Or Conquest And Domination
Mate, I’ll have an additional 37 grams of luck today if you don’t mind? No wait, better if I take that in milliliters if it is all the same to you gov’ner? Although, Blimey me, when it comes to ordering up a little bit of luck, I’ve got no idea the measure of a little bit. Come to think of it, asking you mate, makes no sense a’tall. Better off that I should Google up a little bit of luck. You can find anything you need on the Internet. A Little Bit on Luck
It was the middle of June and the World Series of Poker, held annually in Las Vegas, was in full swing. However, I was knocked out of the Sahara’s 11 pm poker tournament after paying down to the last three tables. I moved on to play in a cash game. A new game was opening and two pro players, apparently slumming it, joined the nickel no-limit game. It turned out that the two pros were intent on bullying their way to riches.
Next, If you are at all familiar with poker terminology, you probably know that information about another player can be perceived from their demeanor at the table, better known as a player’s tell. In addition, with a pathetic attempt of showing off, the pro setting across from me, passed his WSOP card to another player.
He made it obvious to the rest of the players that he was a pro poker player by showing the coveted card to only one guy. As it turned out, the other player was a card-carrying member as well. It was weird, as the game came to a halt to allow for the arrogant display of the two pros gloating about their self-importance. If it had been a home game, I would have remarked to the dealer, “Come on Jack, deal the cards. We came to play poker, not ogle these mugs.”
So, I am sitting in the big blind with 2/Q. Two callers and no one raised. I checked to see the flop. The flop came 2, Q,2. I made a four-unit raise. There was one caller, the pro sitting across from me, and the other player folded. The turn card was a 7. I bet out and the pro quickly called. The river card was an ace. I paused a second, grimaced, and checked the bet.
The pro pretended to need a second look at his cards, asked me how much I had in front me, (about 200 and he had to ask?) with a smirk, he said, “I put you all in.” He would have to of had pocket aces or queens to be me. I called the all in. I rolled the full house. The pro angrily threw his cards into the muck muttering something about dumb luck and a stupid blind squirrel.
Just dumb luck indeed! First of all, the pro disclosed a weakness, his ego, exposed by his feelings of self-importance earlier. There was no way my hand could have ever been behind unless I was facing pocket queens. Pro or not, five-dollar game or five-hundred-dollar game, it would have been a dumb play to give up the lead pre-flop with pocket queens.
With the ace on board at the river, it was too late to bully the hand. Everyone in the game was savvy to his ploy. He had overplayed weak hands from the start. Assuming that his act with the WSOP calling card had instilled credibility, turned out to be his Waterloo.
Winning the hand had nothing to do with luck. Setting the trap is what it’s all about. I hit the hand and that was that. Playing poker takes patience. Sometimes it pays off in the game, and sometimes all you do is wait. I played the hand well and lured the pro all the way into the river. Checking at the river was a risk, but only a risk of not winning more.
My check was betting he’d fall for my bluff of weakness and at least bet that I’d re-raise his ego and see how far I could get him to go. He easily fell into the trap with the lame act of asking how much I had left and putting me all in. Ego hates being outsmarted. Playing out of control emotionally is the number one reason to leave ego out of the game. Then, I recognized the weakness, all I had to do was wait for the right condition, and it was delivered.
I was not lucky and luck had nothing to do with my heightened awareness of the energy of the hand. I perceived the whisper at the flop. (bingo hand) I perceived the familiar feeling of winning energy that I had come to know with years of gaming.
Poker is a waiting game, laying traps, and pulling the trigger. Without a show of power pre-flop, my little full house had to be the best hand. If there was any luck involved, it landed in the pro’s lap as dumb luck. Playing his ego may have proven successful against average card players. Assuming convincing superiority with his WSOP act provided him with a learning experience.
True, in poker, you can certainly outplay another player, but in the end, at the showdown, the player can never be better than the cards. His bluffing and losing at the showdown did not make me the winner simply by being lucky. Luck is the excuse given to a winner’s commitment. I didn’t win by being lucky. I won with commitment and a skill for playing my hand. But most importantly, I had an advantage with my perception of a player’s energy, which I had come to know well during the game.
Metaphysically, it is a better to have confidence and take ownership in ability and skill, than to hand off your power to a whimsical chance of catching it luck. Confidence comes with consistency and commitment to your intended goal. It resides in a belief in the right time, right place, and right action.
Surrendering to a belief of luck, dictates fate is hinged to chance. It reminds me of the cliché; I’d rather be lucky than good. Really? As I introduced at the opening, how does one order up some luck? Consistent winning simply distills as just being lucky? Are you lucky enough to be that lucky?
Okay, I’m going to try to get out of this now, if I’m lucky. Back to the opening about ordering up a little bit of luck. In today’s world, it is like saying let’s run down to the blacksmith and get some…what the hell do you go to the blacksmith for these days? Well, whatever it is, it sure isn’t luck.
So, what’s the difference of going out to find a “luck-smith” for a little bit of luck and going out to find a blacksmith for a little bit of…? It doesn’t make sense. Luck does not reside in some place anymore than it resides with someone. Luck is not a commodity to be accessed like a bottle of aspirin for a headache.
The definition of luck: Luck is the explanation given to circumstances that cannot be explained logically, or in a tangible manner to be understood in a way that makes sense because it cannot be duplicated. A dictionary version goes something like; to prosper or have good fortune by chance.
If you think, by chance, that you will find a blacksmith before noon, good luck.
Copyright ©2015 Michael Vernon
Playing4keeps.com
