Sometimes You Hate It

I play poker as kind of a part-time job. I do all right for myself, pay for food, my utility bills, cable, books, etc. I used to love playing, at the casino, with my friends, or online. Even when I lost, I'd have fun.

Ever since I've started taking it seriously, it's become less fun. Sometimes, it is fucking miserable to play.

I'm a tight player, which means I only play good hands. Most of the time, I keep myself to top 10 hands (Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens, Nines, Eights, Sevens, Ace-King, Ace) which mans I'm folding somewhere around 93% of the time before the flop. I mix it up with mediocre hands if I'm in late position and the flop is cheap, or I'm getting good pot odds. However, I try to remain disciplined and stick only to top hands.

It's a winning strategy, because most players are bad and will play any hand. They also cannot fold a good hand when it is losing. They'll call a raise with King-Jack, hit a Jack, and pay me off when I have pocket Aces. Sometimes they get lucky and outdraw me, but I'm good enough now that I can fold top hands when they're beat. Not always, but enough.

The way I play is frustrating at times. I've gone through long periods of time without getting top hands. This happens once and awhile, and for my style, that means I have to fold. I've had sessions in which I've folded 99% of the time. I once went a stretch online and in the casino in which I didn't get a pocket pair higher than Nines for about 2,000 straight hands. When I finally got Jacks, I was up against Kings. That's frustrating.

What adds to the frustration is that you see morons playing any two suited cards getting lucky and winning massive pots. It's hard to just sit there and tell yourself to just wait.

It's frustrating to endure a long run of dry cards. But it is absolutely infuriating when you get good hands, but they still lose. Also, having dry cards and folding a lot means that you're at least not losing much money. When you get good hands and they get cracked, they usually cost you a good deal of cash.

This summer, I had pocket Kings, the second best starting hand in Hold Em, cracked 20 out of 25 times. Over that period, I lost about $2,000 with just that hand. Miraculously, I remained at about even overall. But Kings were killing me.

They lost in every way imaginable. There'd be an Ace on the flop, someone would have eights and flop three of a kind, someone would bluff all-in with an unpaired Ace then hit it on the turn.

It got to the point that when I looked at my cards and saw one King, I'd pray to myself that the second card wasn't a King. One night at Turning Stone, I lost with Kings twice and was so pissed off that I got in my car, and instead of driving to Ithaca, I drove to Massachusetts.

Anyway, that's how frustrating it can be sometimes. You can play perfectly, and still lose. Get all your money in there with the best hand, then get outdrawn. Sit and wait for cards that never come.

Tonight, I got that frustrated with poker. Cards sucked. Couldn't catch a break to save my life. I didn't want to play anymore. But I knew if I did, and consistently played well, things would turn out. I sat down online at a single table tournament and dominated it. I made great calls, great bluffs, great folds, and played really well. Finally, it had worked out.

Goes to show you. Plug away, keep doing what you gotta do, and it'll work out.

Second Worst Birthday Ever

What did I do on my birthday this year? I did schoolwork. Nothing but schoolwork. Even though my birthday was on Thanksgiving, all I did was schoolwork. Oh, and I watched Boston College choke in Miami. Second worst birthday I've ever had, which is saying a lot because the worst was my 11th, which was when my dad was med-flighted to University Hospital in Boston.

I didn't expect much from my 22nd birthday. Last year (in case you're shitty at math) was my 21st and it was amazing. Got drunk for free at bars in Boston and in Norwood. Then the day after, I flew to London and got to see the Arsenal play. Good times. This year, I wasn't looking forward to my 22nd that much. I didn't dread it, I just didn't care.

My mother kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday. I told her "Don't bother, I don't care." That's such a typical Rob Zeitz thing to say, too. But honestly, I didn't care. I wasn't depressed over it, it just didn't excite me in any way. My mom even got me a birthday cake, but I didn't eat any of it.

I had intended to be very active on Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to seeing Xaverian play St. John's Prep. I missed last year's game, first one in 6 years I hadn't gone to. They wound up beating the Prep 34-0. Kevin Mason even got on SportsCenter's top plays for an amazing catch in the game. I mostly wanted to go to the game to see kids I hadn't seen in a long time. I also wanted to berate St. John's Prep principal and former Xaverian principal Ed Hardiman.

Ed Hardiman was a dink and nothing but a dink. Last day of classes senior year, he got me 5 detentions. I pulled out of the parking lot rather quickly, being excited it was the last day of classes. The next day, during a meeting for seniors, he accused me of nearly running him over. Problem was, he was 200 feet away from my car when I pulled out and that was the closest he got. Fucking lying dink.

But I missed the game because I was doing schoolwork.

After the game, I had intended to go down Cape Cod with my brother and mother to see my aunt, uncle, and cousins. No time for that, either. Had to work.

After the Cape, I had intended on going to a bar for my birthday and to watch BC play. No time for that, either.

I wound up doing schoolwork because I'm lazy. I didn't get back to Massachusetts until Monday night thanks to yet another dentist's appointment. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I pretty much slept and did nothing all day. I was really fucking tired and needed a few days off from school and poker. Wednesday night, I got wasted with my friends.

I have a 15 page research paper due on December 2nd. I wanted to get a good chunk of it done during break so I wouldn't have to deal with it too much in Ithaca. Also, three of my sources were located in the Boston Public Library, and nowhere else. That's what happens when you do a paper on an obscure war that took place in 1637 New England.

So all day Thanksgiving, I was in my basement, researching and writing. I knocked out 10 pages of that bitch that day and knocked out another 5 the next day. I met the required length, now all I have to do is finish it up and I'm done with that class for the year.

I actually got really into the paper, which is good. Interesting stuff if you're into history and whatnot.

Despite a shitty birthday that was of my own making, break was pretty good. Got drunk a few times, saw some people I hadn't seen in a while. Some highlights:

For the first time ever, I bowled regular bowling. It was at Jillian's in Boston. I didn't do too well, but considering I was drunk and it was my first time bowling in a non-candelpin bowling alley, I did OK.

