SAFE WORDS: A true story (adults only)

   You know how some people just exude sex? They can't not be sexy? Well Cindy ( A pseudonym) was one of them. Men and women were attracted to her. Everyone wanted her time. Most wanted her. I was at a friends when she pulled into town; Escaping her troubles in Chicago. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

  She was pretty: Tall, long brown hair, long brown legs. Shifty eyes and a pirate's smile. She looked like trouble for sure. But she was sexy far beyond her looks. I am not a shy man but I couldn't even speak that day. Probably for the best.

  Well it turns out she read me like a book. Cindy was a pretty smart woman, and had outstanding instincts at reading people. We talked a couple times and became friends, or at least friendly acquaintances.

  One day I was at a friends house. He had a small party going on. Maybe a dozen people were there. I saw the front door open and Cindy walked in. She had a blue jean skirt on and a button up blouse that was instead tied in the front. She looked amazing. 

  The stereo was up pretty loud. Too loud to talk. We eventually made eye contact. She mouthed to me "Hi". I mouthed back "wow!". 

  She sat down on the couch. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She knew that too. And without looking at me she managed to spread her legs, revealing her clean-shaven panty-less self to me, with people all around completely oblivious to her performance. She was rubbing herself.

Ok, so now you get an idea of her...style. It turns out, she also has a pretty good sense of humor...

  I have a notoriously demented sense of humor. I can sometimes by fairly funny (though to me I am fricken hilarious all the time). She caught on to that to. Anyway, eventually we got together and had sex a few times. It was very hot. Great marathon sex. A little rougher than I was used to, but very hot.. We were getting dressed and talking one time and she said to me, "You know you don't have to hold back. I could tell you were worried about hurting me...well don't be."

  She was right. I would grab her to keep her still, but was worried about slamming her down or grabbing her to firmly. So she says, "Listen. The next time you see me, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, whenever you want to, grab me and have your way with me. I am giving you permission here and now." "What if there are people around?", I said. "Whatever you are comfortable with. That's up to you." she replied. "Whatever you can get".

  "You will let me do whatever I want?" I asked. "Whatever you can get. I didn't say I would submit. I just said you have my permission," she explained.

  WOW! I have never tried anything like that. Very interesting. But I have heard stories...

  "Ok I think we should have safe words then." I proposed. For those of you who don't know, a safe word allows for the ability to get rough, fight, yell things like "No. Stop. Don't." and it's all part of the game. We can ignore those comments unless someone uses their safe word. That is the only thing that means "stop", in case things go past what one of us finds acceptable. Using your "Safe Word" ends the game.

 So she chooses "Peaches" and I choose "Cream". And we go our separate ways. I am very excited with this situation, having never done anything like this before.

  So a couple mornings later, I get a knock on my door. I open the door and Cindy is standing there. Before I can finish saying "Good morning Ci.." she punches me in the face...HARD. She then turns around, and walking off she utters "Peaches bitch".

To V Or Not To V...

 THAT IS the question. Unfortunately, we are so separated as a society that we can't even begin to discuss virtually any topics without anger and judgement. (Just the way they want us I have no doubt. Divided we fall...)

  I am writing today for myself mostly. To try and sort this out; organize my thoughts. Well, here goes:

  First of all, I know under the laws of our land, that I have the right to decide what goes in my body. I will not waiver from that belief. 

  Is there a reason to be hesitant? Are you kidding me? Of course there is...many. 

Q: What are the long term effects?

A: unknown 

Q: Do any of the vaccines actually work? If so, which ones?

A: I keep finding that people still can catch Covid 19.

If vaccinated people were immune it would be far more enticing, being that it is a vaccine and all...

On a personal note: I have been all over this town more than half of the days of this pandemic. Met with countless people. Been to parties. Even had unprotected sex (meaning no face mask) on many...ok on several occasions. I know people who have gotten sick. I know people who I have been around who had been, unknowingly at the time, recently exposed to Covid 19. Yet I have not been sick. I have not caused anyone to become sick (to the best of my knowledge). Why is that?

  Here is my best deduction:

  If Covid 19 is as easy to spread as they say, then virtually everyone has to have had it. I think what they are overlooking, or ignoring, is that most people who are positive do not get sick. Healthy people don't get tested near as often as the sick do, and without simptums never even know they had it.

