... only because you are taking money from the other players, not because you are winning it from the house.

Forgot to mention in my post to Norm that, even if you can come out slightly ahead after playing that million hands, how much are you actually making? If you are $10,000 ahead at that point (which also seems unlikely), you will have won at the rate of about $2.40 an hour. Less than half of minimum wage!!

Paul is right on the two most important points in his post:

1st, over the long haul, in a house backed game, you can't beat the house.

2nd, you should treat your gambling expenses as a cost of entertainment.

BTW, even if you're a good live poker player, it's tough to stay ahead in low stakes games, thanks to the drop or time charge, as the case may be.

----- jim o\-S