My Project

[Panserhansen]

First time I met my taxi driver Edwin, I noticed his English were quite good and his driving not at all hazardly like some other drivers. This was in the first couple of weeks in Cebu, and I had decided to ask for the phone number for drivers like that. We've met on several occasions later. He turns out to be a bright fellow, had to drop out of college to take care of some relatives(he's unmarried) for a while. I did an interview with him for my Norwegian blog, and we've had a few beers later on. I enjoy his company.A guy like this doesn't have too many options to improve his earnings. So I told him I'd teach him how to play poker, if he teaches me Cebuano. I am a pretty decent player, but not as patient as this guy seems to be. I've already ordered a few books from amazon, a beginner's book and Dan Harrington's new books about cash games. I've already read the three brillant books by Harrington on tournament games, and I look forward to read his books about cash games.The books will arrive in a couple of weeks. I'll start my first lessons with Edwin the driver and keep you posted how this works out. I know of all the traps and warnings, so if he listens to me he can avoid the beginner's faults. And when I some day let Edwin out on the table at Waterfront, it will be for my money, not his. Of course I will gain a 50 % of the winnings as long as I stake him, and every loss is on me. If he decides to break lose and play for his own money, he's a freebird.So what do you think of this project? Am I causing him trouble or giving him a chance? Am I creating a monster? This guy is a regular taxi driver, intelligent, knows a lot about history and other things and I think it's a shame wasting his time driving drunk foreigners like myself sometimes home from the pub.Walk on,Panser

[Mr Lee]

Lars, your heart is in the right place but teaching a Filipino or anyone to gamble is not a good idea IMHO, and it would be better to teach him how to work a computer and earn a living on-line, again IMO. All gamblers have to lose sometimes and one who get too brave will lose it all. Again IMO

[Panserhansen]

Lars, your heart is in the right place but teaching a Filipino or anyone to gamble is not a good idea IMHO, and it would be better to teach him how to work a computer and earn a living on-line, again IMO. All gamblers have to lose sometimes and one who get too brave will lose it all. Again IMO

I am not going to teach him how to gamble, Lee. When I was younger, I was getting semi-addicted to the slots machines at the supermarkets back home. I had enough control to pay my bills, but a lot of spending money went on the machines. So I thought to myself, this machine is programmed to beat me and if I stay here for the rest of my life I cannot beat it. I cannot beat it. You cannot beat a machine in the long term, that's gambling.But you can beat humans. And poker was for me an awakening. I read plenty of books, watched hundred of hours of poker on TV and sometimes I had such winnings I actually started to think about making poker a career. There were months I made more than my regular job, spending half the time. Unfortunately, I couldn't handle the swings and bad streaks that sometimes follow a poker player and I never dared giving up my job.He will not give up his job, and I will not promise him a fortune. This will be strict from the very start, and the moment he lose interest this project is off.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Lars, your heart is in the right place but teaching a Filipino or anyone to gamble is not a good idea IMHO, and it would be better to teach him how to work a computer and earn a living on-line, again IMO. All gamblers have to lose sometimes and one who get too brave will lose it all. Again IMO

I am not going to teach him how to gamble, Lee. When I was younger, I was getting semi-addicted to the slots machines at the supermarkets back home. I had enough control to pay my bills, but a lot of spending money went on the machines. So I thought to myself, this machine is programmed to beat me and if I stay here for the rest of my life I cannot beat it. I cannot beat it. You cannot beat a machine in the long term, that's gambling.But you can beat humans. And poker was for me an awakening. I read plenty of books, watched hundred of hours of poker on TV and sometimes I had such winnings I actually started to think about making poker a career. There were months I made more than my regular job, spending half the time. Unfortunately, I couldn't handle the swings and bad streaks that sometimes follow a poker player and I never dared giving up my job.He will not give up his job, and I will not promise him a fortune. This will be strict from the very start, and the moment he lose interest this project is off.

Well I can see where your coming from but I think its a bad idea,first off, if he has a few small wins he will want to have some more,I can see his P200 a day taxi earnings being used here for the chance to win some more. Huge chance he could end up a gambling addict and lose the shirt on his back.

[Panserhansen]

If we base things on facts and not prejudism, you're wrong. Poker players arent the ones calling Blue Cross, it's the slot players. The poker players calling for help is the ones who never had any or doesnt follow the proper instructions.I just came down from the casino winning 3K for about three hours of poker. This was a good day, but in like 20 hours I've made the same amount playing poker as he does in 320 hours a month driving a taxi.But don't worry, before he saves at least 24 monthly expenses he will not be persuaded to give up his job.Walk on, Panserhansen

[Jollygoodfellow]

If we base things on facts and not prejudism, you're wrong. Poker players arent the ones calling Blue Cross, it's the slot players. The poker players calling for help is the ones who never had any or doesnt follow the proper instructions.I just came down from the casino winning 3K for about three hours of poker. This was a good day, but in like 20 hours I've made the same amount playing poker as he does in 320 hours a month driving a taxi.But don't worry, before he saves at least 24 monthly expenses he will not be persuaded to give up his job.Walk on, Panserhansen

