All In: Online Poker is World's Biggest Gamel

(Work in Progress; comments welcome)...

In less than a decade, online poker has grown from a few thousand players in a few major urban centres to a global community of millions, and exploded into a billions-of-dollars-a-day internet exchange with round-the-clock action from everywhere in the world. Since poker hit TV with Chris Moneymaker’s World Series of Poker win in 2001, brick-and-mortar casinos have expanded from eight no-limit Holdem tables in 2001 to 8,000 today,[i] and online sites have grown phenomenally: The leading online site PokerStars has grown from several hundred thousand players to more than 25 million account holders. More people have played at PokerStars than live in Australia![ii]

The scene is dominated by kids in their late teens and twenties, fearless and tireless, some who play 8-12 hours every day, sometimes multi-tabling to play 16 or more tables simultaneously.

Poker Players Sharpen Skills and Build Social Networks

The poker phenomenon has led to a new brand of savvy, self-aware player. Many are schooled in one or more online poker forums (there are well over 1,000 – some with membership approaching 100,000). To many, poker is not a ‘game’ and they are not ‘gambling;’ rather it is a sport at which they can make informed and well-researched decisions that will make them money over time.

On an individual level, increasing numbers of academic studies show that poker builds players’ math skills, reasoning powers, psychological insight, and social interactions (including those with family; there are countless stories in the forums about people being taught by grandparents, or playing with family on Saturday nights).

Aboriginal Connections in Cyberspace

It has also brought a new era of wealth and tribulation to Aborginal peoples in the U.S. and Canada. Kahnawake, near Montreal, is home to thousands of internet poker sites. The Mohawks of Kahnawake are now world leaders in the online poker business, hosting most of the world’s sites, and owning several of the major players (UltimateBet, Absolute and Bodog).
Natives are increasingly participating in the global economy, and the knowledge economy. Building technological skills and is key to education, employment and self-sustainability. One of those means of participation is games (National Indian Gaming Association represents 186 nations in the US: http://www.indiangaming.org/). The Kahnawake Gaming Commission in the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake in Québec was established in 1996 to license and regulate online casinos and poker rooms. Existing somewhere between their semi-autonomous First Nations territorial status, and jurisdictional indecision regarding legislation and enforcement of online gaming (international, federal, provincial), the KGC has become a world leader in hosting and regulating poker sites – there are almost 1,000 sites hosted there today.http://www.kahnawake.com/gamingcommission/
Two of the most prominent of those, Absolute Poker and Ultmatebet, which recently suffered an insider cheating scandal, are owned by Chief Joe Norton. Kahnawake, a leader in the development of online gaming, and now a subject of international interest, and scrutiny, is a nexus for the issues of online gaming:http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/search.php?searchid=7847090 Golden Palace was prosecuted in Québec; Major sites have moved offshore to Malta, Aruba, Isle of Man, Cyprus and other locales.

Is Online Gaming a Red Road to Self-Determination or a Red Herring? Can we re-create the American Tribal gaming model in cyberspace as brick and mortar crumbles in the new economy?
The Net has increasing power over the future of groups such as First Nations divorced from the institutions and agencies of government; cyberspace in and of itself is an agent of change. “With a multimedia computer the Internet becomes a multimedia system, featuring sound and graphics and video…” It allows remote communities to communicate and access the latest information, it can support culture, and “our Nations will be able to speak more quickly and directly than ever before” on the Internet (Morrisson 1995). Cyberspace is crucial for the survival of Aboriginal peoples: “We missed the Industrial Revolution. We will not miss the Information Technology Revolution. Our citizens, and especially our youth, are ready to take full advantage of this revolution and the possibilities offered. I will strive to ensure that they have that opportunity” (Matthew Coon Come 2001): http://www.fnschools.ca/ ,http://www.cradleboard.org/
Natives must prioritize the adoption of IT to avoid falling deeper into the digital divide in Canada, and in cyberspace. As with the horse, Native peoples have to adopt this new technology, and move into this new space. It is another case of needing to adopt the White man’s ways, while maintaining Native traditions -- Two Worlds, and the Two-Row Wampum (Kahswhentha):http://www.reclamationinfo.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1633
Games as Networks

Games are some of the earliest ways that humans learn to interact with one another; they are a universal language. First Nations people have always been gamblers, from the peach stone game of the Iroquois to stick, bone and hand-drum games of the Ojibwe, western Cree, and west coast Kootenay and Gitskan peoples, and the horse racing (and betting) of plains Indians such as Blackfoot and Stoney.
Like these, poker is a game, which brings together gaming and game theory, much-respected niches in mathematics, economics, and social life.  Today, we have a tremendous, worldwide, language-no-barrier community brought together in cyberspace by gaming sites such as Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and Party Poker – names that now resonate in mainstream culture. Networks are growing around this activity.



