VampireS SUMO

Just call him Goldfinger, the man with the Midas touch.

Just about everything Jamie Gold touched the past week turned to, well, gold — $12 million worth.

The 37-year-old Hollywood talent agent ran roughshod over a field of 8,773 players, including some of poker’s brightest stars, in winning the 37th World Series of Poker’s $10,000 buy-in Texas No-Limit Hold’em event at Harrah’s Rio Hotel and Casino.

Gold, who won the day’s first pot as well as its last, claimed his title in the wee hours of Friday morning after busting out seven of his eight opponents at the Final Table and 16 of the last 27 survivors.

En route to the championship, he methodically built the largest chip stack in WSOP history, at times more than doubling the stack of his closest opponent.

By the time he and runnerup Paul Wasicka of Westminster, Colo., who collected $6.1 million, entered their abbreviated heads-up session, Gold had 85 percent of the chips spread out in front of him.

“Phenomenal,” “incredible” and “stupendous” were just a few of the adjectives observers showered on Gold.

“Unbelievable,” was Gold’s choice of words.

The first thing an exhuberant Gold did after hugging friends, family and fans was call his father, who suffers from Lou Gerhig’s Disease and couldn’t be present.

That caused obvious emotional stress as Gold lowered his head into his hands, his mood suddenly becoming reflective.

“He’d gladly give back the $12 million if it would cure his father,” confided one of Gold’s friends

“What I want to do in life is make great entertainment,” said Gold, whose client list reads like a Who’s Who in Hollywood.

“Otherwise, all I want to do is play poker.

“I’m supposed to be in charge of a major production right now, but I got two weeks off because they (his associates) knew how much this meant to me and they believed in me.”

It took more than 12 hours for the first five finalists to bust out, but less than 90 minutes for elimination of the other three, including two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Allen Cunningham of Las Vegas, the player many felt would face Gold in heads-up play.

Cunningham, to his utter dismay, finished fourth, earning $3.628 million.

A large crowd of fellow pros had turned out to lend their support, including Daniel Negreanu, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Robert Williamson III, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Jennifer Harman.

“I want Allen to win because a lot of people don’t realize what a great player he is,” Harman said.

Three-time WSOP champ Johnny Chan, on the other hand, served as Gold’s main advisor, huddling with him often to offer pointers.

The only professional at the Final Table, Cunningham was so distraught at losing what may be his only real shot at the championship, he declined to be interviewed by ESPN, which was taping the tournament, and stiffed a large assemblage of reporters from throughout the world who had gathered in the media center.

In eliminating Cunningham, third-place finisher Michael Binger of Atherton, Calif., raised to $1,100,000 from the cutoff.

Gold called from the button and Cunningham moved all-in for $6.5 million from the big blind.

Binger folded and Gold made the call.

Cunningham showed the 10 of clubs and 10 of hearts, while Gold turned over the jack and king of diamonds.

The board came ace of spades, king of spades, eight of hearts, 7 of clubs and 3 of spades.

Binger, winner of $4.1 million, followed Cunningham out the door 45 minutes later.

Gold limped in from the button and Wasicka from the small blind.

Binger raised to $1.5 million from the big blind.

Gold and Wasicka both called and the flop came 10 of clubs, 6 of spades and and 5 of spades.

Wasicka checked, Binger bet $3.5 million and Gold moved all-in.

Wasicka folded and Binger called, displaying the 10 and ace of hearts.

Gold turned over the 4 of spades and 3 of clubs for an open-ended straight draw.

The turn was the 7 of clubs and Gold made his straight.

The river was the queen of spades and it was revealed that had Wasicka not folded, he would′ve won the hand with a flush.

The consensus opinion was the Coloradan simply was eyeing a runnerup finish at that point and wanted to get Binger out of the way., something which Wasicka denied during his press conference.

The 2006 WSOP became history about 40 minutes later.

Gold raised to $1.7 million and Wasicka called.

The flop came queen of clubs, 8 of hearts and 5 of hearts.

Wasicka bet $1.5 million and Gold went all-in.

