It was a seemingly lucky night for Thomas Gigliotti until the moment he pulled into his driveway.

Thomas Gigliotti, 74 and his wife Josephine 71, were returning home to their house from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood after a lucky night on to the tables.  According to Police, several masked bandits robbed the couple of their winnings in their driveway of around $4,000 in cash. The masked men rushed towards Gigliotti, pulled him from his car knocked him to the ground and stole his cash, credit cards and mobile phone.

However, this was not the end of this crime tale. Rather than being shaken up after being robbed and assaulted, the feisty senior citizen jumped back in his Lincoln Navigator and took off in a almost Hollywood-esque chase after the bandits. He spotted the bandits jumping into a white getaway car near an intersection not too far from where the robbery occurred.

Gigliotti tailed the robbers through the streets of Plantation and at one point even attempted to ram the smaller getaway vehicle in an effort to make force the car to spin out. Gigliotti bumped the car twice from behind in a scene that  could only be reminiscent of a Jason Bourne movie. “The chase was one of the greatest chases you've ever seen, they took rights and lefts, rights and lefts. They couldn't shake me. They just couldn't," Thomas said.

Eventually at speed of around 65mph, he rammed the getaway car sending the vehicle out of control and the bandits skidded off the side of the road.

The suspects bailed out of the vehicle and abandoned the car, "I put my high beams on and reversed to see the vehicle, it looks like there's nobody in the car.' Gigliotti said he as he cautiously approached the vehicle but the men had fled by this point.

Although, in the meantime his wife has said that her card –playing days are over. “I’m not going back there she said. “I don’t ever want to go back there.”The senior bravado was however not on the same opinion, and believes he was not tempting lady luck; “I like to go down to the casino” he said.

And this is why I play online. This same sort of robbery seems to happen far too often. 

I was playing around on Second Life earlier (unbeknown to the IT administrators who delve out our bandwidth in the office) and I came to recall the good old days when Poker and Casinos existed in this ‘DisneyLand’ society.

So I did my research and I’m providing you a brief history of gambling in Second Life.

here was a time quite a few years ago that being a citizen in Second Life could involve the following; you could buy and sell virtual real estate, network and advertise to real clients, go a little deep into the not-so-underground other side of the world of virtual swingers clubs and brothels and even attend lectures by plenty of the world’s major universities. There was even a time that this utopian world had the ability to play online poker and casino, but alas this is no more.

A couple of years ago, there were quite a few news sources reporting that the FBI had been visiting many of Linden Labs virtual casinos and poker rooms.  Whilst Linden Labs denied they were under investigation by the FBI they quickly changed their policy stating that they would no longer anything related to casino activity. A sad day indeed for the online gaming world and for Second Life citizens,

Casinos had been a popular and entertaining Second Life activity and like the real life counterpart, had experienced growth. Residents utilized the Second Life currency, the Linden dollar to play various casino games ranging from the ever popular blackjack to our personal favourite, poker. A major reason that Second Life casinos were under a legal grey zone was the ease that was involved in converting Linden Dollars to United States currency.

Shortly after the UIGEA was passed, Second Life issued a statement outlining their understanding of the new law and how they might fit into it. They were neither a designated payment system nor a gambling service; they had limited liability as a service provider. They did try and seek clarification as the UIGEA become well understood – however in the long run, Second Life took a cautionary stance and banned gambling out right…

To date, there are literally thousands of posts scattered through the internet discussing the gaming stance and the UIGEA with reference to Second Life. There are numerous posts about whether their rights as virtual residents in the  libertarian and capitalist society have had their morality regulated to that not dissimilar of that of the dictator of Oceania, the ruling totalitarian leader featured in George Orwell’s 1984.

One of the advantages of playing at online casinos is that you are allowed to choose your own table, unlike at land-based casinos where you are ushered to the tables without the choosing. When playing at an online casino you will not be provided with information on individual players but you will be provided general table statistics that can give you valuable insight into picking the best table.

The first thing to check out is the number of hands dealt per hour. This will indicate the speed of the game. The more hands the poker room deals per hour, the faster the pace of the game and the more money you stand to make every hour.

The second most important thing to look out for is the percentage of players seeing the flop. This will inform you about how many players are staying in the pot until the first 3 cards have been revealed. If the number is over 40% the game is too loose which will reduce your chances of making money, whereas, if it is less than 30% it means that the table is tight.

The final thing to look out for is the average pot. A rookie mistake would be to choose the table with the highest average pot. Don’t do this. Rather see how the average pot relates to the number of casino players who are seeing the pot. Even if you play a slightly aggressive game, you can make more money from it than you would at a lively, fast-paced game.ress a previous point, these players are professionals and do not want to hear from you during the game. Adoring followers on twitter are tolerated by some, but not loudly.

Lyrics to ‘Ramblin, Gamblin Willie’ by Bob Dylan

Come around you rovin’ gamblers and a story I will tell
About the greatest gambler, you all should know him well.
His name was Will O’ Conley and he gambled all his life,
He had twenty-seven children, yet he never had a wife.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

He gambled in the White House and in the railroad yards,
Wherever there was people, there was Willie and his cards.
He had a reputation as the gamblin’est man around,
Wives would keep their husbands home when Willie came to town.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

Sailin’ down the Mississippi to a town called New Orleans,
They’re still talkin’ about their card game on that Jackson River Queen.
“I’ve come to win some money,” Gamblin’ Willie says,
When the game finally ended up, the whole damn boat was his.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

Up in the Rocky Mountains in a town called Cripple Creek,
There was an all-night poker game, lasted about a week.
Nine hundred miners had laid their money down,
When Willie finally left the room, he owned the whole damn town.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

But Willie had a heart of gold and this I know is true,
He supported all his children, and all their mothers too.
He wore no rings or fancy things, like other gamblers wore,
He spread his money far and wide, to help the sick and the poor.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

When you played your cards with Willie, you never really knew
Whether he was bluffin’ or whether he was true.
He won a fortune from a man who folded in his chair.
The man, he left a diamond flush, Willie didn’t even have a pair.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

It was late one evenin’ during a poker game,
A man lost all his money, he said Willie was to blame.
He shot poor Willie through the head, which was a tragic fate,
When Willie’s cards fell on the floor, they were aces backed with eights.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.

So all you rovin’ gamblers, wherever you might be,
The moral of this story is very plain to see.
Make your money while you can, before you have to stop,
For when you pull that dead man’s hand, your gamblin’ days are up.
And it’s ride, Willie, ride,
Roll, Willie, roll,
Wherever you are a-gamblin’ now, nobody really knows.