JJ BANKS’ Blog

***DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED SEASON 5 OF “THE WIRE” (SPOILERS AHEAD)***

     Now most viewers will tell you that HBO’s “The Wire” is a pretty cool show about the war on drugs, when if fact that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what I now consider the greatest TV show ever produced. The truth is that eventhough some of the characters sell illegal drugs, that is only an aspect of the urban landscape that the series wants to present to the viewer. “The Wire” uses its 5 seasons to explore how the failure, amorality, and corruption within institutions eventually destory the essentially decent individuals involved with them, whether its the neighborhood, local government, work place, schools, family and friends..etc.

     “The Wire” shows how minor and insignificant the individual’s role in soceity is and how if someone has the balls to try and step outside of the chain of command, or rock the boat, or try to affect any kind of change it most often leaves them vulnerable and sometimes dead. So how do the characters of the show deal with this? Well look at the symbolism of the drunken sessions between McNulty and Bunk at the railroad yard. Here are two guys who can’t get their lives on track, who can’t find any direction in life without the daily routine of a job that they both excell at but at the same time is leaving them ruined and empty. You might even say that they’re just pawns in a game of chess, which leads us to season 1.

Season 1: The Drug Trade

     A favorite scene of mine from season 1 is when D’Angelo explains the rules of chess to Wallace and Bodie. D’Angelo even goes on to say that more or less that if you know how the game works you can take advantage of it and even conquer it. But what’s ironic about this scene is that the 3 players involved haven’t realized yet that the game they are a part of in real life is rigged. For no matter what strategy D’Aneglo, Wallace or Bodie use on the corner there is no Queen or piece strong enough to save them.

     People wonder why “The Wire” was snubbed at The Emmys, but its a no brainer because most people in America find this kind of fatalism very discomfiting. Our society is filled with self-centered and self-worshipping individuals who feel their income and items of leisure define who they are, and most of they are afraid to admit that their lives are usually over before they truly begin.

     “The Wire” should scare the shit out of every viewer. Here is a show where the institutions of mankind repeatedly destory the individual and where morality and justice just don’t seem to matter.

Season 2: The Docks

     To me season 2 is really where “The Wire” separates itself from all other so-called “cop shows”. It would have made perfect television sense for season 2 to pick up right where it left off with Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell and the drug trade of Baltimore. But instead the series immersed us into a new, confusing and dangerous world that viewers had never seen before. It makes sense though, because with any decent sized city it would be naive to think that all the crime and problems only happen in one area. Season 2 is about the death of the working class and it pretty much spells out that economics and hard times don’t care about the race of those involved. 

     Chris Bauer turns in the series most powerful performance as Frank Sobotka, the treasurer for the International Brotherhood of Stevedores at the Baltimore docks. This character defines the term “Greek Tragedy” and the scene with him and his son Ziggy in jail right before Ziggy is about to begin a murder sentence is without a doubt the most powerful scene I’ve ever seen on television or maybe any other form of media.

Season 3: Politics and Reform

     Season 3 is mostly remember for Howard “Bunny” Colvin’s apeshit attempt to legalize or should we say ignore the drug problem in certain areas of Baltimore, but to me the most important moment of season 3 is the introduction of Marlo Stanfield. Because with Marlo now in the mix the friendship and partnership between Avon and Stringer is really put to the test. And what’s great about Marlo is how Jamie Hector portrays him. It would have been easy for Hector to make Marlo this over-the-top ruthless sociopath, just think Pacino in “Scarface”, but its Hector’s icy stare and his stoic unquestionable power that is present in every scene that he’s in that really solidifies the role of Marlo as a legitimate young kingpin.  

     The problem with Stringer Bell is that he tried to change the game. Stringer saw the drug trade as a means to an end, while Avon saw it as the only means necessary. So while the end of Stringer Bell’s storyline was definitely a shocker, it only proved how “The Wire” doesn’t put anything or anyone above its narrative and that in this world that is constantly calling for change, the few individuals that actually attempt such things are always out-gunned and out-manned.

Season 4: Family and Education

     The film “City of God” might be the best dipiction of what its like for kids to grow up in less than ideal environments. Season 4 of “The Wire” is very close behind. You might wonder where people like Omar Little, Bubbles or Marlo Stanfield come from and the answer is just take a look at the family and friends they grew up with. Throw in a school system that has its head up its ass when it comes to dealing with kids from broken homes and you end up with generation after generation of criminals ready to hit the streets every 4 years.

