[jshape]

In the early 80's I was in Las Vegas and decided to play a few hands of poker. I figured that it would be better to go downtown and play in one of the smaller casinos rather than in one on the strip. I went to a number of places and watched for a while before settling in to a table with five other players. I got $400 in chips and played for about 40 minutes, then tokk my remaining chips and cashed in for $20 feeling stupid. An older guy came up to me and said something like 'Boy, you didn't play your cards wrong - you just played with the wrong people. The bulk of the people at that table play here every night and just hope for somebody like you to come along. There's almost no way you can win unless you have phenomenal luck. Your best bet is to stay on the strip and play against the tourists - at least there you might have a chance." Lesson learned the hard way.