Letters to The Professor
Dear Michael,
Paula and I enjoyed the Dice Busters Weekend in
June. It was a great time, and we learned a lot. I read your recent newsletter
and rented the movie, The Cooler. It was intense enough that Paula and our older
son (Andrew, age 23) had a hard time watching the movie entirely. Anyway, I did
and it left a great impression about the energy flow in the casino. How can I
learn more about energy flow and enhance my personal positive energy flow? I
think it would help in my personal life as well as in the casino.
Thanks for your input. Mark
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your kind words about the
program. You recognize the essence of my purpose for
teaching gaming classes. It is not so much about the games, as it is about the
energy of our personal life and then how we "play the game".
Yes, the movie is rather intense and I suppose
that was what struck me most when I first watched it.
Regarding how you go about learning more about
the energy flow… obviously I am not going to cover it in an email. I will note a
few things to think about however. First of all, you have already begun the
process simply by asking.
-
Awareness. Become aware of all things and notice the subtle messages that may
hold meaning for you. Some of the messages will be meaningless while others
will hold key information.
-
Self talk. Watch out for any negative thoughts creeping into your life. They
have a way of manifesting. Refrain from criticism, especially self criticism.
When a rude driver cuts you off in traffic, refrain from having a judgmental a
reaction. As you raise your energy, the lower energy experiences (like
rudeness and saracsm) will peal away like layers of an onion. In a short time your
energy will be above "rude behavior". Note; I am not speaking of a higher order
necessarily, but a higher energy.
-
Discipline. At all times hold to a discipline that aligns with your path in
life.
-
Emotions. We all have emotions, just do not let them run over you. Learn to
let the stuff go that triggers you emotionally. Learn to maintain, peace
and balance.
-
Detachment. I am not speaking about “I don’t care”. It is a higher energy
experience once you recognize those things which are not part of your
spiritual evolution and you can let them go. "Never take it personally" comes to
mind. If has nothing to do with you, you do not have to take on negativity. Raising your energy, you move out of “hum-drum” to a higher spiritual
vantage point. Metaphorically, you are able to view
the world from a wider perspective.
-
Do
not take yourself too seriously. The process of life’s spiritual journey is
one of experiences. Success and failure are but a half an inch apart. Have fun
and enjoy all things. Even if you don’t like the opera, you can still enjoy
it…. Once.
As you become familiar with to the concept of "notice all
things", it becomes more automatic and natural for you. Like learning anything
new, it comes with experience. Allow yourself ownership as you grow and move up.
(A pat on the back) It is important that the subconscious mind gets positive
reinforcement. Taking on something new, the subconscious mind begins to act like
a bratty kid demanding the old ways. Once the subconscious mind gets it, you
begin to accelerate the process.
Email from a reader…
Professor, I just came back form Vegas. Now I
can comfortably say that the end of days and the foreseeable coming to the
apocalypse has started there.
I could make no sense of the gaming at the
tables or the homage to American excess. All the odds seemed so skewed in
favor of the house. The casinos seemed desperate and getting worse. Our hotel
actually had very attractive women in thong bikini’s dealing blackjack in the
pool while other half naked women served you drinks! People were partying but
money was not flowing like the last few years.
My friend who insisted on getting drunk and
loosing at blackjack concurred with my opinion. At first I cringed at the idea
of him playing the tables drunk, with no direction whatsoever. In fact, he
clearly stated his intention was to loose money. The thought of it made me grind
my teeth. Then I realized that he is well ahead of the
rest of the poor frustrated chumps out there. He at least has no illusions of
what is happing in Vegas.
Las Vegas is hurting and they are down to their
last days in Rome. I have a feeling that soon that whole thing will tumble. In any event we high-tailed it out of there
after we saw Hall and Oates perform. It was a fun trip and just the way I like
to keep it with Vegas, short and shorter.
I am sure you will disagree.
S.C. in L.A.
Dear S.C.,
To agree or disagree is not the point of my
reply. We all have our experiences and through those experiences our impressions
are formed. Our reality is based in those impressions.
The business of gambling is a very different to
all other
businesses
. A casino actually produces nothing, but makes
a huge profit. Well, they produce nothing except for illusions. So, a casino is
in the business of selling something that is not real. How do they stay in
business? By keeping the customer convinced of the illusion. You make a good
point. You noticed that the emperor was a bit scantly clad. You also recognized
the difference between knowing it is an illusion versus holding on to a belief
in a mirage. Pun intended.
Gamblers are not supposed to win. Despite the
stories that are told, they don’t. If looking out the window of your plane, just
before landing in Las Vegas, is not confirmation enough, then I don't wish to
disturb your illusion.
My purpose here is to present a vigilant
reminder of the importance of having fun, knowing how to play the game, knowing
what you are up against, and keeping it all in perspective. You can win,
and you can also win consistently. The fun is knowing that you are expected
to lose, yet playing smart with discipline you do win. The winner is the player who
recognizes that a win, any win, is a win.
Keep the fun in gambling. You do not have to
succumb to losing all your money and you do not have to buy into the illusion.
You are in charge of your actions. You chose to believe what you believe. Chose
to be a winner. After all the difference between winning and losing is but a
hundredth of a second. You can win them all!
