I got to play and chat with Linda last week at Bellagio during the whirl wind trip to Vegas. Something that she mentioned struck a chord with me because I've been gradually putting thought into it for a couple of years. The term "Bad Beat" has lost all meaning as the population of Poker newbies has swelled. What was once used to refer to an improbable loss, is now commonly used to refer to any time that a player loses a hand.

Think about it, when was the last time that you heard someone say, "I lost the hand." Not very often, but what you tend to hear all the time is a player telling you about his "Bad Beat" when his Aces with an 8 Kicker didn't hold up to an ATs. WHAT!?!?! That's not a bad beat, and it doesn't take a genius to see that. Although I think that last statement speaks volumes about why the term "Bad Beat" is still being used in the wrong way with such high frequency. The game has gotten bigger over the past few years, but it appears that most haven't learned much in the process and their lack of "Game" shows.

I was watching some TV Poker show once and it had a couple of Poker Bimbos on it that are slightly known. However, this time around I got to watch their play and determined that they were in-fact retarded. It was just about the worst poker that I've ever imagined being played in my entire life! These are people with major tournament success! There is no way in hell that they would stand a chance making a living at the game if they had to actually play for a living. Their Poker skills just don't come close to matching their Poker celebrity.

TV did wonders for the game, but I can say with all honesty that I'd rather die than watch poker on TV, except of course for High Stakes Poker on GSN. Every other show, especially WPT literally bores me to sleep. It's been years since I've been able to sit through a Poker show and I can't imagine in a million years why anyone would watch that drivel. So, I'm yet again holding the minority opinion because the crappy Poker shows are still wafting over the air waves in droves.

I'm a firm believer that most of these new "Pros" don't have a shot in hell of making a living at it over time. There are so many of them that don't have the faintest grasp of fundamental skills and I'll wager that they'll take their "lottery" winnings and slink back into obscurity in their home towns. I've already seen the exact same thing happen post dot-com implosion. So many people that I worked with years ago. They left the industry all together, never to be seen with a technology business card again. This wasn't their career, it was just another job for them.

Hopefully the new "Pros" have squirreled away most of their windfall so that they can have some nice startup capital for the rest of their lives and they'll get back on a more promising path to economic success. Playing tournaments is nothing more than hoping and praying you'll run lucky long enough to scrape into the money. There is skill involved, but with such a massive deluge of people that don't have a clue what they're doing, you're at a huge disadvantage. Why else do you think that the online sites are finally starting to publicly crack down on cheating on their sites? It's become the only way to compete in these massive fields. If you can't make money in the cash games, then you really don't stand a chance at making a living at playing. There's just too much random variance to handle.

I fully admit that I obcess over Poker, but I'd never quit my career in a million years to play cards for a living. Maybe other people can, because I can sort of understand that most people lost their way and don't love what they do for a living. As for me, I can't imagine ever leaving the computer industry, which has been my true love since I was 12. It's what I am, my destiny; and I can never change that. Why would anyone want to?

Back to coding, and Happy Independence Day America!

Nicholas has left the 3s