Tuesday, July 10, 2007

A Poker Life

Art imitates life or is it life imitates art? Whatever the case, the way we live can be surmised in the following manner: When a peculiar situation presents itself to us, we can attempt react as if were in a game of poker.

1. We can fold: The chips are way stacked against us and we have a bad hand to begin with. Though it irks us heavily and we want to play, we know that any attempt by us will result in failure. Though I hate to give up, sometimes I must give in to the game that is played. There is no definite way out of the situation so it is better to leave the heavy hitting to the other players.

2. We can bluff: Even if we have crappy hands, we could swindle our way through the game and steal the table. That would require that the other players be not as confident or they have crappy hands as well. Since obviously we cannot determine what they have, this is a risky move. If you are caught bluffing, you will have people stacking the chips against you more then not. I find that I would rather not be in this situation because honestly, I cannot lie my ass off even if I wanted to save my own skin.

3. We can fast play our cards: Though this probably guarantees a win if by probability you have a confident hand, you might scare off other players from betting and therefore, there is no baiting leading to no earning real money. I call this the crash and burn scenario when I fall into a situation too fast and end up looking outside the walls of the dumpster; its like falling off the deep end blindfolded.

4. We can slow play the cards: This is the ideal situation for a poker player because you can earn more money and break the bank by baiting others into thinking you are betting the farm when in reality, the reverse is true. Ideally this is the situation I would like to be in where I am skeptical and objective enough to gather enough intel and make an informed decision. If I can reasonably make a educated guess on whether to fold or play, I will either leave the situation relatively unscathed or win big. Either way, its a win because I don't lose my sanity or I gain something good.

In the game of life, all these moves happen. The only thing that one must worry is if you can handle the consequences the result from the move you make.

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