Live data from Hacker News

The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

priceonomics.com

1–10 of 47 posts

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#3

It's funny how a picture of him has the caption "Michael Larson was never interested in following the rules" when, actually, he was the only one who bothered to figure out the rules.

He also committed unemployment fraud before his TV appearance and ended up creating a Ponzi scheme in his later years.

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#5
>"He didn’t understand the value of good, hard, honest work," his older brother, James, later bemoaned. "He thought those people were fools."

I wouldn't call people like that fools, and pretty certainly the world would fall to pieces without them. That said, I don't think I can really blame anyone too much for not valuing good, hard, honest work in this world where many people are simply born rich and many others become rich by gaming the system and/or screwing people over.

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#6

It's funny how a picture of him has the caption "Michael Larson was never interested in following the rules" when, actually, he was the only one who bothered to figure out the rules.

Michael’s run on PYL is often called a “scandal” as if he cheated. The only scandal was that CBS tried like hell to figure out a way to deny him his winnings.

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#7
The article keeps making it sound like he met his comeuppance, even as they finally reveal that he ran off with $3M and died of natural causes before he was caught. They never seem to substantiate the pervasive tragic tone. The whole whole thing reminds me of the existentialist treatment of the "Touch of Death" in Men Who Stare at Goats... His schemes were often successful, but ultimately meaningless because death comes for us all?

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#8

The article keeps making it sound like he met his comeuppance, even as they finally reveal that he ran off with $3M and died of natural causes before he was caught. They never seem to substantiate the pervasive tragic tone. The whole whole thing reminds me of the existentialist treatment of the "Touch of Death" in Men Who Stare at Goats ... His schemes were often successful, but ultimately meaningless because death c…

Yeah, it doesn't really seem like he had a downfall, besides dying, which isn't exactly an unexpected event for any person..

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#9

>"He didn’t understand the value of good, hard, honest work," his older brother, James, later bemoaned. "He thought those people were fools." I wouldn't call people like that fools, and pretty certainly the world would fall to pieces without them. That said, I don't think I can really blame anyone too much for not valuing good, hard, honest work in this world where many people are simply born rich and many others bec…

What is good, hard, honest work, exactly? I certainly work hard, but is it honest? I'm not sure. I certainly don't intentionally go around breaking all the rules I can, but I do try and use my brain to figure out every possible loophole and advantage I can. I don't think exploiting loopholes is dishonest, but I'm sure some would disagree.

For example, when playing board or card games, I always try and discover some dominant, completely broken strategy that is definitely not in the "spirit" of the game. Some people have gotten very angry at me because of this, but isn't this how games are supposed to be played? The same applies to life, I think.

Re: The Man Who Got No Whammies (2015)

#10
post #6

It's funny how a picture of him has the caption "Michael Larson was never interested in following the rules" when, actually, he was the only one who bothered to figure out the rules.

Michael’s run on PYL is often called a “scandal” as if he cheated. The only scandal was that CBS tried like hell to figure out a way to deny him his winnings.

Had he done the same thing in Jeopardy!, by studying the most common categories, figuring out common clue patterns and how they lead into responses, and practicing with a buzzer, he'd be considered a smart player, as opposed to a power-gaming asshole who munchkined his way into money.
Post reply on HN