     Mayor to be Tommy Carcetti wants better schools in Baltimore but in place is a system that the students manipulate to their own needs as they learn how to con and survive in their ultra-violent surroundings. But all hope isn’t lost as we see how Bunny Colvin takes it upon himself to save the life of one of the show’s troubled youths in Namond Brice. It fact the very last shot of season 4 sums up the series as a whole.

Season 5: The Media and Closure

     The problem with lying is that the more you do it the better you get at it. And the better you get at it the bigger the lies you’ll tell. So the question for season 5 was: How far can you go with a lie? I actually found season 5 kind of ridiculous and would have been satisfied had the series ended with season 4, but it was nice to see closure on the characers. What we see with McNulty is that he’s not a hero, but a guy you thought could have done better with the talent he had. We learn that he’s ultimately better off without a job that was killing him. Marlo obtains the lifestyle that Stringer Bell wanted and takes it for granted. Hell for Marlo Stanfield is a business meeting with a bunch of developers, for Stringer that was all he ever wanted. In the end “The Wire” reinforces that life is very cyclical; McNulty leaves Sydnor replaces him, Dukie replaces Bubbles, Michael becomes Omar. Life is really unfair. What kind of a world is it where Senator Clay Davis gets away with everything? Sheeeeeeeeittttt!!!   

     In the end what “The Wire” points out and what the rest of dramatic television relentlessly gets wrong is that life is truly tragic. Family and friends die. Your personal goals will never be reached. Basically, life is a shit sandwich. And eventhough its futile to rebel, its really the only alternative you have if you want to salvage anything that remotely resembles human dignity. 

Fuck you William Penn!! Fuck you Mets fans!!! Fuck you all you haters that love to trash Philadelphia sports fans!!!

The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies are World Series Champions!!!!!!!!!!!

 The Commerce Casino. The Bicycle Club. If you play poker seriously then you’ve heard of these venues. I myself had never been to either one of these establishments before, but after spending a week in the Los Angeles area I have to say that these poker rooms do not live up to the hype and praise you’ve heard about them.

The Commerce Casino - Commerce, CA

     The Commerce Casino is perhaps the most famous card room in LA. It might even be the biggest card room in the whole world (Foxwoods?). But let me tell you as a player that prefers the likes of The Borgata and The Bellagio, The Commerce Casino is a dump! You’ll find dirty people loitering around the casino and sometimes even dirtier people sitting at your table. And everyone is eating all the time! My #1 poker pet peeve is eating at the table and it seems that in CA when most people decide to go out to eat they somehow found their way to a poker table. I swear of the nine people at the table at least 5 of them were eating or ordering something during the whole session.
     Next, let’s talk about how fucked up LA’s buy-in structure is for No-Limit Hold’em. Listen to this, the max buy-in for a 3-5 NL Hold’em game is $200! WTF? I thought the logic for NL Hold’em was to have a max buy-in of at least 100x the big blind. At a buy-in of only $200 and where the average pre-flop raise is around $20 - $30 it doesn’t take long for you to get your stack committed in situations you wouldn’t normally desire. Basically the game can turn into a coin-flip shove fest. So my biggest problem with LA poker is that there doesn’t seem to be much “play”.
     During my time at the Commerce I was surrounded by loose bad players that unfortunately I wasn’t able to exploit. But it was fun to watch this guy sitting next to me with about $800 in chips get felted after he got drunk and started playing every hand and trying to bluff everyone every hand. In a string of five hands this guy went from $800 to nothing. It was one of the worst displays of poker I had ever seen. But the one good thing I can say about the Commerce Casino is that the parking lot isn’t as bad/dangerous as everyone says it is and the parking is free as well.