Wasicka called and turned over a pair of 10s, while Gold showed the queen of spades and 9 of clubs for a pair of queens.

Fourth Street was the ace of diamonds and the river was the four of clubs as Gold’s ladies held up.

Despite his record-shattering performace, there was widespread murmuring that Gold, whose previous earnings totaled just $92,000, had failed to win the respect of most professionals.

“In poker, you have to earn respect,” media relations director Nolan Dalla said.

“Money is not respect.

“There are many flashes in the pan who come and go.

“I′d never heard of Mr. Gold before.

“He was an unknown in the poker world.

“It’s sort of like the Kentucky Derby.

“You have a new champion every year.

“But how many Triple Crown winners have we had?

“They’re the great ones.

“What Jamie Gold has done is truly remarkable and the winner deserves respect.

“He may be one of the best, but in poker you have to pay your dues and that means winning more than one tournament.”

Gold’s Final Table rivals weren’t into dissing the champ.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Rhett Butler of Rockville, Md., who fell victim to the high price of blinds and antes.

“He forces people to make plays.”

“He’s a very good player who plays the big stack well,” Binger added.

“He’s like a vacuum cleaner and he can catch the bluffs.”

Daniel Nassif was the first to bust out at the Final Table.

He was followed, in order, by Erik Friburg, Doug Kim, Richard Lee, Butler, Cunningham, Binger and Wasicka.

Lynda Collins is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of her articles at

All In A Days Work is the latest release from Smooth Jazz Star Bob Baldwin, and is another winner by this talented musician.

The CD launches with an outstanding track, A New York Minute, that I suspect will be heard on radio stations everywhere, and deservedly so. It’s a really nice track.

All In A Days Work has a pleasantly varied, mix of 13 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly gifted artist. Most of the songs display a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen.

The nice thing about a CD like this is when the talent is this rich even if Smooth Jazz isn’t your favorite genre you still can’t help but appreciate the greatness of the artist.

This is a first rate CD, delivering a little something for everyone. I give it two thumbs up. It’s quite simply great listening. A must buy for the Smooth Jazz fan.

While the entire CD is really very good some of my favorites are track 1, A New York Minute, track 6, Can You Feel It?, track 11, The Very Last Night In Rio.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 5, Quirky. What a nice track!

All In A Days Work Release Notes:

Bob Baldwin originally released All In A Days Work on Sep 27, 2005 on the 215 Entertainment record label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. A New York Minute
2. All In A Day’s Work
3. Day-O
4. Third Time’s The Charm
5. Quirky
6. Can You Feel It?
7. Steamy
8. Sunrise
9. Quality Time
10. Steamy (Interlude)
11. The Very Last Night In Rio
12. Don’t Get It Twisted
13. Can You Feel It? (Interlude)

Personnel: Bob Baldwin (vocals, strings, piano, keyboards, bass instrument, percussion, drum programming); Tonni Smith, Zoiea (vocals); Phil Hamilton (guitars); Ragan Whiteside (flute); Dave Mann (saxophone); Barry Danielian (trumpet); Ron Jenkins (bass instrument); Dennis Johnson (drums, drum programming); Buddy Williams (drums); Armando Marcal, Cafe De Silva (percussion).

Get the information you want on your favorite smooth jazz songs and artists at

Starting a composition is a difficult task. Getting your inspirations, thinking creatively, applying your creative thoughts to your music and supplementing your ideas with additional composition are all difficult tasks to accomplish.

For starters, your current state of mind will greatly affect the music you right – whether you feel angry, joyful or sad chances are your musical composition will in some way reflect this mood.

Different times of day and different seasons affect your composing as well as current affairs and any stress’s you might have.

The variety of factors that can influence your composition periods are immense and hopefully these few pointers will demonstrate some methods of breaking out of the psychological restraints placed on you.

• Colours – If you are looking to compose a piece of music based around a certain mood find a relevant colour that matches for instance orange gives the impression of energy and drive. Eventually you will learn to bias your mood to suit the composition you are aiming for.