I think the facts are plain and simple,poker is a form of gambling,therefor can become addictive. I'm sure its not just slot players who find themselves in trouble at times,thats like saying the guy who bets on the horses could never do his life savings down at the the track because he only go's there twice a month but next month there is a few good meetings so hes going twice a week but only for that month or a beer drinker could never become an alcoholic as its only beer not spirits.In your first post you saidSo what do you think of this project? Am I causing him trouble or giving him a chance? Am I creating a monster? This guy is a regular taxi driver, intelligent, knows a lot about history and other things and I think it's a shame wasting his time driving drunk foreigners like myself sometimes home from the pub.So what you said here is you want to teach him to be a professional gambler and in my opinion gambling can be addictive whether it starts out for fun or business.Good luck with your project.

[Panserhansen]

I think the facts are plain and simple,poker is a form of gambling,therefor can become addictive. I'm sure its not just slot players who find themselves in trouble at times,thats like saying the guy who bets on the horses could never do his life savings down at the the track because he only go's there twice a month but next month there is a few good meetings so hes going twice a week but only for that month or a beer drinker could never become an alcoholic as its only beer not spirits.In your first post you saidSo what do you think of this project? Am I causing him trouble or giving him a chance? Am I creating a monster? This guy is a regular taxi driver, intelligent, knows a lot about history and other things and I think it's a shame wasting his time driving drunk foreigners like myself sometimes home from the pub.So what you said here is you want to teach him to be a professional gambler and in my opinion gambling can be addictive whether it starts out for fun or business.Good luck with your project.

I don't consider poker as gambling. There have actually been courts considering poker as a skill game. Let's say you have a sucker offering you 2/1 on coinflips, playing for 100 peso a bet full day. Now would you consider that to be gambling? If it was only for one toss and you had to bet your house on it, yes. When playing poker, you should always keep a track of the pot odds. If there are three clubs and a heart on the deck and you have the ace of clubs, there is a 16 % chance the last card will be a club. If the pot is 1000 peso and someone bets 1000, you have to bet 50 % of the stack to see the card, and 50 % is much more than 16 % hence you fold. If you call, it's gambling. If he bets 150, you flat call becuase you have pot odds and it's not gambling. It's like the guy offering good odds on coin flips. I know there are a lot of players at the casinos who doesn't care about these odds at all. They are gambling all the time.But to be good at it, you have to be diciplined. Play people who are worse than yourself. You need to have a strict cash management, and have separate accounts. One for the expenses and income from your daily job and one for poker. If you reach 24 times the monthly cost, you can transfer to the other account. Drinking while playing is a no-no, even though I have to admit I fancy a beer or two - but for me it's only pleasure.Thanks for wishing me good luck, I'll keep you posted how this goes.Walk on,Panserhansen

[Jollygoodfellow]

I think the facts are plain and simple,poker is a form of gambling,therefor can become addictive. I'm sure its not just slot players who find themselves in trouble at times,thats like saying the guy who bets on the horses could never do his life savings down at the the track because he only go's there twice a month but next month there is a few good meetings so hes going twice a week but only for that month or a beer drinker could never become an alcoholic as its only beer not spirits.In your first post you saidSo what do you think of this project? Am I causing him trouble or giving him a chance? Am I creating a monster? This guy is a regular taxi driver, intelligent, knows a lot about history and other things and I think it's a shame wasting his time driving drunk foreigners like myself sometimes home from the pub.So what you said here is you want to teach him to be a professional gambler and in my opinion gambling can be addictive whether it starts out for fun or business.Good luck with your project.

I don't consider poker as gambling. There have actually been courts considering poker as a skill game. Let's say you have a sucker offering you 2/1 on coinflips, playing for 100 peso a bet full day. Now would you consider that to be gambling? If it was only for one toss and you had to bet your house on it, yes. When playing poker, you should always keep a track of the pot odds. If there are three clubs and a heart on the deck and you have the ace of clubs, there is a 16 % chance the last card will be a club. If the pot is 1000 peso and someone bets 1000, you have to bet 50 % of the stack to see the card, and 50 % is much more than 16 % hence you fold. If you call, it's gambling. If he bets 150, you flat call becuase you have pot odds and it's not gambling. It's like the guy offering good odds on coin flips. I know there are a lot of players at the casinos who doesn't care about these odds at all. They are gambling all the time.But to be good at it, you have to be diciplined. Play people who are worse than yourself. You need to have a strict cash management, and have separate accounts. One for the expenses and income from your daily job and one for poker. If you reach 24 times the monthly cost, you can transfer to the other account. Drinking while playing is a no-no, even though I have to admit I fancy a beer or two - but for me it's only pleasure.Thanks for wishing me good luck, I'll keep you posted how this goes.Walk on,Panserhansen

I don't think we will ever agree on this,you use the word bet. I always considered a bet as taking a gamble on the out come.Anyway would be good to know if your friend owns a fleet of taxis in a few years rather than driving them :th_thholysheep: