Horseplay

Regular listeners of Beyond the Table are well familiar with its usual format. The show takes the form of a studious, well-mannered, and thoughtful roundtable discussion, with co-hosts Tom Schneider (Oops! I Won too Much Money), Dan Michalski (Pokerati), and Karridy Askenasy routinely delivering insightful commentary on news of the day, high-level strategy tips, and other items of vital importance to poker players.

A couple of episodes back -- in the show entitled “Rolled-Up Aces” -- the trio departed from their usual modus operandi to discuss the dangers of drug use. The particular issue of imparting appropriate lessons to children about drugs was given special attention.

While the advice conveyed during “Rolled-Up Aces” was certainly of value, I believe both children and parents would find it additionally useful to read a book recently recommended to me -- LATAWNYA, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say “No” to Drugs by Sylvia Scott Gibson.

The title LATAWNYA, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say “No” to Drugs says it all. The story tells of an especially impressionable young horse named Latawnya. One day Latawnya falls in with a crowd of unfamiliar horses who invite her to “play a smoking game and a drinking game.”

You can guess what happens next.



That’s right. “Latawnya started smoking drugs and drinking too.” Soon she “started feeling dizzy from the drug smoke and alcohol.”

“You should have said ‘No,’” her sister Daisy tells her. But Connie, one of the horses who had pressured Latawnya into drinking and smoking drugs, tells Daisy “You are square. You cannot be with us because you will not smoke or drink.”

What a difficult spot for Latawnya! Luckily for you, someone has posted the entire book here, so you can read the rest of the story yourself. Suffice it to say, Latawnya the naughty horse learned her lesson that day!

Meanwhile, be sure to tune into Beyond the Table. Also, if you have questions about poker -- or life -- you can now call them in to their new listener line (posted below the player).

Go ahead and ask those questions today. Otherwise, you’ll have no excuse later for having been naughty.