Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Poker

Poker players addiction to the game

3dd — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:02:44 -0800

Are mostly of Professional Poker Players addicted and ready to gamble everything (including personal property) or a large percentage handle it as a business, a career? I’m very aware that there are exceptions on everything. But I'm asking about the general rule...

Is my husband unemployable?

Jacqueline — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:22:07 -0800

Is my husband unemployable? My husband is almost 29 and has been playing poker for a living for the past 7 years, with no other job, business, or source of income. It's been fun to joke about him living off $6 for 7 years, but now he's burnt out and wants to do something else for a living.

Immediate problem: I'm trying to make him his first resume, due tomorrow for a career event at school. I'm great at making resumes but I just don't know what to put on his. We don't want to lie, but initial Googling suggests that putting "professional poker player" on a resume is the kiss of death.

Long-term problem: He knows he doesn't want to play poker for a living anymore, but he's not sure what he wants to do instead, either now for a short-term job or in the future for a long-term career. Probably something quantitative and business-related.

Education: He just returned to college, as a junior, majoring in Accounting. He has an associates degree from before he dropped out of college to play poker. He plans to complete a BSBA of Accounting in 2 years and then either a MS Accounting or MBA Finance. However, it will be obvious that he's much older than the other fresh graduates, so he'll still need to explain what he did in his 20s.

Experience: His pre-poker work experience was with a railroad from age 18 to 21 (started as trainee, advanced to engineer) and in his dad's tire shop from age 14 to 18 (sort of a combination mechanic / cashier / assistant business manager -- he did the bookkeeping, taxes, etc.). So he does have some "normal" work experience but it's quite old.

Preferences, aptitudes, and skills:
- He likes using his brain and would be unhappy if he didn't get to use it at work.
- He's very very very smart, but his intelligence is more mathematical than verbal.
- He's good with people and in stressful situations.
- He's learning Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in one of his classes, but has no experience yet using them in a work context.
- He's great at taking exams. (I mention this because I know that there are some careers you can effectively test into, which is what he did at the railroad, but I don't know what all the possibilities are.)
- He doesn't want to just trade poker for another high-variance job like sales or stock trading -- he wants a career that will provide a stable upper-middle-class income and benefits.
- We live in Las Vegas, which currently has a 13+% unemployment rate. Adding discouraged workers and the underemployed would probably push it over 20%.

So, I guess I have a few questions:

1. What should I put on his resume right now? Any ideas for how to honestly spin his poker experience in a positive way that will prevent his resume from being insta-rejected?

2. Are there any business-related jobs with steady incomes that he'd be able to qualify for now or very soon, before he graduates?

3. What are his long-term career options? Will he ever be able to get a professional job, or will having spent his 20s playing poker be an insurmountable black mark against him even after he finishes school?

4. Are we screwed? Please be blunt with me, especially if you've ever done hiring or screened applicants.

I'd really appreciate the hive-mind's thoughts on those questions or the general situation. Thanks!

I want to post my own online poker tournament. How do I do this?

mbottrell — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:28:05 -0800

I want to host my own online poker tournament with my friends. How do I do this? Ideally I would want a program that runs as the server client, and everyone connects to my IP. I am able to set the rules (starting chips, timing of blind increases, etc) and play a tournament with 8-12 friends.

I've only found one option that fits what I'm looking for, but I was hoping to find a free option. http://www.briggsoft.com/pmavens.htm seems to be the closet thing I can find.

I don't want to use a poker site that offers the ability to create free rooms.

Can I play poker with real money on an iPhone 3g?

khites — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:36:34 -0800

Can I play poker with real money on an iPhone 3g? I've had a search about both here and on Google - two sites (Pacific Poker & Partypoker) were suggested as possibles, but neither seems to load on the iPhone. Does anyone know of any sites which do work on an iPhone?

Where to find extra large cloth for poker table?

Alec Loudenback — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:26:42 -0800

Poker table cloth fabric (velveteen or similar) that is larger than 60" wide? I'm looking to build a poker table top/cover for our dining table, which is 60" by 60." I've been doing my research and don't think it would be too difficult to build, however I am having trouble finding a fabric that would cover that area and have room to go over the side and staple to the plywood's underside.

The largest I've found is 60" wide at this site, but I don't think that 60" alone is wide enough.

Can somebody recommend a place that sells velveteen (or something similarly suited for poker) online in sizes greater than 60" wide and/or point me in a direction for a local store in the South Denver/Denver area?

Many thanks in advance!

Prepare me for real life poker.