• Character – it is well known for actors to really get inside the character they are portraying through their acting. Understanding key emotions and various behaviours help the actors ‘live’ as their proposed character. If you are creating a theme for a character (think darth vaders theme tune) you need to be demonstrating and describing that character through sound. If you follow the same process as an actor would you will eventually unravel hidden details that will help refine your composition, make it more realist and detailed and allow for it to be much more creative and expressive.

• Nature – a lot of creativity and inspiration can be got by observing nature. From birds communicating through a song like speech to the rustle of leaves in a summer breeze. Trying to emulate nature is an excellent way to begin a sound-scope – or incorporating nature into a character theme for example to express an angelic quality, singing like the birds (fast trills on piccolo or glissandos on the violin).

• Memories – another great source to tap into is your memories. A lot of emotion will go into compositions that are personal in some way to yourself. Spend a few minutes reflecting on your past – try to imagine the memory in great detail – sounds, smells, colours the weather – anything that will give you a good image and story to compose about.

These are just a few sources for inspiration – use your imagination – it has never ending possibilities!

With so many possibilities to compose about and now that your creativity is running, the next area to discuss is music theory.
The last thing that you want to happen is to have all these wonderfully creative ideas for your composition but being held back by the lack of musical knowledge.

A rugby player could develop his passing techniques and his scrum techniques but if he doesn’t know the rules of the game he won’t be able to perform during a game.

Although music composition and as a whole is not bound by any rules you still need the knowledge of writing music – in the same way as a poet needs a knowledge of his language to write a poem.

Some of the key areas you should know about and be constantly revising are:

• The Staff, Bar Lines, Clefs, Time Signatures

• Note Values, Rests, Phrasing, Rhythm

• Articulation, Instrument Specific Techniques (pizz, con sord)

• Key Signatures, Circle of Fifths, Accidentals, Cadences

• Major, Minor, Diminished, Pentatonic, Diatonic Scales

• Modes

• Chords, Extensions, Inversions, Sequences, Arpeggios

• Instrument Ranges, Timbres of Each Instrument, Difficult Areas of an Instrument (The break on clarinet for instance or seventh position for trombones)

Of course it is not absolutely essential you know about all of this but it will mean that your creativity is weakened due to lack of a means to fully communicate.

Use music theory books – go through them and notate comments on the pages, take notes on to blank flash cards to memorize scales and extended chords, use past music theory exam papers to test and analyze your knowledge and then act on your weak areas, purchase a aural perception CD to recognize different cadences and the general sounds achieved from different combinations of notes and chords – there are many ways to learn all of this but find the way that you are comfortable with and stick to it.

Finally the last piece of advice in this article is to keep your composing active.

Aim to compose a short piece of music each day, maybe before you go to bed you can reflect on your day through a composition. Mix it up – compose for different orchestrations and different abilities.

Composing is challenging but by keeping active like this will greatly benefit you and your compositions – and you never know – you may accidentally stumble upon your masterpiece!

This article is free for reproduction providing it is left in its original form and an active link to realmusicproduction.com realmusicproduction.com is present.

Edward Droscher is the founder of Real Music Production and works to develop music education systems privately and in schools. For more information or details on music instruction please visit realmusicproduction.com realmusicproduction.com or email mailto:info@realmusicproduction.com info@realmusicproduction.com

Spoken by 250 million people worldwide, primarily at the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, Spanish is dominating as one of the top languages.

Imagine having it as another entry on the “language spoken″ part of you resume.

An effective way to get the ball rolling is by studying the letters and sounds. From these sounds, you create words and phrases.

Do your best during your foreign language training by immersing yourself to the language being used by other speakers. This is done so you can familiarize yourself with the basics and everyday expressions.

Watch TV programs and films that use the language with translations that you can understand. Watch plays starring characters with accents that are native of the language you are trying to learn.

During this time, you should be able to observe how the native speakers pronounce the sounds, the speed of their dialogues, how they form words and sentences, and when they use certain expressions.

