Author’s note: When I originally wrote this more than a month ago, Jerry Ice could be counted on to post several times a month. Since I wrote this, he has largely disappeared. It’s possible he’s decided that commenting here is not a game he wants to play anymore — which would be a fine result so far as I’m concerned. I’m running this blog anyway in case that was not Jerry’s decision.
I’ve been writing and teaching for more than 30 years. My national “fame” started in the late 1990s when I began writing for the monthly magazines Strictly Slots and Casino Player which were both distributed for free in a number of casino hotel rooms around the country — in addition to people buying regular subscriptions. I’ve had a weekly blog, for various publications, almost continuously since then. I’ve participated in online video poker blogs periodically for longer than that.
For whatever reason, I have always attracted detractors. In each online forum where I’ve participated, there have usually been one or more people who take regular shots at me. At first, I started to respond to defend myself, but this often led to several people joining in — each one changing the argument slightly — and I learned quickly that I couldn’t win against this type of attack coming from several directions at once. So, I largely ignored it.
Surprisingly, to me at least, when I started the Gambling with an Edge radio show — which morphed into a podcast — people began criticizing me less. Which was fine with me.
I’ve been blogging on the Las Vegas Advisor website for more than a decade — and it provides a forum where readers can respond to my columns. And I have the tool, should I wish to use it, of removing any posts I choose to — for whatever reason.
So far there is only one person who is permanently banned from posting comments to my blogs. It took awhile for this situation to arise — and Anthony Curtis became involved in enforcing the ban — but so far, it’s holding.
Which brings me to the man, I assume, who posts under the name Jerry Ice 33. I’m going to refer to him as Jerry. I don’t know who he is — although it’s possible I know him under a different name.
Jerry regularly comments on my blogs — and a high percentage of his comments are derogatory towards me. He likes to say I’m cheap. He likes to tell us I treat Bonnie poorly. He’s made other negative comments as well. And he posts the same complaints over and over again.
Some of you have responded to Jerry, suggesting he lay off the criticism. While I appreciate the support, this forum is supposed to be about becoming more successful at gambling, and not a discussion of whether or not I’m a flawed human being. ( I plead guilty to being flawed — although I do think my frugality has been a major factor in my success, and I’m positive Bonnie thinks her life is working well and she is loved by me.)
While I can continue to ignore Jerry, I feel he’s becoming disruptive. My personal belief is that if he isn’t getting value from reading this blog, he should spend his time doing something else. Repeatedly and repetitively suggesting he’s not a Bob Dancer fan doesn’t improve the experience for anybody else who reads the blogs.
So, what shall I do? I’m asking you as a group and hoping many of you respond. Should I let him be or should I start removing negative posts from him? If I start removing negative posts and he continues anyway, I’ll talk to Anthony about permanently barring him from the site.
I’m not sure what kind of majority I’ll need in order to start removing his posts (if, indeed, there’s a majority at all). It’s possible Jerry could apologize and all will be forgiven — but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
So, what do you think?
Second author’s note: I recent came across Dan Ariely’s book, Misbelief: Why do Rational People Believe Irrational Things, which addresses the type of “Internet bullying” I went through — and to a lesser degree than before am still going through with Jerry. The book was eye-opening to me, but more complicated than I wished to summarize in an additional blog.
