June 3, 2023: Super System

posted in: Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox | 0

I think I mentioned a guy from my job brought in the book Super System 2 for me to read… Yeah, it’s pretty good thus far. It’s a huge book. I would have preferred to read the original Super System first, but based on what I’m gathering thus far, it’s very similar; this one is more updated due to the changing of times of poker of the last couple decades. Poker has really exploded on the scene.

It’s funny how these things work. I think about drinking alcohol, and how that used to be illegal back in the prohibition days; now, you can’t watch TV without seeing a commercial about it. It’s promoted throughout the country, around the world, this thing that used to be illegal. How about marijuana? Trying to buy this off the streets, illegally, for so many years, and now look at it… there are dispensaries popping up everywhere; you can just walk into a store and buy some. Hell, the other day I stopped in one, there were families in there, walking around with dogs… just fricking insane for this thing that people would get arrested for, and still do, in some parts of the country. Then there’s gambling… I had to open up some offshore account to do my thing back in the day; I had a bookie in college, with this # to call to follow the lines, to place my bets. And now? It’s everywhere. Yes, there are still states where it is illegal, but man… running a sportsbook, like Fan Duel and Draft Kings, has to be one of the most profitable things ever, providing legal betting for all those interested, while in the next breath, call this number if you need help… haha. Poker is in the gambling category, but it’s also in the skilled game category too. Some of the stories that Doyle told… the dusty back rooms in Texas where he used to play, with most folks looking down upon Poker… Yeah, turn on your TV right now, and you may be able to see poker being played; again, it’s just funny to me.

I loved playing cards forever, just like board games; we always played as a family growing up. My love of playing games has never stopped, including poker. I first started playing for money with my grammar school buddies, in one of their basements. We’d show up with as much change as we could carry, head down to his basement, that smelled like cat piss, sat at this little table with very little light… I guess that was my underground start in the poker world… haha. We played all the time, then, when we got old enough, we made the treks to the casinos, and eventually Vegas. I had a handheld video poker machine; I play on my iPad today. I love to play cards, couple that with my love for gambling, and you have a match made in…

Of course, everybody plays today; it’s a very competitive game. It’s not easy to win. Like anything, play with what you could afford to lose, and have some fun; I always have had fun playing poker, well, except for a few drunken sessions in Vegas where I helped build that diving board… You win some, you lose some… And now, here I sit, reading this book, like Clark Griswold in Vegas Vacation, preparing for my annual visit to that little town in the desert. With this fresh in my head, I fully expect to win the tournaments I play in; we’ll see how that turns out… haha.

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