Play

Play is a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children, but positive psychology has stressed that play is imperative for all higher-functioning animals, even adult humans.

The rites of play are evident throughout nature and are perceived in people and animals, although generally only in those species possessing highly complex nervous systems such as mammals and birds. Play is most frequently associated with the cognitive development and socialization of those engaged in developmental processes and the young. Play often entertains props, tools, animals, or toys in the context of learning and recreation. That is, some hypothesize that play is preparation of skills that will be used later. Others appeal to modern findings in neuroscience to argue that play is actually about training a general flexibility of mind – including highly adaptive practices like training multiple ways to do the same thing, or playing with an idea that is good enough in the hopes of maybe making it better.

Some play has clearly defined goals and when structured with rules is called a game, whereas, other play exhibits no such goals nor rules and is considered to be unstructured in the literature. Play promotes broaden and build behaviors as well as mental states of happiness – including flow.

Play has traditionally been given little attention by behavioral ecologists. Edward O. Wilson wrote in Sociobiology that No behavior has proved more ill defined, elusive, controversial and even unfashionable than play. Though it received little attention in the early decades of ethnology, and instead only existed as a matter of study within human psychology, there is now a considerable body of scientific literature resulting from research on the subject. Play does not have the central theoretical framework that exists in other areas of biology.

Ethnologists frequently divide play into three general categories: Social play, locomotors play and object play. Locomotors play is the pretend playing that a very young animal participates in when alone. The jumping and spinning characteristic of locomotors play can best be seen in young goats. Researchers have theorized that locomotors play helps the cells in the cerebellum of the brain to develop connections. Types of play listed by psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown expand upon these basic categories to include fantasy and transformational play as well as body, object, social. The National Institute for Play describes the previous five play types, as well as the play types attunement and narrative.

The broaden and build behaviors it fosters may have even greater value for adults than children. The mental state of flow is also a major component of play, and has itself been associated with things like creativity and happiness. Brown often quotes Brian Sutton-Smith's insight: the opposite of play is not work, it is depression. 6] Examples of adult play abound e.g. the arts, but also curiosity driven science.

Tim Brown explains that a value like a bit of shamelessness during the creative process is extremely important in adult designers.

Play may allow people to practice useful habits like learned optimism, which might help manage existential fears. Play also offers the opportunity to learn things that may not have otherwise been explicitly or formally taught e.g. how to use, and deal with, deceit and misinformation. Thus, even though play is only one of many habits of an effective adult, it remains a necessary one.

Poker Kansas City Low Ball

Kansas City Low Ball

Kansas City Lowball Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck and one Joker. The Joker is considered to be the lowest card not present in a hand. Straights and flushes do not count against the poker player.

Players are dealt five cards face down, in turn, in rotation. A round of betting occurs. Players are required to bet or fold. The players who remain in the pot have the option to improve their hand by replacing cards in their hands with new ones. A player may draw up to five consecutive cards. After all poker players have drawn players a round of betting occurs. The best possible low hand is 2-3-4-5-7, not of the same suit. The lowest five card poker hand wins the pot. In the event of a tie the pot is split equally among winning hands.

Responsible Gambling

Seeking to reduce problems from pathological gambling, the Bureau of Gambling Control is working with cardrooms and others to encourage Responsible Gambling Programs.

California also operates a state Office of Problem Gambling to promote public awareness and assist victims and their families. The Bureau of Gambling Control is coordinating with the Office of Problem Gambling to ensure that state programs take into account, as much as practicable, problem and pathological gamblers as required by state law Welfare and Institutions Code section 4369 et. seq.

If identified, pathological gambling is a treatable mental disorder. By fostering responsible gambling policies and programs within gambling establishments/facilities and developing government-industry initiatives, the impact of problem gambling could be greatly reduced in California.