Thrillhouse — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:53:26 -0800

How does real poker compare to online? I've been playing online poker for a while now but have never played for real. I've been invited to poker night at a friends house and am not sure what to expect.

So, aside from the fact that online poker is much faster how is it different? What should I know (or know that I'll have to deal with) before going in that I don't have to know when playing online?

ALso, I'm fully aware that I'm using real money and not play money like online. I've been playing for a long time now trying my best to "pretend" that the money is real and I don't take stupid risks. I've gotten quite good at playing online.

Before I get arrested...

RufusW — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:39:05 -0800

Is online poker illegal in South Korea? My Google-fu is failing me. It seems that gambling is illegal but skill games aren't.

I would be playing at home but really want to get my fix of cards in this PC Bang.

Thanks for any help guys.....

Name of a YouTube video involving a dubbed poker game

lazy robot — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:59:09 -0800

Trek filter: trying to find a video on YouTube of a dubbed Star Trek scene where the characters are playing poker. Not having any luck. Does anyone know what this video is called?

Is it legal to host poker in Illinois?

thebwit — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:02:36 -0800

Is it illegal to host poker games in Illinois if the house does not collect any profit? I just moved back to Illinois from Ohio where it was legal to have a home game so long as the house did not collect any money from the game. I am just curious about hosting small games but don't want to risk getting in trouble with the law.

Tax me on the River

Christ, what an asshole — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:14:06 -0800

Gambling and the IRS: I've been honing my poker skills and I think I'm ready to take my game to the next level: professionally. If I begin making gains at both casinos and online, what is my duty in terms of declarations and bookkeeping while filing my taxes?

Looking for an Online Generic Card Game Simulator.

johnstein — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:34:46 -0800

I need an "Online Generic Card Game Simulator" program (my term). I don't think what I want exists, but I don't know how to verify this, or more importantly, how to go about making one for myself. First off, to explain what I mean by 'Generic Card Game Simulator', my family and friends are fairly scattered across the country (US), so playing cards like we used to isn't possible. We've tried the MULTITUDES of online games, and while for the most part they are ok, it would be nice to tweak the game rules a bit to match our 'house rules' (of which we seem to have quite a few).

In addition, we'd love to also have a poker program that would allow us to create all of our "Dealer's Choice" games.

I've looked online and I haven't seen any such program that fits these requirements, thus I've been thinking of ways to code it.

I've done a lot of "hobby" game coding, and while my field is aerospace engineering, I spend probably 50% of my time coding in VB at work. I can think of a few ways to go about creating the guts of the program, so I'm not looking for help there. That's the fun part. What I can't figure out is how to determine which language would be best suited to use, and the most efficient way to tackle it.

From my own research and experience, I assumed finding an Open Source Java "Web Card Game" project would be the simplest, but man, there's so much out there, I have no clue how to filter the signal from the noise. After downloading a couple IDEs and checking out a few tutorials (all geared toward complete programming newbies), I got frustrated and started googling some more.

I know this has been a rambling post, but I really don't have a good feeling on where to start.

In Summary:
1. Has anyone heard of such a Game/Program online? (free or commercial)
2. Has anyone heard of anyone attempting such a project?
3. Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to get started (specifically on how to deal with the network aspects of an online server based game, if that indeed is the best route)

Other Relevant info:
As a non-CompSci Engineer, I've had to pick up a smattering of various coding languages throughout the years, including:
C++, VB, Javascript, Unix Scripting, *some* Perl, HTML (yea, I know it's not 'coding'), and a couple other Engine-specific game programming languages (based loosely on C++). I have no problem in learning a new language (and realize there might be a rather steep learning curve to get through)

Thanks.

Places to play poker in Manhattan?

Malad — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:51:33 -0800

I'm looking for cool spaces (preferably bars) in Manhattan where they'd let you just sit and play poker with your own cards and chips -- just among friends, not against a casino. Would most bars not care? Any ideas? Thanks.

Make Small Money Sound Big

my homunculus is drowning — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:09:07 -0800

I need a really great, somewhat poker related prize (or a couple of prizes) that will cost less than $1200. I'm giving it away in early August (somewhat flexible on the date). Right now the best I can think of is a trip to Vegas for 2 and a $500 gift card. . . but I'd like something even better/cooler/more expensive sounding than that. I'm also considering a trip to Commerce Casino in LA with Disneyland tickets and stuff, so anything is possible. Travel anywhere is definitely an option, local events are an option. . . it just really needs to sound good.