After Jillian's, I hugged Gate C at Fenway Park. Drunkenly, I declared it to be "My home. This is where my family lives." Then I found a hat in a trash can. It's a red Red Sox hat with a red B. I still need to wash it before I wear it. It wasn't buried deep in the trash, it was hovering above the rim. But adjacent to refuse is refuse.

The night before Thanksgiving, we drove around Norwood in the Rojo's van. It was the drunk bus for the night. No Norwood cop would dare pull over the Rojo's van, considering it's owner is one of the biggest men in the town.

In the Rojo van, I wrestled Dave and was fish-hooked. That hurt.

I got a Boston Public Library card. It expires in 27 years so I'll set a reminder in my phone for November 24th, 2033.

At the library, I skimmed through a book that was printed in 1827. When I opened it, the cover fell off. The librarians understood.

I also skimmed through a book that was initially written in 1645. Back then, they used a funny looking "f" instead of an "s". That proved difficult, especially when the word first appeared. It looked like fift.

The number of obscure people I knew from Xaverian and St. Catherine's that I saw over break was staggering. I saw a kid who I hadn't seen in 7 years, another one I saw that I hadn't seen in 13 years since we played on the same Little League team.

I finally saw Borat. Fucking masterpiece of comedy right there.

Weekend at the Stone

Just got back from Turning Stone. Made a few bucks playing poker. I got a room with Mike. Normally I don't get rooms but he offered to pay for it, so why not? The room was nice and on the 16th floor of the Tower Hotel. Good view overlooking the Mohawk valley. I could see all the way to Sherrill.

While in the room, I finally saw Snakes on a Plane. I enjoyed it. It delivers what it promises, which is snakes on a plane. I imagine if you had ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), it would really scare the shit out of you. Oddly enough, I don't have ophidiophobia. Snakes really don't scare me at all. Bugs do, but snakes don't. I've only seen a few snakes, one was in a science class. There's been one or two small snakes spotted in my lawn, but I walk past them without giving them much thought. I suppose if I saw a cobra coming at me, I'd probably be scared, but that has yet to happen.

After watching Samuel L kick some ass, Mike and I went down to the poker room. On our way, we were propositioned. These three girls, who were quite drunk, approached us. One of them said it was her birthday but she needed more money to gamble, and for $5 she would let us come to her room and "do whatever." We passed on the offer.

The next day I drove Mike to Hancock Airport in Syracuse for his flight to Texas. I gotta say, Syracuse's airport is tiny. I liked it, though. I'm not gonna lie, I'm terrified to drive to Logan Airport in Boston. Not that we have a massive airport, it's just difficult to get to and difficult to find your way around. Hancock was a breeze though, only one terminal and the airport was right off I-81.

After driving back to the casino, I was walking towards the poker room when I walked past Greg Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. He was at the Stone Friday and Saturday to help promote Lighning Poker. Lightning Poker is an electronic poker table without chips, cards, or a dealer. Virtual cards are shuffled by a program that deals out to each player. Their cards appear on a screen and they make decisions on the screen. The flop, turn, and river appear on a large screen in the middle of the table. Everything is electronic. They look pretty stupid, actually. It is the same as playing online only you can see your opponent. But you can't watch your opponent place chips into the pot, or verbally announce his bets.

They've been running sit & goes at these Lightning tables for over a week now. A sit & go is a one table tournament. The buy-in was either $60 or $115 for different sit & goes. For the $60, $50 went to the prize pool, $10 to the casino. That's a 20% rake on your money which is more than twice what most online casinos charge for their sit & goes. Not a great investment.

Raymer was playing the $115 sit & goes. He was getting paid to do so and was playing for free. The idea was that people would pay the $115 ($15 of which went directly to the casino) to play against a World Champion. They did in droves. Raymer played nothing but sit & goes, starting at about noon and going all the way to 2 AM with a dinner break mixed in. Poor guy didn't even get to play in one of the side games. Poor guy didn't even cash in any of the sit & goes. Still, he got paid to be there and didn't lose anything on the sit & goes.

When I walked by Raymer, I didn't know if I should say anything. What do you say? "Hey, I saw you on TV!" or "Hey, you're Greg Raymer!" The only two things I might have been able to say are "Hey, could you stake me?" or "Way to represent Foxwoods, Greg." Neither of those things are even worth saying to a total stranger.

The Departed

After a great deal of waiting, I saw The Departed the other day. The first thing you notice about the movie is the names attached to it. Martin Scorsese directing (is it me or is Scorsese going through an Irish fetish with this and Gangs of New York?), Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon starring, and supporting roles being played by typically leading men like Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, and Jack Nicholson. The lesser known names in the cast are also very good actors. Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Corrigan, etcetera.

The second thing you notice is the setting of the movie. Boston, Massachusetts. What's so special about Boston as it pertains to this movie? In terms of organized crime activity, Boston is unique in that Irish mobs of South Boston, Somerville, and Charlestown often fight with the Italian mobs of North Boston and Providence, RI. Furthermore, the most prominent Irish mobster in the late 20th century was leader of the Irish mob in Boston. Whitey Bulger was/is the leader of the Winter Hill gang of Southie. He was also an FBI informant, but often used the FBI as a means to further his own agenda. He was also highly connected in the power circles of Boston, most notably through his brother Billy who was a major player in the Massachusetts political scene. Billy was once President of the Massachusetts Senate, as well as President of the University of Massachusetts.

In the 1960's the Irish Mob Wars resulted in the Winter Hill gang being the primary Irish organized crime force in Boston. Nevertheless, there has always been tension between the Irish and Italian organized crime factions.

What's ironic about the Irish mob in Boston is that most cops are of Irish descent. Although the Irish mob doesn't "own" the police or the FBI, law enforcement has always found difficulties in mustering considerable energy to battle organized crime in Boston.

The Irish mob in Boston is also not nearly as powerful as crime families in cities like New York. In a way, they are working class mobsters, gritting out tough lives in grittiness as opposed to the often glamorized Italian mobs in suits and ties. This is vital for the movie.

Boston is a rare city for movies to be set in. Most movies are set in New York, or LA, or Chicago, or another major worldwide city. Off the top of my head, here are the only movies I can think of that are significantly set in Boston.