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[i] Tommy Angelo

[ii] Twitter from PokerStars 22/7/09

Power Poker Players

Did you know that Nixon financed his first run for Congress with money he made playing poker in the Navy? Or that Warren Harding played so much, his cabinet was called the 'Poker Cabinet,' or that Bill Gates says he learned more playing poker in his dorm than he did in class at Harvard, and used his profits to start Microsoft?

Details at: http://www.launchpoker.com/poker-ser...dential_poker/

Abraham Lincoln: "During his youth and young adulthood, while working as a riverboat pilot, Lincoln was often involved in penny ante poker, which showcased his love of competition and challenge. Playing poker gave Abraham a chance to pit his skills against his contemporaries, but keeping the cost down appealed to his more parsimonious side."

At: http://www.launchpoker.com/poker-ser...er-and-power-/

Thanks to members of the CardsChat forum for contributing these names, and descriptions, of powerful or famous people who play(ed) poker, for recreation and/or profit. (In no particular order):

John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt (rumor has it he cheated), Dwight D. Eisenhower (most military officers of that era were card players. McArthur was reportedly an excellent bridge player), Lyndon Johnson (who also reportedly cheated), William Faulkner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Buss, Winston Churchill, Mike Werbe, Roger Clinton, Red Foxx, Langston Hughes, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Yusaf Islam, Bob Hope, Jim Bowey, U.S. Grant (reportedly a losing player), Teddy Roosevelt, Doc Holiday, Ansel Williams, Merryweather Clark, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Mark Twain.

And these of the more infamous kind:

The Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford.
James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock and John Wesley Hardin; the Earp brothers were all gamblers, reportedly tended more toward Faro and other "games of chance." There was also a famous female poker player of the Old West named "Poker Alice" Ivey/Tubbs. Ivey was her maiden name and Tubbs her married name.

Gemeinschaft of Poker Online

I look at cyberspace with a social science perspective. And cybercommunities are helping define the future directions of cyberspace. Poker forums, facebook, youtube and a host of other communities are melding and morphing together. Web hosting is a multidisciplinary set of tasks, everything from interface programming to audiovisual appeal and stimulation, audience participation and integration, sales and marketing, cross-platform planning. The larger social implications of poker forums should be researched: Who are the members, what are demographics and profiles, interests (within and beyond poker), where do they live, in cyberspace? Finding this might involve focus groups, surveys, and individual interviews. Poker is a game. Game theory is a much-respected niche in math and economics. The sociology of games, and a theory arising from the sociology, would start with the fact that games are the earliest ways that humans learn to interact with one another, they are a universal language, etc., etc., all the way to the tremendous, worldwide, language-no-barrier community brought together by Poker Stars. Poker Stars should (won’t but should) pay a zillion to get that kind of perception abroad. I would suggest that this be part of a larger effort to build bridges around the world – not just for poker, but as a means of joining and contributing to a growing global cyber-phenomenon, which also involves concerns such as peace, health and wellness, and globalization.

Tips on Flu and Cedar Tea

Anyone can get flu, even with hand washing, vaccine, and other precautions. Any condition where you are within 6 feet of an infected person, or touch something they recently touched, it can be transmitted. Cedar tea can help to stop it once you've got it.

"Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is." Help stop the proliferation with cedar, used sparingly, in combination with other recommended remedies (including warm liquids and rest). If these remedies fail and serious symptoms arise however, seek medical advice. The recipe is at the end of this general advisory:

"Every precaution is necessary Re H1N1. The following is important for all to know:

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of only focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe.)

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide if you don't trust salt). **H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling or cleansing the throat and nasal passages with cedar steam prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, or hydrogen peroxide. Blowing the nose softly once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that they also have Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Pass this on to your entire e-list. You never know who might pay attention to it - and STAY ALIVE because of it."

Cedar Tea to Stop Winter Colds and Flu

As pointed out in points 3 to 5 above, proliferation of the virus can be prevented by cleansing of the nasal passages and throat (the breeding grounds), and use of vitamin C. Cedar tea as taken below can accomplish this.

Get two handfuls of fresh cedar leaves on the stems, pick the lightest green (the growing tips) for freshest. Better to get from the country than city; less pollution, but city cedar will do.

Give something back for taking the cedar (tobacco, any kind of offering).

