[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

I haven't read this thread and probably won't get around to reading all the posts, but I do think there is a mistake that Robert Gilbertz is making. That is, he's not thinking about the future.

I'm a pretty good example of this. I played a fair amount of poker for a number of years so that I would get material for our books and would have the money to invest in them. I've even read posts on the Internet about how I drove an old car, lived in a crumy apartment, and didn't have much of a life.

Of course this wasn't true. (For instance I kept my tennis up by playing regularly several times a week.) But even if it was, so what. I was building for the future. If Robert saves some of his money, and I'm assuming he's a youg person in his twenties, the same thing can happen to him.

Now he probably won't be as successful as I am now because Two Plus Two got lucky that a poker boom came along and we just happened to be perfectly situated for it. But he can still be in real good shape financially in the future and have the opportunity to really enjoy life when he gets older. This can be especially true if he invests his money wisely.

So I see nothing wrong, and in fact encourage it, to making some sacrifices when you're young if that helps build your future. So I would argue that Robert's life may actually be much better than he indicates even though he is describing it accurately.

best wishes,
mason