Blown Away, Mystic River, Celtic Pride, Boondock Saints, Fever Pitch, and Good Will Hunting.

That's it, and only a few of those movies can be considered to be really good. The other's kind of suck.

This movie works in Boston, though. When people think of Boston, they think of Irish people. When people think of Irish people, they think of working class hard workers, people that are tough as nails and willing to do anything to survive.

One thing I can't help but notice in Boston movies is the accents. Usually, they're fucking terrible, and way over the top. See: Kevin Costner in Thirteen Days. We don't all sound like Ted Kennedy drunk off his ass. But this move had really good accents. Of course, Wahlberg and Damon were flawless, but even DiCaprio and Baldwin did very well.

The use of terms like "down Providence" and "up Gloucester" was also very nice. Many hardcore Boston speakers skip over the preposition "to" when referring to going somewhere.

This movie alludes to several things that are relatively well-known to Bostonians, but perhaps not to outsiders. I enjoyed these allusions even though they weren't big parts of the movie. Things like robbing microchips from a tech company on 128 (128 is a road that goes around Boston and has dozens of tech companies), or robbing an armored truck at the Dedham Mall were nice little touches that, for me at least, gave the movie a good deal of authenticity.

The portrayal of the State Police was also very well done. The Massachusetts State Police is not just a group of cops with statewide jurisdiction. They're very tough to get into and don't bullshit around. Mark Wahlberg's character, as well as Martin Sheen's were very good representations of state troopers.

The MSP considers itself almost a military organization. They require accepted cadets to undergo paramilitary training. There is a joke about one trooper appearing as though he was about to invade Poland. I found this humorous because there is definitely a resemblance between MSP uniforms and uniforms of Nazi officers.

Enough Masshole pride for now. Back to The Departed.

The screenplay was based on the Hong Kong movie Internal Affairs. However, when the US version was being written, screenwriter William Monahan didn't watch the original movie, only reading the original script in order to get a purer feel for the story as opposed to the finished film.

The story is great. In order to simplify it, it is like Spy vs. Spy with Damon and DiCaprio infiltrating the State Police, and Irish mob, respectively. Eventually both sides become aware of the presence of a rat which sets up the inevitable conflict between Damon and DiCaprio with a few surprises mixed in.

This movie was exquisitely written and amazingly casted. Damon and DiCaprio as the rat pawns, Martin Sheen as the older Statie, Mark Wahlberg as his younger right hand man, Alec Baldwin as the not so far-sighted Statie, Jack Nicholson as the evil but still likeable villain, and Vera Farminga as the love interest. Each actor did a great job with their characters which is saying a lot because this is such a two-sided movie with the underground side and the police side.

Excellent fucking movie taking its place among mob movies and among Scorsese's collection of classics.

Unfortunately, most of the movie was shot in New York because Boston's film bureau is fucking retarded. They make it too expensive and complicated for movies to be shot in the city or state. Some of it was shot in Boston, but most of the street scenes were in New York.

Let it Rain

It's raining pretty heavily in Central New York and Central PA. There are severe storm warnings and there will probably be valley flodding. However, I think this weather is great.

It is November 16th and the temperature is well above freezing. It could be raining blood right now and I'd still be happy with a November 16th above freezing. Lots of kids are going home today and tomorrow, if it were snowing, that drive would totally suck. The roads haven't been treated yet and the roads would be shittier than they usually are.

Stuck in the Mud

The apartment building in which I live has a parking problem. There are eight tenants, each with their own vehicle. The lot has space for eight cars, if they are all parked properly. However, once one or two cars leave too much room in between cars, the lot only holds 7. Also, if someone is visiting someone here, there aren't enough spaces.

Earlier in the year, this was an annoyance, but not a problem. My nocturnal schedule often resulted in me being the 8th car in the lot, often odd man out of a parking spot. Not a huge deal, I'd just park in the grass next to the lot.

Then it started raining. The grass also got chopped up from me and others parking there. Last night, I came home from Babel at about midnight, not too late at all. But there were no spots available. I could have parked perpendicular to the cars at the edge of the lot, but I didn't want to block anyone in. I've had trouble backing my car out when someone else does this.

Despite the mud, I parked my car on the lawn. I awoke the next day before class and tried reversing. Nothing doing. As you know, once your car is stuck in the mud, the more you try to get it out, the worse it gets. My roommate tried pushing it while I hit the gas, no effect. I eventually had to call a tow truck.

It came and pulled my car out. The holes my car left in the mud are about 10 inches deep. I'm not parking in the mud anymore. I'll block people in from now on. It's their fault for parking like morons.

Typical though, do something nice for people and get fucked over for it.

Babel

Okay, some of the stuff I'm going to write here might ruin your experience of this movie. I'm not revealing any major plot points, but I will discuss themes and general practices. Aesthetics and Analysis, essentially.

The first thing I noticed about this movie was the title. Babel was the name for the city of Babylon in the Old Testament. It is also the location of a mythical tower. This tower was constructed by a unified humanity that spoke one language. They were attempting to be greater than God by constructing this monstrous tower. God saw this, was angered, and made the builders speak in different languages so they couldn't understand one another. Thus, the tower project was destroyed. The English word "babble" comes from this story.

So already knowing something from the title, I went into this movie with certain expectations. I expected difficulties in characters understanding each other. I was given what I expected, which is what movies (and their marketing) should do in order to be considered successful.

The storyline is quite complex. It is not a typical story with one protagonist, one antagonist, et cetera. In fact, there really are no antagonists except for the protagonists.

There are five languages in this movie. Arabic, English, Spanish, Japanese, and sign language. Each character that speaks each language struggles with their limitations in communicating with those around them. The communication between characters stretches beyond linguistic difficulties, however. Characters often say things that are ignored or disregarded. Other characters often choose to ignore or disregard others because they have difficulty seeing things from their point of view.

This movie features an excellent collision and comparison of cultures. Similarities and differences between cultures are abound in the film. Consumption of Coca-Cola, alcohol, listening to music, dancing, and sexuality are all used to illustrate the similarities and differences between the characters and their respective cultures.

