stevesbets

Reason number 10486506 why I like living in NYC is that when the time came that I needed to make a 6 AM Toys R Us run, the flagship Times Square store is open and ready for business. Even at 6am going into Times Square is awe inspiring. People are all over just waiting for morning shows to start shooting and shopping venues to open their doors.

I’m not an awestruck person from the middle of the country who has never seen the ocean, but I have to say, this particular Toys R Us store is quite a sight to behold, especially around the holidays. There is a huge Ferris wheel that operates in the middle of the multi-level store, with each car themed after a different toy or game. The attractions are wide ranging, and I say attractions rather than products because I felt like I was in an amusement park as much as a store. There was a virtual Nintendo theater that housed a life sized Wii sports game along with digital artwork of gigantic famous Nintendo characters from a Koopa Troopa to a dynamic video of someone going through the entire game of Super Mario Bros 2. There was a range of sports memorabilia including a Michael Jordan autographed basketball that I almost pulled the trigger on for $1700. Lego statue of Liberty, colorful wire men three times the size of life, Anakin and Obi won statues complete with lightsabers that clearly spared no expense. All this in the same store as top end Apple products, a full Fisher Price line, Babys R Us and every board game ever created. This is clearly a toy store aimed at more than just children.

All this reminded me of my childhood when getting anything I wanted in a store like this would have been not just a dream, but a fantasy. This is not to say I was deprived in any way, I had every generation of Nintendo, electronics, sports, games and so on. But something about going in and choosing anything and making it mine right then and there would have been unfathomable to me. Even up through the middle of college (before I got into poker), I was still reliant on my parents for money and therefore incredibly thrifty. I would imagine that if I had the toy purchasing power I have now at the age of 13 I would probably be broke but have a veritable electronic warehouse in my home. The funny thing is, while I have many of the same interests now, I go through this gargantuan fantasyland and I leave with nothing. I want everything a lot but nothing enough. It sort of reminds me of a Dave Matthews line that a friend of mine put on his yearbook page in High School (and I always thought it was a bit ridiculous and spoiled as words to live by). “What I want is what I’ve not got, and what i need is all around me”. I’m struck by just how little I want and need. A comfortable bed with down comforter, a desk with my computer, internet and tv and I basically need no other “materials”. In fact, every time I buy a new gizmo for my apartment, I end up regretting it because it takes up space and clutters up precious Manhattan square footage. As my friends know, its good to be around when I move because I end up giving away tons of random items that I no longer have a need for and never did have a need for. This is unfathomable to 13 year old Steven, and he is chastising me now for leaving the store without a lego pogo stick that tastes like chocolate, can do long division and springs really high.

I have to include my compliment of the day only because I have been harshly criticized by some close to me for my recent fashion trend. In the bank today, I was told that I must have nieces and nephews (since I was holding a Toys R Us bag). I allowed for the assumption that the items were for children even thought it was false, but I asked how she knew I didn’t have kids. I was then told I was far too stylish to have children. There are a number of flawed assumptions there, but nevertheless, an accurate conclusion that I do not have children. So take that Sarah, I’m not “special”, I’m stylish.

Anyway, a snow storm is coming to the city and I”m ready to hunker down in my apartment all day, hope this blog gets some of u through the workday.

I have 2 of my Finals tomorrow and so I logically decided that it’s the best time in nearly a month to blog. My finals are in Math (the infamous calculator midterm) and Business Law. Since I did all of the math in High School, my studying has focused on the Legal stuff and I have to say it’s far more interesting than my other B school material thus far. As such I have decided to take the LSATs and try to get into Fordham Law to do a JD/MBA. Getting into Fordham Law school is no slam dunk so I’m going to actually have to hunker down a bit for LSAT studying this winter. My other two finals are a paper for marketing on the evolution of the company Burberry which is pretty interesting and a convoluted set of projects for a convoluted woman about which I will say much much more once the semester is over and my grade is in. I will report back on how finals go once they are all done.

Ultimatebet and Absolutepoker have combined to form the Cereus poker network and I am definitely trying it out. I recommend everyone come on over to play me in some sit and goes there. I have looked into the refund process from the cheating scandal and I am satisfied that management has done everything they can to make it all right. They have also implemented state of the art security precautions to ensure it does not happen again. At this point their cashouts are smooth and their service is much improved, they are going to be a legit 3rd option for USA players along with Pokerstars and Full Tilt so jump on the bandwagon. Also note managment is DIFFERENT now than when the cheating occurred.

