Lately, when I go to bed, I play Chinese poker on my iPhone until I get drowsy. At one point I was up $14 on my “computer genius” opponent. And then I went on a 2-night losing streak that left me down $70. I’d like to point out that (a) I was playing against a telephone and (b) the money involved was not real. Still, I got so frustrated, and so exquisitely angry, that I toyed with the idea of throwing my phone against the wall. And then grabbing a hammer and smashing the pieces into much, much smaller pieces.

I should say that I only toyed with the idea. I never cocked my arm and took aim. I love my iPhone. Really. And I don’t consider myself a violent person. It’s just that occasionally I have the urge to beat the everlovin’ crap out of smiley computer-generated pixies and impersonal digital interfaces.

Maybe I shouldn’t announce that I’m working on improvements in the AI bot. I don’t think it surrenders enough. I also think it can play better with lowball and royalty options turned on. I’m glad you are playing the game and find it challenging.

On Thursday night I went to Roland De Wolfe’s suite at the “Wynn” to
play Chinese poker for $500 a point. I should have gone to bed as I
felt a bit sick, and I was super tired. We ended up playing in the Wynn
poker room for a few hours (I lost $5,500)…

Maybe Phil should buy a copy of my application for the iPhone?

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/179/story/274841.html

Four men indicted Thursday in a high-tech gambling scheme rented a room at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa to host private, high-stakes games of Chinese poker, backgammon and chess, authorities say. They rigged a nearby room with surveillance equipment and computers to cheat a high-roller out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Wonder what the cleaning staff thought when they saw the surveillance equipment in the room?