How to audition

Auditions are a nerve-wracking and a difficult experience for most actors, but they are an essential part of the job. If you are called for an audition, you will often receive "sides", which are simply a few pages of the script that you will be expected to read. The most you can do is prepare the best you can and go into the audition confident; not arrogant, confident. Auditioning is a skill and the more you attend, the better you will become. Just stick with and be yourself; you should do fine. To learn more about the audition process, go to the audition process. The most important aspect for any actor's career is training. With a solid foundation, an acting career can span over decades. To get the best training possible, visit acting school and start building a strong acting platform. Most acting schools, depending on the discipline, will cover beginning as well as advanced classes. Many schools will also hold classes throughout the day and night to accommodate the various schedules of its students. Prior to attending any school, actors sometimes audit certain classes (if the school offers this option) to see if they would benefit from the training. To learn more about acting in New York, visit New York acting and start planning your future today. Often, actors in New York audition for several months prior to landing their first role; it requires a great deal of patience and determination. Given the many different types of acting opportunities available in New York: Film, Television, Theatre and Commercial, an actor starting a career or continuing their career, acting in New York will generally establish a solid foundation for any performer.

When the Stakes Turn Toxic

Anyone who’s bought a lottery ticket or played bingo has gambled. Gambling is any game of chance in which money changes hands. It’s common in most cultures around the world. Many people enjoy gambling as recreation without causing harm to themselves or others. Yet some people can’t control their impulse to gamble, even when it takes a terrible toll on their lives.         

For these gamblers and their families, researchers have been making progress in several areas. Scientists are learning why people have problems with gambling: how common it is, what goes on inside the gambler’s brain, which is at risk and what kinds of treatment can help.

Problem gambling is defined by some researchers as gambling that causes harm to the gambler or someone else, in spite of a desire to stop. Between 2% and 4% of Americans struggle with this condition. Problem gambling can progress to a recognized psychiatric diagnosis called pathological gambling.

Pathological gambling may affect from 0.4% to 2% of Americans. “Pathological gambling comes with a constellation of problems that contribute to chaos,” says Dr. Donald Black of the University of Iowa. “It’s associated with worse physical health, excessive smoking, excessive drinking, not exercising, not seeing primary care doctors and worse dental care. It also fuels depression, family dysfunction, crime, bankruptcy and suicide.”

Together, pathological and problem gambling may affect up to 5% of Americans. That number may rise, though. Laws in many states are creating more options for legal gambling, and internet gambling is becoming more common.

Still, gambling is often done in family settings, condoned or encouraged by parents. And the younger you start, the more likely you are to get into trouble later on. From 3% to 8% of adolescents have a problem with gambling.

Dr. John Welte of the University of Buffalo has found that, across the lifespan, gambling problems are even more common than alcohol dependence. They are also much more common in males, in young people, and in people who live in relatively poor neighborhoods. “That’s not true of the prevalence of alcoholism,” says Welte. “Alcoholism is much more democratic. So think about motives for gambling. People are hoping that winning will improve their lot. That makes them more vulnerable to developing a gambling problem.”

In a study of mostly African-American inner-city youth, Dr. Silvia Martins of Johns Hopkins University has found that about 15% have some form of problem gambling. Most at-risk were adolescents and young adults who began showing symptoms of depression at age 12. They were highly impulsive, although not hyperactive or aggressive. As the African-American boys developed into their teens and early adulthood, gambling appeared to be a separate risk factor for early fatherhood and criminal arrest.

“We are following up with these inner-city kids every single year as they enter adulthood,” says Martins.

But why is gambling irresistible to some folks and not others? Using advanced imaging techniques, Dr. Alexander Neumeister of Mount Sinai School of Medicine looked at the brains of people with gambling problems and alcohol problems. He measured the number of special receptors involved in regulating impulse control and other factors.          

“A key feature of addiction is impaired impulse control,” says Neumeister. “Abnormal function of the forebrain leads to reduced tolerance to waiting.” The resulting impatience may cause people to act without considering the consequences. “Our imaging clearly points toward the importance of impaired forebrain function in addiction.”