This was a challenging movie to construct. The complex storyline does not even follow temporal rules. Events occur from multiple perspectives, and movie time does not coincide with real time. For instance, one event early in the film is repeated much later on in the film but from a different perspective. This does not cause disorientation, though. The stories and their temporal inconsistencies with one another are blended together so seamlessly and easily that there is no jolt when setting is switched.

Cinematographically, this film is very well composed. Each setting has its own nuances that let the viewer know where they are in an instant. There are also some scenes that are absolutely brilliantly edited together.

The acting was very well done. Although the characters have relatively little screen time to be properly developed, their motivations are established easily throughout the movie. The characters are also very real and believable. Even minor characters seem true. For a film like this, seeming reality is vital.

This movie wasn't a sit back and enjoy while you scarf down popcorn movie. It was complex and requires attention and thought during the movie. Those types of movies are my favorite. It is also the kind of movie that makes you want to think about it after it is over.

There is definitely an underlying theme that unites the storylines, but this theme is not simple and is not beaten into the viewer's head. It is presented for the viewer to choose to absorb, or not absorb.

Go out and see it.

Root Canal, Part II

Today I underwent the second major phase of my root canal.

The first phase was the "cleansing" of the nerves inside my tooth with tiny little drills called endofiles. The Novocaine they gave me benumbed my senses to this experience, however, there were a few moments in between Novocaine injections when I felt the procedure.

It was an interesting sensation, to say the least. It was the second most painful thing I've ever felt. The most painful thing I ever felt is simply too graphic and painful to mention. The endofile drilling essentially felt like a tiny little piece of metal scraping at the inside of my teeth. That's what it does, and that's the only proper way to describe it. It kind of felt like a very small person's fingernails picking deep within your tooth, deep into the gums. Not fun.

After they drill away EVERYTHING in the nerves, they filled the nerve canals with a disinfecting paste, then they capped my tooth with a temporary cap.

I had a week of taking Naproxen Sodium, essentially highly concentrated Aleve. It dulled the pain and kept down the small but very noticeable (to me, at least) swelling in my gums and jaw. It also made me very tired, and made my poop turn green. That isn't a joke.

After the procedure and the pills, I experienced a lot of weirdness. My sense of smell seemed to be extremely heightened. This was not fun because people stink and I'm no exception. I also didn't want to eat anything. I was hungry, but the thought of eating was disgusting and I was afraid it would hurt. I got used to it though and was forced to eat in order to take my pills.

Today saw the end of my Neproxen prescription and my second visit to the dentist's office that I had sworn to myself "I would never go to again." This time, they removed the temporary cap. Once again, the endofile was employed to ensure the nerve canals were vacant. Then they were filled with rubber. Novocaine was once again used, but it didn't totally numb the area. I felt the sensation of tiny little screws placed in my tooth and liquid rubber being squeezed into my nerves. Not too painful though, especially compared to the traumatic toothache I experienced a week prior.

The rubber in my nerves was capped, but it still needs to be permanently protected. So I will return in a week for Part III of my dental adventure. Until then, a few pills of ibuprofen and eating soft foods that are small enough to be chewed with only one side of my mouth await me for another 7 days.

Right now my tooth feels bad. It hurts slightly and isn't reacting well to pressure or hot/cold sensations. I think this will pass as my tooth adjusts to being filled with rubber. Also, the tooth feels as though it has been expanded somewhat. No doubt that this is causing some discomfort. But I'll take discomfort over agony any day of the week.

Logical Circles

So this happened a few weeks ago. After a night of drinking in Boston, Cav and I were hungry. We decided to go to the 24 hour McDonalds in Westwood. After ordering, we spotted a Norwood Police Car in the parking lot, just sitting there.

I told Cav not to worry, even if he pulled him over for drunk driving, "you can run logical circles around him." I didn't realize the humor of my remark. I was thinking that Cav could simply say "We're not in Norwood, we're in Westwood, you have no power here."

MLS Cup

So the New England revolution are in the MLS Cup, the championship game for American soccer. I like the Revolution, but they're really hard to watch. All MLS is hard for me to watch. I love soccer, though. But the MLS is such a pathetic league compared to the English Premier League, or the German Bundesliga. I remember a few weeks ago, I watched Arsenal thrash Reading 4-0, then tried watching a Revolution playoff game. The quality of soccer was so bad that I fell asleep.

The MLS is like watching AA baseball if you've ever seen the English League before. Just an example. Taylor Twellman is one of the best players on the Revolution and in the MLS. Technically, his contract is owned by a German team, TSV 1860 Munich. TSV 1860 Munich isn't even in the top German league, they're in the Second Bundesliga. Not only that, they've never requested the services of Twellman. He's on indefinite loan to the Revs until 1860 wants him.

Another example of MLS's lack of top quality is the exhibition played this summer. A team of MLS "All-Stars" took on English Champions Chelsea. The All-Stars upset Chelsea 1-0. The game was a pre-season tune up for Chelsea.

Soccer takes 11 outstanding athletes on a team in order to be played in an entertaining way. Goals are scored in the EPL and other top leagues when great offensive players make great passes and great touches. In the MLS, goals are scored when poor defenders fuck up. There's a huge difference in the fan's experience.

Short Paper on Internet Gambling's ILLegality

For Persuasive Argument we had to write a paper from the position we are against. It had to be something like the first paper which is located a few posts down. Essentially, we had to argue the issue from the opposing side. Here is my piece:

Proponents of internet gambling believe that gambling over the internet is not banned by the Federal Wire Act of 1961, in fact the spirit of the law is directed against internet gambling.
The Federal Wire Act does not explicitly ban internet gambling. How could it? The Act was constructed and passed decades before the internet as we know it existed. The Act does explicitly forbid the use of interstate wire communications for the use of sports betting. The purpose of the Act was to curb a rampant activity.

With varying legalities of sports gambling in different states, gamblers utilized the telephone to circumvent local laws prohibiting sports gambling and placed bets in states in which such an activity was legal. The Federal Wire Act was implemented in order to halt this circumvention of local laws. In essence, people were legally gambling in states in which gambling was illegal. The Wire Act put a stop to this.

