Drinking and Driving with Scotty

Poker's so big now that it's almost impossible to win any kind of tournament - the fields become so big that you in effect enter a lottery. The only ones who enjoy clause from this mass-effect are the high-rollers, but the downside is that they end up playing each other, with a few fish from time to time.

The cliche' is apt: Easy way to make a tough living.

There're a few exceptions, and one of them is what some regard as poker's most prestigious tournament: The WSOP's H.O.R.S.E. Championship, which I touched on here a while back. Here's a description:

the WSOP H.O.R.S.E. Championship (a $50K buy-in and comprised of 5 poker games; Hold-em, Omaha Eight or Better, Razz, 7 Stud, and Eight or Better 7 Stud, thus the acronym)

At those stakes, H.O.R.S.E. gets rid of most suckers. The fact that it's poker's Pentathlon gets rid of the rest, with everyone and their dog being into Hold 'Em. What's left are the cream of the crop and a few exceptions, and since it's played over five different games, insofar as tourneys are concerned, it's the most prestigious title in terms of ability.

When the 2007 H.O.R.S.E. champion, the legendary Chip Reese took it all, many, including yours truly, thought all was right in Vegas. If nothing else, Reese had bona fides upon bona fides. He was a made man, a long time ago.

Then in a tragic/poetic twist depending on your view, Reese died last year. Poetic because Reese was a cash game player - it was how he'd made his living, and even though he had World Series wins many moons ago, the tourneys didn't yield as much cash for time invested. Like poker's theoretician, David Sklansky, they're stone cold killers who look at poker as a money venture above all others.

So we come to the recently completed 2008 H.O.R.S.E. tourney and Scotty Nguyen. A WSOP World Champion (1998), with this win he sets the bar high as the only person to win the main event and the WSOP's most prestigous title as well.

What was so gratifying was that last year, on cruise control to the final table, he blew it and let his ego take over, and in just a couple of hands when out to Phillip Hilm in 11th place. It was shocking to watch a player of his caliber meltdown, or "tilt" as is said. As an Asian, I hate to say, I was also rooting for him, but more, because he had the pedigree and bona fides, and is just so OG with his gangsta lean.

And then, he took a turn. At times belligerent, downright in-your-face intimidating and by appearances, just drunk, he even managed to rile the all-around nice guy Erick Lindgren, who along with Michael DeMichele and Lyle Berman (another poker great) comprised the final four.

It was really DeMichele - from what footage ESPN chose to air - that was tangling with Scotty. And though Scotty has since issued an apology, I don't think it excuses the numerous outbursts, table manners and outright infractions he committed, such as showing cards to the audience and berating players. Pro Layne Flack, who's Sotty's friend, was also out of line, being really "boisterous" in the audience.

But the WSOP has to assume responsibility; the tournament director should have gotten involved and snuffed it. He didn't, and what made it to TV was ugly.

I don't know if after ESPN's editors were through is the entire story, as Scotty alleges it is not, but again, even if it isn't, the infractions are there.

He's a great player, I've seen him play a lot, and he's always jovial, laughing and coffeehousing it up. But between last year's main event, and this year's H.O.R.S.E., he should do some vacationing.

Follow the Money: David Cay Johnston

A recent email from a friend that cited a NY Times article on corporate theft via tax evasion has prompted me to write about a crusader that is long overdue. I mentioned David Cay Johnston last year, but the truth is he is deserving of special mention, so here we are.

In 2005, I saw a very in-depth interview with Johnston on CSPAN's Book TV upon the release of his then just released Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else. The interview was fascinating because Johnston - a seasoned, Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist formerly with the LA Times and now with the NY Times - was so far-reaching in his assessment, finding connections in ways that are revelatory as to how the system of American capitalism really works to the ultimate benefit of the rich few. It also helps that he's well spoken, with examples galore of corporate theft via the tax system and how that was aiding and abetting the system of funneling money from the majority underclass to the minority economically privileged.

I highly recommend watching the 6 part series of his vids on Youtube regarding his latest book, Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill). Once again, Johnston exposes how corporations, wealthy individuals and government collude in a perfect storm of thievery.

And lest anyone think that Johnston is a wacko liberal expounding weird conspiracy theories, I heard him with my own ears say that he's a registered republican. I don't forget things like that.

For all of my mudpeep friends, here's a guy that not only talks shit but backs it up with hard investigative journalism and good old fashioned research. Although he doesn't address race explicitly, he gives peeps of color plenty of ammo to fight with, because what he's really talking about is classism. But in fact, in that aforementioned 6 part series of Youtube vids, he comes very close to talking about the ways poor (mudpeeps) are screwed over by the system. The difference maker is that Johnston is a surfeit of facts, knowledge and research, and in the best Columbo-esque fashion, he makes connections explicit that the power elite and their co-horts would prefer remain hidden behind the wizard's curtain.

One example stands out: How home alarm companies are related to youth crime, the driver of course being economic imperative. On a side note, Johnston said that the profit margin for the home alarm company services is over seventy percent!

And that's what's so fascinating about Johnston's work: its range. He even cites in the Moyers interview below how George Dumbya Bush's wealth was founded upon the bilking of the American public. He then cites professional sports, which is how Dumbya came upon his wealth, and the system of American funding of pro sports that enables the rich to get richer at the expense of tax payers. In fact, without taxpayer subsidies, professional sports would LOSE money. Perhaps even worse, he further cites how Dumbya (and I imagine his scumbag lawyers) used eminent domain to steal private property to build a new stadium (for his then Texas Rangers). It's clear: Dumbya's no great entrepreneur; he's a connected thief, who was directly responsible for wreaking havoc on innocent people, the American public and caused arguably more damage as one person than any Mafioso. All for profit.

I haven't read Free Lunch yet, but I can tell you that reading Perfectly Legal, while jaw-dropping is an exhausting exercise. I have this habit of placing Post-Its in my books where I like passages; Perfectly Legal got to the point where I literally ran out of Post-Its! As it is, I left the book half-unread because my head exploded from the outrage.

He even relates all of this corporate malfeasance to sustainability, specifically, local communities and their economic well being. In a Johnstonian analysis, this shit is out of control; healthcare, retailing, sports, impact on local communities... He gives new meaning to Watergate's infamous "Deep Throat" dictum: "Follow the money." Johnston's that hardcore, that good.

I put him right up there with Stephen Jay Gould. Seriously, the guy ought to be nominated for the Nobel in econ, he's that much of a complete badass. As a journalist, he embodies the best of America. And he puts these twits who write that distractive "freakonomics" and "tipping point" crap to shame. His work needs to be in schools.

Oh yeah, Lou Dobbs loves him. (Vid quality not the greatest)


Here's an interview he did with Bill Moyers upon the release of Free Lunch. He trashes Dumbya here. Some vid dropouts here, but the audio holds up.


And here's interview clips with the Progressive Book Club. (Very good vid quality)


If I get time, I'll post DCJ's aforementioned 6 part Book TV interview; you can find it for now on Youtube. I wish Stern would interview him - this guy needs to reach a wide audience.

Bernie Mac

Damn, what is this with death all of a sudden? I guess it's the Boomers gettin' old. But Bernie was only fifty...

Of all the debuts on Def Jam, Bernie's stands out.

"I ain't scared a you mothafuckers..."

"You don't understan'..."

"I whip my shit out the whole room goes dark. HIT ME!"

Ah, man, that dude had me rollin'!!! Rest up, B-Mac...

Jung Sungha

I'll write soon on Sungha, but in the meantime, something creative, something rousing.