, because there are a lot of people who think that gambling addiction is a crock as well. Fortunately, Drawing Dead does a good job at telling my story (that of a degenerate addict, which is far from a unique story). Maybe, a few years after the fact, I will raise exactly the awareness I originally set out to raise.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read it all, regardless of what you think about it.

Thanks. I'm on the right track. [EDIT: i.e., done with gambling.] Too bad it took a lot more than a subtle hint...

Yeah, once you leave the places where people want to live, and the places people want to visit, it sucks. Wait, what?

"Haha, "hissy fit." Perhaps. But it was one pair of guys out of all of the hundreds of people I met along the way who thought I was a crock." Well aren't these the people you want to get your message across to - no use preaching to only the converted.

Yeah, but most people who I talked to weren't belligerent drunks, like the men you're referring to...

i assume this is a comedy?

Not sure if you're being serious, but no, it's not a comedy...

It's a documentary about the emergence and impact of online poker, from two very different perspectives -- mine, on one end, and Dusty Schmidt's on the other (a millionaire who treats his poker like business).

is the full doc the 12 minute video on youtube?



if so whoever the narrator is should be fired for having such a horrid voice for a documentary

No. That was made a year and a half ago. Obviously you haven't read earlier posts in this thread. The final cut (as seen in the trailer) has very high production value (original film score, great visuals, high-profile interviews, etc), and will be available to the public sometime in 2013. You can get film updates by following its Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/DrawingDeadPokerDoc

fold pre in re: to making this a full length film