Most are spending their days (whether it is through compulsion or necessity) locked in front of computers, with the odd night of heavy drinking in between. What this video really illustrates is the illusion of freedom that playing online poker gives.

It reminds me of the Greek philosopher who talked of two carriage dogs running behind a cart. One was happy and jogging along contently – the other was unhappy and tied to the cart, desperately trying to get free. Despite the dogs clearly having different views on how they were living – they were both actually just being forced to run behind a cart.

The freedom these guys (just like anyone in these very high earning jobs) seem to exude is largely an illusion – they ultimately are just vaguely self employed city workers without the long term job perks; tied to their computers to satisfy the constant higher expectations that each big score brings.

To become a balanced and fair film this needs to be recognized and explored. Many young people would probably not trade places with these guys if asked – no matter how broke they were – and with good reason.

The way that this film conveys that the “self made” aspect of these guys lives is positive is also fundamentally flawed. They did not make their money through inventing products or services that help people; they got it through manipulating and out thinking people who, in the majority, have gambling problems. The money they spend is not free – it comes at a price that must be thought about and documented.

To make this film a balanced and fair film it seems a necessity to use similar techniques on the big losers of the online poker boom (of which there are many more than the winners).

This work has great potential to become a brilliant record of the online poker explosion. To become a great piece of work it must focus not only on the winners, but also the big losers, however unappealing this is.

This could probably add a great deal to the work – many of the big losers in poker have led incredible lives (Jimmy Chagra or Sam Grizzle for example) and would in some respects be more interesting than this group.

It seems unlikely that with the sponsorship of CardRunners that this will ever be possible – I cannot see Taylor being happy about backing a film about losers. This is a great shame as this looks like the start of something which had real potential to record an incredible are of human life; an area that has been largely missed by film makers or journalists up to this point.

Good luck with your future work and play.

good job NAT