The Article I Promised Is Now In Our Magazine

[William]

We all know that learning poker is good for the 2% of bright, intelligent people that can make something out of that knowledge (at the tables or/and real life), but how do you aproach the subject when it concerns the 98% that only loses money (often much much more than they can afford). Poker is an addictive game that ruins lifes if you can't controll it (and most people can't) and that is the only reason why it has (and still is many places) been illegal to play.

No question that the game is good for us, winning players, succesfull authors, owners of popular websites, affiliates, etc... but that doesn't make it right in the big picture, as we are only a very small fraction of the population and as we struggle for what is best for us, authorities have the duty to struggle for what is best for the majority of the population.

I am looking forward to reading your article as your arguments are almost always well thougt, convincing and realistic but there is not a chance on earth that you are going to convince anyone else than people making money from poker or people that have a gambling problem that poker is good for society.

Regards,

William

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Edit/MH:

David Sklansky:

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I was criticized a few months ago for not speaking up on the internet bill. I replied that I didn't feel like my field of expertise justified my taking a stance on the legalities or technicalities surrounding it. But that I was planning to write something describing many of the things about poker that would indicate it could be a very good thing to learn and sometimes play. I wanted to go well past the simple idea that it required more skill than other gambling" games. I wanted to show that learning poker is actually good for you. If I wrote something that could persuade non players of this fact, it should have an effect on their outlook toward legislation.

So I got ahold of my friend Dr. Alan Schoonmaker and together we came up with some, but not all of the valuable attributes that people can more easily acquire if they learn to play poker. And then elaborated on them. Most of these ideas have been written about before one place or another. But never all at the same time. And never by a recognized authority on poker or a psychologist who has extensively written about poker, including the pitfalls that can be associated with an obsession with it.

ANYONE has permission to reprint all or part of it ANYWHERE. As long as the 2+2 magazine or its authors are noted. The article is pretty long so most venues might prefer only excerpts or a summary. The simplest summary is just a list of the section headings. 24 I believe. I would love to see someone write out these 24 headings Ten Commandment style and offer it to all cardrooms to put on their wall. But the main reason for the article is to get out the word to lawmakers and the general public that POKER IS GOOD FOR YOU.



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