How to make RSS feeds for new posts by a specific user on a vBulletin forum?

bdk3clash — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:49:15 -0800

How do I set up an RSS feed for a vBulletin forum? I frequent a discussion board that recently upgraded its software. I had set up RSS feeds for new posts by specific users with Feedity that no longer work, and hours of fiddling around with Feedity, Yahoo Pipes, and other RSS tools have proven that I kind of don't know what the hell I'm doing.

Here's a link to a user profile (mine).

Here's a link to my posts.

Anyway, can anyone figure out how to do this?

How does physics impact poker?

jimmydare — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:44:59 -0800

Does the theory of the multiverse in contemporary physics mean that the top card in a deck of cards isn't "set" until it is seen? (ideal answerers have a background in physics, but all answers appreciated.) After a weekend in Atlantic City (I came out even, after expenses, so no harm done) I'm curious about whether the multiverse has philosophical implications in poker. Here's a situation. If I have pocket fives and (for various reasons too long to get into) I fold to a raise, and a five comes up on the flop: is it necessary that the same five would have come up if I had stayed in the hand? In other words, is the state of the flop "set" after the cards are shuffled? Or is it possible that had I stayed in the hand, the five would not have come up? This may seem a bit out there, but I feel that my future in cards hinges on the lessons of physics.

Free poker?

blackout — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:21:27 -0800

Where can I find places to play Hold'em for free (or perhaps a cover charge) in the Clearwater, fl area. I went back to Arizona over the holidays and found out that one of my favorite restaurants (in their bar) plays Hold'em four nights a week. All for play money and all for free. I went one night and had a blast. I'd love to find a place here in Clearwater where I could do the same thing, but wouldn't mind a smallish drive of <= 30 minutes. I've looked at meetup.com and didn't have much luck. Short of cold calling random bars I'm at a loss.
Any help?

Do I have to show my cards?

yankeh — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:51:42 -0800

In No Limit Texas Hold 'Em Poker, when a player goes "all in" and you "call" them (but you still have extra chips) do you have to show your cards?

Neighbourhood Poker Tour: How do we record it?

lodev — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:49:27 -0800

Custom poker table, with in-table cams, facecams, dealercam. How to build it yourself? Me and some pokerbuddies would like to build a poker-table sort of like the ones you see on tv, with cameras in the table and on the players faces, so that we can analyse our game afterwards.

How do we build one of those on the cheap? The table won't be a problem, it's the video part we're wondering about. Where do we get the cameras on the cheap, and how do we digitise the simultaneous streams? (For about 9 players we'd need about 20 cameras (facecam + cardcam + table + dealer)).

The platform doesn't really matter, we know Linux, Mac OS and Windows, but we don't know much about the capture cards or digital cameras to use. Anyone has experience with this?

Where is the best play money poker online?

chrisalbon — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:54:36 -0800

Where is the best "play money" poker online? I have started playing "play money" poker online to practice for a weekly real world poker game.

I am getting pretty good and have accumulated a decent amount of play money on pokerstars. I was wondering if there was anyone online that let me "spend" my play money on something... anything? (ie, raffle tickets, etc...)

I just wanted to see if anyone knew of the best place to maximize my play money winnings (as silly as that sounds).

How do you play poker online without getting an unhealthy addiction?

sjvilla79 — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:51:49 -0800

How do you play poker online without getting an unhealthy addiction? I like to play poker. I am a novice and don't bet big (e.g. biggest hand won was $25). This week though (my second week of playing regularly online) I've noticed some addictive behaviour. This has challenged me to stop playing immediately and take a step back and evaluate things. Yes online articles have helped some although advice from people who have a system in place to enjoy but not get consumed by the game would be great. Can it be done?

Poker poker poker. It's poker craze!

dcrocha — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:45:19 -0800

Poker poker poker poker poker poker? It's poker craze! I began playing online poker on February 2006 and have been doing so ever since. I have invested a grand total of $50 in the game and managed to go up to $1000, swing down to $200 and now back to $500. Although I do not play for the money, I take poker seriously (as every other hobby I have), so I study the game, read a lot of books, analyze my plays, watch the pros play, etc.

And that's where the problem lies.

I can't stop thinking about poker! Odds, hands, bluffs, strategies, the thrill of the victory and the anger of the losses. Everything I don't have in my day job, I can find it in poker. I have some friends who became professionals and honestly I envy their lifestyle: they're in Vegas right now playing the WSOP while I'm at an office doing non-challenging work, though I have a very good and stable job who earns me good money.

I love the game, I don't think I'm addicted, as I usually quit during my losing sessions and don't stop doing other stuff (girlfriend, dogs, beer, beer, beer) because of it. However, poker seems to bring back to my life the thrill and motivation I had back in my early 20s when I started programming computers for a living. I was the king of the world back then.

