Several months ago on the Gambling With an Edge radio show, poker writer Ed Miller was asked by Richard Munchkin how difficult it would be today for somebody just starting to learn the skills of winning poker. Miller replied that it wouldn’t be that difficult.

At this point I responded, “Keep in mind that the guy who said it wasn’t too difficult has two degrees from MIT.” A man named “Dale” sent me an e-mail saying that his degree was from a no-name college in Iowa. He asked if I were implying that he couldn’t be a successful gambler?

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I called my friend Don the other day, and got his voice mail. I didn’t think anything about it because I knew he was spending a few days at the casino. He returned my call the next day and told me that he had not called me back sooner because he had lost his cell phone. He had been walking through the casino to the coffee shop, and when he sat down and reached for his phone, it was not in the case on his belt. I asked if he had purchased a new phone, and he told me he was using the old one. After he lost the phone, he reported it to casino security, and they contacted him in his room a few hours later to say that somebody had found it and turned it into the casino. Don had an old-style cell phone, and I told him he was lucky that it was not an expensive smartphone, or he may not have gotten it back.