Poker Perambulation

That’s the cliché. They do seem to go hand in hand in other ways. The first is the loss of a legend, Chip Reese. The second is the latest poker scandal. I like to talk a bit about both. The two together really represent the old school versus new school conundrum.

I lost my parents by watching them fail. Fail is an innocuous term until you are talking about those you love. After my father passed, I moved home with my mother. And her failure was even more drawn out. Those events affected me strongly. I’d wished Mother in particular could have gone with greater dignity. But, their passing also was inevitable. In many respects, they gave me their last favor – time to adjust.

Chip Reese passed at age 56. He went to bed and didn’t get up. There was no dieing flame. Among the things that had been said about him often lead with his family success rather than his poker success. He was a bright guy in so many ways. The light was a beacon. When it went out for family and friends it was a life altering event.

There are a number of pieces on the net that talk to Mr. Reese passing. Amy gives you the basics and Barry Greenstein talks about it as a close friend. They can tell you more than I can.

Before I try to tie this together let me talk about the second part – taxes. The easy comparison is Will Smith’s interview on 60 minutes. His early success had him going through about 7-mil without paying the taxes. And Will had great parents and is a bright guy. He just screwed up and then worked it out. The feds were taking 70% of his income during his Fresh Prince of Bel-air days.

In the poker world there are taxes and taxes of a different nature. We seen a number of cheating scandals play out in the last couple of years. The latest is detailed in a great interview by John Caldwell over on poker pages. Read it and then come back.

One of the things Barry mention in his eulogy is that he never heard Chip say a bad word about anybody. I wish my friends would say that about me; but they’d be lying. I’m often more judgmental than I have a right to be. I’ve not been a father and that was a conscious act. Chip was a better guy and he’s gone and I’m here.

Honesty comes from Caldwell’s interview. No sugar coating like we’ve seen others try. It doesn’t take having the quality of a Chip Reese to not say a bad word about these two – although some will try. Will Smith is in the same camp but was probably judged lacking and possibly for other reasons.

Death and taxes affect us all. But, they don’t define who we are or were. We do that. Other may judge with or without the facts. Its nice to judge Mr. Reese – even with part of the facts. They are close enough in all instances to know someone that had his act together more than most has gone. It is unseemly to judge the young men in the latest scandal. Yet, you can go to 2 plus 2’s forum and see it being done. We all need to put a bit more of Chip Reese’s standards in our life.

ADDENDUM:

Last week we had the news that Golden Palace had pleaded guilty to two count of online gambling in Canada. It seemed directed back toward Kahnawake that provides most of the poker sites that face the United States. I thought it a serious event as did many others. Well, it wasn’t quite what it seemed. Golden Palace had offices in Quebec and that exposed them. Their relationship to Kahnawake seems coincidental at this point. We can all breath a bit easier today.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 9:50 am and is filed under Journal, Misc.. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.