A few weeks ago, I was invited to be a guest on the Thinking Poker Podcast to talk about my experience teaching probability using poker. The episode just went up, so check it out here: http://www.thinkingpoker.net/2017/10/episode-231-peter-chi/ or via any podcast app that you normally use, and just search for the show called Thinking Poker Podcast.
To any new readers who have found this blog via the podcast, welcome! To ongoing readers, thanks for finding your way back here this week. I invite you to check out the podcast episode if you haven't already.
To everyone: this post will deviate a bit from my typical post. Usually this semester I've just been talking about teaching probability. But my mind is on something else right now, so here we go, and I hope to see you on the other side.
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At one point during my interview on the Thinking Poker Podcast, co-host @NateMeyvis asked me, "Do you think the country would be better off if online poker were readily available again?"
As you can hear on the show, this question gave me pause, and Nate bought me some time by sharing his thoughts first. Eventually, I did manage to give an answer, but even with the extra time, I couldn't articulate all that was percolating in my head. I've been reflecting on it quite a bit since then, and with the privilege of more time, want to share my full thoughts now.
Truthfully, I've been completely mind-effed by the state of our nation since November 8th, 2016. And, the phrasing of Nate's question, as it started with "Do you think the country would be better off..." immediately thrust me into that state of mind. I know that Nate worded his question that way intentionally, and even if he wasn't in the same headspace as I was, I think the thoughts that he shared are not inconsistent with mine, in a way.
I partially base this on what I know about Nate from his Twitter feed and what he reveals about himself on the podcast (though, Nate if you're reading, correct me if I'm wrong). At the very least, I believe that what I'm about to say is well within the realm of discussion that Nate was trying to evoke.
Simply, when I think of what would make our country better off, online poker is the last thing on my mind.
Don't get me wrong. I loved playing online poker in its heyday. I still play now on unregulated sites. I wish my money were safer and that the player pool was larger. And if another online poker boom does somehow happen, I will welcome it.
But what do I think of more readily with regard to making our country better off? Let's start with continuing to fight for racial equality. Continuing to fight for gender equality. Being accepting of the LGBTQ community and acknowledging their basic rights. Treating immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, with their intrinsic dignity. And ultimately, not having a madman writing a Goddamn permission slip for the marginalization of all such people and beyond.
So, in principle, do I think citizens of the United States, above a certain age limit, should have the right to play poker online? Yes. And this is basically how I answered Nate on air.
Do I think the country would be better off with more readily available, fully legalized and regulated online poker?
I think so. But more to the point, I WISH we lived in a world where the biggest injustice in our country was that we do not have safe and regulated online poker. I WISH that I could, in good conscience, use what time and energy I have to be calling and emailing my senators about that instead of DACA, the Jones Act, or our healthcare. I would, indeed, love to see another poker boom that could occur with the very legislation that is highly unlikely to ever happen in the United States, and is of course all the more unlikely if our representatives don't hear from us about it.
But as far as priorities go, it's pretty far down my wish list right now.
If I may be so bold as to use whatever platform I have here, let me say this. I encourage all of us, myself included, to be more active in fighting for what is important. Contact your representatives, repeatedly if necessary. March in rallies if you feel so called. And vote! This year's election day is right around the corner on November 7th, and as inconsequential as local elections might seem, my training in statistics has taught me that everything is aggregate, so keep fighting and don't lose hope because our voices do matter. You may disagree with my ordering of priorities or perhaps even what should be on that list, and my encouragement still stands. Indeed, if regulated online poker is at the top of your list, I might thank you for it later.
So... Nate. Thank you very much for your question. If I were a faster processor, I think we could have had a great discussion about this on air. On the flip side, I probably would have been less coherent about it in the moment than I (hopefully) am now.
If you've gotten this far, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts below. And I'll be back next week with more Teaching Probability using Texas Hold'em.
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