From: Chip Hogan Subject: Title envy (was Re: Justin Gary, OR, is this the Player we want representing our nation, PART 1, YEAR 2) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 09:04:36 -0500 Hmm, first I don't think anyone here has all the facts. (Including myself.) I have done a little checking around with some people who are a lot closer to Justin than myself and I think this thread is obviously another case of title envy. People, do some research. Go to http://www.dejanews.com/ look up what is written about each champion or winner or a PT after they win it. Almost every single winner is called a cheater. The ones that manage to escape that label are called lucky (PT Atlanta for example). I am telling you, first hand, that it takes a lot of hard work to win. I used to play (sit with cards in my hand across from an opponent) 40 hours/week. I would then spend almost every other waking second thinking about, writing about, talking about the 40 hours of playing I was going to do. I lived magic. It was draining. But that is what it took for me to get to and stay at the level I made it to. No player can make it to the top and stay at the top only by cheating. Cheating may help, it might make you a slightly better player, but never will it elevate players to levels that they could not actually achieve through legitimate methods. A word to the wise. Cheating takes just as much effort and time and thinking as simply playing better. Cheating is like steroids, it WILL give you short term gains, but in the long run you will end up damaging your body (play skills). Your play skills will get damaged because you are spending so much time figuring out the best way to cheat and that time could be better spent on figuring out the best way to break cards, the best way to read your opponents thoughts, the best meal to eat before the tourney, or a million other things that will have a lasting effect on your game and a lasting positive effect on your life. Here is a nice little moral story for you all. When I was 9, my step-father and my Grandfather were playing poker with me. I was doing o.k. Then I started hiding cards under my leg. And of course I was then winning more. My Grandfather jokingly said to my step-father, "it's almost like he has cards up his sleeve!" At that point I jokingly said, "I do!" and showed them the cards under my leg (The ACE, King and Ten of Spades - i was going for a royal flush :). I thought they would laugh hysterically WITH me. Instead they both put down their cards and quietly walked away. I never played cards with my step-father again and it took a long time (4 years) for my Grandfather to play with me again. I learned that no one likes a cheater or anyone who gains from dishonesty or deception. I wanted desperately to win. I needed my step-father and Grandfather to love me because I could beat them at cards and that lead me to cheating. I was very lucky that things turned out the way they did, because I learned that I wanted them to love me because I was actually a winner, not because I won. Do you guys see the difference? There are only a few reasons to cheat in magic: 1) to win money 2) to gain prestige 3) fame Don't cheat for money, you can make a lot more money being a con artist, used car salesman, or a simple bank robber. Don't cheat for prestige or esteem or respect. You will lose it as soon as it becomes known how you achieved your feats. There is an old adage "No press is BAD press." Well, if you simply want fame, then cheating your way to the top can make you an instant superstar. But, one has to wonder at the masochistic intent of someone who wants to be know as a cheater. I have had the pleasure of meeting a LOT of players over the years. Very, very few of them were habitual horrible cheaters. The ones that were either got caught or changed their ways when they realized that they were sabotaging their success. Don't cheat. Don't accuse anyone else of cheating unless you have first hand knowledge. (meaning you watched it happen!) Chip Hogan Cogito ergo sum. chip@firstnethou.com