Contrary to what others believe, Spanish sounds are not really hard to pronounce. Once you’ve learned a few basic rules, it shouldn’t be too long before you can read and speak it.

First, know that Spanish has 30 letters, in contrast with English that has only 26. You must know how each letter is called and the sound it produces.

The four other letters present in the Spanish alphabet includes ch (read as che) as in chocolate, ll (read as el-ye) as in million, ñ (read as en-ye) as in onion, and rr (read as er-re).

The common 26 letters also has Spanish names and do not take on the ABC names of English: a, be, ce, che, de, e, efe, ge, hache, i, jota, ka, ele, elle, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, ku, ere, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve doble, ekis, y grieyega, and zeta.

Spanish also has 5 vowels – a, e, i, o, and u.

However, what makes their vowels different from English vowels is that each of these vowels produces only one sound.

The vowel a is always read as in shut/other/son and never as in cat nor tape; e is always read as in pet/enter/let/said and never as in week i is always read as in hit/pity and never as in bike; o is always read as in saw/Auckland/decor and never as in hope; and u is always read as /oo/ in book/put/push and never as in hut nor umbrella.

On the other hand, the letters that are pronounced the same way as in English are b, ch, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z.

The letter h is not pronounced verbally and is always silent, unless it belongs to the /ch/ sound. The letter r is always rolled, even more strongly when it occurs in rr. The letter q is pronounced the same way as in the English letter k.

The letter c is pronounced in two ways: /th/ as in thin before the vowels e and i, and /k/ elsewhere. The letter g takes the sound of the gargled /g/ as in the German word Bach before the vowels e and i, and /g/ in English elsewhere. The letter j also takes the sound of the gargled /g/ in all conditions.

It is important to keep these rules in mind. Before you can actually speak out the words, phrases, and sentences fluently, you have to master how to enunciate these sounds properly. Spanish is romantic. Try to keep the passion and sentiment with every sound you pronounce.

With basic knowledge of the everyday expressions, you can start practicing. Use them as much as you can. For example, instead of saying “good morning” to the people you live with as you wake up everyday, say buenos dias. They say practice makes perfect. So the more you use the terms, the more you will get used to it.

You can then start reading books and training materials. For better results, purchase books containing exercises (with key to corrections) and audio tapes, if any, in order for you to evaluate how you are doing during your self-study. Don’t forget to have a complete and comprehensive translation dictionary between the language you are trying to learn and a language you understand very well (ex. English-Spanish Dictionary). This way, whenever you encounter a difficult word, you will be able to look it up immediately and understand what it means.

Finally, if you think you have more than enough knowledge after many practice exercises, try watching a film (this time, without subtitles and translations) or read a book written purely in that language. For unfamiliar words, don’t hesitate to press the pause button (or you can pause yourself from reading), then consult your dictionary. Do this over and over again until you can finally speak, write, and understand Spanish very well.

Yes, foreign language training sure needs hard work and determination. But hey, didn’t you notice it can be so much fun?

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So, you have captured that wonderful moment, a beautiful image in your digital camera!

Now, you are preparing to take a print to make a gift to your dear and near one or for your personal collection!

Now here is the crux!

In the majority of such cases, as our experience tells us, people are not sure what the maximum size can be for a digital print, without that image distorting! Many people think that they can make the image as big as they want, then print without knowing about the “image stitching technique”! And when there is distortion, they blame the printer for low visual quality.

One must remember that what looks the worst from a close distance may look the best if the distance between the image and the viewer is increased (10 to 15 feet or more) in case of larger digital prints.

While taking digital prints, the photographer should consider critically how the image will be displayed for a better, if not the best viewing experience.

There are some digital printers too, who do not know the limit or only who only concentrate on money rather than the quality of the output offered. Sometimes they forget that what is merely a digital photo to them, may be a precious moment to the photographer, which may never be repeated!

The maximum size that a printout of a digital photo can be, depends on various aspects. But the common aspect can be the following if you are thinking of having your photo printed for yourself:

If you are using a commercial 1.2 mega pixel camera, the best digital prints may come as around an 8×10’ photo, whereas an 11×14’ is almost the limit.