  I believe it is extremely likely I have had it and didnt get sick. Example: Athletes (Baseball, Football, Basketball, etc.) They test then for Covid regularly. Many of them come up positive, causing the them to miss games, or even reschedule games, while they quarantine. And virtually none actually get sick. If it wasn't for the mandatory testing, they would never even know they were positive.

  No admittedly we're talking about probably the healthiest specimen group that we could find in professional athletes, but you see my point I hope.

  So am I endangering anyone by not getting the vaccine? If the vaccine works, then they have nothing to worry about. And if it doesn't then why on Earth would I want to get it?

  Ok then, how much trust and faith do I have in the powers that be? Has everyone forgotten that time and time again they have proven that they will say and do anything in order to complete their agenda without regard for their constituents or anyone other than themselves? On the trust issue they get a zero from me. It really doesn't matter if it was conceived or manipulated by humans in the first place because we know that, planned or not, they will still try to make a buck off of it. 

  What really scares me is how quickly people turn on each other and point fingers and blame, seemingly forgetting that in a free country we have a right to choose what we do with our own body.

          

We can't trust our leaders...period.

Ok, here we are. Second week in April. Practicing social distancing and self-semi-quarantining. Trying to do the right thing to "flatten the curve". This invisible monster is everywhere...

   Here is the problem I have with this whole thing. First of all, we know for a fact that we cannot trust our leaders. It's their own fault. They lie and steal and cheat all the way up the ladder. We know this. Now does that mean they are absolutely dastardly enough to cause people to get sick? Innocent people? To die? We would like to think not, but we don't know.

   In fact, history would tell us that they wouldn't hesitate. For money, power, whatever. Let's just say it's possible.

   Number 2: I have been out there, driving around, a bit lately. (side note: It's pretty cool having all that room to drive lol). The hospitals I have driven by have less cars than ever there. I've been told they are just as barron inside. What???

   Now please I am NOT saying there is no pandemic, no virus, nothing. NOT saying that. Just asking some questions. Good ones I think. Remember when we could have discussions in this country without worrying if it offended someone or not? "I'm sorry, but maybe you needed to be offended" (Mike Muir - Suicidal Tendencies).

   Number 3: Why does it scare me that we are told to shut down our businesses (leaving us ailing financially), go home and stay inside (separating us...no groups of ten!!!), That our supplies are limited and some unavailable. That the national guard has been activated and brought in, given assignments. That the Governor quickly banned the sale of hydroxychloroquine the minute that it was revealed that some tests have shown it to effectively fight the virus.

Why does it bother me that they are setting up camps for the infected, like Cashman Field?

   But one thing stands above all of that to me. They closed the LAS VEGAS STRIP. That is one of the scariest things I have ever seen. The kind of money and power the casinos have is unfathomable. This whole town and everything in it is here for them. The police work for them above all. To get them to shut down for even a minute is a dangerous move. That in itself shows how serious the situation is.

   I guess my only point is that something just smells fishy about this whole thing. Anyone have anything to add?

 

This is how it ends? With a whimper?

   I never in my lifetime thought I would see the Las Vegas strip shuttered and closed, dark and empty.

  That's when I knew what I already suspected. We are in trouble. The kind of money behind these monster enterprises does not allow for closures, or even delays when it comes to their business. For this to happen the danger is far greater than we are being led to believe.
   And let's face it. Our leaders are just not reliable. They never have been. They lies are easy to pick out. The dead give away is if they are speaking. It's a tell.
   So here we are self-quarantining to the best of our ability. Watching the number of infected soar past all other countries. This is not going to be over soon. Best case scenario...deep into the fall. And we are all going to catch Covid 19. It's everywhere. I'm guessing 60-80% of us. 
   The mortality rate is climbing as the numbers slowly begin to catch up to reality. It too will be 60-80% I believe.
   I do still have some questions...Are you immune if you beat the virus once? How long can the symptoms last?
   Who knows. So far so good here in my camp. There are 5 of us. Me, my best friend Gabe, Trina, her best friend Tiffany, and Trina's son Deegan. Wish us the best. I will check back with an update soon.

Kevin 

This is a column by Doyle Brunson from 1996, which he dedicated to my dad.

Education

BEGINNER LESSONS

For Jan Bowman: The Theory Of Betting And Calling

This article first appeared in Card Player magazine.

I just learned that Jan Bowman died of lung cancer on June 16. To me, Jan – who engineered and managed the original poker room at Foxwoods and held key management positions in Las Vegas and California – summed up all that is good in the industry.