The Bicycle Casino - Bell Gardens, CA

     The Bicycle Casino or commonly refer to as “The Bike” is cleaner and nicer than the Commerce Casino but the quality of players is still pretty bad, also everyone loves to eat at the table, as a matter of fact if you play 3-5 No-Limit Hold’em or higher you can get all the free food you want from the casino. That’s a first. But what would seem like a nice perk for the players actually was kind of annoying to me as I watched players display their gluttony as it seemed like everyone was ordering 5 course meals plus desert. The poker table turns into this centerpiece surrounded by side tables filled with food. And as if live poker wasn’t slow enough, all the eating going on only slows the game down even more.
     So there I was playing 3-5 NL Hold’em with their bullshit $200 max buy-in which led to me playing pretty tight and waiting to take advantage of the loose and wild players around me splashing every pot. Because of this structure I believe you just have to be patient and wait for a situation where you can get involved with the best of it, and boy did I find such a situation. Long story short I held Qs Js with a board of 9s 10s 8c which resulted in me stacking my opponent. So yeah you can say I had fun at The Bicycle Casino.

Hustler Casino - Gardena, CA

     I’ve heard a lot of stories about The Hustler Casino. How Larry Flynnt flies in the world’s best poker players to take on, so I was excited to check out this place out. And with the name Hustler involved I was expecting to see hot sluts walking around everywhere. Well, that’s not exactly what you’re going to see. I really didn’t see any hot chicks anywhere inside, even the waitresses were kind of beat and rundown. But the card room was comfortable and well laid out, and from what I was told the table where Larry and players like Phil Ivey and John Hennigan play ultra high stakes games is right there amongst all the normal tables. Well I didn’t see Larry or Phil playing anywhere but my 3-5 No Limit Hold’em game was actually the most solid game I had experience since playing in LA. Most players knew how to control their bets in accordance to their stacks and there really weren’t any shove fests to speak of. This might be a result of the high number of house players I spotted in the card room. Actually the number of house players I saw in LA poker rooms was abnormally high in comparison to other card rooms I’ve been in around the country. But hey I don’t mind house players, they keep the game going and most of them don’t get out of line too often with their betting. 

Hollywood Park Casino - Inglewood, CA

     My final session of LA poker came while I was waiting for my red-eye flight back to Philly. The Hollywood Park Casino is only a stone’s throw away from LAX and is a pretty cool place to play. I loved the fact that there are arcade games everywhere surrounding the poker room. And we’re talking cool arcade games like Donkey Kong, Operation Wolf and an Elvis pinball machine as just a few examples. But like everywhere else in LA there was the $200 max buy-in for the 3-5 No Limit Hold’em game which I again will tell you how much I detest. And once again I was at a table where players were just making huge over-sized bets pre-flop and just shoving on the flop. Is this poker? Maybe its just a result of all the action junkies in the room who are also betting the horses while sitting at the table. 
     Now don’t think I’m being a whining little bitch, because I know how to adapt to this structure and this kind of play, but the thing is, is that on this day some bad luck and some cold cards resulted in a pretty decent dent in my bankroll. I’m not going to tell you how much I lost but just let me point out these few hands: my set of 4’s stacked by a set of Kings, a guy all-in rivering a flush to beat my straight, I was short-stacked with pocket 8’s and of course my opponent with AK nailed his Ace on the flop…OK, maybe I am starting to sound like a bitch because no one likes to hear bad beat stories, but it just seemed like that during my time playing poker in LA I didn’t exactly feel like I was “playing poker”. I almost felt that due to the structure that comes with a low buy-in for a No-Limit Hold’em game that most of my actions were pretty much determined by the math involved and not by any kind of high level thinking. Man, I can’t wait to get back to The Borgata. 

     As golden as the arches of this fine establishment, the same can be said for the money making opportunity that awaits you. I’m of course talking about the annual artery clogging game called “McDonald’s Monopoly”. But before you abandon your healthy lifestyle of tofu and hummus for Big Macs and Large Fries I thought it would be nice to provide you with the list of “Rare Pieces” for the game:

     Now if you don’t know how the game works….well…you’re a moron. Don’t worry the Mickie D’s employee with Down Syndrome by the shake machine can explain it for you. Don’t get me wrong. I know this game is a sucker’s bet in its truest form. Hell, the game was halted back in 2001 after a company called Simon Marketing, which organized and promoted the game, had been removing all the “rare pieces” from play and distributing them to friends and family. The scam went on for several years and netted the conspirators over $24 million in prizes. The scheme was eventually uncovered when one of the participants informed the FBI. There’s always one, isn’t there?

     But its good to have you back “McDonald’s Monopoly”. I already have “New York Avenue” and “St. James Place”. Anyone out there have “Tennessee Avenue”? We’re talking $5000 the easy way here.