Boil in 4 cups water for 5 minutes or so.

While boiling, inhale the steam deeply by nose and into throat through mouth. Get thoroughly steamed! It will burn a bit and singe yr nostrils but that is good. This kills most microbes (colds) and viruses (flu) in your respiratory tract, where they normally breed.

Drink a cup of the tea water with some honey, or maple syrup, or brandy. You will feel it coat your mouth and throat -- any remaining bacteria, microbes, viruses etc. will be killed. You also get a healthy dose of vitamin C.

Later on inhale some more steam.

Your infection should be gone overnite.

Repeat next day with same batch just in case.

This only works in early stages of flu. If you wait more than 2 days after contracting the virus (see advisory above point 3) it will multiply and invade the system where cedar tea cannot help. You have to do this at the first sign of cold or flu, or just after you think you may have been infected, for it to work.

Many Native or old time people know to keep a pot of cedar on the stove all winter, to inhale or drink whenever. The tea can also be stored in fridge but works better hot with steam. (Back in the day people used to take long cedar steam baths every spring to cleanse the system).

Do not overdo or drink more than a few cups in a week, and pregnant women and children should not drink the tea (although the steam is OK).

There are alternatives to the cedar approach, using white pine, spruce, or labrador (muskeg) tea...

“It's a great gift…” Interview with Rose Auger

“It's a great gift…” Interview with Rose Auger

(This interview is from a talk with Mike Patterson at the KUMIK in Ottawa and first appeared in Aboriginal VOICES Magazine. Rose passed over in 2006 after a long career as a respected Elder and medicine person.)

