::high fives Liv and Owen::

So, poker fans, what do you think?

Manhattan doctor introduces “Pokertox’’ to help give card players a poker face - NYPOST.com

Card players who don’t want to give themselves away and tip their hand can turn to a Manhattan doctor who says bet on him — and “Pokertox.”

Dr. Jack Berdy, an East Side doctor of aesthetic medicine, just launched the idea of using Botox to “allow people to gain a poker face’’ in a service he calls Pokertox.

“Very few people can maintain a real poker face,’’ said Berdy. “They have some ‘tells,’ some expression that gives away that they have a good hand or a bad hand’’ to an opponent.

He said he and his patients would go over those ‘‘tells’’ and the expressions that would give away a hand.

Some players look at their cards and ‘‘might raise their eyebrows or raise one eyebrow’’ if they do or don’t like what they see.

“Some squint, or furrow their brows,’’ Berdy said.

“We can inject Botox appropriately’’ so the other player doesn’t get the message that they’re angry, disappointed or happy.

“What someone sees across the table is no movement,’’ he said.

Pokertox costs an average $600 to $800 and lasts three to four months, he says.

The idea came to Berdy because he used to be a gambler and his specialty is Botox — “and they go together.’’

It doesn't say how many poker players have received this treatment.

Cash, I love your kids. And that you tell us hilarious kid stories. Then again, I'm one of those people that does not complain about friends posting endless baby pictures, because I enjoy it much more than lots of statuses copied word-for-word that people need to Snopes first.

I think what stuns me most about Cash's conversation is that Owen knows who Reagan was. Casper schooled our neighbor (also aged 9) just yesterday on marriage equality, but she has no idea who Reagan was.

Owen freaks me out on a daily basis.

Wow, is he going to make campaign ads, too? (I hope so.)

Owen is really cool.

My mother, bless her heart, is stymying the skilled professionals. "She's really strong!" said the staffer I just talked to. Yes, she is.

Dad took her out for a drive, dunno what good that will do.

Reacher is a BIG GUY, his size plays a factor in almost every book. Just another reason not to like Tom Cruise.

Do you hate Tom Cruise for taking the role? Or is this another incidence of an actor casting himself?

I did some wikipedia reading about the character, and it sounds interesting. And the author is, at least publicly, on board with the size differential in the casting.

Tangentially related, I found a page about cuts made to achieve a specific British rating. Usually when this happens the same cuts are what goes out to all of the English speaking audiences, right?

tommy,

people can manipulate their faces okay when playing poker, but what is more revealing is when a player gets the shakes due to adrenalin. No amount of botox is going to hide the tremor after someone gets a good hand.

the other thing that I would add is that you can also play poker from a strictly mathematical approach (play the odds) which is less "sexy", but gets the job done. No need to worry about poker faces.

you can also play poker from a strictly mathematical approach (play the odds) which is less "sexy", but gets the job done. No need to worry about poker faces

Wait--are you the one playing by the odds in this scenario, LeN? Because can't you still give up a tell when you have good hands? Playing the odds means you don't have to take poker faces into consideration, or am I getting this inverted?

Someone over the wall swore during a conversation ("Fucking assholes!") and a guy he wasn't talking to told him sharply, twice, not to swear. Given that he didn't swear again, why do you need to tell him twice? If you are angling for an apology, it's probably simpler to ask for one, instead of assuming he's going to stop his conversation and start talking to you without you being clear about what you want.