Thanks for your letters. "The Professor"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sailor continues his story
of his life and times and of Scarpone, a true to life gambler… …
On the Coat Tales of a Gambler...
Mountain Towns - Episode 23
I will be back on the road again very soon. I’ll
be leaving Taos the end of July. Come August I’ll be driving through the
Colorado Rockies. I love mountain towns. I traveled them some years ago but I
stopped at fewer places back then. This time I’m going to take it slower and see
more of them… Alamosa, Crestone, Del Norte, South Fork, Creede, then drop over
the top into Lake City, Gunnison, Crested Butte, Fairplay, Buena Vista, then up
to Leadville and over to I-70 to Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and maybe a couple
others before heading up to the rodeo in Cheyene.
I am planning to meet an old buddy in Cheyene.
This guy and I go all the way back to the first grade. We spent twelve years in
school together growing up in Greenville. There are some stories there too, for
another time. Howard’s one hell of great guy, I tell you. He is the one who got
me into the Navy when I was twenty-nine years old. That is when I parted company
from Scarpone as his driver and watch-out for good. I went into the Navy with my USMC rank
restored and didn’t even have to go to boot camp because of my experience
in the Marines. They just sent me to a Navy school for a new Navy M.O.S. Going
to the Navy was the best thing I ever did my whole life. Another buddy from high
school is going to meet us in Cheyene too. Howard is a class act.
He is putting us up in a nice Cheyene hotel while we are there. If he says that
he’s going to do something, you better know it is as good as done.
Just two days after we graduated from high
school Howard drove his truck from Greenville all the way to Casper, Wyoming.
Overnight he became a cowboy, living out on the range in a line shack for a $100
a month for one year. Howard ended up in the Navy and hitched up for about nine
years and then joined the Naval Reserve. He retired from the reserve with over
twenty-four years of total service. Now he runs a place that boards and trains
horses and teaches folks how to ride. I never could figure out how a grits
eating southern boy ever got the gumption to be a cowboy. Howard did it like he
was born on a damn horse.
Writing about my travel plans reminds me of a
time when I was in Creede years ago. I was on a fishing trip with my Uncle Al, we were close enough in age to be cousins though. We stayed at Twenty-Mile camp
in a rustic cabin and fished the Rio Grande and a few feeder streams along the
Continental Divide. If you ever want to feel like you have journeyed to the Earth’s
end, follow the Rio Grande to its headwaters.
It virtually is a dead end
road that begins at the Continental Divide. Not many people, even today, venture
up that way.
After several days of
fishing, come Saturday night, we drove back
to Creede, for a night on the town. In its hay-day, Creede was a booming
mining community of 30,000 miners. There was not much for us to do in Creede except drink and play a little pool in the only saloon. Al was an
ex-Marine, same as me. He was not one to hold back on his liquor or opinions.
Once he started drinking, it was pretty much full on with Al until he passed
out. Al was playing pool with the local boys for money. He had snookered every
comer that he played that night. Of course the more he played, the more he drank.
Just before closing time, Al got into an argument with one of the locals over a
shot he made involving the eight ball. It got real tense and Al did not hold
back his anger or his insults. It turned out not to be a smartest thing to do in
a small town like Creede. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before Al and the
other guy were toe to toe in the bar. Al said something about messing with a
Marine and the next thing you know, the other guy, with a pool ball in his hand,
smashed Al right in the face. He knocked Al to the floor and stood over him
shouting, “Shut the f… up”. I still remember the scene fresh in my mind. Al
being hit in the face sounded like a big slab of meat being slapped down on a
butcher block. Blood splattered everywhere like a tomato smashed with a mallet.
But the real damaged came from my uncle’s broken cheek bone which caused his
left eye to pop right out of his head.
The eye just dangled down the side of his face.
Well, you might think that this kind of injury would take the fight out
of anybody. Not my Uncle Al! Seeing with just one eye, he left the bar and headed to his truck. All the
way cussing a blue streak in a fit of rage about how he was going to kill that
bastard. Al kept a loaded 45 automatic in his glove box. I tried to keep him
from getting the pistol, but he was literally like a wounded grizzly bear. I was
helpless and scared shitless. Only by the grace of God, by the time Al got back
to the bar it had closed for the night and no one was around. He finally agreed
to let me drive him the sixty miles, down to the nearest hospital in Monte Vista,
to get his eye back into his broken face. Fortunately for me, Al had enough
liquor and U.S. Marine in him to make the trip. Believe it or not, once Al's
face healed up, he had normal vision in his left eye.
You recall the outlaw Jesse James? He died in
Creede, shot in the back by Bob Ford with a “44”. In my day of playing craps, a
player betting the hard eight might be heard to say, “Jesse James was shot with
a “44”.The Wild West was plenty wild. All that gun play, mano a mano, that is
portrayed in the movies is B.S. Guns were close range killing weapons and most
of the killing was done behind the victim’s back. Just thought I’d toss in a bit
of western history for your readers. When I visit Creede this time, I’ll be sure
to mind my small town manners.
Last thing for now… I got a letter from an old
timer back in Greenville. He says that he has a scrapbook and he thinks he has a
photo of Scarpone that he wants me to see. If I get back there this fall I’ll
make a copy and I’ll send you an email with it attached.
On the Coat Tales of a Gambler
continues…
