Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian patriot and liberator. He was born in 1807 at Nice and died in 1882. His father being a poor fisherman, he received little education, and for a number of years was a sailor on various trading vessels. In 1834 he became a member of the 'Young Italy' party, and being condemned to death for his share in the schemes of Mazzini, escaped to Marseilles, took service in the fleet of the Bey of Tunis, and finally Went to South America. In the service of the Republic of RioGrande against the Brazilians he became known as a brilliant leader, and with his famous Italian legion he subsequently gave the Monte Videans such effective aid against Buenos Aires as to earn the title of 'hero of Monte Video.'
In 1848 he returned to Italy, raised a band of volunteers, and harassed the Austrians until the cessation of hostilities and re-establishment of Austrian supremacy in Lombardy. He then retired to Switzerland, but in the spring of 1849 proceeded to Rome to support Mazzini's republic.
He was appointed to command the forces, but the odds were overwhelming, and after a desperate defence of thirty days Garibaldi escaped from Rome with 4000 of his followers. In the course of his flight his wife Anita died from fatigue and privations. He reached the United States, and was for some years in command of a merchant vessel. He then purchased a part of the small island of Caprera, off the north coast of Sardinia, and made this his home for the rest of his life. Latterly the subscriptions of his admirers enabled him to become owner of the whole island.
In the war of 1859, in which Sardinia recovered Lombardy, Garibaldi and his Chasseurs of the Alps did splendid service; and on the revolt of the Sicilians in 1860 he crossed to the island, wrested it after a fierce struggle from the King of Naples, re-crossed to the mainland and occupied Naples, where he was proclaimed Dictator of the Two Sicilies. It was now feared that Garibaldi might prove untrue to his motto - Italy and Victor Emmanuel - but he readily acquiesced in the annexation of the Two Sicilies to Italy, and declining all honours retired to his island farm.
In 1862 he endeavoured to force the Roman question to a solution, and entered Calabria with a small following, but was taken prisoner at Aspromonte by the royal troops. He was soon released, however, and returned to Caprera. In 1864 he received an enthusiastic welcome in Britain. In 1866 he commanded a volunteer force against the Austrians in the Italian Tyrol, but failed to accomplish anything of consequence. Next year he attempted the liberation of Rome, but near Montana was defeated by the French and pontifical troops, and was again imprisoned by the Italian government, but soon pardoned and released.
In 1870 he gave his services to the French republican government against the Germans, and with his 20,000 men rendered valuable assistance in the south-east. At the end of the war he was elected a member of the French assembly, but speedily resigned his seat and returned to Caprera. Rome now became the capital of united Italy, and here in January, 1875, Garibaldi took his seat in the Italian parliament. The latter part of his life was spent quietly at Caprera. After 1870 he wrote two or three novels - very mediocre productions. Research Giuseppe Garibaldi
Hannibal or Annibal was a Carthaginian leader. He was born in 247 BC and died in 183 BC after taking poison to avoid capture by the Romans. He was the son of Hamilcar Barca, also a general and leader of the popular party amongst the Carthaginians. He was just nine years old when his father made him swear at the altar eternal hatred to the Romans. He grew up in hia father's camp in Spain, but returned to Carthage when his father fell in battle, in 229 BC.
At the age of twenty-two he returned to the army in Spain, then commanded by his brother-in-law Hasdrubal, and three years after, on the murder of Hasdrubal, received the chief command by acclamation. Hannibal now prepared to carry out his great designs against Rome.
His siege and capture of Saguntum, a city in alliance with Rome, led to a declaration of war from the Romans, who made preparations to carry on the war in Spain. But Hannibal, judging that Rome could be overthrown only in Italy, undertook his great march on Rome across the Pyrenees, the Rhone, and the Alps. He set out with 90,000 foot-soldiers, 40 elephants, and 12,000 horsemen. When he readied the northern foot of the Alps he still had 50,000 foot-soldiers, 9000 horse, and 37 elephants. When he arrived at the southern foot, after 15 days of incredible toils, his force had diminished to 20,000 foot-soldiers and 6000 horse. The point at which he crossed is generally believed to have been the Little St Bernard.
On the banks of the Ticino he first encountered a Roman army under Publius Scipio, and defeated it mainly by the superiority of his Numidian cavalry, 218 BC. Shortly after another Roman army, under Sempronius, was totally routed on the Trebia. After wintering in Cisalpine Gaul, Hannibal opened next year's campaign in 217 by defeating the Roman general Flaminius, whom he enticed into an ambush at Lake Thrasymenus. In this battle half the Roman army died, and the rest were taken prisoner.