There are only a handful of people who ever equaled his professionalism and integrity. I say equaled, because no one will ever surpass it. His wife, Renee, told me their first date was to attend my seminar at the Bingo Palace (now Palace Station) in Las Vegas. Despite this questionable first night out, their marriage flourished and they became an institution as a poker couple. In fact, John Sutton – one of America’s premier card-club executives – recently named his baby after them. She is Jan Renee Sutton.

Jan was 55. Today’s column is dedicated to him.

Teaching Ruth. OK, it’s about 10 years ago. A poker player in his late twenties wants me to join him and his girlfriend for coffee. I tell this guy, Wilson, I’m headed home to my computer because I’m eager to see the results of some seven-card stud research I’ve left running.

Wilson walks toward the casino restaurant with his just-turned-21 girlfriend, Ruth, clinging tightly to his arm. Refusing to accept my excuse, he motions me to tag along. Seeing no diplomatic way out, I follow and soon find myself seated in a booth, squirming in boredom as he attempts to explain poker strategy to Ruth. Thus occurred just one of perhaps a dozen similar incidents I’ve experienced over the past 20 years.

Getting engaged the right way. Again and again, he pauses to seek my approval of what he was saying, hoping my briefly nodded reinforcement would impress Ruth. Unfortunately, she seems completely uninterested and several times tries to steer the subject away from poker.

About five minutes into his monologue, she excuses herself and heads for the ladies’ room. And while she is gone, he explains, "We’re thinking of getting ourselves engaged, but first I need to know she’s going to be able to understand how poker theory works."

"Good idea," I say, though truthfully I have no idea at all what he meant. By pretending to motion for more coffee, I skillfully avoid posing a follow-up question and hearing the clarification I have no interest in. Ruth returns. Now, none of this would have stuck in my mind had it not been for Wilson’s concluding statement, which will serve as the basis for today’s discussion. He seems suddenly on a roll, driving home point after point, and Ruth even nods in mild agreement, caught up in his enthusiasm. Then he says, "The most important thing is this…" and here he leans toward her to make sure she grasps the importance, "…every time someone bets and someone else calls, well, someone made a big mistake. They can’t both be right."

Wilson looks to me for support, but all I can say truthfully is, "That’s a very interesting way you phrased it," hoping somehow that he misinterprets this as an endorsement. In fact, his statement reflects a belief held by millions of poker players worldwide. And the belief is just plain stupid. Here’s why.

It’s only even money. Every bet against a single opponent offers exactly even money for the call itself. Pot odds are a different measurement, weighing the size of the whole pot, including the last bet, against the cost of the call. Pot odds – in conjunction with other factors – should be used to determine whether a call is worthwhile.

But because a bet and a call provides your opponent only even money, that exchange in itself can be profitable for you, while the call itself – considering the whole pot and pot odds – can be profitable for your opponent.

Repeating: You can be correct to bet and your opponent can be correct to call. Let’s say the pot is 20 times bigger than the betting limit. You’re a 2-to-1 favorite to win. You should bet and offer your opponent a chance to call at even money.. He’ll probably accept – even though he may know he’s a 2-to-1 underdog – and his call will be correct. But your bet is correct also!

How to think about poker. Here’s the point, and it should be the way you always think about poker: What was already in the pot is, in one sense, irrelevant to the bettor as long as he has an advantage on the current bet and call.. If the opponent accepts even money on the last bet and is a 2-1 underdog, the bettor has the advantage on that bet and thereby gains something.

He would have cost himself that gain by checking and letting his opponent off free. But although the pot size is not relevant to the bettor (for this specific purpose), it is very relevant to the caller. Here, the caller sees himself as a 2-1 underdog, but is getting more than 20-to-1 odds. He simply must call.

The truth about poker pots in limit games is that most calls will lose, yet most calls are correct. It is a horrible mistake to call or not call based on whether you think you have the best hand. Simplistically, the only consideration should be what your chances of having the best hand are, weighed against the size of the pot. As we investigate the more complex aspects of this bet-and-call interaction, the consideration becomes what the chances of winning are, measured against the total projected cost of continuing to play and the final probable size of the pot.

But, however you figure it – simple or complex – you should usually call and expect to lose. And, if you do lose, don’t feel bad – you’re sailing on a money-making course. The few times you call and win will overwhelm all those losses.

Eisenhower warned us...

  "In the counsils of government we must guard against the aquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disasterous rise of misplaced power exsists and will persist.
  We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes."

Dwight D. Eisenhower in his final address to the nation as President.