Since moving to LA I've started doing something I haven't done since I was a small child - playing poker. Things are a little different since I took up the game as a six year old in the green room the high school theater. For one, I've started playing for money. Not much, no more than $10 a night, but enough for it to feel like proper gambling.
The problem is, I know as little about the game now as I did then. My strategy basically breaks down to: hold onto any face cards I may have and go all in if I see any cards on the table that match. I have yet to win a game of poker.
Tonight, I was quite impressed by just how bad a player I am. We were playing Texas Hold 'Em. I had a five and a king. On the table were three other fives. The betting was getting pretty intense. All cards had been revealed, but the bets were still going up. I looked at my cards, and looked at the cards on the table. The best hand the other players could have had was a full house. I only had four 5s. Given the tenor of the bets, I knew someone had the full house. As the full house would beat my four-of-a-kind, I folded.
The only problem is: Four of a Kind beats a Full House!!!
I didn't know this at the time, if I had, I would have gone all in. I managed to claw defeat from the jaws of victory.
The moral of the story: before you start gambling where something real is at stake (money, job, relationship, etc) - make sure you know what winning looks like. If you don't, you might fail to see that success is within your grasp, give up, and lose everything.
Alternate moral of the story: ensure that every game of poker you play is worth the amount you are betting in entertainment value alone. More likely than not you'll lose, so be okay with that.
Moral #3: If you want an easy 10 bucks, challenge me to a friendly poker game.
2 comments:
Very sound advice.
I like this.
Thanks Louise.
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