I am so pissed! I just read a Christian article on the evils of gambling. Whether or not you choose to believe that Gambling is evil is up to you… but you can’t be swayed by the foolish arguments in the article I just read. I’m not going to tell you where to find the article because I don’t want trouble, but mostly because I don’t want them to benefit from my large group of readers! I AM however, going to quote extensively from the rubbish that the writer (R. Mohler) professes (and probably fully believes).

First, he states that 1/3 of the nation’s money is spent on Gambling. If you read my posts, you know that he’s dead wrong! Truth is; 100% of all the World’s money is spent on gambling! Whether you put it under your mattress (a real gamble) or put it into savings (a real gamble) or spend it (a real gamble) it’s spent on gambling. It’s a gamble when you buy a stock, bond or commodity (but he probably thinks THAT’S alright!) It’s a gamble when you buy insurance… you know what… it’s a gamble when you pick out one head of cauliflower over the others… or when you buy cauliflower at all. More than just spending your money  goes through the process of gambling… do you not think that picking your spouse was a gamble? Yes, Christians and non-Christians… EVERY single decision you make is a gamble.

He then goes on to enlighten us with this gem: “The basic impulse behind gambling is greed-a basic sin that is the father of many other evils.” Greed – isn’t that the reason we all go to work everyday????? Isn’t that the reason we “gamble” on those aforementioned, socially acceptable stocks????? If you hear someone say that money makes the world go ’round… you’re listening to a greedy person.

pass the plate again reverend….

Then he says; “The burning desire for earthly riches leads to frustration and spiritual death.” or to happiness, a full life, a realization of one’s dreams. Try THAT without “earthly riches”!

After taking us through many scriptures reinforcing his argument, he states a common mistake made by millions…

“The worldview of the gambler assumes a world of indeterminate and random chance, for which the chief virtue is luck.” As a real “bettor” knows, luck has very little to do with success or failure in gambling. Poker for instance, might make its appearance in the Olympics. IF it were a game of luck, there wouldn’t be thousands of books written on how to win at Poker, nor millions of websites extolling the systems and strategies that make one player a winner over another. More than one judge has ruled that it’s a game of skill!

This isn’t a coin toss Reverend… this is a Skill Game. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see the same faces on the final tables of tournaments. You wouldn’t know the “Odds” of one hand as opposed to another… and so forth.

It’s not the roll of the dice that makes a winner or loser – it’s how the players bet their money. A Seven is a big loser… or a big winner…depending on how you bet… no luck there! Does a successful card player know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em… yep… he’s not considering luck at all!

Here’s a great piece of nonsense: “gambling is a direct attack on the work ethic presented in Scripture. One of the constant threads through the Old and New Testaments is the dignity of honorable work, and the proper reward for labor and industriousness” Are you kidding? Thousands of hours are spent learning this craft. Certainly more than one spends on his major in a college or university. S/he must spend an equal amount of time on “unproductive” (he’s going to use that word in a minute) electives. Now THAT’S a gamble!

You can’t win any money at the track without studying the horses, the trainers, the jockeys and a myriad of other variables. What’s so undignified about learning cards through courses at MIT or Harvard? He actually then went on call gamblers “lazy, slothful, unproductive and undeserving of financial rewards”.  Then he states “offering the hope of riches without labor)” Holy Crap! I must take a break ’cause I’m pissed off!!!!!!!

k – I’m back (but still pissed off)

Gee, thanks to gamblers, there are millions of jobs in the US. Thousands of hours are spent studying the various forms of casino gambling, testing and tweaking the procedures, and perfecting their craft. If he wants to pick on the lazy, he must look elsewhere (and Lord knows there are plenty of places to look).

“Gambling corrupts the culture, polluting everything it touches. Recent scandals in college basketball are proof positive that gambling is not a problem limited to casinos and horse tracks.” He’s right there isn’t he… scandal is in Congress, in the Senate, in the Banks, the Oil companies, car manufactures, wall street, and politicians running for President of the United States, and on and on and on…<p>

Hey Reverend… are you running a Bingo Game?

Fund Raisers? …gambling, gambling, gambling!

“The Church had better not bet on this problem just going away.” Bet? the Church can Bet?

There are other activities that he could better spend his time on: Drugs, Alcohol, Cigarettes, etc (but counting on a wide readership (which is what this greedy reverend wants)…that would be gambling.

The great equalizer visits New York’s Belmont Stakes! [gplus count="true" size="Medium" ]

All this week, I felt pretty confident that AK would take this race. It definitely was his to lose! The race between between AK and Shackleford proved to be the ONLY thing to consider.

After all, S loves the front end, but can’t hold on… AK loves to come from behind to take the win… especially since the Belmont is the longest race of the Triple Crown at a mile and a half!!

How could a come-from-behind horse with the stamina of AK NOT win???

Answer: When the great equalizer comes to the track!

The Weather!

It’s a mess there as I write this. Not only is it a sealed muddy track, but it’s compacted! I’ve watched the early races there today, and it’s obvious to me that front runners rule the day!

So, with that said…

Here are my picks for today’s Belmont Stakes IN A VERY LOOSE ORDER:

1 – Brilliant Speed – Pedigree, Stamina, BS has it! Was forced wide in KD – expect much better here.

2 – Animal Kingdom – just too good to ignore – but can’t catch the winner in this slop!

3 – Master of Hounds – why did the 5th pl KD finisher ship home to Ireland and then ship back here for this????