In 1961, telecommunications had advanced to the point at which only verbal messages could be readily transmitted. In sports gambling, this is all that is required to place a bet. The words “$100 on Boston” constitutes the placement of a sports bet. This can be done easily over the phone.

The nature of sports gambling also makes it conducive to placing bets over the phone. The placement of the bet can be as simple as a short phrase like “$100 on Boston to cover” or “$50 on the Eagles.” The contest which is being wagered upon is seen by many people, published, and can easily be referenced. Only fixing of games or point shaving can forge an outcome, but this activity is frowned upon even in the gambling community. Moreover, bookies typically make money by collecting a vigorish, a fee for the bet being placed. Although the loser of the bet typically pays for the vigorish, bookmakers typically balance their action evenly by taking equal bets for both sides of a contest. This way, approximately half of the bettors are assured to be losers and assured to pay the vigorish. This means that there is very little motive for the results of a sporting contest to be fixed by a bookmaker.

Other forms of gambling existed in 1961, but none were very conducive to the telephone. For instance, it would be possible for a person to call up a Las Vegas casino and place $100 on black on a roulette wheel, but this would be ridiculous. The gambler wouldn’t be able to see if the ball landed on black. Since the gambler would be playing against the casino, the casino would have a motive to lie about the result of the contest, even if it did land on black.

Placing bets over the phone for horse racing was not prohibited by the Wire Act, even though horse racing, as well as dog racing, have similar circumstances. Both are publicly known contests, and both are essentially bets placed against other players, not against a gambling establishment. However, many states allow horse racing, as well as off-track betting on horse racing. Sports betting, on the other hand, was prohibited by most states and still is.

Another form of gambling in which the player doesn’t play against a gambling establishment is poker. Of course, playing poker over a phone in 1961 would be utterly impossible. Poker’s legality is different from other forms of gambling. Playing the game for money is legal in most states, but it becomes illegal if the “house” takes money, either through an entry fee or a rake (money taken from the pot and pocketed by the gambling establishment). Online poker rooms take rakes from their games, and entry fees for their tournaments.

Times have changed since 1961. The internet has allowed for the existence of online casinos, virtual environments in which gamblers can place bets remotely on all sorts of casino games, as well as sports. Now it is feasible for a gambler to play roulette in a state in which it is illegal to do so.

The Wire Act may be an outdated law considering the advancement of telecommunications in the past four decades, but the spirit of the Act is not outdated. It was meant to stop people from circumventing local gambling laws by using communications devices to place remote bets that actually occur in another state or country. Internet gamblers in 2006 do the same thing that sports bettors did in the 1960’s. They place bets online in countries in which those bets are legal. However, in most states, the gambling they do is illegal. The Federal Wire Act does not explicitly forbid this, but the spirit of the law is to halt this kind of activity.

Bees Like Marinara Sauce

So I went to Burger King for lunch and got an Italian chicken sandwich. It's one of my favorite foods. It's a bit pricey, $3.60, for chicken topped with Parmesan cheese and marinara sauce (thus making it Italian), but it's good. And eating chicken from a fast food place gives me the illusion that I'm not eating something grotesquely unhealthy. In fact, I was tempted to get the meal, but I decided against greasy french fries and a soda loaded with sugar. I haven't drank soda in nearly a week, which is impressive because I'm thoroughly addicted to Mountain Dew and cola drinks.

Anyway, I had the window d0wn because it was so nice out, and was driving on Green Street enjoying my sandwich. A fire truck was backing into the fire department station so traffic was stopped. I looked down at my sandwich before taking a bite and a large bee was sitting on the wrapper, about to pounce on my expensive piece of chicken. I made a throwing motion with my hand, trying to flick the bee off of the sandwich and out my driver's side window. This worked, but my sandwich collided with the piece of framework between the driver's window and the windshield. Marinara sauce everywhere.

I cleaned the sauce up with a napkin, finished my sandwich and drove to school. I was about to exit my car, when I spotted another bee, 0r perhaps the same bee, sitting on the remains of marinara on my car.

Apparently, bees like marinara sauce, and are willing to die for it, as this one did.

This post was pointless.

Midterm Elections

Why didn't I vote?

Ted Kennedy (D) 69% winner of Senate seat for Massachusetts

John Olver (D) 76% winner for House seat in 1st District

Richard Neal (D) ran unopposed for House seat in 2nd District

James McGovern (D) ran unopposed for House seat in 3rd District

Barney Frank (D) ran unopposed for House seat in 4th District

Marty Meehan (D) ran unopposed for House seat in 5th District

John Tierney (D) 70% winner of House seat in 6th District

Edward Markey (D) ran unopposed for House seat in 7th District

Michael Capuano (D) 91% winner for House seat in 8th District

Stephen Lynch (D) 78% winner for House seat in 9th District (my district)

William Delahunt (D) 65% winner for House seat in 10th District

I don't think my vote would have made a difference in a Commonwealth that is very solidly blue (Democratic).

The Governor's race was the only one I particularly cared about. Deval Patrick (D) was the only candidate that seemed to want to continue Massachusetts's role as a leader for socially liberal ideals. Just didn't feel a spark with Healey. And Mihos, all he talked about was the fucking tolls on the Mass Pike in Western Mass. Who cares about Western Mass? Nobody, not even the people in Western Mass.

Deval is the 71st Governor of Massachusetts, a list which includes names like John Hancock and Samuel Adams. He is also the 1st black Governor of Massachusetts, and the 2nd black Governor in US history.

He is a supporter of single-payer health care, stem-cell research, gay rights, Cape Wind (a proposed wind energy farm off the shore of Nantucket that would provide power for 75% of Cape Cod residents who currently use a natural gas plant for power), and affirmative action. I don't like affirmative action, but the rest of those issues are things on which I agree with Patrick on.

