Vincent Lepore
05-06-2005, 04:53 AM
In another thread a poster asked Mason Malmuth:
[ QUOTE ]
do you think the topic of "Making Poker Honest" deserves any attention
[/ QUOTE ]
I in no way am attempting to answer for Mason. This subject is so dear to me that I had to reply. First let me say that "Poker" is neither honest nor dishonest. Poker is a game.
When I was a little boy I would travel to the North End of Boston to My Grandma's house every Sunday. Once there, I would eat dinner and then watch my father and his brothers and sisters play poker. I loved my father and my uncle's and aunt's and I loved to watch them play poker. One of the things I remember most about their poker playing was that they never questioned the outcome of a hand. Sure they would call each lucky and other names for making what they considered bad plays but they never questioned anyone's integrity. It was never said but somehow it was understood that it was a mortal sin to be dishonest at the poker table.
When I became a teenager I began to play poker with some of my friends. It's hard to describe but it seemed as if, while at the poker table, we were all part of the same family. It was like we had all learned from the same father and uncles that when you played poker you never cheated. If someone got caught even glancing at another players hand there would be hell to play. Cheating wasn't just frowned upon. It was not tolerated!
You could call someone any name in the book but don't call them a cheat! To be called a cheater would have been the gravest of insults. Among my friends nothing was worse than being called a card cheat.
The amazing thing about this was that noone ever taught us this. Not directly, anyway. We just seemed to know that there was nothing worse than a cheat. It wasn't just poker though. It was anything that you were involved in. Any game, baseball, football, stick ball, you name it. Cheating was wrong. We never had to worry about cheating when we played together because we all knew it was wrong. We kept the game honest because we were honest. We were honest because we had to live with ourselves.
"Making Poker Honest" is not going to happen. Poker is a game. "Making People Honest" might be what the real issue is. How do you do that? I'm not sure. Maybe you make them go to grandma's house on Sundays, eat dinner and watch their father and uncle's play.
Vince
[ QUOTE ]
do you think the topic of "Making Poker Honest" deserves any attention
[/ QUOTE ]
I in no way am attempting to answer for Mason. This subject is so dear to me that I had to reply. First let me say that "Poker" is neither honest nor dishonest. Poker is a game.
When I was a little boy I would travel to the North End of Boston to My Grandma's house every Sunday. Once there, I would eat dinner and then watch my father and his brothers and sisters play poker. I loved my father and my uncle's and aunt's and I loved to watch them play poker. One of the things I remember most about their poker playing was that they never questioned the outcome of a hand. Sure they would call each lucky and other names for making what they considered bad plays but they never questioned anyone's integrity. It was never said but somehow it was understood that it was a mortal sin to be dishonest at the poker table.
When I became a teenager I began to play poker with some of my friends. It's hard to describe but it seemed as if, while at the poker table, we were all part of the same family. It was like we had all learned from the same father and uncles that when you played poker you never cheated. If someone got caught even glancing at another players hand there would be hell to play. Cheating wasn't just frowned upon. It was not tolerated!
You could call someone any name in the book but don't call them a cheat! To be called a cheater would have been the gravest of insults. Among my friends nothing was worse than being called a card cheat.
The amazing thing about this was that noone ever taught us this. Not directly, anyway. We just seemed to know that there was nothing worse than a cheat. It wasn't just poker though. It was anything that you were involved in. Any game, baseball, football, stick ball, you name it. Cheating was wrong. We never had to worry about cheating when we played together because we all knew it was wrong. We kept the game honest because we were honest. We were honest because we had to live with ourselves.
"Making Poker Honest" is not going to happen. Poker is a game. "Making People Honest" might be what the real issue is. How do you do that? I'm not sure. Maybe you make them go to grandma's house on Sundays, eat dinner and watch their father and uncle's play.
Vince