Go ahead and ask

The only ask I have for you is stay healthy. You helped a lot of people here over the years. Make sure you are taking care of yourself.

It is my intention. And your reply has touched me deeply. Like tears deeply. Thank you.

I'm still open to all questions. Even tough ones.

did davids parrot actually turn on his webcam while he was engaged in coitus?

was "posting" invented because david would constantly move seats to avoid the blinds?

did david really refuse the poker HOF because it had "bad people" in it?

What was David's chess ELO?
I enjoyed reading his chess threads, even if they were somewhat nonsensical; they always were interesting.

very probably to one and 2.

he didn't care about the hof and had contempt for people within. but he never was actually given the opportunity to refuse.

i don't know. he stayed interesting. i give him that

Hi Mat,

How is Sue? Was she able to take care of David? Is she able to take care of herself? Is she OK?

Thanks.

I don't know for sure. I am confident that that she is 1000 times more capable of taking of herself than David believed. But he he wound up leaving her in a bad place.

as evidenced by this:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-sup...

What i want to share about david in this thread, selfishly, is that I only recently found out how mentally ill he was. He hid it from me and everyone to a large degree forever. that's why he is dead so soon. but i don't want to just blabber if it's not also interesting. i will elaborate if people are curious.

Thanks for the gofundme link.

Yes, Mason mentioned mental health issues and I assumed something with Alzheimers. Was it that or something else?

It was lifelong, saying clearly in retrospect, something undiagnosed. But I now realize he lived with crippling paranoia and anxiety that was never treated. Everything got worse as he aged and his health declined, so maybe Alzheimer's creeped in as well.

Can you elaborate on how you discovered this once he died? Did he have a cabinet full of writings about unusual things or something like that? Hoarding of odd things?

Its probably of little comfort, but the way I would look at it, he must have understood it about himself enough to try to hide it and not be open about it as a way to try to protect those around him from the fallout.

Thanks for doing this, and sorry for your loss.

It was simply a combination of my conversations with him and hearing stories from people in his past that made me understand. And all I understand, now, is there was something terribly wrong. too late to know exactly what. and he was a dick. he was. i'm not here to whitewash anything.

Mat. Your honesty about this subject where others tread lightly around and some do try to whitewash is refreshing and speaks very positively towards your character.

I know playing poker and paranoia go hand in hand.
How did it manifest in David? Was the crippling paranoia mostly in his personal life or did it also affect his poker playing/writing?

Stay healthy

yeah. I mostly don't know. I think poker attracts the mentally ill. I never found poker very interesting or fun. I helped Mason run the business. That was my involvement. So I think with David that's the answer, Poker didn't drive him crazy. It allowed him a space to "function". And share the part of him that was the good guy that he did want to be. When he was writing.

One of the things that has always disgusted me about poker was that it seemed to be successful, it wasn't enough to win. You had to enjoy that someone else was losing. I never got that part.

its worse than that, to be truly successful, you have to win, enjoy others losing, and sell books (or podcasts, or casino games, or etc. etc.).

Did david really invent UTH?

I think so. And/or Caribbean stud.

I hope this helps you. No questions. Miss you around here.

Mat,

I happened to be digging through old PMs today and I still had one from you from 15 years ago that was very kind. Thank you.

How are you doing? Is there anything any of us can do to help through this time?

What is a big goal you have for yourself at this point in life?

Hope you are well!

This is absolutely the best! Finding something you do well and makes you happy should be the goal for us all. Best wishes!

Nice Mat to have you here!

May you be able to sort things out vs David.

I understand your stance to poker. My poker stalled when not feeling like being a real predator.

Mat,

Can you give us the full story behind this famous connect four moment?

Do you know why David did not finish or return to college?

Why was Rapini allowed to stay a mod for as long as he did?

I was channeling my inner 4 year old. I had lost the game.