My wife just asked me why is it that some US politicians are billing the latest financial crisis as being the worst since the Great Depression. That sets me thinking...
Does the current situation even warrant a comparison with the Great Depression? Lets picture this scenario:
Great Depression: Tens of thousands of unemployed queueing for jobs every morning at factories, only a handful got picked for the day's work, the rest go home and come back next day for the lottery.
Current situation: I see tens of thousands still with their jobs. Many more voluntarily out of jobs.
I just need to illustrate the above scenario to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the current situation is nowhere near the Great Depression.
So, why are McCains and Obamas and soon to be ex-president Bush's and company painting such a stark economic picture with the Great Depression as the backdrop?
Answer is very simple my friend.
Lets assume I am a presidential candidate, and you are my supporter. You are a billionaire, and you contribute millions of dollars to my presidential campaign. I need your connections and money to fund my campaign, so I have a higher chance of securing the world's most powerful vocation.
But now, you are losing hundreds of millions in shares and what-have-yous. lets say you have USD1billion worth of shares, which are only worth USD500million on paper now, due to the current economic crisis. Obviously you are not pleased. So you suggest to me, why not scare the public with the spectre of a looming Great Depression, so that the public will consent to me using the public's money to bail you out. So that, having used the public's money to bailout, your current USD500million will once again surge up to USD1billion, or possibly even more.
In this way, you have your money, and I, with your support, secures the world's most powerful vocation, and the public, seeing that I have successfully averted the second Great Depression, will adore me no less.
Perfect. Win-win-win.
Family Image
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Genting Poker Tournament
I recently joined a poker tournament at Genting Casino. Went up with my wife, a fren, and a cousin over the weekend.
Managed to squeezed into the final table of 10. Came out 6th, out of a field of 300 contestants.
Prize money is a tiny RM3,000... :). Well, considering that the entry fee was RM500, and that included a complimentary room at the Resort Hotel, plus another complimentary room if one got into the semi-finals, I think thats not too bad a deal at all!
For your info, the first prize was RM75,000, second: RM30,000, Third: RM15,000, 4th to 5th: RM5,000, 6th to 10th: RM3,000. So you can see that i just missed out on 5th, which would have netted me another RM2k.
In fact, there was very little I could do at the final table, due to the fact that I was short-stacked all the way, and that the blinds were exceedingly high. I won the first hand, with an all-in with Ace-Jack, the flop came Ace-Jack-something, in the end I managed to KO 2 players with Jacks full of Aces. Not a bad start. Thereafter, I din have cards to even call the big blinds. Hence I folded and folded, whenever anyone at the table showed any strength. I gave them the benefit of doubt.
My final hand played out like this: first player folded, player 2 limped in just calling the big blind, player 3 folded, Me: after eye-balling player 2 and sizing him up for 6 seconds, I pushed all my stack all-in with Ace-Jack (and silently hoping others behind me fold) I gathered I have a better chance of heads-up with player 2, since he has been calling with rags many a times. Also, other players have been playing very tight. Even if someone behind called with any pairs less than jacks i would still be even-money. True enough, all players behind me folded to Player 2.
Now, i would be happy if player 2 folded at this point, cos my Ace-jack would be a severe underdog against ace queen or ace king (which I dun think he had since he just called the big blind), or just a coin flip with 10pairs or below. On the other hand, knowing player 2, I would not have minded if he called me, because he would have called me with Ace-10 or something worse, which by then I would be a super over-dog over him.
As it turned out, Player 2 called me. And true enough my read on him was correct. He had Ace-6 suited (diamonds). For the maths-inclined, that means I am 66% favourite to win, over his 27%, with approx 7% ending in a tie. I'm a favourite to win. Flop came out rainbow rags. By this time I'm in an even better position to win (80%). Player 2 can only win with a 6, or a runner runner diamond flush. Guess what... of course he caught the runner runner flush!!
Well, i told myself before the final table that I would go out with a bang. And a bang I did went out with. I guessed I could have played very very tight, and maybe I could have gotten 5th or 4th, and thus an additional RM2k. But I know I would not be satisfied if I had not play to the best of my judgment and ability, which I did when I pushed all-in with Ace-Jack against Player 2. The downside was that this "correct play" costed me RM2k.
Overall it has been a very good experience. I won some more at the tables. And of course my wife was with me all the while, which was the most important of all :)
Managed to squeezed into the final table of 10. Came out 6th, out of a field of 300 contestants.
Prize money is a tiny RM3,000... :). Well, considering that the entry fee was RM500, and that included a complimentary room at the Resort Hotel, plus another complimentary room if one got into the semi-finals, I think thats not too bad a deal at all!
For your info, the first prize was RM75,000, second: RM30,000, Third: RM15,000, 4th to 5th: RM5,000, 6th to 10th: RM3,000. So you can see that i just missed out on 5th, which would have netted me another RM2k.
In fact, there was very little I could do at the final table, due to the fact that I was short-stacked all the way, and that the blinds were exceedingly high. I won the first hand, with an all-in with Ace-Jack, the flop came Ace-Jack-something, in the end I managed to KO 2 players with Jacks full of Aces. Not a bad start. Thereafter, I din have cards to even call the big blinds. Hence I folded and folded, whenever anyone at the table showed any strength. I gave them the benefit of doubt.
My final hand played out like this: first player folded, player 2 limped in just calling the big blind, player 3 folded, Me: after eye-balling player 2 and sizing him up for 6 seconds, I pushed all my stack all-in with Ace-Jack (and silently hoping others behind me fold) I gathered I have a better chance of heads-up with player 2, since he has been calling with rags many a times. Also, other players have been playing very tight. Even if someone behind called with any pairs less than jacks i would still be even-money. True enough, all players behind me folded to Player 2.
Now, i would be happy if player 2 folded at this point, cos my Ace-jack would be a severe underdog against ace queen or ace king (which I dun think he had since he just called the big blind), or just a coin flip with 10pairs or below. On the other hand, knowing player 2, I would not have minded if he called me, because he would have called me with Ace-10 or something worse, which by then I would be a super over-dog over him.
As it turned out, Player 2 called me. And true enough my read on him was correct. He had Ace-6 suited (diamonds). For the maths-inclined, that means I am 66% favourite to win, over his 27%, with approx 7% ending in a tie. I'm a favourite to win. Flop came out rainbow rags. By this time I'm in an even better position to win (80%). Player 2 can only win with a 6, or a runner runner diamond flush. Guess what... of course he caught the runner runner flush!!
Well, i told myself before the final table that I would go out with a bang. And a bang I did went out with. I guessed I could have played very very tight, and maybe I could have gotten 5th or 4th, and thus an additional RM2k. But I know I would not be satisfied if I had not play to the best of my judgment and ability, which I did when I pushed all-in with Ace-Jack against Player 2. The downside was that this "correct play" costed me RM2k.
Overall it has been a very good experience. I won some more at the tables. And of course my wife was with me all the while, which was the most important of all :)
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