Another thing about Patrick is that he probably isn't looking to use the Governorship of Massachusetts just as a springboard for higher offices. The Governorship was held by the Republican party since 1990, but each elected Governor has left for better offices on the national political level. Dukakis ran for President, hilariously. Bill Weld tried to become the Ambassador to Mexico. Paul Celuci was appointed Ambassador to Canada but actually fucked that job up so much he had to resign. Mitt Romney will try to run for President in 2008.

On a national level, the Democrats took the House, and it looks like the Senate. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean much. I know Howard Dean and a lot of Democrats are going to go nuts and celebrate this victory, but in reality, the true victory isn't winning control over Congress, it's WHY they won control over Congress.

The Senate race in Rhode Island is a great demonstration as to why Republicans lost seats in the 2006 election. Chaffee (R) vs. Whitehouse (D). Chaffee is a very moderate Republican. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he's an anti-Bush Republican. He's against the war in Iraq, and is against a great many of the extreme things the Bush White House is for. Not only that, his approval rating was 63% among Rhode Island voters. But he lost. Why? Because he has an R next to his name. Of the voters polled in Rhode Island, 75% disapproved of George W. Bush, and 67% of those disapproved voted for Whitehouse, not Chaffee. 73% of Rhode Islanders disapproved of the war in Iraq, just like Chaffee. But among those voters, Whitehouse took 65% of their votes. 63% of voters approved of Chaffee, but 34% of those voters voted against him.

Rhode Island was a microcosm of America, in my opinion. People just found it hard to vote for the same party as George W. Bush, and the same party that had scandal after scandal in its ranks. In other words, the Republicans lost this election, the Democrats didn't win it.

Controlling Congress probably won't do much for the Democrats. Even with Republican House and Senate, the Bush White House was very fond of Executive Orders and actions taken without Congressional approval. Moreover, with a Republican President with veto power, getting anything done for the Democratic Congress will be quite difficult. We've entered a 2 year log jam phase in American politics.

But the backlash against the GOP is important for the 2008 elections. In the next 2 years, the Republicans will have to re-convince American voters to elect them into office. Are they going to do this by going further right, or going further towards the middle? That's the big question facing them. The fucked up thing is, they could regain votes by going further right. The flyover states are all about moral issues and family values. The Democrats just don't do well on those things. They have this attitude about them that's basically "we're right, only a moron would disagree." They don't try to convince the people enough, which if they did try, they'd probably be able to show them that stem cell research can be good, and things of that nature.

So this election was a victory for the Democrats, but a very small victory. In fact, a meaningless one if they fail to build on it in 2008. Now, if they maintain control of both houses in 2008, even if they don't win the Presidency, that will say something. It will force the Republicans to become less conservative, and less aggressive. And that's good news for all of us.

The Big W

Macroeconomics. Easy course. 75 minute lecture twice a week. Occasional test. Occasional extra credit. Easy A. Why then, am I going to Withdraw from it tomorrow?

I've missed so much of this class, and the class is based so much on notes taken in class, that in order to get the A, I would have to bust my ass. This is doable, but this is a class I was taking just to fill out my schedule. I thought it'd be somewhat interesting and an easy A. I was right, but I didn't know that I'd be getting so sick this semester. First with the flu, then my back, then my tooth. This class just seems expendable. I don't need the liberal arts credits, or the non-communications credits. It's at an awkward time in my day. Yeah, I bought the books, one of the few classes I actually bought books for, but what's done is done. It's a shame to invest time and money into something and not really get anything out of it. However, I feel as though now I'd have to invest additional time into this class, which will be difficult to do considering the workloads are increasing in my other classes.

I feel bad because I liked the course, but I just don't think it is the best investment of my time. It's not required. I took the course because I wanted to learn about Macroeconomics. I still do, but now I'm so far behind that in order to accomplish this, it would draw energy and focus away from my requirements (Fiction Film Theory, Writing for Series TV) which are both becoming more and more involved and more difficult.

Day at the Dentists

I got to the dentists early, anticipating trouble with the processing of my insurance. The card needed is in Norwood, MA. I am not. I got the card # from mi madre, but that was all. It turns out that was insufficient, so I had to pay for my work out of pocket, with Blue Cross/Blue Shield most likely to reimburse me.

I'm really fortunate to have full health and dental. Many Americans do not and I think that's a total shame. Unfortunately the pharmaceutical and health care industries are so massive and contribute so much to both parties that we might have to wait decades for any sort of universal health care provided for those who cannot afford it. How much suffering will people have to go through in that time? Fuck both the D and the R, they suck.

Aaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaaaaaay, the dentist's office was a total departure from the dentist I normally go to. Dr. Riley's in Dedham is a small little office with a few dentists. This place could best be described as a dental assembly line.

I got called in for my X-Ray, they took it then sent me back out. Then they called me back in and sat me down in the 7th examination room on the left. All the other cubicles were filled with patients, splayed and being worked on. This guy in a white coat, who probably was a dentist, walked in and asked me how he could help me. I was at a loss for word. "My tooth hurts, someone took X-Rays." was all I could muster. He then looked at my tooth and injected me with novocaine. Then he left. Nobody came in for 30 minutes.

A woman walked in and asked me "Is someone helping you?" "I don't know, someone took an X-Ray then someone else gave me Novocaine." A few minutes elapsed. Then I was moved into a much more advanced room, not just a cubicle. I was glad to be in a much more hospital-like environment, but this also scared me. Something was wrong.

Then I heard two words I was dreading. "Root canal." I didn't know what a root canal was, all I knew was that it was painful, and something that has to be done for some reason or another. My other option was to have my tooth pulled. That seemed somewhat appealing, but then the dentist (the Head Dentist) told me that this can sometimes result in teeth moving and crowding. It seemed as though a root canal was the best way to go about this problem.

The problem with my tooth was that a previous filling had been cut open. I had suspected this, but didn't think it was much of a big deal. Simply remove the old filling, then put a new one in. But the fact that I waited so long to attempt to do this was my undoing.