Should I play more, and try to do it for a living, or I'm just another pro-wannabee who should quit and get back to work?

Townes Van Zandt's Mr. Gold and Mr. Mudd

dios — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:55:23 -0800

Card players, I'd appreciate some help in dissecting a song about poker called Mr. Gold and Mr. Mud by Townes Van Zandt. I've always liked the song. But the last few times I've listened to it, I've started to become interested in whether there is actually a comprehensible narrative to it. Knowing Townes, it is entirely possible they are just wispy words put together and not intended to specifically make sense. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it. Nevertheless, I've always been curious because he uses phrases that I can't tell if they are real poker lingo or just Townes being Townes.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help me decide if there is a comprehensible narrative here, and if not, whether the phrases he uses have meanings in cards (e.g. "three fireballs on the muddy side") or if they are just lyrical words.

Here are the lyrics:

Mr Gold and Mr Mud
by Townes Van Zandt

The wicked king of clubs awoke
it was to his queen turned
his lips were laughing as they spoke
his eyes like bullets burned
the sun's upon a gambling day
his queen smiled low and blissfully
let's make some wretched fool to play
plain it was she did agree

He send his deuce down into diamond
his four to hart, and his trey to spade
three kings with their legions come
preparations soon where made
they voted club the days commander
gave him an army face and number
all but the outlaw jack of diamonds
and the aces in the sky

He give his sevens first instructions
spirit me a game of stud
stakes unscarred by limitation
'tween a man named Gold and man named Mud
Club filled Gold with greedy vapors
'til his long, green eyes did glow
Mud was left with the sighs and trembles
watching his hard earned money go

Flushes fell on Gold like water
tens they paired and paired again
but the aces only flew through heaven
and the diamond jack called no man friend
The diamond queen saw Muds ordeal
began to think of her long lost son
fell to her knees with a mother's mercy
prayed to the angels every one

The diamond queen, she prayed and prayed
and the diamond angel filled Muds hole
the wicked king of clubs himself
fell in face down in front of Gold
now three kings come to Clubs command
but the angels from the sky did ride
three kings up on the streets of Gold
three fireballs on the muddy side

The club queen heard her husband's call
but Lord that queen of diamond's joy
when the outlaw in the heavenly hall
turned out to be a wandering boy
Now Mud he checked and Gold bet all
and Mud he raised and Gold did call
and the smile just melted off his face
when Mud turned over that diamond ace

Now here's what this story's told
if you feel like Mud you'll end up Gold
if you feel like lost, you'll end up found
so amigo, lay them raises down.

________

Also, I couldn't find an online recording of Townes singing this, but I found a decent enough cover by some guy on youtube if you want to get the general gist. Note: Townes was to this cover a Hyperion to a satyr. If you are unfamiliar with him, check him out.

Poker in Shreveport?

ivarley — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 10:16:16 -0800

Where's the best poker room in Shreveport / Bossier City, Louisiana? A friend and some of his low-rolling buddies are headed to Louisiana this weekend. My google recon turns up mostly generic stats and internet gambling ads. Any first hand experience?

I'm interested in finding the best place for a $300-500 bankroll to last the weekend. Low limit Hold 'em, poker and blackjack tournaments, and $5 blackjack are my favorites. I could care less about slots. Good drink service and no-smoking would be nice, but not required.

How to run an online poker night?

kamelhoecker — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:57:43 -0800

I'm looking for a way to have an online poker night with friends who don't live near me. We'd like to play texas hold'em. Bonus if we can use mac and windows machines, but windows-only is ok.

The free online poker sites i looked at (e.g. yahoo) didn't seem to have any control over the tables. The pay sites looked like you had to have some cash in your account to get a private table, and then it wasn't clear if there was a rake. (i'm guessing there would be.)

So, is there any software or website out there that can facilitate our game?

(Interestingly the new version of skype comes with "extras" some of which allow you to play games with the people you're chatting with. unfortunately, no poker yet.)

Vacation Filter - Panama City, Panama

maniactown — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 16:35:10 -0800

I'm going to Panama for a short (6 days) trip and am looking for recommendations for how to spend my time. Originally this was going to be a mostly sport-fishing centered trip, but the boat we were planning to visit was damaged in a recent storm and needs to be repaired. It looks like we'll be spending more time in or near Panama City, Panama than we originally planned and I'm looking for recommendations on what to do or see in the area. Bonus points for recommending good casinos that spread low- to medium-stakes No-Limit Texas Hold 'em poker games. Thanks!