The million-dollar bet

http://www.cardrunners.com/blog/internetpokers/the-million-dollar-bet-pt-1

and

http://www.cardrunners.com/blog/internetpokers/the-million-dollar-bet-pt-2

Interesting prop bet among some poker players whose names I do not recognize) about whether one of them will be able to run 70 miles in 24 hours, and the complications that ensue. Long, but worthwhile. After reading part 1, I was ready to join in the chastisement of the runner's friends for taking part in something that could seriously hurt their friend, but it's not necessary, because part 2 makes clear that they figured out that lesson on their own. Better late than never.

I especially liked this unresolved query:

Something that I've come to think about is that perhaps there's something about the world of poker players that's fundamentally unhealthy. This generation of online poker players and its culture has existed for less than ten years, yet I've always had some assumption lodged deep in my psyche that if I'm not finding happiness through poker that it's just something wrong with me. And yet, there are so many people at every level of poker who are so deeply unhappy. It leaves me wondering.

And perhaps that's what really is the most difficult challenge for this generation of poker players. To infiltrate a world that is at its root, deeply unhealthy and imbalanced. To grab this bull called poker by its horns and to try to tame it for as long as we can. We hold on, and the bull bucks and tries to throw us into the droves of insanity around us. Some hold on, some don't. And maybe some are being dragged along the ground by this bull, and think they're still okay because they haven't let go. I remember writing over a year ago that as much as we learn about the game of poker, nobody really teaches us how to live as poker players. Nobody teaches us when we're supposed to let go of the bull.