If you are using a commercial 3 mega pixel camera, the best digital prints may come as around an 11×14’ photo, whereas a 16×20’ is almost the limit.

If you are using a commercial 4 mega pixel camera, the best digital prints may come as around a 20×24’ photo, whereas a 30×40’ is almost the limit.

Another way of estimating the best possible result before taking digital prints, is calculating PPI (final print resolution). If you divide the width (pixel) by your desired print size (inches) you get PPI. As a general rule, if your final print PPI is around 200 to 400, you get an overall good digital photo.

Having a photo printer at home may save you for in some instances. However buying a printer is not a lasting solution for having quality digital photos. The cost is often too high in comparison to the reasonable prices offered by renowned printers for digital prints.

These days you don’t need to go out searching for printers from the high street to produce a good quality digital print! You can find better quality and cheaper digital prints sitting back at home over internet.

Hopefully, getting your quality digital prints will not be so hard next time.

Happy imaging.

John Oxton is a professional photographer, printer and a freelance investigative writer. For more information regarding John Oxton is a professional photographer, printer and a freelance investigative writer. For more information regarding digital photo, and cheap online prints he recommends you to visit, colorama.co.uk/ colorama.co.uk/ digital photo and cheap online prints he recommends you to visit colorama.co.uk/ colorama.co.uk/

Wars, air of Ambiguity

Dedicated to 1st. Lt. Laura Walker
(From an old soldier/Vietnam Veteran)

[Advance] We fight in foreign lands not because we necessarily love its culture or land, but because we believe in pragmatism (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness); simply as it may be, it can be costly.

The Poem:

We all lose something in war
And sometimes gain something:
Idealism, physical, cynical
(no blood in the face),
Psychological, innocence—;
We’re all victims of violence
For sure… (accepted or not).

A character in a book dies in
The clap of an eye—,
In real life, it is not so simple,
No dreamy solution.
It is the duty of the soldier to kill
(Or accept being killed);
Just when, is when it becomes
Complicated?
Disillusionment creeps in…,
As does an air of the unknown.
In war there are only epigraphs
Death, to a part of the human race
Is really what takes place?
It starts as it ends, with
The human effort exhausted.

There is nothing more admirable
More brave, more flawless,
Than one who gives their existence
For another’s—especially in
A foreign land! for pragmatism…

In Spanish
Translated by Nancy Penaloza

Guerras, aire de ambigüedad

Dedicado a la 1r. Teniente Laura Walter
(De un Viejo soldado/ veterano del Vietnam)

Por Dennis siluk

(Avance) Que luchamos en tierras extranjeras no porque necesariamente nos gusta su cultura o tierra, pero porque nosotros creemos en el pragmatismo (la vida, la libertad y la búsqueda de felicidad); simplemente como esto, puede ser, puede ser costoso.

El Poema

Perdemos algo con la guerra
Y a veces ganamos algo:
Idealismo, físico, cínico,
(Sin sangre en la cara),
Psicológico, inocente-:
Todos nosotros somos victimas de la violencia
Pero seguro… (Aceptado o no).

Un carácter en un libro muere en un abrir
Y cerrar de un ojo.
En la vida real, esto no es tan simple,
Ninguna solución, soñadora.
Esto es el deber del soldado para matar
(O aceptar ser matado):
Solamente ¿cuándo, es cuando se hace
Complicado?

La desilusión entra sin ser sentido
Como un aire de desconocimiento.
Con la guerra solo hay epígrafes:
Muerte, para una parte de la raza humana
¿Esto es realmente lo que ocurre?
Esto comienza como termina, con el
Esfuerzo humano agotado

Nada hay más admirable
Más valiente, más impecable,
Que uno quien da su existencia
Por otros, especialmente en
¡Una tierra forgion ! por pragmatismo

Note by Rosa: I don’t know much of war, my husband was in one that is all I really know, but in my heart they are the brave, who are willing to give to strangers, freedom, at the price of their own lives. And I think Mr. Siluk sums it up quite well in this dedication poem.