Hannibal now marched into Apulia, spreading terror wherever he approached. Rome, in consternation, proclaimed Fabius Maximus dictator, who sagaciously resolved to hazard no more open battles, but exhaust the strength of the Carthaginians by delay. But for some time the wisdom of this policy was not understood by his countrymen, who, dissatisfied with his inactivity, appointed Minutius Felix his colleague. The result was that the latter was drawn into a battle by Hannibal, and would have died but for the aid of Fabius. After this the Roman generals avoided engagements, and Hannibal at this critical period saw his army wasting away in inactivity.
Next year, 216, however, the rashness of the new consul Terentius Varro gave Hannibal the last of his great victories. The battle was fought at Cannae, the Romans under Aemilius Paulus and Terentius Varro numbering more than 80,000 men, the Carthaginians about 50,000, and ended in a total defeat of the Romans, 40,000 or 50,000 of whom were killed and the rest scattered. Instead of marching on Rome, Hannibal now sought quarters in Capua, where luxurious living undermined the discipline and health of his troops.
The campaigns of 215, 214, and 213 were comparatively unimportant. While Hannibal was seizingTarentum in 212, Capua was invested by two Roman armies. To relieve Capua Hannibal marched on Rome, and actually appeared before its gates in 211, but the diversion remained fruitless, and Capua fell. In 207 a reinforcement tardily sent by the Carthaginians to Hannibal, under command of his brother Hasdrubal, was intercepted by the Romans and destroyed at the Metaurus. Hannibal now retired to Bruttium (the toe of Italy), where he still maintained the contest against overwhelming odds, until, in 203, he was recalled to defend his country, invaded by Scipio.
In Africa he was defeated by the Romans at Zama in 202 BC and the second Punic war ended, after a bloody contest of eighteen years, in Carthage having to accept the most humiliating conditions of peace. Hannibal now devoted himself as civil magistrate to restoring the resources of Carthage, and was working at reforms of administration and finance when the jealous Romans sent ambassadors to demand his surrender. He fled to the court of Antiochus of Syria, and offered his services for the war then commencing against the Romans. They were accepted, but Hannibal's advice for the conduct of the war was not followed, and he himself as commander of the Syrian fleet failed in an expedition against the Rhodians. In 190 BC Antiochus was forced to conclude a disgraceful peace with the Romans, one of the terms of which was that Hannibal should be delivered up. Hannibal, again obliged to flee, took refuge with Prusias, king of Bithynia, and is said to have gained several victories for Prusias against Eumenes, king of Pergamus, an ally of the Romans. But the Roman senate once more sent to demand the surrender of their inveterate enemy, and Hannibal, finding that Prusias could not protect him, took poison rather than fall into the hands of the Romans. Research Hannibal
The Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia was an engagement between the Union and Confederate forces on May the 6th, 1862. It was a nine hours' engagement between the rear columns of Magruder's army, retreating from Yorktown, and Hooker's division of McClellan's army, at the opening of the Peninsular campaign. Magruder had been reinforced from Johnston's army. Hooker had been sent in pursuit of the retreating Confederates, and he overtook them at Williamsburg. Longstreet's division had already passed the town, but returned. Hooker held his ground bravely, but was compelled to retreat before such odds. Research Battle of Williamsburg
Evolution, literally the act of unrolling or unfolding, is a term used in science and philosophy to indicate the development of an organism or organic entity towards greater differentiation of organs and functions, and, therefore, to a more complex and higher state of being. Thus, in astronomy, the nebular hypothesis, which regards the planetary bodies as evolved from nebular or gaseous matter, is an example of evolution. In geology, also, the old view which considered the animal and vegetable life of each geological period as a new and separate organic creation, has given place to the evolutionary theory of a process of development from earlier types to those of the later periods. But the evolution of the more complex from the more simple organisms does not necessarily, probably never does, exhibit a linear series of advances; thus of the protoplasm which represents the first stage of an animal's existence, part is set aside for one tissue, part for another; in the same way, on the theory of the origin of certain animal or vegetable forms from a common stock, some members of a group have manifested such modifications as render them permanently unlike their kindred of whom some may retain for a longer or shorter time their original characters, while others become specialized in other directions.
Evolution is a law whose operation is traceable throughout every department of nature. It may be equally well illustrated from the history of philosophy or the arts, or from the historical development of society. But it is in connection with the evolutionary theory of the origin of species that the principle of evolution has been most discussed, affirming, as it does, that all forms of life both in the animal and vegetable kingdom have been developed by continuous differentiation of organs and modifications of parts from one low form of life consisting of a minute cell. The steps by which this process has been accomplished and the causes which have been mainly at work in it form a department of research to which many notable scientists - Lamarck, St Hilaire, Meckel, Haeckel, Spencer, Darwin, Wallace, and others have contributed.
