Goodbye!

Prudence - in this case it is NOT called for!

Once again, in the current Prudence thread, the JG500 forum has demonstrated its need for an efficient and effective moderation system. The technology of the current forum does not allow the moderators to do their job properly.

Were the JG500 Forum a Forumer or Google/Yahoo/MSN Groups forum the moderators could have deleted this thread as soon as it appeared. Instead they have to go cap in hand to JG500 Admin and hope he has the time to do it eventually. This is not how moderated forums work! Does anyone else think this system doesn't make any sense? Or do most members come to the JG500 forum for cheap cyber-soap opera titillation and entertainment?

Anders, the JG500 Moderator has glibly criticized my concerns yet has produced little, if nothing, of any real value or use. I'm not trying to score cheap shots, nor am I engaged in self-promotion. In the spirit of his Code of Conduct I am seriously discussing matters of club concern. I have backed my proposals with working demonstrations and with financial donations. Does he have a problem with that? Does this go against his code? Does he find it awkward when people he doesn't like offer better solutions to complex problems than his answers? Perhaps he should try and address the issues and answer the questions rather than shooting the messenger.

Would he care to explain how effective and efficient his moderated forum actually is after its first month of operation? Can he explain why he drafted a Code of Conduct but then neglected to put in place a forum with the technology to enforce it? Can he explain why his solution results in much more work for Richard rather than less? Would he care to comment on Sharon's scathing indictment of his half-baked steam-powered mess? Does he gauge his successes by the effort he expends or by the results he achieves? Is he up to the job he appointed himself to do?
play500.blogspot.com/2008/05/failure-to-moderate.html

Is this Daffers blogging or Anders moderating?

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In light of the histrionic Prudence thread the Wikipedia extract below is an interesting read. Does remind you of anyone? I tested as high on the histrionic scale myself on the 4degreez Personality Disorder Test. Try it out for yourself - its fun, and a little introspection doesn't hurt!

Histrionic personality disorder

• •

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness, usually beginning in early adulthood.

The essential feature of the histrionic personality disorder is an excessive pattern of emotionality and attention-seeking behavior. These individuals are lively, dramatic, enthusiastic, and flirtatious. They may be inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and be easily influenced by others.

The literature differentiates HPD according to gender. Women with HPD are described as self-centered, self-indulgent, and intensely dependent on others. They are emotionally labile and cling to others in the context of immature relationships. Females with HPD over-identify with others; they project their own unrealistic, fantasied intentions onto people with whom they are involved. They are emotionally shallow and have difficulty understanding others or themselves in any depth. Selection of marital or sexual partners is often highly inappropriate. Most all partners chosen will have symptoms of personality diseases far worse than their own. Women with HPD often tend to enter into abusive relationships with partners who increase in the abuse as time wears on. Pathology increases with the level of intimacy in relationships. Women with HPD may show inappropriate and intense anger. They may engage in self-mutilation and/or manipulative suicide threats as one aspect of general manipulative interpersonal behavior.^[1]

Males with HPD usually present problems of identity crisis, disturbed relationships, and lack of impulse control. They have antisocial tendencies and are inclined to exploit physical symptoms. These men are emotionally immature, dramatic, and shallow. Both men and women with HPD engage in disinhibited behavior.

People with this disorder are usually able to function at a high level and can be successful socially and at work. People with histrionic personality disorder usually have good social skills - but they tend to use these skills to manipulate other people and become the center of attention. Furthermore, histrionic personality disorder may affect a person's social or romantic relationships or their ability to cope with losses or failures. People with this disorder may seek treatment for depression when romantic relationships end, although this is by no means a feature exclusive to this disorder. They often fail to see their own personal situation realistically, instead tending to dramatize and exaggerate their difficulties. Responsibility for failure or disappointment is usually blamed on others. They may go through frequent job changes, as they become easily bored and have trouble dealing with frustration. Because they tend to crave novelty and excitement, they may place themselves in risky situations. All of these factors may lead to greater risk of developing depression.

Symptoms

The symptoms include:

• Constant seeking of reassurance or approval.
• Excessive dramatics with exaggerated displays of emotions.
• Excessive sensitivity to criticism or disapproval.
• Inappropriately seductive appearance or behavior.
• Excessive concern with physical appearance.
• A need to be the center of attention (self-centeredness).
• Low tolerance for frustration or delayed gratification.
• Rapidly shifting emotional states that may appear shallow to others.
• Opinions are easily influenced by other people, but difficult to back up with details.
• Tendency to believe that relationships are more intimate than they actually are.
• Making rash decisions.
• Threatening or attempting suicide to get attention.