A Poet, Dennis Siluk if you wish to see his website please select another article, poem or short story of his, it will be on those…

Many people look for free music download programs to get unlimited free Ṃ downloads online.

But the truth is that some file share software could be putting you, your computer, and your online privacy at risk. And if that’s not bad enough, using a file sharing program could also get you in serious trouble with the RIAA or the MPAA.

It’s no secret that the RIAA has been actively seeking out music file sharers that illegally download or file share copy-righted music online. And recently, the MPAA has started their own campaign to sue file sharers that download and file share movies illegally as well.

Besides possible RIAA and MPAA copy-right infringement lawsuit risks, there is more to be concerned about. In using file share software to get free MP3 downloads online, there are a variety of hidden dangers you need to be aware of.

Top Dangers of File Share Software Music Download Programs

1) Adware - Most file sharing program have adware installed in their file share software. Adware is an advertising-supported business model that is used by large media companies.

The media companies provide file share software developers banner ads to put in their file sharing programs as a way to generate revenue from the free product. But the truth is that adware will load your pc with large amounts of unwanted advertising and can cause a variety of computer system problems.

2) Spyware - Spyware is often installed in shareware downloads, including free music download programs. Spyware secretly sneaks around in the back-round of your computer gathering information about you and your surfing habits.

Spyware has the ability to perform activities hidden to you, and can even change files and your computer system settings.

3) Spoofing - Many file sharing programs are stuffed with corrupt and fake files. Spoofing happens when think you are downloading a song, but you get a corrupt music file instead of the song download.

Another type of spoofing problem occurs with a brief 20 to 30 second music loop that continues to play over and over for 3 - 4 minutes. There is talk on the net that the RIAA may be behind many of these spoofing tactics as a way to get people to pay for legal music downloads.

4) Pornography - Pornography is a very serious problem when using file share software. Every file share user should be aware that porn peddlers will camouflage their software as a new game download, or free music downloads files, to get you to click on the link.

If you click on the fake file, you’ll be redirected to a porn site. It’s sneaky, and a very serious problem if children have access to file sharing programs.

Free Music Download Programs Summary:

Is it safe using free music download programs online? The truth is that controversy, dangers and risks continue to surround the use of file share software programs. And the possible RIAA and MPAA copy-right infringement lawsuit risks are very real.

So it’s critical to learn all you can about a file sharing program before using it. A little caution and common sense goes a long way when looking to download free music online.

Remember, there are many affordable ways to squidoo.com/downloadmusiclegally download music legally online that are risk-free and worry-free. And, you can even find a good selection of free legal music download programs that give you 100% free legal music.

Article by Anna Rowe. Please visit her popular 1st-free-music-download.com music download programs site to get free mp3 download reviews and resources. Get critical file share software tips and learn how to 1st-free-music-download.com download music legally now.

The exceptionally talented Gospel artist J Moss has released his CD entitled ͞. I am very confident and happy to announce that I believe J Moss fans, and Gospel fans alike will be pleased with this one. With the release of ͞ J Moss’s artistic excellence is on full display as he has once again delivered a brilliant collection of tracks that could very well be his best work to date.

Refreshingly, this was one of those CDs I was able to just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

The nice thing about a CD like this is with this level of talent even if Gospel isn’t your favorite style you still can’t help but appreciate the greatness of the artist.

Listen to this CD and I believe you’ll find there′s not much to dis-like about it. The songs are inspired, the production is simply outstanding, and Moss is in top form. Of particular note on this offering is his amazing rendition of Dance with Kirk Franklin. If you’re even mildly into Gospel music you’ll enjoy this album.

While this entire album is outstanding some of my favorites are track 2, Dance, track 4, I’m Not Perfect, and track 10, Let It Go.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1, Jump, Jump. Wow!