Pinpointing areas in the brain’s reward center, Neumeister’s team found that people with alcohol addiction and gambling problems show different functioning of these special receptors compared to healthy people. The differences were related to the severity of addiction. Other researchers are trying to develop drugs that could treat the affected areas.

Talk therapy can also help. Dr. Nancy Petry at the University of Connecticut Health Center works with pathological gamblers and people seeking treatment for drug use disorders. Gambling problems arise in about 10% to 20% of substance abusers. Petry compared the use of different types of talk therapy, including very brief interventions and cognitive-behavioral therapy CBT. CBT teaches people how to think differently about problems and then act on that knowledge.

“We found very brief interventions and CBT were effective in reducing gambling and gambling-related problems,” Petry says. “There was a significant improvement relative to usual care or standard forms of treatment like Gamblers Anonymous [a 12-step program].”

Anybody can have a gambling problem, and no one should feel ashamed or be afraid to seek treatment. “Pathological gambling is a medical disorder, not a sin or a vice,” says Dr. Carlos Blanco of Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. “There is no stereotype. The main predictor of outcome is really motivation.”

In other words, what counts most is a strong drive or desire to take action. Blanco offers gamblers motivational interviewing, which helps them explore their mixed feelings about trying to quit gambling. This primes them to be ready and willing to begin CBT. Using both therapies together can be very effective.

If you have concerns about your gambling, ask for help. Your health provider can work with you to find the treatment that’s best for you.

Poker 7 Card Stud

7 Card Stud

Seven Card Stud Poker

Seven Card Stud Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck, but can also be played with a joker. Standard poker rankings apply. When playing with a joker, the joker can be used as an ace, or to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. Five aces is the highest ranking poker hand.

Each poker player is dealt two cards face down (hole cards) and one card face up. There is a round of poker betting (check, bet, call, raise, or fold). Each remaining player is dealt one card face up. There is a second round of poker betting. Each remaining poker player is dealt a second card face up. There is a third round of betting. Each remaining player is dealt a third card face up. There is a fourth round of betting. Each remaining player is dealt a final card face down (hole card). There is a fifth (final) round of betting. The player with the highest ranking five-card poker hand wins the entire pot. In the event of a tie, the pot will be split equally.

STUD POKER BETTING STRUCTURE

All players must first ante before they receive their initial cards. There are five betting rounds in a complete game of 7 Card Stud Poker, not including Ante.
According to 7 Card Stud Rules, the action is started by forcing the lowest up card by rank and suit to bet the amount that corresponds to the bring-in for each limit. The action then rotates clockwise and players must either call the minimum bet forced by the low card, or make the first raise, which only completes the bet to the lower value of the limit structure. Raises thereafter are of the exact amounts of the fixed limits for each betting round.

On the first round of betting, the low card by rank and then by suit is required to initiate action with a minimum small bring-in bet. Suits are ranked: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs. On subsequent rounds, the high hand on board initiates betting action. If poker hands are tied, the player to the left of the dealer acts first. In all cases, the action prompts will inform the players as to who acts first.

HOW TO PLAY
Ante-All players must post a small bet before the cards are dealt. This is commonly called the ante.

Each player is dealt two cards face-down (hole cards) and one card face-up (door card).

First betting round-The lowest face-up card is forced to bet (bring-in) a minimal bet which starts the action on the first betting round only. The first raise only increases the money bet up to the lower limit level. i.e. The first raise increases the bring-in bet to a total of $5 in a $5-$10 stud game.

Each player is dealt one card face-up. This is commonly called 4th street.

Second betting round-High hand acts first from this point (on each round) until the last card is dealt. If there is an open pair (two cards of same rank) showing, then player has the option of betting the lower or the higher amount of the limits. i.e. $5 or $10 in a $5-$10 limit game.

Each player is dealt another card face-up (5th street)---At this point the limit is raised to the higher limit amount. i.e. $10 in a $5-$10 stud game.

Third betting round-High hand acts first.

Each player is dealt another card face-up. This is commonly called 6th street.

Fourth betting round-High hand acts first.

Each player is dealt a last card face-down. This is commonly called the river card.

Final betting round-High hand acts first.

Players show their hands. This is commonly called "the showdown".