Diagnosis

The person's appearance, behavior, and history, and a psychological evaluation are usually sufficient to establish the diagnosis. There is no test to confirm this diagnosis. Because the criteria are subjective, some people may be wrongly diagnosed as having the disorder while others with the disorder may not be diagnosed. Treatment is often prompted by depression associated with dissolved romantic relationships. Medication does little to affect this personality disorder, but may be helpful with symptoms such as depression. Psychotherapy may also be of benefit.

Diagnostic criteria

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders, defines histrionic personality disorder as a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention
2. Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior
3. Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions
4. Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self
5. Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail
6. Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion
7. Is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances
8. Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases defines histrionic personality disorder as characterized by:

• self-dramatization, theatricality, exaggerated expression of emotions;
• suggestibility, easily influenced by others or by circumstances;
• shallow and labile affectivity;
• continual seeking for excitement and activities in which the patient is the centre of attention;
• inappropriate seductiveness in appearance or behaviour;
• over-concern with physical attractiveness.

Mnemonic

A mnemonic that can be used to remember the criteria for histrionic personality disorder is PRAISE ME:

• P - provocative (or seductive) behavior
• R - relationships, considered more intimate than they are
• A - attention, must be at center of
• I - influenced easily
• S - speech (style) - wants to impress, lacks detail
• E - emotional lability, shallowness

• M - make-up - physical appearance used to draw attention to self
• E - exaggerated emotions - theatrical

Relationships

The HPD is highly reactive. If there is another major disorder present, such as delusional disorder, then emotional intensity will create anger, rage, abuse and distance in relationships.

It is important for the therapist and family members to monitor and record all situations that trigger the HPD so that the deep underlying overload of pain can be accessed and released for therapeutic change.

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Calling Aces

In Play500.com Bryce Francis says: The basic idea behind any call is to get the most points out of the pair of hands involved in that call. You must COMMUNICATE!!!. Communication must be POSITIVE. This method of calling requires calling the aces first, and your suit strengths later. Each caller must call the lowest ACE, or the joker when it is his turn to call and he or she has no aces to call. If the first caller holds the ace of spades, his first call is six spades, even if that is the only black card in his hand. A first call of six spades says to all players that that player has the ace of spades. It gives no indication of any other card in the hand. It certainly cannot be taken to indicate a strength in spades. It is just the ace.

This certainly applies to ATF500. The only modification I would make for Classic 500 is that IF you have 2 aces then call what would be your off-suit ace in preference to your trump ace. The idea of ace calling is to give your partnership an extra trick by identifying an off-suit strength.

If you have no aces then go straight to seven if you have a good hand or if the scoreline dictates a bid. Calling strength at 6 because your hand is weak just muddies the water. The exception is calling 6 strength when your team is very near the back door. I use minus 350 as my guide as to when to call strength at 6 instead of 7.

Toby Pics - courtesy of Craig

Brilliant stuff, Craggers, WFD!!!



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The Three Little Bops

From Wikipedia

Three Little Bops is a 1957 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, with voices by Stan Freberg and music by jazz composer/trumpeter Shorty Rogers. It is a takeoff on The Three Little Pigs, told as a hip, jazzy musical.

The Big Bad Wolf is not interested in eating the pigs, but rather joining their band. His problem is that he is a terrible trumpeter and therefore fails to endear himself to the Bops (or the audience, all of whom refer to him as a "square"). Constantly thrown out of the clubs he visits, the insulted Wolf retaliates by using his trumpet to blast away the House of Straw and the Dew Drop Inn of sticks.

The club of bricks is where he runs into problems; wolves are not permitted in the club, but he is not the least bit discouraged. Like his forefather, the Wolf runs out of breath in trying to blow away the club. Unlike his forefather, however, the Wolf resorts to other measures to make his mark. He reenters in fur coat and ukulele with his rendition of the Charleston song (cut short by slipping on a strategically-placed banana peel). He returns in the disguise of a houseplant with his trumpet but gets blasted outside by a plunger shot from the double bass. For his third try, the Wolf shows up in drum major outfit playing a big bass drum. A dart is shot into the drum, leaving him to exit in humiliation.

Finally, he shows up with a large cylinder of TNT and snaps, "I'll show those pigs that I'm not stuck! If I can't blow it down, I'll blow it up!" The fuse is blown out on his first try, so he steps back a bit and lights it from there. Unfortunately, he is too far away and his weapon explodes while he's carrying it to his target.

The Bops hear his trumpeting from "the other place" (hell), and it has improved dramatically. One of pigs proudly replies, "The Big Bad Wolf, he learned the rule: you gotta get hot to play real cool!" Thus the Wolf achieves his goal in afterlife: becoming a member of the Bops.