I have been meaning to weigh in on the Tiffany Michelle debate ever since the WSOP aired with some episodes that largely featured this polarizing figure. Before I do, I want to make it clear that I understand that people can be portrayed very poorly on TV through little to no fault of their own. DanDruff of neverwinpoker is a good example of that. When I saw his WSOP episode a few years ago I found him to be nearly unwatchably annoying, however I have since had several experiences with him and have found him to be one of the nicer and more put together people in the poker world and I know he regrets his actions and portrayal on ESPN.

With all that said, I found Tiffany Michelle (or her TV persona anyway) to be detestable but NOT for the reason that most people did. In a now infamous hand very deep in the World Series, Michelle called the clock on Paul Sneed who ended up reluctantly calling all in with a weak top pair against a guy bluffing with a naked ace (the ace fell on the river to break Sneed’s heart). People at her table and around the entire poker community have blasted Michelle for calling the clock there because it is a big and important decision worth potentially millions of dollars. I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL with her doing it, in fact I encourage it. I have said before that I have zero doubt I can make any poker decision in less than a minute (the amount of time you have to act AFTER someone has called the clock) and I would wholeheartedly support a measure to limit the amount of time people can waste thinking and pretending to think when they really have their mind made up anyway. I absolutely cannot stand the insane amount of time that is wasted by most live tournament players and it is within EVERYONE’S right in a tournament to call the clock on someone at any time. The fact that many well known players have condemned Michelle for this is pathetic to me.

So while Michelle bothered everyone else with that clock call, she bothered me with just about everything else she did. I find that some of the female poker “celebrity’s” often have an attitude similar to that Michelle demonstrated on TV (please note i said some and NOT all). That attitude goes something like this: She is a woman in a world of men and everyone underestimates her but she has proven (through her effort in a single tournament mind you) that she is “smart enough” to play with the men. Additionally, she craftily uses her “actress” good looks and sex appeal to disarm the ignorant men around her and take their chips before they know what hit them. She has higher value than the men because she is better looking, more sought after (in a world of men), and is one of the few females “capable” of holding her own. The guys at her table should feel privileged to be called “honey” by her in a condescending way. She was loud, obnoxious and annoying to the people at her table and if ANY man acted that way they would be thoroughly blasted on the message boards and on air. The truth of the matter is, ALL WOMEN are just as capable as men to play in the poker tournaments. MOST of the people that do play in the main event of the WSOP, men and women, are not necessarily extremely bright nor extremely good at poker. SOME men do soft play women but it’s pretty rare in a 10k event, and if they do I think it would not have anything to do with Michele’s “amazing looks” (I am not here to judge the truth of her beliefs in her own hotness, I’ll leave that to the readers) and would have everything to do with some sort of innate sexism they feel. Finally, getting deep in one tournament, even if it is the WSOP means absolutely, positively nothing about how smart you are, how good you are at poker, or how much of a feminine pioneer you are. The only reason that poker is so dominated by men is because more of them have the inclination to spend a portion of their lives playing the game. [end of rant]

My friend just turned 26 (happy birthday Alex) and it really got me wondering how people become full fledged adults. Just a few nights ago I was playing poker and watching Rounders, eerily reminiscent to a Stevesbets at age 21 activity. I’m going to be 26 in the not so distant future, more than halfway through my 20s, more than halfway to 50 and feeling the same as when i was a fraction of this age. In High School we read a short story about an 18 year old that said something like, “when you’re 18 you are also 17 and 16, 15, 14 etc etc, but you are not 19″. I find this is true, I am every age below me because I have been every age beneath me. As for those above me, they are unfathomable, far away and scary. There does come a point though, a point I am well past when we need to grow up and make adult decisions regardless of the ages I have in me. This need is all the more present and important in the poker world filled with what Andy Bellin, author of “Poker Nation” called “Liars, bozos, thieves, dupes and morons”. So all of you young poker players watch out, 26 is right around the corner.

I just got my DVD of the Dark Knight which I preordered long ago. I could go on forever about both this movie and Batman Begins. I loved them both and Dark Knight is my favorite movie of all time. I really do wish a Batman existed, the idea of turning fear against those who pray on the fearful is very appealing to me. Maybe if I ever become a billionaire…

Expect more frequent updates from now on, I promise