Online Poker: Hold ‘Em and Hide ‘Em [NYT]
Excerpts from the opening (Quoted bold italics mine):
“Ben” sleeps five hours a night; the rest of the time he sits at his desk in his “Brooklyn” apartment playing online poker. He won $5…
“Ben” quit his “teaching” job five months ago and now makes around $100 an hour. Five days a week, he clocks 10-hour shifts of Texas Hold ‘Em on his Dell laptop computer. With reggae in the background and coffee mug in hand, he studies his competitors who sit in London, Copenhagen, Los Angeles and elsewhere, while the dealer in Costa Rica tosses cards.
Sure, thing, “Ben“. We know where “Brooklyn” is too, and it’s in the garden state, with a majestic view of the Pulaski Skyway. Such a transparent pseudonym.
Actually, I never could win worth a damn online, and I eventually stopped playing it for more than tiny little tournament stakes because I was losing and it was way too easy to keep losing. It’s pretty much live ring games only for me.
Gotta say, the photo of “Ben” in the print edition sure doesn’t look like any of the main-run cast members of Kens-a-Poppin’.
What, are tellin’ me you think Times never runs doctored photos?