Rose Auger is a medicine woman of the Woodland Cree people from Driftpile reserve, near Faust Alberta. We talked about music, although there is no word for music in Native languages. The drum, rattle and flute, the songs, are all used for sacred and other purposes, they are all part of something larger than just music. "People say the Indian way of life is gone after 500 years, but look at me. I'm here."
Her music and her ceremonies are used to bring spirits and help the people. The social system today and the lifestyles of people, particularly in the cities, is putting their spirits and bodies in danger. The nine to five lifestyle for money, the culture of the TV, the inner city life that leaves so many people lost, are all killing people. Rose works to help people see the reality of the red road.
"Sometimes I wonder how it can work, with the way we have our lifestyles, they way we eat, the way we abuse our body in all that we do. You know, a lot of people are so tired from a day's work that they'll go home and then they'll try to relax with alcohol or whatever. More abuse ! And then finally they fall asleep in the wee hours, then get up and take off again. That's a very abusive life. And then they wonder why they have all this turmoil in their life, and disease in their body, it's just chaos.
"I see this, and try my very best to bring it out to people, to say 'stop doing that, there is a better way.' You know we were here thousands of years, and we know a better way. We have the values of our ancestors, which are in our genes, which are here. Stop using this harmful drink, this harmful drugs, and values. Your values are not good, it's driving you crazy."
Governments and society are in a state of denial in regards to the sickness that has fallen on mother earth. As a result, purification foreseen by the Cree in the West has begun. "The purification already has happened. If you pay attention, look at the world and the natural disasters, that's part of purification. Your earthquakes, your floods like the great ones down Florida way and Texas - that's all part of it. The purification means many lives lost and many, many people totally wiped out. You have your air disasters, your wars, your fanatics who wipe out people.
"A lot of people think that purification is the end of the world. I don't think that's the way it is. It just a way that's going to change things: The money markets are going to collapse, money is going to have less and less value, and people are going to have to learn how to survive and go back to the old ways and the land, to relearn their natural traditions in order to become whole.
"When the holy people were putting out their teachings of prophecy, they told us: 'Go back to the land. Learn how to find your water. Old knowledge. Learn how, so that when purification happens you will be prepared for it.' I've done that, I've led people back to the land to prepare for that purification, but they're just too weak, too weak. They gotta have town, town..."
Rose tries to show people how to live with the land and the spirits on the land. Not everybody is ready to learn. Some time ago at Timbers (a sacred site in Alberta), she went out to help people prepare for the purification by teaching them about the land there.
"The first year they put in the garden they didn't get much out of it because the gophers got it all, you see ? (laughs) So that's as far as they went, they didn't learn how they had to do it. They could have put up offerings and fixed it so that those ones would not do that, you see, because you're working with the spirits.
"And that's the way it went. And that's the way it goes today. People are willing to grasp at our value system, our knowledge, our wisdom. But they can only go so far. When it means changing your lifestyle or doing things differently - that's a very difficult move to make. And then there are some young people are so super eager about saying 'oh yes yes I'm gonna give up my job and go back to the land and be like you were, before white man came.
"And I say 'yes that is super, that is wonderful, but let me tell you my dear friend, you must have support in what you do. You can't do it alone.' And you must also know how to relate to mother earth and all the beings, whether it's trees or medicine or water. You have to make that connection. And don't jump into it. Your body cannot take it. Your mind is too unbalanced. Your mind will get the worst of you. So you have to do it in a way that makes the transition wise.
"Continue to have some place where you have this (your life today) and then, work at it over there. Because when you get over there and you want to live the right way, you have to know that it's not just for today, but fifty years from now. You will build that place for the generations coming, that they will have a place. To have the natural water, and to have the medicines.
"I built a round house, and the beavers kept making dams because that was their area and we came and invaded it. And so they kept making their dams and our land was flooding and we couldn't keep our horses and our cattle there because their hoofs would suffer, it was too damp. So finally I had to do a ceremony and ask the beaver to pity us, and go somewhere else. And they did. They moved, you see... that is the teaching of our ancient ancestors, that we have a way of living in harmony with the beings.
"The thing was, some of the people who were there building, said 'Well go get us some dynamite and we'll dynamite the beaver dam and houses and that's how we'll get rid of them.' And I said 'No, no, you don't need to do that, that's destructive, to disturb all the plant life, all the waters."
Some people are now waking up, says Rose. "People are just now saying: 'What happened here ?' (speaking of the crisis in the world today). And then when we come in and tell them, they may accept it or they might try to find other ways of looking at it. But most times people just will not make those changes that they need to make in order to know a better way of life.
"That better way of life was here for thousands of years. Those days, those times, there were no prisons or hospitals. We always lived in harmony and our people who were medicine people, or people of visions, people of dreams, they played all those parts to keep the nations alive and in harmony.
Rose plays her part through her music, her ceremonies, and travels. These things are done to reach people. She has 126 spirits, and she carries a yuipi ceremony, given to her by a Sioux medicine man who had carried it for 42 years. "He came to my land, and passed it to me and one of my brothers.
"I have my own sacred songs and they're addressed to different spirit people, and different things. Most of them came to me and the others, that were passed to me, came when the ceremony was passed to me. That's how it works. The music and the ceremony are all one. If you profess to know a ceremony and you don't have the music, then it's not a ceremony."
She doesn't use a drum, she uses a rattle. "Me, I have turtle rattles, and I've had a turtle rattle since I can remember. Someone coming up here will say 'how come there's turtle rattles here, there's no turtles here...' you know, but the spirits are universal. We knew the turtle and we had the turtle in our ceremonies... it's a real ancient spirit. The same as you see shells, we use shells... all these things are everywhere. How it came about is... back there somewhere. I'm just a baby, I don't know."
She says that people have been travelling a long, long time. "Turtle rattles, they have them in the West and in the East. I've had different rattles given me like the small ones, I like the small ones, the ones that I work with. I also have a big one, which was given to me by the Onondaga (firekeepers of the Iroquois Confederacy). A grandmother brought me there and I did some doctoring and they gave me this rattle and they gave me tobacco and they gave me a lot of sacred stuff. It's because of love of our ceremonies.
