The best $2 I've ever spent . . .

Okay, perhaps that's an exaggeration.

Recently I've been feeling the itch to play Blackjack. I'm not much of a gambler, yet I've had a few chances to play black jack at casinos. I lose more often than I win. However, once or twice a year it's something I really feel like I think I want to do.

So, I decided to spend $1.99 on an App for the iPod that lets me fritter away time playing it without putting any real money at stake.

Great move.

I'm reminding myself of how relatively slow and naive I am when it comes to the game. With the iPod I'm being reminded of how I do have a hard time concentrating enough to instantaneously add the numbers and calculate the odds. It's a lot easier to have the computer prompt me to place a bet or make a decision than it is to have a dealer or the other people at a non-virtual table push me. At no cost (well, other than time and the $1.99 price) I find out how I really don't know the strategy of the game that well.

For $1.99 I can feel foolish in front of my computer screen rather than paying $50 or $60 to feel foolish for an hour at a casino.

I like gambling. I like playing the odds. But if I do so for real, it seems better to do it with real people I know at a cabin rather than with non-virtual strangers in a casino. Or, better yet, it should involve moving some plastic or wood playing pieces across a board and using dice to see who wins Karelia, the Cold War, or gets punished by the robber.