Instrument Credits are believed to be:

• Vocals - Stan Freberg
• Saxophone - Art Pepper
• Trumpet/flugelhorn - Shorty Rogers
• Piano - Pete Jolly
• Guitar - unknown
• Bass - possibly Joe Mondragon
• Drums - Shelly Manne

This is one of only two Warner Brothers cartoons to give on-screen credit to an actor other than Mel Blanc during the period of Blanc's exclusive contract with the studio. The other short is The Mouse That Jack Built, which credits the cast of The Jack Benny Program.

Pat's Visit to Mt Tambourine

Courtesy of Craig



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Pat's Live Game in Brisbane

Courtesy of Craig



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Yoinks and awaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!

Craig - you asked for it. I agree, its brilliant! Chuck Jones' Daffy is my favourite.

From Wikipedia

The film features Daffy Duck in the role of legendary outlaw Robin Hood, and opens to the strains of his playing an instrument similar to an archlute or bouzouki. As he prances along singing, he trips and tumbles down a bank into a lake. Watching is Porky Pig, here a Friar Tuck figure, who laughs uproariously at Daffy's inglorious plunge. The annoyed Daffy tries to prove his skill with a "quarterstaff" (Daffy: "Actually, it's a buck-and-a-quarter quarterstaff, but I'm not telling him [Porky] that."), but manages to hit himself in the face with it, bending his bill in what becomes a recurring visual gag throughout the film. He tries again, but while he is spinning his quarterstaff, Porky stops it with a mere toothpick, resulting in Daffy falling back into the lake.

Having given up trying to impress the friar, Daffy attempts to leave, but Porky follows and asks him if he knows the whereabouts of Robin Hood's hideout as he wants to join his band of outlaws. Daffy proudly announces that he is Robin Hood, but Porky disbelieves him. To prove himself, Daffy informs Porky that he will attempt to rob a rich traveller on a bouncing mule (and give his money to some poor unworthy slob). Daffy fails in each and every attempt he makes to stop the traveller, usually injuring himself in the process, be it accidentally firing himself from his own bow, or slamming into a succession of trees while trying to swing on a rope. Eventually the rich traveller, oblivious to Daffy's attempts to rob him, reaches his castle unharmed. The frustrated Daffy gives up, and in the final scene walks on with a shaven head and wearing a habit, having decided to become a friar himself: "Never mind joining me, I'll join you. Shake hands with Friar Duck (a pun of the name Friar Tuck)." As the film irises out, Daffy's bill bends back up one more time.

Other notable lines:

• Daffy, fighting with his $1.25 quarter staff : "Ho! Haha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!" (quarter staff bounces off log, bending his bill. He straightens it back to normal, and starts speaking to himself) "Let's see now. Something amiss here... hmm, I'll run through it. Ho, haha, guard, turn, parry, dodge, spin, ha, thrust." (bill bends again) "Got it." (straightens bill, and starts his fighting moves again.) "Ho! Haha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin!" (Porky comes up and holds a toothpick up against the quarterstaff while Daffy is spinning it, stopping and causing Daffy to spin instead. Daffy then falls back down into the lake)
  
  
• See yon rich unwary traveller? I'll rob him of his gold, and give it to some poor unworthy slob. That'll prove that I'm Robin Hood, hmm? Prithy, hmm?
  
  
• "Yoicks . . . and away!" (Daffy swings from a treetop and hits another tree) "Yoicks . . . . and away!" (Daffy swings from the other treetop and hits another tree. This happens a few more times, slurring his speech a little more each time, until he's at ground level.) "Why you...!" (Daffy gets an axe and starts chopping down the last tree he hit. Eventually, all the trees that got in his way are now out of his path, and he is back on top of the first tree.) "Now then, yoicks . . . . . and, away. . ." (Daffy swings over all the trees he's chopped down and hits a rock)
  
  
• "Ho ho, very funny; Ha ha, it is to laugh."
  
  
• "Oh, knock it off. How jolly can you get?"

The Mind of a Card Cheat

From Card Shark Online

Whenever cards are played there is always an opportunity for cheating. There is, however, a difference between a card shark and a card cheat. A shark is definitely a cheat, but a cheat is not necessarily a shark. A cheat may be someone who just happens to take advantage of a situation. Or it may be someone who just likes to gain advantage by cheating, but doesn't really know how to cheat. Eventually both of these kinds of cheats will get caught, simply because they are not good strategists.

A "shark" is a different animal. He not only cheats at the game because there is an opportunity. He is a strategist, an expert in the art of cheating and the average player does not stand a chance against guys like this. Comparing common cheats with sharks is like comparing impulse shoplifters with members of an organized crime gang. A real card shark is a seasoned "black belt" expert. Average players will never know what hit them - if they even realize they got stung.

