Dr. Phil today

[flo]

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I hate to sound paranoid, but this is the kind of thing that starts small. One idiot talking about poker and his wife complaining about how it ruined their life. Little negative stories. Eventually Ed Bradley will have a full lineup of degenerates who's lives were ruined by poker, then complete media outrage, then your senators get involved. The reformers are coming, poker on the internet is about to be legislated out of existence. I saw it happen with cigarrettes,lawn darts, ATV's and countless other leisure activities. They are going to protect you from yourself.

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Dude when someone smokes besides me, he damages my health. Smoking should be banned in every public place. Every. All over the world. You can't compare smoking and playing poker, and it's not close.
You made a valid point with that little negative stories tough.

I'm not a smoker but my point was when the media jumps on a story positive things never happen. Anytime some moron goes on TV and portrays something I enjoy doing in a negative light, I cringe. Poker is a media darling today, but it won't be long before your local "Action" news station is doing an in depth expose' at your local high school where malnourished kids are playing no-limit freeze outs with their lunch money and they will demand something is done. This is how personal freedoms are taken away in our country. Of course Jerry Springer is still on TV and they have yet to outlaw trailer parks, so maybe i'm way off base. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[TransientR]

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I'm not a smoker but my point was when the media jumps on a story positive things never happen. Anytime some moron goes on TV and portrays something I enjoy doing in a negative light, I cringe. Poker is a media darling today, but it won't be long before your local "Action" news station is doing an in depth expose' at your local high school where malnourished kids are playing no-limit freeze outs with their lunch money and they will demand something is done. This is how personal freedoms are taken away in our country. Of course Jerry Springer is still on TV and they have yet to outlaw trailer parks, so maybe i'm way off base. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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I've been worrying about this re. online poker myself. The cable news people and the Dr. Phil's of this world are always looking for something to agitate the public with "the sky is falling" rhetoric. This in turn gets opportunistic politicians (is there any other kind?) involved.

And, of course, the easiest way to demonize something is to say: "Its ruining our precious children." Look at the Natalee Holloway case. Poor woman goes missing in Aruba and the Alabama politicians start agitating about legislating a boycott of Aruba...give me a break.

Plus there is the ignorance factor. These TV fatheads and politicians will lump poker in with any other "you can't beat the house" gambling games. And the hypocritical ones will rant-and-rave on TV or the floor of the senate and go right home and play online or with their cronies.

I saw Bob Costas on his HBO show the other day, he basically dismissed poker as a total waste of time, and virtually declared everyone who plays the game 'degenerates.'

Of course he creams over baseball players, some of whom stick needles loaded with steroids in each other's butts [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Maybe if the heat comes down on poker, Mr. Uber Republican "Book of Virtues" Bob Bennett will come to the games' defense. After all, hawking 'virtue' pays his bills, while spending hours gambling in casinos is what really floats his boat [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Frank

[AlphaWice]

Quoted directly from their site (drphil.com)

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Springer estimates that he's used between $15,000 and $20,000 of their savings to finance his poker playing. "I'm working on being a professional poker player. Poker is not gambling," he says.

Jennell estimates that Springer has spent $100,000 from their savings, and they have $50,000 in credit card debt.

"Does this concern you at all?" Dr. Phil asks Springer.

"It does concern me," he replies, but he disputes her numbers. When Springer says that his plan was for poker playing to sustain them financially, Dr. Phil questions, "You say that poker's not gambling?"

"I don't think poker is gambling when it's approached the correct way," Springer maintains.

"It apparently isn't gambling the way you do it because you're just paying out money!" Dr. Phil observes.
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Lol he spent 150k and still doesnt know how to play poker

[Vee Quiva]

The problem with Dr. Phil's shows is often times he brings in bad examples of the problem he wants to discuss. Obviously this guy is a gambling addict and needs help. You cannot imply from this guy that poker is a losing proposition.

He should have brought in a real professional gambler with some success and who is going through a bad run. That would have been more realistic.

Another example was a show where he had the real "Coach Carter" on from the movie and he brought in a couple of kids with dreams of going pro after highschool ala LeBron James. One was a skinny white kid with a jew fro. They show him shooting baskets in the front yard with the worst form I have ever seen. One of the first questions they ask him is, "Are you the best player on your team?" He hems and haws and says "No". If you're not even the best player on your team, how can he harbor any real feelings about going pro?

C'mon Phil if you're going to have a show on a topic, bring in a guest where the they can have a legitimate discussion!

[kleos]

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C'mon Phil if you're going to have a show on a topic, bring in a guest where the they can have a legitimate discussion!

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You are talking about a fat man who wrote a book on weight loss. Then again, maybe he is just husky.

[BadBoyBenny]

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Dude when someone drives a car by me, he damages my health. The internal combustion engine should be banned in every public place. Every. All over the world. You can't compare vehicles and playing poker, and it's not close.
You made a valid point with that little negative stories tough.

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Get over it dude. There are so many things people do that damage others health, why hate on smokers.