Since there were not enough committee members present to vote on HB 222 last Wednesday, it will happen this week. If I remember correctly, the bill will need 6 out of 9 affirmatives in order to send HB-222 on up the hill. For those of you who listened to the live stream, then you might have noticed my mention of, special thanks to Mike Lavigne, Citadel’s 103 million poker hand study with results supporting poker as a game of skill.
As for my lame testimony, I had some last minute changes that threw me off my original plan. After all, do I really need to tell grown adults that raking a poker game would generate revenue, create jobs and that the state is spending money on the inevitable? Nope and I said it in 2007. Furthermore, I lack a public policy or economics degree to back up my point with much credibilty. Although, I don’t think it takes an economist to understand the value of revenue vs overhead while feeling the burden of hard times. But. Like. Whatever.
I read an Internet comment which was something like… “so, what, we should hope our children grow up to be poker dealers?” As a mother, I certainly understood her point because even in Texas we want our children to “grow up to be doctors and lawyers and such.” However, the more I thought about it… I realized hey, wait a second. Is that really that bad? No. It’s not. And here’s two reasons why:
1. If you have a child who wants to deal cards for money, then you have a child who wants to deal cards. I would hope a parent would want there child to deal cards in a regulated environment where they have health insurance rather than risk going to jail or worse. If you need the government to step in order to control your child’s future, then you need more therapy. Seriously.
2. How many women have told you they are stripping to pay for college? Pushing a ban on such institutions is not my point. It’s an oxymoron that its legal for children to grow up and take their clothes off for money but bad, bad, bad if they touch those dirty cards that are used for go fish, bridge, gin rummy and gasp… poker? Oh wait a second, we’re just talking about females so it’s probably OK. Fine, then lets focus on males… was Jesus wrong for spinning the dreidel on Chanukah? If you find putting Jesus and Chanukah together in a sentence confusing or uncomfortable then click here.
Please excuse any grammar issues, I threw this up quickly as I’m busy teaching my 7 year-old son the quadratic equation. That way he can be a better poker player in order to pay for MIT to become a robotics engineer.
As for children growing up to be dealers… children should be inspired and their self esteem nurtured so they’re confident and happy in whatever path they choose.