One of the greatest contributions to the theory of evolution in nature was the work of Charles Darwin (published in his book On the Origin of Species), in which he produced some of the strongest evidence in favour of evolution as an endless progression evolving higher species, genera, families, orders, classes, the infinitely varied forms being each adapted to the circumstances by which it is surrounded. A theory which over 100 years later and despite irrefutable evidence is condemned by Christian fundamentalists as blasphemy, arguing instead that the notion of evolution is at odds with the biblical theory of creation (creationism), the fundamentalists taking offence at the concept of man as a higher form of ape which has developed over millennia, rather than being created as a perfect form by a supernatural deity. Research Evolution
Step Lively is a musical comedy starring Frank Sinatra and George Murphy. It is the story of a playwright at odds with a theatre producer. Step Lively was directed by Tim Whelan. Research Step Lively
The Bells Of St Mary's is a musical starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman in a story about an easy-going priest called to assist a troubled school, where he finds himself at odds with the teaching methods. The Bells Of St Mary's was directed by Leo McCarey in 1945. Research The Bells Of St Mary's
In gambling, an accumulator bet a single bet which is linked on a number of other wagers, and the outcome is dependent on all the wagers winning. Odds for the accumulator are higher than those in a single bet, however they are below that of the true odds. The accumulator bet provides the gambler with a potentially high return for a relatively low stake, at an obviously reduced probability of realising a win. Research Accumulator Bet More information about Accumulator Bet
In 2007 a court in the United Kingdom ruled that poker is a game of chance. Quite obviously the judge who sat in judgement was not a poker player. Poker is not a game of chance. Poker is a game of skill. An element of chance exists in every poker round, and this presents a challenge to the players, but taken long term poker is a game of skill and a skilled player will win more than a random player relying upon chance. As such, it is possible to learn the skills required to win at poker, though not every single hand dealt to one.
To win at poker one must consistently do two things: win the most money and lose the least money. It is inevitable, especially in a variation such as Texas Hold Em where one is forced to bet irrespective of the hand dealt, that one is going to lose some hands due to the element of chance. It is therefore essential to minimise the amount that one loses. This is known as playing tight. One might think of it as being boring, or miserly or careful.
Winning the most money in a round of poker usually involves taking a risk, gambling. The most expert poker players gamble least often. One might even say, paradoxically, that great poker players don't gamble. If poker was simply a game of chance, it would be a case of gambling on every hand. Mathematically it has been calculated that relying upon chance, and playing wildly a player might, if lucky, win 40% of the time. This also means they will lose 60% of the time.
Popular are Texas Hold Em poker tournaments where players pay the same stake, receive the same quantity of counters - known as chips - and at the end of the tournament the stake money, perhaps minus a percentage taken by the venue, is paid out proportionately to the winners, the first player receiving the most money, second a smaller amount, third a smaller amount still and depending upon the size of the tournament other losing winners may also receive some money back. If one plays in such tournaments, it is only necessary to be among the winners to make money. Entering twenty tournaments, losing nine and coming first in one may make one feel good, but it is usually more profitable to be placed third in fifteen of the twenty tournaments and lose the other five.
In order to win a hand of poker it is essential to know the rank of the different hands, perhaps most common is for new players to forget that a full house out ranks a flush, or that a straight flush out ranks four of a kind. Pairs are often over valued. A pair of aces may appear very attractive, but it is out ranked by any two pairs, or three of a kind, straight, flush, full house &c. In short, a pair of aces is just a pair!
A lot is made of the mathematics of poker. Knowing and calculating the probabilities of communal cards being dealt which will join with your hand to provide a higher ranked hand. It is not necessary to be able to precisely calculate the odds, but a basic understanding of likelihood is beneficial. Given ten players at a table of Texas Hold Em, twenty cards from the 52 card deck will be dealt. It is quite likely that someone has been dealt at least one ace. If there are just five players at the table, ten cards will be dealt, and the likelihood of someone being dealt an ace is much lower (about 1 in 5). There are numerous tables published showing the odds on various poker hands, suffice to say the chance of drawing five cards straight from a deck and receiving a pair is 42% (about two in every five attempts), three of a kind is less likely at 2.11% (about one in every forty-seven attempts) and a full house has a probability of 0.14% (one in every 694 attempts). In Texas Hold Em these odds are reduced because each player has seven cards from which to make a hand of the five best, and full houses are considerably more common than the odds might imply. Remember also, probabilities are unaffected by what has gone before. One can sit all night and not draw a pair of aces, the likelihood of being dealt a pair of aces next hand is no more likely than it was for any other hand - luck may change, probabilities do not.
