12/21/24
October 31, 2012
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Poker may not be a sport, but there has been a legal movement to have it qualified as a game of skill, and not of luck (and therefore exempt from some anti-gambling laws).
A federal judge in a recent case in New York ruled that poker was not a game of chance prohibited by certain federal gambling statutes (from which casino games are exempt). That decision, however, was based on an interpretation of federal law and the poker game organizer being prosecuted in that case may still be found to have violated New York state law.
posted by holden at 09:55 AM on October 31, 2012
Poker is doubtlessly a game of skill. Nobody's luck can be as bad as mine has been when I've played.
posted by tahoemoj at 11:16 AM on October 31, 2012
Holy crap! I was watching and went to bed at 12:30 with my DVR set to record another 2 hours. Thanks for the heads up.
posted by bender at 12:06 PM on October 31, 2012
The winner was wearing an Orioles jersey.
posted by bperk at 12:09 PM on October 31, 2012
I haven't watched poker in a while, but I really enjoyed that they aired the final table [almost] live, and not knowing the hole cards of the players made the analysis of the commentators (particularly Esfandiari) much more interesting and enlightening.
posted by bender at 12:30 PM on October 31, 2012
Tyler Bozak learns nothing from Raffi Torres' experience last Halloween
posted by tommybiden at 03:10 PM on October 31, 2012
It was going to be really difficult to beat Arsenal - Reading from last night, but Manchester United and Chelsea gave it a really good go.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:30 PM on October 31, 2012
Halloween note -
The only reason I'm glad the World Series is over: Hunter Pence's at bats frightened my kids.
Spooky countenance on that bro when he's at the plate.
posted by beaverboard at 07:55 PM on October 31, 2012
My tweet from last night:
Hope everyone giving @Bozie42 shit for Michael Jackson costume is boycotting Cloud Atlas & sending hate mail to Halle Berry & Tom Hanks
posted by wfrazerjr at 07:59 PM on October 31, 2012
posted by Mr Bismarck at 08:14 PM on October 31, 2012
wfrazerjr, I'm glad you feel the same way I do about both of those disgusting displays of racism.
posted by Hugh Janus at 09:46 PM on October 31, 2012
His Scots accent is still pretty thick, too and coupled with his Australianisms, it should make communication interesting.
/Seriously, he's a top notch coach. Great tactically and showed how he can build a team over the long term. Whether the US structure will allow him the same level of control and influence over other coaches, technique improvement, tactical systems and young player development remains to be seen.
posted by owlhouse at 12:47 AM on November 01, 2012
Hope everyone giving @Bozie42 shit for Michael Jackson costume is boycotting Cloud Atlas & sending hate mail to Halle Berry & Tom Hanks
I don't get it. Is there a blackface scene or scenes in that movie?
I don't guess I think that dressing as a favorite athlete/entertainer for Halloween is the same thing as putting on "minstrel show" makeup. About ten years ago, three friends and I scored some sweet 70's leisure suit/costumes from another friend who had been in Tower of Power in those days. We thought it would be a great idea to go out for Halloween as the Commodores. I went in blackface, as did one other member of our group. There was no intent to mock African Americans or to act as if we were Amos and Andy. So I ask honestly, was that racist? If the answer is a resounding "yes," I'm prepared to accept that. Does it make a difference if one of the other two in our party who didn't wear makeup didn't because he was black?
posted by tahoemoj at 11:16 AM on November 01, 2012
Hope everyone giving @Bozie42 shit for Michael Jackson costume is boycotting Cloud Atlas & sending hate mail to Halle Berry & Tom Hanks
And preparing to boycott Iron Man 3, Lone Ranger and never saw White Girls. Well, no one saw White Girls, so probably safe on that one.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:50 AM on November 01, 2012
It's good to know you guys are so progressive. Thank you for doing your part to fight racism in the media.
posted by Hugh Janus at 12:01 PM on November 01, 2012
tahoemoj: it appears there's just about every variety of ______face in that movie because it has people playing multiple roles that sometimes change race over the course of the different "reincarnations" or whatever. For reference, here's a Grantland article about whether it's racist or not. I'm not sure if I agree with all of it, but, there you go.
posted by LionIndex at 12:55 PM on November 01, 2012
I went in blackface, as did one other member of our group.
Do you mean you darkened your skin a bit or do you mean some stereotype dark skin, big lip costume? If the former, not racist. If the latter, racist.
posted by bperk at 02:33 PM on November 01, 2012
It's good to know you guys are so progressive. Thank you for doing your part to fight racism in the media.
I'm not sure I follow. I don't think most people even know what the initial tweet/ comment is about and your response can be read either way. I thought The AV Club review of Cloud Atlas had an even-handed and interesting take on the film.
posted by yerfatma at 02:54 PM on November 01, 2012
If the former, not racist. If the latter, racist.
That's kind of how I've always looked at it, but recent events with Raffi Torres and now Bozak have made me question my beliefs. I've always thought that if your intent was not to mock or characature, it's copasetic. I guess others believe differently.
posted by tahoemoj at 04:27 PM on November 01, 2012
We may have discussed this before, but I think one line of reasoning is that intent does not matter -- if there is a history of racism associated with a particular gesture, style of make-up/impersonation, etc., engaging in the same reflects racism and you should not go there. Under this line of thought, you could even hold the belief that while the "guilty" individual may not himself or herself be racist, the gesture/appearance that he or she is making may well be racist.
I personally tend to think that the school of thought that espouses that any time a white person gets a make-over to appear as a person of color is per se racist or should be equated with blackface (which is a very particular type of caricature with a very ugly history) is somewhat knee-jerk and too categorical in its approach. But I also know that I personally (and even more so if I was any sort of public figure or celebrity) would never even get remotely close to anything in this category.
posted by holden at 05:34 PM on November 01, 2012
I have to say NOT racist. If he had just dressed up like any random black guy and had toy guns and was acting like a thug or like he was robbing people, RACIST. If I dress up like a famous person who happens to be black, Not racist. My friends and I run in a marathon relay every year and as a 5 man team always make a funny t-shirt and put or faces on other peoples bodies. One year, we used the Jackson 5. That wasnt racist. It was funny. People are so sensitive to , the fear of being racist that they can no longer have a sense of humor.
posted by Debo270 at 02:30 PM on November 02, 2012
Is poker a sport?
Don't know, but they are in the midst of playing the final table for the main event for the World Series of Poker.
They started 3-handed play at 9pm EST, and at 8am EST (11 hours later) they've finally knocked out the 3rd place guy.
He has to settle for winning only $3.8million.
The final table (9 players) has been going for over 380 hands, which is the all time record. The final three played 240 hands.
Now they start heads-up. Second place will win $5.3million, and the winner will get $8.5million.