Ever seen the movie, The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen? Well, if you’re someone who likes movies, you should see this one. If you’re someone who likes poker, you should see it. In fact, if you’re someone who likes poker, likes movies, especially movies about poker, and you haven’t seen The Cincinnati Kid, what the hell is wrong with you?!

One of my favorite lines from the movie, or any movie for that matter, is when Cab Calloway’s character is involved in a poker hand with a mathematician type called ‘Doc’. Doc frequently bets his hand strongly and in one case takes a bad beat. Calloway asks him, “Why you always bettin’ out like that, anyways?” Doc, still in a bit of shock from the loss, says, “The bet was correct. He should not have called.” Calloway just looks at him and says, “Better get yourself a new book, Daddy.”

For me, that one line says it all, about poker and about life.

Better get yourself a new book, Daddy.

Every time some dreamy-eyed noob comes over with dreams of Geisha dancing in his head and hopes of getting some Shibuya girl into his bed, Better get yourself a new book, Daddy.

“I majored in Japanese in college. I passed the JLPT at level 1. But yesterday, I go into a coffee shop and order a latte in perfect Japanese, only to have the counter girl continuously reply to me in broken English. I mean, my Japanese was so much better than her English and…”
Better get yourself a new book, Daddy.

A friend of mine was sipping a cup of Starbucks while riding on the train and an old Japanese man sitting across from her leaned forward and said, in English, (I’ve corrected his speech here) “It’s bad manners to eat or drink on the train.” Meanwhile, two forty-something Japanese guys were standing down the aisle, one sipping a can of chu-hi, and the other a beer. My friend looked at the admonishing man, smiled, and apologized.
Better get yourself a new book, Daddy.

Works well in Japanese, too: オヤジ、新しい本取った方がいいんだぜ。

Originally posted at 7:10 to Tokyo

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