Yea, you would not think a major U.S. newspaper would allow Paul Krugman to write a column, either, but they do.

The curmudgeonly part of my nature forces a slight disagreement. There are at least two errors in this statement: "You'd think a major newspaper wouldn't allow such silly errors."

Error one is the assumption that the Times is a major newspaper, rather than the self-aggrandizing caricature of a newspaper it has become.

Error two is the assumption that the Times cares about accuracy. Its performance in recent years says it does not.

The latter problem is largely responsible for the former.

Anybody for a few fast hands of Old Maid?

Sincerely,
Indianapolis Slim

Well, Friedman also believes that Bush's approval among Americans would soar to heights not seen before if only he would support $4/gallon gasoline, so clearly he does not spend much time outside of Manhattan.

Reminds me of one of my favorite jokes.

"What is the difference between a duck?"

"A football, because a bicycle has handlebars." ;)

Well there goes all my illusions of journalists having poker nights with their buddies while drinking whiskey. If that's not the life they live, then what the hell are they doing with their time; sipping champagne and kissinng up to celebraties and politicians? Why be a journo then?

I read an absurd gambling metaphor just this morning, but I'm damned if I can recall where or what it was about. It went, "Such-n-such might look like lucky sevens, but in reality it's more like three-of-a-kind."

It gave me a splitting headache to read it, a headache that's how returned with a vengeance upon the retelling of it. Now I have to remember which drawer of my desk has the bottle of bourbon in it.

Well, at least seven card stud and Hold 'Em are both still poker.

Your example is more apt to comparing five card draw to pinochle.

(Draw pinochle!)

You'd think a major newspaper wouldn't allow such silly errors.

Who are you and what did you do with Stephen?
Haven't you spent a fair portion of the last 4 years pointing outand/or reading other blogs' takes on the many, many, many times the NY Times has made just such silly errors?
They make lots of errors, not just ones that help Dems and hurt the GOP. Remember CNN and the screenshot of them saying the shuttle was going "3X the speed of light"? They're not just biased, they're ignorant.

Hell, I just wanna get Friedman to sit down at a table with me. As the old saw informs, if you sit down at a table and don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy.

Stephen:

Friedman's never drawn to an inside straight, but I'd add that there are many (often alcohol induced) variants of seven card stud--one favorite involves shots, seven cards down and dirty, and sometimes farm animals, but I can't really remember.

Perhaps Tom should consult Dan Rather(who has some time on his hands these days) for some good extra-terrestrial homilies.

The mind boggles at the possibilities! Like....

"If a frog had side pockets, he'd call a tripple bank shot into left field."

Courage.

You are taking a lot of heat from poker, and would-be-BRAVONetwork- poker players for this. I really don't see why. Stud is a game. Hold'em is a (sorry) girl's game and Draw is an abomination. I do know that many women are proficient at Poker, and do not want to diminsh, or in any way undercut their acheivements, but it remains a guy's game with guy rules. Hold'em is, basically, Draw. That is quite OK at a local,fun, no button game. It is not, nor shall it ever be Poker. Same way that Vodka can not be a Martini. E'en so, young Stephen should not be excorciated for mocking a truly terrible analogy.

Another problem with the poker analogy is that poker is a game of science, not a game of chance.

By the way, it really is, too. That's why poker is the only game you can play in Vegas where you don't play against the house. It's because the house can't guarantee to give itself a winning edge as it does in all the other games it offers.

Blaine, your joke reminded me of a question that social workers would ask troubled kids at a facility where my mother worked a while back. To test their comprehension, they would ask "Which is closer, New York or by bus?" Sadly, most kids answered "By bus."

C'mon, do you really think a chardonnay-sipping, brie-eatin' nancy boy like Tom Friedman ever touched a poker deck? To him, Texas Hold'em is something retirees take the charter bus to Atlantic City to spend their cat food money on...

Hold 'em is a girls game? Pinky, why do I think you are one of those people who always "like their old stuff" better "before they sold out"? Hold 'em is a great game that is played by 95% guys at the tourney's I frequent. Do you hate it because its popular?

With that said, I do wonder if Friedman isn't closer to right than we give him credit. I mean, I know when I play hold 'em there are 7 cards, and, according to my wife, I'm a stud. Did I just write that? Is this thing on? I'm all in baby!

Another problem with the poker analogy is that poker is a game of science, not a game of chance.

In the long run, yes. However, anyone who's held pocket aces only to be beaten out on the river by some yutz who called a re-raise before the flop holding 8-6 unsuited knows that luck plays a huge role short term in poker. One needs to be able to shrug cruel injustices like that off and let skill play its part over time to succeed at poker.

On the surface, Texas Hold'em isn't terribly different from Seven-Card Stud in terms of game play: in both games you get seven cards. Of course, in Hold'em, five of the cards are common to all players, which drastically alters gameplay to anyone who knows anything about poker, which Friedman clearly doesn't.

Sad as that is, that's not even the dumbest thing in the column. I quote: "The Iraqi election was Jan. 30 and the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis have still not agreed on a government, and the insurgency is still going strong."

Wha? The insurgency is bleeding to death, and it usually takes more than TWO MONTHS to create a government. It took us 13 years to get it right.

Also: fie upon you, Mr. Green, for beating me to the punch on this. I was going to blog about this, but I didn't want to wreck my April Fool's gag.

Sigivald: "(Draw pinochle!)"

It's not draw pinochle, it's draw bridge; don't you know anything? And, while I'll not sign on to Pinky's characterization of Hold 'em as a "girl's game", I'll certainly agree that it's lame; way too easy to calculate the percentages.

Now, if you want a real religious debate, try "wild cards" vs. "no wild cards". While I prefer "no wild cards", I'll play with wild cards just to mess with the heads of the "no wild cards" true believers.

"It's not draw pinochle, it's draw bridge," said Doug whistfully.

Apparently I'm the only reader of the NY Press. Mixing metaphors in baffling ways is a Friedman trademark.

Could there be a sense that, through this analogy, Friedman was just emphasizing how heightened everything was for Rice? By fusing together two card hands, couldn't Friedman be doubling the complexity of poker, making the game--and its strategy--twice as difficult?

Gents:

Are you all too kind to state the obvious? Journalists generally are stupid, lazy and dishonest. The latter two were a little tough to prove before the internet but are now quite clear.

The stupidity of the press should be determinable by a few IQ tests and a review of college marks and achivement exams.

Has anyone the time to do the work?

fz

Tim:

Like - um, er, hang on, it's right on the tip of my tongue - doubling down or something?

(Was that right?)

[/irony]
[grins on];-)[/grins off]