4 – Prime Cut – The early challenger to Shackleford without a doubt, and may the leader at the first turn.

5 – Shackleford – I’d like him more if he had a better Post Position, because he’ll be pushed at the start.

6 – Nehro – If you’re playing the exotics (and you should in a 3Crown race), this bridesmaid must be included.

7 – Santiva – Has early speed, so cannot be ruled out if speed counts as much as I think it will today.

So,

I’ll play AK to PLACE behind my other first 4 picks and ahead of them as well for the trifecta and superfectas. Then AK to SHOW behind them. Throw in a mix of all the picks above and you’re looking at some expensive tickets. So, throw darts, flip coins, meditate and play the odds OR do some serious handicapping, and you’ll get paid with those above…

Good Luck!

I hope you all hate (hmmmm dislike) Microsoft. If not for their poor (Horrible) products, then for their poor (Horrible) business practices. (Don’t get me started – ’cause it goes all the way back to their early days – read about those pirates yourself).

Now, our beloved Yahoo has decided to get into bed with the Redmond, WA bandits. They’re merging their Search Marketing with (gag) Bing!

We who love Gambling (and that really includes EVERYONE – if you don’t believe me – stop buying Stocks, Bonds, Insurance Policies, and picking your Mate) had to leave Google… and now Yahoo too!

Because of this new alliance which begins August 15, 2010, Yahoo is now pulling all Gambling related Ads. We can’t learn how to play anymore, we can’t research where to play anymore, we can’t enjoy our favorite pastime thanks to Bill and his Boys!

I don’t understand why they believe THEY should be the police, this affects much more than just the USA. Further, here in the USA there are already laws against online Gambling thanks to that poor (Horrible) ex-President Bush who snuck (yes snuck – on a late Friday nite)the uigea INSIDE a Freedom Protection Bill that the lawmakers didn’t even notice was in there.

I’ve written umpteen blog posts on the subject – please go back and get all the details. Let it suffice to say, the law is bogus, the Internet isn’t owned by the USA (thank God), there are stupid stops in place to prevent USA Players from gambling online, the powerful lottery, sports betting and horse racing lobbyists got THEIR gambling interests exempted, the financial institutions have been strapped with the responsibility to police online gambling (who do you think pays for that??? maybe the bank bailouts???), the law will be changed (sooner than later – I hope) because it’s so poorly (Horribly) written now.

The UIGEA isn’t working anyway – USA players get around it everyday. Think of the money the USA is losing. Estimates are the US Gov’t is losing $40 Billion in the next 10 years in Taxes alone. Add to that the fact that the US entrepreneurs had to move their businesses to other countries (and with it, all their jobs). Maybe they’ll move back here when it’s legal and that means more taxes, more jobs, and more money for the US Gov’t. The banks can save the money it’s costing to police CC sales.

What’s Bill and Bing, and Yahoo and Google going to do from atop their high-horses when the anti-gambling bill is revoked? They’re making a moral judgment that they may regret.

And by the way, just WHO was getting “hurt” by a marketer selling a book on how to play Poker, or Roulette, or Craps, or any Casino game? Millions of USA Players want the information and the right to read those books – they were not getting “hurt” – but they are NOW! More lost money; the authors lose, and even Yahoo loses! Why?

There are some SERIOUS addictions out there folks… but either they are legal, or the US Gov’t spends Billions of Tax Dollars on getting USA citizens off their addictions. Still, we see those products marketed everywhere we look. The notion that one will get addicted by reading one of those Gambling books is just Stupid!

I don’t know what can be done about this nonsense until the law is changed. Yahoo is getting tons of complaints now as each marketer sees his stuff removed… add your voice to the mix. Call them and let them know how wrong it is to “protect us” from ourselves. Yahoo: 1 866-924-6676

I attended an event this weekend, and when the word got out to the group that I was a Gambler… the stories began. Everyone seems to have a funny story about their Gambling adventures, and this one really cracked me up…

Robert was often found at the local Greyhound Track. He admits that he was a regular there. I too found the attraction unavoidable. If you’re a good speed handicapper, Dog Racing is your gamble of choice. In Dog Racing, NOTHING beats pure speed. Robert liked the dogs because he’d observed a Jockey pulling back (obviously with ALL his might) on his mount at the local Horse Racing Track. It seems the horse was in front by two full lengths when the Jockey applied the brakes. “Dogs don’t carry those Damn Jockeys” said Robert.

But I digress… Robert’s story goes like this:

He awoke one morning with the sound of his phone screaming in his ear. He was in no condition to answer the phone, let alone carry on a coherent conversation. The ringing wouldn’t stop, so he painfully attacked the receiver.

It was a call from his bank!

“Robert”? “Yeah” he struggled… “This is xxxxx from the bank”

“Yeah?”

“Robert, did you go to the Dog Races yesterday”? his banker asked. “Yeah”.

“Were you drinking, Robert”? “Yeah” mumbled Robert. But he was about to come to full attention…

“We thought so Robert, when we opened the Bank this morning, we found a lot of hundred dollar bills inside the front door…”

Fully aware and very interested, Robert asked: “How much did I win”?

Laughing, the bank executive said “You did pretty well, Robert, are you able to come in this morning”? “Yes”, said Robert.

“Good”, said the Exec, “while you’re here, we’ll teach you the difference between the night deposit receptacle and the front door’s mail slot”!

At least he wasn’t too drunk to forget to throw in a deposit slip with his cash… even though it was unintelligible except for a scribbled “Robert” He just used the wrong slot!