Well played, Jamie Platinum, well played.

LoL

Solid plan. You're clearly serious about making changes.

I'm quite sympathetic to the argument that gambling addiction isn't a disease at all. But if you believe that there is such a disease as compulsive gambling, then the desire to keep on playing, regardless of circumstances pretty much *is* the defining symptom.

by this logic, though, you can just say all bad behavior is a "disease". at some point you have to take personal responsibility for your actions even if it tough to do so. some people hide behind the disease argument, like Mike,

Yeah, don't disagree with any of this.

None of this will ever happen.

I'd bet on it with you but you have a serious gambling problem that I want no part of.

ya well Catch Me If You Can had a cool character. Borovetz is a loser. Stealing 200 at a time dumping it in Pai Gow. Pretty pathetic and uninteresting. If Mike did not post in this thread (as himself and his other phoney accounts this thread would be uninteresting and dead.)

people only kept reading for the ridiculous posted by Borovetz and his people.

Borovetz you don't have a disease, you are a disease.

Locking a scammer thread is the absolute very best thing that could happen to a scammer. Especially one that will continue with the scams.

This thread opened or closed has no impact on Mike's success or failure as a scammer. He is banned due to a immature over zealous Mod. This thread needs Mike to post.

Don't sweat it. You did nothing wrong. In an ideal society homeless people would be euthanized for the betterment of mankind. Unfortunately in the world we live in we are often forced to take the law into our own hands. Don't ever doubt your actions as they pertain to this violent bum. You acted correctly.

This thread open is definitely - EV for Mike's success or failure as a scammer. I think Mike's being banned is +EV for his dealing with his gambling issues.

Somewhat ironically, I think Mike's being banned is actually +EV for his success as a scammer, every time he posts he shoots himself in the foot again.

Serious question- How does this thread being opened or closed stop Mike from scamming?

You would have to have seen the thread in order for it to do you any good as a potential mark.

Only after you have been scammed would one seek it out and report what happened. What good does reporting it on 2+2 do when they could be reporting to a scambook type of site would probably make more sense. This thread is simply a confirmation of what they suspected. New entries won't change anything.

Also- If the thread is closed does it no longer come up in searches? Right now if you google the guys name this thread is the second item in the search results.

There are already numerous entries on scambook so it's not like this is the only forum for one to publicly out Mike.

Do you really think people are going to go through the trouble of signing up for a 2+2 account for that?

It just seems like all that's left to do now is bicker about addiction and legalities now that Mike has been banned. In fact, it's pretty obvious this thread did nothing to deter him from his activities. If anything it breathed fresh air into his con game giving MB a whole new set of marks and potential backers. It seems the only good this thread is doing is causing derision amongst this fine community and entertainment for a few wackjobs.

There was certainly value to the thread running up to a certain point but MB being banned means he can't bury himself farther by sharing details of his fraudulent activities. So what's the point?

Kev,

If your going to bring some sense to this thread you will not be welcomed.

This forum is ultimately more effective than Scambook, although Scambook has served its purpose.

Since this is a forum, it allows more detailed followup questions, the posting of photos, and a prolonged chronology. 2+2 is also likely to be more permanent.

I'm also all for closing this thread, but only once PSUAllen Kessler has posted again.(yes, he went there too)
He has been very quiet since the latest scam came to light.

I want to know what he really thinks he is going to achieve by holding PSUMike's future winnings (lol). The plan he mentioned was to hold the money and to drip feed him enough for food and accommodation only, in an attempt to stop him gambling it all away again.

Despite the noble intent, this would of course only result in PSUMike continuing to scam to feed his Pai Gow habit.

The thread has had how many unique viewers ? Unless there will be no more, there is +EV for prospective scam victims and, correspondingly -EV for Mike the Scammer.

Of course this thread will not stop Mike from scamming, but it makes it more difficult and raises the likelihood materially that there will be law enforcement consequences if he runs into the wrong mark. It may also lead to his being barred from some premises where he formerly gambled or scammed.

As for entertainment for "a few wackjobs", that is NVG's raison d' etre.

Mike was well on his way to recovery before actions of thread posters pushed him to scam again. Perhaps it is best that we close the thread. I hope he does well and makes millions off a book deal. Good luck Mike!

You might want to self-redact the bolded delusional portion of your post.

I'm a supporter of Mike and hope he gets well and turns his life around, but I can't agree with this.

Mike was doing really well. His recovery was really like nothing I'd even heard of (and was certainly going much better than expected), and then boom all of a sudden he relapsed. SMH.

And is this what a relapse looks like?

You guys are two fine examples of how trolls are allowed to exist.

It was a mistake banning Mike, him posting in the thread was the only reason it was good.

Anyways I was just wondering why so much hatred for the guy? Anyone who doesn't get ask for money anytime they set foot out of there house must live in the middle of nowhere. People begging for money always lie about what they're going to spend it on...I just say no and move on, I don't berate the person and try to get holier than thou on them. Anybody that does give them money doesn't do it because they believe their story (they should be smart enough not to anyways) it's because they're feeling generous. Just seems kind of odd for so much outrage over some guy begging for money, even odder for a mod making phone calls trying to get even with him.

Again bad move banning mike

Nice edit.

And (obv) hi Mike.

Not sure what you mean. But if anyone, Me included is still posting in this thread we are all trolls.