Back to NY, What's in a Name

After busting out of the WPT championship, which I don't want to talk about, I played in a cash game for the rest of the day and most of the night. It was a pretty good game, and after getting stuck deep losing AA to KK, all in pre-flop I made a good comeback. There was a really aggressive player in the game and we dueled in quite a few pots. I picked up AK in early position and made it $200 to go and he raised to $500. He was super aggressive and playing pretty fast and loose, so I re-raised $1,500. He snap called and the flop came AA9. I was pretty sure that if I bet small and showed some weakness, he would raise me and perhaps over commit to the pot. I opened for $2,500 and he raised $5,000. I took a short amount of time and re-raised all in for $13,500 more. He tanked for a full 5 minutes and called with a weak ace. Somehow the poker gods were fair and he didn't hit his kicker and my AK held. If my pocket aces had help up it would have been a great night, but still I made a profit and went to sleep a happy man.

Now if you hate reading my thoughts on things outside of poker you should stop reading now and wait for my next blog. Otherwise read at your own risk.

I have been spending a lot of time in hotels lately, and have the TV on in the background, which causes me to watch some pretty lousy TV. At home I have a DVR so I only watch the shows I like, but on the road I'm at the mercy of what's on.

I couldn't help but watch the Perez Hilton- Miss California debacle which occurred during the Miss USA contest. Now I could debate the value of beauty contests, or should or perhaps the lack there of, but hey, there seems to be a market for it. My issue is how did a want to be like Perez Hilton, who's name was Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr until he changed it to honor Paris Hilton become a judge on the Miss USA pageant? To have a failed actor, celebrity gossip blogger, gay rights activist who idealizes Paris Hilton on national TV questioning Miss USA contestants is full of irony to say the least. I could go off on Paris Hilton, who I believe is just plain bad, and must make her family very proud, but why bother. What would possess someone to idealize her and take her last name?

So you are probably asking yourself, what's my point here? Well my point is that I am willing to be a judge on next years Miss USA contest. I feel I am eminently more qualified and would without a doubt ask better questions. Just to be clear I am not against marriage of any kind. In fact, I am thinking about getting married myself and it will be to a woman, and I do have someone in mind, but I digress. I think the broader issue here is why are people in this world so intolerant of there fellow man, or men as the case may be. Let's be real for a moment. Marriage was a made up concept several thousand years ago and it served a practical function. So if a same sex couple feels like they want to embark on that path, why not allow them the same rights and privileges. Why should they be treated in an inferior way? It may not be a choice that I would make, but why do people feel a need to impose there will on others. By the same token, who is Perez Hilton to say that Miss California isn't allowed to have a viewpoint that differs from his? It is ironic that he is intolerant of an opposing viewpoint. Anyone who spends his or her life on celebrity gossip and idolizes Paris Hilton most likely doesn't have a moral compass that points north.

Why is it then that we are all so intolerant of viewpoints contrary to our own? Is it that we are so sure and confident that we are right that we are trying to save others from being wrong? I am pretty sure it is quite the opposite. Our own insecurities cause us to over compensate. Just like the evangelical minister who spent his life preaching against homosexuality that turned out to be gay, or the former governor of New York who as a prosecutor ruined people's lives for doing what he was himself doing. So how about it, let's all try and be more tolerant of others. So what if you disagree with someone else's opinion. That is the beauty of America we have the freedom to believe how we want, whether it's religion, political ideology, or sexual preference I say live and let live, and hey that's my opinion, feel free to disagree and have your own. As for Perez Hilton, get a life. Thanks for letting me share mine with you.