͞ Release Notes:

J Moss originally released ͞ on Apr 03, 2007 on the Gospocentric Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Jump, Jump
2. Dance - (with Kirk Franklin)
3. Know Him - (with Karen Clark Sheard)
4. I’m Not Perfect - (with Anthony Hamilton)
5. Abundantly
6. We Love You - (Live remix, with Byron Cage/Marvin L. Winans)
7. Praise On The Inside
8. Holding On
9. Afraid
10. Let It Go
11. Nobody
12. Operator
13. Steve Harvey Show Interlude
14. Florida… - (with PDA)

Get the information you want on your favorite smooth jazz songs and artists at ilovesmoothjazz.com/cd-review/ iLoveSmoothJazz.com/cd-review/

Clyde Lee Dennis, a.k.a. smoothlee.com SmoothLee is a life long music fanatic, smooth jazz in particular, and does a daily online radio show featuring smooth jazz music that can be heard at miamismoothjazz.com MiamiSmoothJazz.com

According to experts it’s a no contest, there is only one person at the top, he is currently working on an anti-cheating device. He claims that all known cheating devices will be made obsolete once his invention has been perfected.

Tommy Glenn Carmichael is considered the best slot machine cheat in the history of slot machines, he is an ingenious inventor. For approximately 20 years he designed slot machine devices that allowed him to steal from casinos across the Caribbean and the United States.

In 1980, an old friend of Carmichael’s visited him at his Tulsa, Oklahoma Television repair shop. His friend Ray Ming had something to show Carmichael, a Bally’s slot machine.

Carmichael started at the bottom with a 5-cent machine at a casino near the Vegas strip, this was his first target. The outcome was $35, according to legend. The down side to his foray into this type of cheating hit its first problem as the old machines were being replaced. Carmichael was forced to try the smaller casinos. The move to these casinos led to his first arrest as he was caught at one of them and served several years in jail.

As is normally the case in jail, you have the opportunity to improve your criminal mind. In 1987, Carmichael was released and quickly found the machines he knew had been replaced. New slot and video poker machines now used microprocessors and RNG’s (random number generator software).

Carmichael purchased an IGT Fortune One video poker machine and proceeded to invent the monkey paw which was inserted into the machine via the payout chute. The device manipulated a switch that caused coins to release themselves into the payout bucket.

In 1991 technology caught up again through the computerization of the machines. He posed as a customer to a manufacturer of the new machines which allowed him to see the inside of the latest slot machine. He later bought one of the machines and proceeded to invent the “light wand”.

The wand used a small light to blind a sensor which once again caused the hopper to pay his

Do you know why playing guitar is so much easier than playing piano? It’s because guitar players learn how to use chords first. Even before note reading!

They usually learn how to play chords in the first position. Called open position chords, the beginning guitarist quickly learns how to finger this position and can immediately create music. That’s why so many people love the guitar and want to learn it!

They don’t waste time learning “the masters” or anything like that at all. Nope. It’s all contemporary. Unless of course it’s classical guitar.

Now why can’t those interested in learning piano have the same benefits? After all, it’s not like everyone wants to learn how to play Bach or Beethoven.

The good news is you can play piano using only chords. But not just any chords. I’m talking about learning a chord structure that will have you sounding like a professional right away! It’s called the Open Position Chord and with it, you’ll be able to create your own unique music!

I know it sounds far-fetched. I didn’t think I could make my own music either until I discovered this chord position from a book titled “The Four-Way Keyboard System.” In it, the author Alan Swain goes into great detail about the benefits of learning this chord structure.

I didn’t have to really read what he wrote. I just played it. And I was hooked! Here was something I could learn quite easily. And I could learn it in all 12 keys - just as easily! I had found what I was looking for. A modern sounding chord that would let me improvise with both hands at the piano right away AND sound good doing it!

Most of us know what triads are. This 3-note chord structure has been used to introduce students to chording on the piano. But learning triads isn’t necessarily the best place to start. In fact, there really is no good reason to begin your piano studies with triads.

Listen, if your goal is to read music and play kum-ba-ya, then by all means, spend countless hours learning how to read music and play triads. But, if you want to improvise and create your own unique music, I can think of no better chord structure than the open position chord!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html now and get a FREE piano lesson!