It is not to say that every card shark is of the same caliber, nor is it true that they all know everything about cheating at cards. On the contrary, most sharks specialize in just a few strategies that work well for them. They may be familiar with other cheating methods or even not, in fact they may even be misinformed about cheating methods outside their field and even fall victims of other sharks. Most sharks are in it for the money, they are not lecturers nor professors. If one thing works for them, they do it well and look for another "client".

Sharks come in all shapes and colors. For example, take the three card monte guy. He is a smelly street guy in worn out clothes, who probably lives in a dump (or at least it looks that way). There is not much appeal in this guy. In fact from his appearance you would not be surprised if you found out, that he has a criminal record and never did anything decent in his life.

"A cheat doesn't necessarily have to cheat. In fact, the best cheats will only cheat when it is absolutely necessary to do so. This way they decrease the odds at getting caught."

Now take the other extreme. In the Hollywood film The Sting Paul Newman and Robert Redford played the roles of two con men. In one scene Paul Newman even demonstrates a second deal. He is obviously a card shark, but this type of shark you like. He is your hero and you do not care much that he is also a criminal. This is how Hollywood portrays card sharks. In real life there may be a handful of charismatic sharks who look like movie stars, but the real-time sharks look a lot more like average guys, from any background.

So lets talk about cheats in general. What makes them tick? Why do they cheat?

A cheat doesn't necessarily have to cheat. In fact, the best cheats will only cheat when it is absolutely necessary to do so. This way they decrease the odds at getting caught. Even if they play a square game from beginning to end, they are still cheats, simply because they entered the game with the intention to do so.

All a smart cheat wants is an edge other players don't have. This edge translates into a profit over a long term play. It is like a tank full of water with a miniature hole on the bottom. If you put a container under it, all the water will eventually end up inside it. The same kind of edge brings millions of Dollars into casinos every year. Except casinos, don't have to cheat, the rules of the games are set up so that they have a mathematical edge. Some people would consider this not fair play and they may argue that this is a form of cheating, other people may disagree with that. Those are just different points of view.

When a cheat loses a hand he thinks of this as an investment - not a loss. He knows that he has to keep his victims motivated if he wants to keep them playing and raising bets. If his victims are regular customers he must even let them go home as winners some time. How else could he keep their spirits up and not make them suspicious? After all he just lets them keep some of their own money on temporary basis. Next time he will collect dividends, capital gains and his initial investment and at the end of the month, he will balance out his client's accounts so that he keeps the profit. It is like any other business, you have to keep your clients happy, get them Christmas cards etc. This is not like some of the giant corporate financial institutions, where they only promise to you that "the right relationship is everything", these guys actually make it the "right relationship" - if they know their business. Those cheats who do not get caught are not in it for a fast game - they do not have any intention in biting off the hand that feeds them.

Three card monte mobs operate at a totally apposite principle. They take your cash and run. After that you never see them again. You eventually figure out that you were cheated but there is very little you can do. Plus you kind of get over the twenty Dollar loss. They don't want to establish a relationship with you - all they want is your cash, they want it fast and then they want to deal with another sucker (all right, let's call him a customer). You will never get a Christmas card from any one of them and they don't give a damn if your feelings are hurt. Sure, if you are dumb enough to come back, they will be willing to take more cash from you, but if you make too much noise, they will walk away from you or even push you away.

Those are the two extremely different approaches in cheating. One is "white" the other is "black" -- in-between you will find all possible "shades of gray".

Online card games cheat exposed

Has to know when to hold 'em

The Inquirer By Nick Farrell: Thursday, 18 October 2007, 8:34 AM

PLAYERS of the online Absolute Poker game have found that someone in the company was involved in a cheating operation.

According to the New York Times, punters playing the game got a bit suspicious when one of the players seemed to know what cards were in their hands.

Normally at this point there would be lots of close ups of people's faces, chewing of cigars until someone spat and the cheater would be shot dead. Unfortunately since such action was impossible online, one of the players who’d been cheated requested that Absolute Poker provide hand histories from the tournament.

Absolute Poker accidentally sent a file that contained all sorts of private information that the poker site would never normally release. The file contained every player’s cards, observations of the tables, and even the IP addresses of every person playing.

The Times thinks that someone in Absolute Poker knew that the cheating was taking place and sent too much information to the players so that they could take appropriate action.

Each game was monitored by an 'observer' who is a guest who can’t see any of the players’ cards. When this observer was watching the game the cheater did not lose and seemed to know when another player had the best hand.

The gamers looked at who this observer was and in each case it was Scott Tom, part-owner of Absolute Poker, who was operating from the company's servers.

In otherwords he was tipping off the cheater the cards of the other players.

Absolute Poker has denied everything.