Flat tires & conspiracy theories about online poker

Last night on the way home I dashed into the store to pickup eggs, milk, bread etc. And when I came out my front tire was flat. This was 2 days after my RV blowout. I guess trends happen in life as well as cards. I was tired and didn't want to deal with it so I asked my wife to drive her car the two miles from our home and pick me up.

Today I took my RV down to the parking lot where I had left my car overnight. I left my RV there while I waited for the Automobile Club to come and change the tire on my car.


The tire was filled with dry rot and just gave way.

How does a rubber tire that is used almost every day and is never parked exposed to the sun develop "dry rot".

Ah, the mysteries of modern life and synthetics.

As a licensed driver for almost 40 years I know it is a good idea to buy two new tires and not just one. And common wisdom dictates having them put on the front. That way front tires are newly balanced and you are less likely to have a tire failure, affecting your steering and control.

Or so I thought. Costco refused to put the new ones on the front and claimed it is Michelin's policy (which is the only tire they sell) that if you buy 2 they must be put on the back.

When I questioned it, they even showed me a 3 minute video about how the average driver is more likely to lose control if they hydroplane the the rear two tires instead of the front two. So the implication is this is for my safety. I pointed out the video didn't say anything about tire failure or a blowout and loss of steering control.

What jumps into my suspious mind is "yea right". If you put the new tires on the front and they blow or fail causing loss of control the tire factory or store may be liable. I have had blowouts on the front and on the rear. I would much rather have one on the rear anytime. The car still goes straight and there is much less danger of losing control.

Once I slammed on the front brakes of my bike instead of my rear brakes. I'll never to do that again.


Regardless of my insistence, they told me they could only install them on the back. Two hours later I am driving home and find my car is pulling very badly to the left. Back I go to the store and tell them about this problem. Their solution is I could buy two more new tires for the front.

My solution is take the back ones and put them up front. They are unwilling to do that. The comprise solution is to switch the front right and the front left.

So what does this have to do with poker you might ask? Good question. As I was playing online I was ruminating over the store's insistence that Michelin was setting policy for my own good.

I believe large corporations are really only out for protecting themselves and their proft.

That got me thinking again about the claims of online poker sites claiming there is no way you can cheat on their systems.

I decided to see if I could open a new account on the online poker site I was playing on with another screen name and join the same table I was playing at. Well it worked.

I was successfully able to get on the same table with two different hands on two different computers on my home connection. I can certainly think of a few advantages that would give me. I considered that unethical and logged off after determing it could be done. I imagine somewhere in the agreement, that nobody reads anyway, it forbids me from doing that.

Could it even be illegal? Now there is any interesting question. Playing online poker for money in the United States is illegal. But nobody is enforcing it. Kind of like the 21st century prohibition act. So is it more illegal if I play two hands at once with two different identities on the same table?

It still doesn't explain why I lose more online then I do in live play at the casinos. But, I think I am going back to playing only tournaments online. There is no way you could get on the same table with yourself and even if you could I couldn't think of a real advantage in tournament that would offer you.

I know many players at the casino who will not play online because they think it is rigged. I don't think it is rigged. But, there are a number of ways to get an edge that I can't or don't want to do online. But, I believe there are people doing it and doing many other things to gain an edge that I couldn't even think of.

Comments?

Am I missing something here.......? Am I a conspiracy theorist or a 60's revolutionary that never grew up and fully joined the establishment?