Your standard root canal treatment involves removing the top of the unhealthy tooth with a drill. There are several little tubes in your teeth that contain blood vessels and nerves. In my case, the nerves were severely damaged, or even dead. They needed to be removed to prevent further infection and further pain. So they drill off the top of your tooth. Then they use a little tiny drill called an endofile to basically scrape out and clean your canals. Then, with the diseased tissue removed, they cap your teeth and crown it.

It wasn't painful, due to the Novocaine. They did the first few steps, then put a temporary cap on top of my tooth. They told me to come back in a week, not to eat or drink for half an hour, and call if there was any sort of pain.

There wasn't any pain for an hour. Then, the Novocaine wore off. This pain was worse than the pain I had felt before I went in to the dentist's. This was mind numbing stuff. I downed ibuprofen after ibuprofen. No effect. The pain was getting worse, too. Every second was more and more extreme. My mind lost all logical sense to it and I considered options such as ripping my teeth out or driving to Mass. to have my normal dentist cure me.

Finally, I called the dentist here. I had a simple question, asked quietly, calmly and politely.

"Hi, I just had a root canal from Dr. so and so, is it normal to experience excruciating pain afterwards?"

I just wanted an answer. Was this type of pain to be expected? Or was there something wrong? That was the worst part of the pain, it had come AFTER I went to the doctor. For fuck's sake, I could feel my pulse INSIDE my tooth. That's not normal, is it? I had no idea if this was just something that happened, or if something was wrong.

The assembly-line and impersonal nature of the dentist's office here in Ithaca continued. The answer to my question was this:

"This is Robert, right? What pharmacy do you use?"

"Um, CVS."

"Okay, we're going to call in a prescription for you."

Click.

So I went to CVS, after waiting and waiting and waiting, I got a bottle of Naproxen Sodium in 550 mg doses. Only 15 pills, just enough to get me to my next appointment.

Honestly, I was hoping for oxy something or vikes. These Naproxen are okay, but I could get them without a prescription, just not in this high dosage.

I have another 6 days of weirdness and fuzz from pain killers. Then I get my root canal finished. Then I have to keep coming back for more and more checkups and treatments. This is irritating because right when I walked into the dental assembly line, I said to myself "I'm never coming back here again."

OK so I've had this cavity in the left side of my mouth for about a month and a half now. It's been a nuisance, but manageable so long as I avoided contact with cold foods/liquids. This morning, however, the cavity declared war on me.

It hurts so fucking bad. The pain is nearly debilitating. It's fucking excruciating, piercing, sharp pain that proliferates around the entire left side of my mouth. Then it spread to my jaw, and the left side of my head. I'm downing Excedrin and Ibuprofen in large quantities and very short intervals to try and keep the pain down. I had intended on getting the cavity fixed over thanksgiving break with my dentist in Massachusetts, but this is too fucking much. Just too fucking much. I'm either an energyless zombie with killing pain, or a brainless zombie loaded on aspirin. I'm calling a local dentist this morning to fix this.

Despite being loaded on many many low level painkillers, I managed to make $400 in 5 hours at Turning Stone. I had intended on playing for a much longer period of time, but I was running dangerously low on Excedrin. I barely made it back to Ithaca as it was.

Bets for tomorrow:
$100 on New England -3.0 vs. Indianapolis
$200 on Denver +3.0 at Pittsburgh
$100 on Washington +3.0
$100 on OVER 37 OAK @ SEA

Short Paper on Internet Gambling's Legality

The following is a short paper I just wrote for Persuasive Argument. The topic I chose is the legality of internet gambling. This paper is an exercise. The subject of the paper is pointing out that internet gambling is legal under US law. Enjoy.

Opponents of internet gambling suggest that gambling online is an activity in which it is illegal for US citizens to participate when in fact, it is quite legal for them to do so.

The law to which opponents of internet gambling most often allude is United States Code Title 18, Chapter 50, Section 1084, more commonly known as the Federal Wire Act of 1961. It is a bill passed by Congress and signed by the President and enacted into Federal law. Subsection A of the law specifically prohibits the transmission of bets or betting information between states or with another country via “a wire communication facility” for the purposes of wagering on sports.# The law essentially forbids the use of interstate phone calls to place bets on sporting events. For instance, a person in Massachusetts, a Commonwealth in which sports gambling is illegal, could not call Las Vegas and place $500 on the Patriots to beat the Colts. The law does not prohibit the transmission of information concerning sports betting in between two places in which the betting would be legal. So a person in Reno could call Las Vegas and place a bet on the Patriots to win.

The critical element of the Wire Act is that it specifically prohibits one type of activity, using wire communications, regarding one type of gambling, betting on sports. There is no stipulation concerning the placement of sports bets via the internet. Obviously, the internet did not exist in 1961 so there would be no stipulation against it. However, the law has not been amended since the inception of the internet to include the use of the internet as an illegal medium to bet on sports. The Act also does not prohibit any other kinds of gambling such as roulette or craps. Of course, betting on roulette over the phone or placing bets on a game of craps over the phone is somewhat ludicrous. In 1961, the concept of virtual roulette wheels and craps tables did not exist.

The Federal Wire Act of 1961 is obviously outdated. In the 45 years that have passed since it became law, more dynamic methods of telecommunications have been invented. Wireless telephones, and the internet are the two most obvious examples of new communication mediums which do not fall under the scope of the Wire Act. The law has not been updated or amended to reflect changes in telecommunications or the changes in proxy gambling (placing bets through a medium such as the internet with a gambling establishment located in a remote place such as another state or another country).

For opponents of internet gambling, the specificity of the Wire Act is its undoing as a law prohibiting online casino betting in the United States. The law is quite clear in that it only bans sports betting over the telephone. An activity such as playing black jack with an online casino over the internet is not forbidden by the Wire Act. The bets placed are not bets on sports, nor is a telephone necessarily used.