7 Card Stud Poker Rules specify that when players show their hands (the showdown), they may use any 5 of their 7 cards to make their best possible poker hand.

The blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-style poker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three. The small blind is placed by the player to the left of the dealer button and the big blind is then posted by the next player to the left. The one exception is when there are only two players a heads-up game, when the player on the button is the small blind, and the other player is the big blind. Both the player and the bet may be referred to as big or small blind. After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to act during the first betting round. If all players call the big blind, the big blind is then given an extra opportunity to raise. This is known as a live blind. If the live blind checks, the betting round then ends. Generally, the big blind is equal to the minimum bet. The small blind is normally half the big blind. In cases where posting exactly half the big blind is impractical due to the big blind being some odd-valued denomination, the small blind is rounded down to the nearest practical value. For example, if the big blind in a live table game is $3 then the small blind will usually be $1 or $2 since most casinos do not distribute large quantities of $0.50 poker chips. The blinds exist because Omaha and Texas hold 'em are frequently played without antes, allowing a player to fold his hand without placing a bet. The blind bets introduce a regular cost to take part in the game, thus inducing a player to enter pots in an attempt to compensate for that expense. It is possible to play without blinds. The minimum bet is then the lowest denomination chip in play, and tossing only 1 chip is considered a call. Anything higher than that is considered a raise. Poker without blinds is usually played with everyone posting an ante to receive cards, but it is technically possible to have absolutely no ante or blinds at all.

Mahjong

Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players with some three-player variations found in Korea and Japan. The four player table version should not be confused with the popular Western single player tile matching computer game Mahjong solitaire, which is a recent invention and completely different from the table game. Similar to the Western card game rummy, mahjong is a game of skill, strategy and calculation and involves a certain degree of chance. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game though it may just as easily be played recreationally.

The game is played with a set of 136 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations use a different number of tiles. In most variations, each player begins by receiving thirteen tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the fourteenth drawn tile to form four groups melds and a pair head. There are fairly standard rules about how a piece is drawn, stolen from another player melded, the use of basic numbered tiles and honours winds and dragons, the kinds of melds, and the order of dealing and play. However there are many regional variations in the rules; in addition, the scoring system, the minimum hand necessary to win varies significantly based on the local rules being used.

All tiles are placed face down on the table and are shuffled. By convention all players should participate in shuffling using both hands moving the pieces around the table, loudly, for a lengthy period. There is no fixed rule on how to deal or how to treat tiles which flip over during shuffle, though possible solutions include turning back over the pieces at the moment they are seen, turning over all revealed pieces at intervals or doing so at the end of the shuffling and forming of the wall.

Each player then stacks a row of 18 tiles two tiles high in front of him for a total of 36 tiles. Players then push each side of their tiles together to form a square wall.

The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is 1 or 5, 9, 13, 17, so that south is 2 or 6, 10, 14, 18, etc., a player's quarter of the wall is chosen. Using the same total on the dice, the player then counts the stacks of tiles from right to left. Starting from the left of the stacks counted, the dealer takes four tiles to himself, and players in counterclockwise order take blocks of four tiles until all players have 12 tiles, so that the stacks decrease clockwise. Each player then takes one last tile to make a 13-tile hand. Dealing does not have to be this formal and may be done quite differently based on house rules.

Each player now sets aside any flowers or seasons they may have drawn and takes replacement pieces from the wall.

The dealer takes the next piece from the wall, adds it to his hand. If this does not complete a legal hand, he then discards a piece throwing it into the middle of the wall with no particular order in mind.

Local play on the street in Lanzhou

Each player takes a turn picking up a tile from the wall and then discarding a tile by throwing it into the centre and, if desired, announcing out loud what the piece is. Play continues this way until one player has a legal hand. At this point a player will call out mahjong and reveal their hand. There are four different ways that this order of play can be interrupted which is mentioned below.

During play, the number of tiles maintained by each player should always be thirteen tiles meaning in each turn a tile must be picked up and another discarded. Not included in the count of thirteen tiles are flowers and seasons set to the side and the fourth added piece of a kong mentioned below. If a player is seen to have more or less than thirteen tiles in their hand outside of their turn they are penalised.