We are playing poker and I have to show you my hand?

Thats what i do on the poker tables in vegas!

Risk tolerant people play poker, but that doesn't mean it is smart.

I want to start playing poker, but I don't have any cash.

Pack some heat, invite some friends for a game of poker and beers, and have ourselves a move-out party while they are away.

It's a shell game. :) Really?

In gambling, this is often called the "rake" -- the amount the house takes in an otherwise zero-sum game (think poker).It's possible to make money when buying individual distressed assets because gains can be in the triple digits; but when making macro-economic bets, I'm skeptical that anyone can "beat the rake."

This can be a very tough line to toe, especially when potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line.While appraising is all about numbers, there are people involved, and anytime you have people involved, the task becomes infinitely more complex (yes, infinitely -- as an example, there's no computer in the world I can't beat in poker, but you add an idiot with half a brain and at best, over a small number of trials, I'm 70/30).So, I certainly don't mean to bash appraisers as a whole, though in this case, I had every intent to bash a particular appraiser...

Is just like playing video poker in a casino.

REI is a lot like Poker.