"Spirits are so holy, that's why we have rattles. That's why we have a ceremony. We put all these sacred objects there for them to use. To touch us, that's how holy they are. That's why we have what we have, you know - the pipe, the rattles, the sage, all these sacred things.
"We put them there for them (the spirits) to come, and to cleanse us, heal us - all that we need. And we always ask for everything, in our ceremonies. We ask for forgiveness for the mistakes we made, anything that we may have inflicted on somebody that caused them pain, or maybe put them off course on their path.
"What mistakes we make, we have to ask for forgiveness and ask, you know, to learn. Show me, teach me, have no pity on me - how else am I going to learn ? In my early years I made a lot of mistakes. I kept worrying: 'I can't do this, I'm not holy enough, I wont be able to do this - I've just done too many things that are not good.' And the holy man who passed the lodge to me kept saying 'it's not your choice, the spirits chose you, you have to do it, you have no choice.
"Most people have their own free destiny, they can choose. I'm not one of them. This is what I was told, and so, regardless of how I may try to run away and ignore what comes through, it'll keep coming until I respond. And in the beginning I used to really put myself through a lot of pain because I was ignoring the spirit. But I finally learned to realize that there's no other way to go that will leave me this great sense of well being.
"In my life, I've gone through so much, so many places, met so many people. So I'm always prepared to hear what people say, what people think, and I want that. I honour it as much when somebody's upset as when somebody's happy. I just honour what's happening with them, and sometimes it's painful, especially when it's from our own people. Those kind of things are painful.
"But I know a way to free myself from that pain. I just take a smudge and smoke my little pipe, then I'm back on track. Because to work in a holy way you always have to be holy, in order for the spirit to work through you."
A constant healing process is needed for a healthy life. Her helper Celeste Strikeswithagun equates that with learning kindness: "There are people who say: 'Oh I'll do that, I'll do anything (to get the spirituality).' But they don't know what it takes. It takes your whole life to learn about kindness, about being happy."
Rose says that "once you're on it (the road) you just flow with your life. And the part that most people find difficult is the part to give. To give of their time, of theirselves, to give without expectations. When you give you give from your heart. And you know that the creator sees you and watches you, and the creator's going to give you what you need. And you a lot of the time don't even know what that is. But you just know that you do this and it will be given to you.
"Someone who is always giving away things, he just walks free. He doesn't accumulate a bunch of stuff that weighs him down. They're just free. They're just so free in life. That's how our people were. They just roamed this world, everywhere. Because they never got weighed down by the materialistic world. They just had survival, what that was about - and the most important part is the spirituality, being able to get from here to there anytime.
"I have a car, which was given to me. When I get in my car, I light my smudge, I offer my tobacco for protection from anything harmful. Also for help so I can get where I'm going soon. In that process the police might cross my path, but he's busy with someone else or he fell asleep at that moment I went by there, breaking the speed limit.
"When we're in that power, it's just so awesome. Myself, I don't want to be there alone so I work really hard to teach my children, my grandchildren, and all the people who wish to come and learn. Learn and be free to pursue that lifestyle. In this world, it's all connected. We don't separate ourselves from anything. We venture into life with this kind of support and help from our ways.
"Learning to be in harmony, especially with the water... you have to be in harmony and connected with all these things because should it be that some kind of disaster happens, then you're going to have that knowledge, and the spirit people helping you. It's not going to work to just go and be there on the land, and not be connected."
She has had many good times, teaching the people and bringing the spirit to give guidance. Her way of life and her songs are shared by many people. She describes an experience at Waterhen Reserve in Alberta:
"It was so beautiful... we had just put our pipes up and we were fasting, and it was in September, the leaves were just beautiful and the water was incredible. And so here we were, we were coming down from the fast, and the women had brought the food, we were going to have a feast right on the shore of that lake.
"And a whole school of loons were there because that's where they lived, these loons. And so they started coming, and they were just talking and telling each other what we were about, what we were doing. And they were very pleased, because the loon man was there, that's my son Dale, he has this gift of the loon call. So he started to call, and they just came right to the shore, and they were just going in and talking back and we were all in awe of what these loons were doing before our eyes. This wasn't just loons, this was sacred beings and we were in their territory.
"And my son has the loon song, and then the people sang the loon song and we were in unity with these loons. That was so profound for me, I had never seen that before. That unity, that these beings, these loons, knew who we were. And we had a vague idea what they were about. We know they are very sacred, they are the medicine people of the waters, of the land. We knew that, but there was much more than that between us.
"Most people will never really get to know the extent of what everything is about. But everyone can learn things. You learn to be grateful when you have that opportunity to be passed these songs, these rituals and ceremonies - being able to work with these beings. It's a great gift. Even just one spirit."

Dr. Janet Smylie on Indigenous Health

Here is a link to CBC's The National, Oct. 7 2009. If you scroll ahead to the feature on H1N1 in Aborignal Australia (at 30 minutes in), there is a linked interview with Janet right after, at about 38 minutes. Spectacular last-minute interview that highlights the critical issues of social determinants of health for Indigenous peoples here and elsewhere:

Dr. Janet Smylie on CBC's The National

What America Really Wants

From NYTimes.com:

"...the (Obama) administration created an online “Citizen’s Briefing Book” for people to submit ideas to the president. “The best-rated ones will rise to the top, and after the Inauguration, we’ll print them out and gather them into a binder like the ones the president receives every day from experts and advisors,” Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama, wrote to supporters.
They received 44,000 proposals and 1.4 million votes for those proposals. The results were quietly published, but they were embarrassing — not so much to the administration as to us, the ones we’ve been waiting for.
In the middle of two wars and an economic meltdown, the highest-ranking idea was to legalize marijuana, an idea nearly twice as popular as repealing the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy. Legalizing online poker topped the technology ideas, twice as popular as nationwide wi-fi..."

At: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/we...nt&tntemail1=y