The applicability of the Wire Act was tested in 2002 by the US Court of Appeals For the Fifth Circuit. In the case of Larry Thompson et al v. MasterCard International Inc, Fleet Bank, and Fleet Credit Card Services, Larry Thompson attempted to regain money he had lost through internet gambling. His case was centered around the argument that since his losses were incurred due to participation in an illegal activity, he did not have to pay his debt to the credit card companies he used to send money to an online gambling site. A lower court ruled against him, as did the Appellate court of the Fifth Circuit. Thompson cited the Wire Act as a Federal law which prohibited online gambling. This would consequently nullify the debt he incurred since the credit card companies he used would have participated in an illegal financial transfer. In the Court’s opinion, the Wire Act was not applicable because the gambling was not sports betting, nor did it occur over the phone. In the Court’s own words:

"The district court concluded that the Wire Act concerns gambling on sporting events or contests…We agree with the district court’s statutory interpretation, its reading of the relevant case law, its summary of the relative legislative history, and its conclusion.# "

The US Court of Appeals For the Fifth Circuit is the highest US Court to have issued a ruling concerning the Wire Act’s applicability to non-sports internet gambling. Since the Court did not overturn the initial ruling, nor has the Wire Act been deemed applicable to non-sports internet gambling, nor has any higher Court ruled otherwise, nor has any Federal law since been passed to prohibit non-sports internet gambling, it is perfectly legal under US law for US citizens to play poker, black jack, roulette, craps, or otherwise gamble over the internet.



Speaking of gambling, my fake sports bets for Saturday's college football action:
$100 on Air Force -6.5 @ Army
$100 on Wake Forest +3.5 vs. Boston College
$100 on Maryland +20.0 @ Clemson

This already happened, but I did put on my fake bet sheet:
$100 on Louisville +0.0 vs. West Virginia
$100 on OVER 56.5 West Virginia @ Louisville

Win, win


Google spell check says internet should be capitalized. What?

Frenchified

"Be careful, Tweedy, the Mort's Frenchified."
-Gangs of New York

Today in Colonial American History, these two students were presenting something about the attack on the English settlement in Deerfield, MA by the French and their Indian allies. Another duo of students then presented on the interacial marriages between French settlers and native inhabitants in colonial Louisiana. The term "Frenchified" was used to describe the assimilation that occurred amongst Indian tribes that came into close contact with the French. Things like tribes converting to Catholicism (which one kid pronounced Catholik-ism)

The thing is, Frenchified has two meanings. It's seocndary meaning is defined as becoming more Frenchlike, it's primary meaning is more lewd. Frenchified is slang for contracting veneral disease.

I knew this from Gangs of New York and started laughing in class. Nobody else got it and the teacher gave me a funny look. But I thought it was truly hilarious.

"The Indians had close relations with the French and were Frenchified"

No Cortaca Ticket

I've been to Cortaca the past three years, but it seems as though I missed the boat for tickets for the 2006 game. I went the 3rd day they were on sale but nobody was there to sell me tickets. It's a bummer. Senior year and no Cortaca. Guess I shouldv'e gotten off my ass and gotten those tix earlier.

Dia de los Muertos

Today is The Day of the Dead down in Mexico and in a few other Latin American countries. It is a day to celebrate and honor one's dead ancestors.

So today, I honor my father, who studied his ass off at Erie Technical College so he could get a good job working outside of Boston. My grandfather, who worked his ass off so my father could get a good education. My mother's father, even though he was a philandering alcoholic. My great grandparents. My Irish ancestors that came over here on a boat 100 years ago. My German ancestors that came over to Western New York on a blimp in 1830. Actually, they took a boat, but a blimp would have been cooler. My Norman ancestors who helped conquer Ireland in the 11th century. My Saxon ancestors who ruled the small area of Saxe-Zeitzler in the 13th century. My Viking ancestors who settled Normandy in the 10th century. My Germanic ancestors who were driven from the steppes by the Huns and helped plunder the Roman Empire. My Celtic ancestors who settled France and the British Isles many centuries ago. And so on, and so forth.

Rogans Corner Reborn

The day Rogans died, South Hill cried.

Now, it's back!

After failing to get Cortaca tickets, I was bummed, but I learned that Rogan's had reopened so I decided to check it out. I had heard rumors that it had turned into some sort of cookie place. This saddened me. Rogan's was my prime location to acquire cigarettes, beer, and pizza. Kratz then told me he looked inside and found the cigarette rack empty. I was on the verge of tears.

We went in, and the place seemed from another planet. Very white with a lot of empty shelves. The corner where beer is normally stored was an even more appalling sight. Totally empty! No Labatt, Coors, Natty, Keystone, or Buds.

They still had pizza though, already prepared. They also had the miscellaneous aisle of stuff ranging from toilet paper to beer pong cups to soap to tampons for you ladies out there. I ordered a slice of cheese. Thankfully, it tasted exactly the same as Rogan's old pizza tasted like. YAY!

I then asked the clerk if they would eventually have beer and cigarettes. He answered "yes." Thank fucking God!!!

What remains to be seen is if they'll have Steel Reserve in convenient 12 packs and handy 40 ounce cans.

Also, I got their new menus, and no calzones. Unfortunate casualty of Rogan's death and resurrection.

Theresa the Chip Runner

So I was at Turning Stone last night because:

1) I was sick of Ithaca
2) I had nothing else to do
3) My account at PokerStars.com is at $0 (I wasn't the one who brought it down to $0)

Anyway, some of the waitresses there were dressed in some sick costumes. Sexy schoolgirl, sexy cop, little Bo Peep. This wasn't much of a departure from their normal uniforms which consist of very short skirts and very low necklines.

The real treat was the chip runner's costume. Normally, the chip runners dress like the dealers: white tuxedo shirt, black pants. These uniforms don't do the female form much justice. Last night, however, Theresa the cute chip runner was dressed in a sexy referee costume like this one:



It was the first time I've ever seen her wearing anything other than the loose, puffy tuxedo shirt. I was impressed. I couldn't really focus much on poker and lost $150. Actually, that loss was due mostly to my inability to get a good hand (had Jacks once, they lost to King-Queen, had nines twice they were 1 for 2, had Ace-King once and it missed, had Ace-Queen twice and it missed both times, every other hand I got was garbage).

But she looked smoking. And she seemed to gain of confidence from all the attention she got so I don't feel bad for ogling. It's too bad I'm in no position to make a move. Dam my permanent Michael Moore costume!