The Meaning of "Black Friday"

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 25 November 2011 / Leave a Comment

The board from the New York Gold Room on which the fall in gold prices was recorded on September 24, 1869, a.k.a. "Black Friday"

In light of all of the human tragedies with which the phrase has been associated over the years, it seems almost indelicate to refer to a brief uptick in retail sales or the sudden loss of online poker as “Black Friday.”

It's the day after Thanksgiving here in the United States, a day often called "Black Friday." Most had yesterday off from work and spent the day with family, food, and football. Today many have a holiday from work as well. Thus have retailers opened early in order to entice customers to come begin their Christmas shopping. Of course, for online poker players the repeated use of the term is reminding us of something else -- Friday, April 15, 2011, the day the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed its indictment and civil complaint against the world's biggest sites, effectively throttling online poker in the U.S.

In other words, while the phrase may presently have positive connotations to retailers for whom "Black Friday" often represents the busiest day of the year, for many in the poker world it continues more than seven months later to represent that abrupt moment when their favorite game became virtually unavailable to them. For them, the "black" refers to a symbolic "death," although we know a rebirth of sorts is likely to come one day.

People have been talking about "Black Friday" since the 19th century, actually, with the many uses of the phrase just about always referencing sudden crises, violence, or death.

One early use of the term came in 1869 to refer to a financial crisis in which the U.S. gold market suddenly collapsed. During the Civil War, the U.S. had issued extra money on credit, promising to buy it back with gold afterwards. After leading the Union army to victory, Ulysses S. Grant eventually rode his popularity to the presidency, and like Andrew Johnson before him, he continued the government's policy of buying back the "greenbacks" with gold.

A couple of corrupt investors named James Fisk and Jay Gould began buying up gold, then successfully influenced Grant not to sell the government's gold, thereby helping the elevate the price. Finally Grant figured out what was happening and sold a large amount of government gold at once, causing the price to plunge rapidly on Friday, September 24, 1869 and sending investors into a panic as they all tried to sell their gold at once. (That photo above is of the board used in the New York Gold Room where the precipitous fall of the price of gold was chronicled.)

The phrase subsequently was used to refer to various calamities falling on Fridays, such as the Eyemouth disaster in Berwickshire, Scotland in which 189 fishermen died in an extraordinarily violent storm in on Friday, October 14, 1881. In Victoria, Australia an out-of-control bushfire claimed 71 lives on Friday, January 13, 1939, earning that day the nickname. And on Friday, February 9, 1945 the Allies attacked a German destroyer causing heavy casualties in a mission called the "Black Friday" raid.

A strike by set decorators in Hollywood later that year turned into a real-life riot involving hundreds on Friday, October 5, 1945, an event which came to be called "Hollywood Black Friday". The shooting deaths of individuals opposing the Shah's rule in Iran on Friday, September 8, 1978 created another Black Friday. As did a tornado in Edmonton, Canada on Friday, July 31, 1987 that killed 27 and destroyed 300 homes.

In light of all of these human tragedies with which the phrase has been associated, it seems almost indelicate to refer to a brief uptick in retail sales or the sudden loss of online poker as "Black Friday." Indeed, when the phrase first began to be used with reference to day-after-Thanksgiving shopping sprees, some retailers objected -- not so much out of respect for past tragedies, but because they didn't like the negative connotations the phrase tended to evoke.

After all, reminding consumers of sudden death or misfortune doesn't seem such a great way to advertise your one-day sale, does it?

In fact, when the phrase first started to be used with reference to the opening of the Christmas shopping season, it was not made by the retailers but rather the police who had to deal with the increased traffic and crowds. That use of the term began circulating in the '60s and '70s and became more prevalent over subsequent years, although it still primarily represented a reproach and nothing particularly favorable.

It wasn't until later that retailers were able to find a way to turn the phrase into a positive. When asked today what is meant by "Black Friday," many recite the fact that black ink is used in accounting ledgers to represent positive numbers or credits, while red denotes losses or deficits. Thus today is the day some retailers are said to move their totals "out of the red" and "into the black," even though for many the most profitable day won't come until just prior to Christmas.

Kind of contrived, really. But so is most advertising.

Meanwhile, online poker players in the United States continue to monitor the several Congressional hearings and other rumblings regarding possible state and/or federal legislation to license and regulate online poker.

We remember how the U.S. government's civil complaint against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UB and individuals associated with the sites sought a forfeiture of about $3 billion in assets altogether. And as we've come to learn in more detail, the U.S. government seized a number of accounts associated with the sites as well, although recent developments suggest the possibility that U.S. players may in some cases be returned some of that money (see "Tapie Group, Full Tilt Poker, and U.S. Dept. of Justice Strike Deal").

Meanwhile, arguments by legislators and others with an interest in creating an online poker industry in the U.S. often hinge on the revenue that could be created by taxation. For example, Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican from Texas who last summer proposed a bill to license and regulate online poker in the U.S. (H.R. 2366) has frequently stated that should his bill become law the U.S. could generate $3 billion annually in revenue -- i.e., roughly what is being sought in that civil complaint, but per year.

Most now understand how in order to create a new online poker industry in the U.S. that could be competitive, there had existed a need first to remove the big offshore players from the table (so to speak), a task efficiently realized on April 15, 2011 -- a.k.a., Black Friday.

Years from now when the history of online poker is written, perhaps the phrase "Black Friday" will have undergone a similar transformation of meaning as has happened in the retail industry, changing from a negative to a positive.

No longer referring to a tragic "death" of the online game in the U.S., rather the phrase may one day denote the day the U.S. government turned what had been a "losing" industry for them in which all possible gains had gone elsewhere into a profit-making "winner" -- moving out of the red and into the black.

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