After the flop in Texas Jold Em, there are still two more communal cards to be dealt. These cards may assist a player's hand, the number of cards which can make a target hand are known as 'outs'. For example, if a player has a hand consisting of four suited and consecutive cards, there are fifteen cards remaining which can make either a straight or a flush. The likelihood of one of these fifteen cards being dealt after the flop, with two cards still to come, is very likely (0.8 to 1 in the player's favour). If the first card dealt doesn't make the hand, the river might still do it with odds of 2 to 1 against. By contrast, if a player has three of a kind, the chances of being dealt the fourth card after the flop with two cards still to come is very slim. There is just one out (only one card which can make the hand) and the odds of it being dealt are 22 to 1 against, reducing to 43 to 1 against if the turn does not deliver. Dave Scharf, a respected poker player and author, recommends 'when you have doubts, proceed with eight outs. Fold all the rest'. Meaning if you have doubts about your hand winning and there are less than eight cards which could be dealt to help your hand, then cut your losses and fold.
Bluff is often overstated in poker. Psychology is less talked about. Great poker players, known as foxes, know what their opponents have, and play accordingly. One famous poker player famously folded a pair of kings pre-flop when challenged to bet all-in by an opponent. After folding his opponent revealed his hand - he was holding a pair of aces. Bluff can be used in poker, and indeed should be used, but sparingly. Excessive bluff leads to wild play, and that leads to losing a lot of money. Better than bluff is to be able to read the body language of your opponents and gauge an idea of what they are holding. When a poker player views his hold cards, if those cards are high ranked he will frequently experience an adrenalin surge. This surge will frequently cause an involuntary physical reaction, perhaps a sharp intake of breath, a nervous twitch of the eyebrows, pumping of the knee, a smile. The reactions vary to each person, with great poker players suffering the fewest and least obvious reactions the least times. They 'stay cool'. Bluff involves convincing your opponents that you have a better hand than them, when you don't, so that they fold and allow you the pot. Bluffing is a gamble. If you know the opponents don't have a great hand, the chances of winning should they call your bluff are increased. If you know they have a great hand, and they will win if they call your bluff, then don't bluff. Lose as little as possible.
Poker is not about winning pots. It is about winning money. If poker was about winning pots one could simply bet aggressively - bet lots of chips - every hand and encourage the opponents to fold, thereby winning the pot, but without encouraging the opponents to contribute more to it. If, however, one has a very strong hand, then by allowing one's opponents to bet until the very end one can encourage the size of the pot to increase before winning it. The danger with this type of play, known as slow play, is that with cards yet to be dealt it is possible that an opponent may draw a better hand. The typical scenario is being dealt a pair of pocket aces. Before the flop you check, and then on the flop two kings appear. If one of your opponents is holding a king, they have immediately drawn a stronger hand than your two aces. It is a matter of judgement when to bet aggressively, and encourage opponents to fold, and when to play slowly and encourage opponents to bet. Inexperienced players are often amazed at how few hands good poker player play. But by folding your weak hands you are not losing any money, and your opponents are taking each other out.
Sometimes you will be unable to read your opponents body language. Playing on line for example. However, their manner of play may give you some idea as to their hand. A check call may indicate a weak hand, or may be a slow playing bluff. Similarly, a raise may indicate a strong hand, or may be a weak hand hoping to bluff the other players out of the pot. This is particularly likely if the player making the bet is late in the round, the dealer of the player to the dealer's right. At a table of ten players, if the player to the left of the big blind makes a strong bet it is likely that either: they have a strong hand, or they don't know how to play Texas Jold Em. A re-raise, however, is usually a sign of a strong hand or at least of confidence by the player. Be wary of feeling you have to call a re-raise because you have already bet so much. Better to lose what you have already bet, than to throw away even more. If a player is folding almost every hand, and suddenly bets heavily on a hand, it is fairly likely they are a tight player and have now drawn a strong hand.
Similarly, it is not uncommon for players to attempt to 'steal the blinds' by making a bluffing raise pre-flop. If one is the big blind then one is the last player to bet pre-flop and this is a strong position to be in. One can often steal the raise by simply counter-bluffing and re-raising the opponent.
Some basic principals of Texas Jold Em poker playing are:
You don't win money from good players, only from weak players.
Abbreviations
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