Saturday, August 09, 2008

The geopolitical awareness of poker players




Doyle Brunson writes this in his book, My 50 Most Memorable Hands, p. 93:

Not many people realize the insular world a lot of the true gamblers live
in. I remember "Corky" McCorquodale, one of the original inductees into the
Poker Hall of Fame, asking me, "What is Vietnam?" This was almost at the end of
the Vietnam War. Another well known pro asked me, "Is the Isle of Man close to
the water?" Also he asked, "What language do they speak in London?"

I was reminded of this tonight while playing poker at Suncoast. Several players obviously knew each other. This snippet of conversation ensued:

Player 1: "Did you hear what's happening in Russia?"

Player 2: "No. What?"

Player 1: "They're having a war."

Player 2: "A war? With who?"

Player 1: "Georgia."

Player 2: "Georgia?"

Player 3: "Not our Georgia. There's another one over there."

Player 2: "Well, I'll be damned."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A little off topic of what you were trying to convey but...What I found absolutely hilarious yesterday was CNN didn't even consider the Russia/Georgia fighting the top story.

Instead, they spent the majority of the whole day focusing solely on John Edwards' affair. A quick mention of "other news" here and there, but the most important thing was their "SEX SCANDAL" coverage. And they had "SEX SCANDAL" in bold letters too.

It's sad what "NEWS" stations have become.

Anonymous said...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. God, we have become a stupid society.

gtycoon's comment are spot on, but unfortunately, real news doesn't pull the viewership/readership to get the advertising dollars.

When I was a kid, about everybody had a subscription to Life, Look and the good ole Reader's Digest. Not how-brow reading, by any means, but generally informative. Gossip mags were somewhat scandalous things you peaked at while at the beauty shop.

Now, people subscribe to People, and consider it news.
smudger