Scattered
The action that I've started, sometime I'll have to face. My influence in motion, rebounding back through space. - George Harrison, Simply Shady
Hola. Before I go on, let me first announce that I have arrived safely.
Feels like I've zonked in to another timezone yet again....gone are the days of pouring over B.S notes or poker nights at my place. sigh.
Oooh oooh! Brother got me a book on poker which i'm reading at the moment. interesting stuff. Did you know that a 5th suit of cards, called 'Eagle' was introduced in 1937 but never caught on? The reason for it was to force the public to buy new decks of cards. And you thought getting a flush was tough with 4 suits....
Was just thinking. Life is a lot like a game of poker. You can make no mistakes and still lose. You have to constantly balance between logic and intuition. I'm sure there are a lot more correlations that make sense. But I just spent the past 3 minutes trying to think of something smart to type that involves bullshitting, flushing, hearts, queens & kings etc but it's all been said somewhere and my 3 a.m brain can't think of anything original enough at the moment. Bah.
Other updates... I am on holiday. From now on, my life will be revolving around exercise-lots of badminton, gym and perhaps a bit of squash or tennis here and there, work- tutoring etc, dogs, books, television, old friends, parents, hopefully a bit of fishing, photography, music and a lot of missing.
There's a constant contradiction between what feels good and what feels right. I am currently trying to come to terms with the two. Next year, I will be less befuddled!!!
Happy holidays to all. May funky shiny Christmas deco make you happy.... wherever you are at.
posted by Lin @ 10:40 AM
4 Comments:
Life is like a deck of cards.....you never know what you're going to get.
I agree that life is a lot like a game of poker (I like your comment on a mixture of logic and intuition). You have winners and losers obviously. Some people who win don't deserve to and do so due to dumb luck whilst others keep getting outdrawn despite doing their best. All you can do is play the percentages and hope for the best.
For example, I have seen so many novice players play their favourite starting hands like 4/7 off suite then keep chasing the straight and justify it by saying they once won a huge pot with it. That may be true but if they keep doing that in the long run they lose. It's just like with life I think. I have decided therefore to place more emphasis on the collective experience (statistics and evidence) and less on personal experiences which frequently bias and cloud judgement. This I find can often lead to the chip on the shoulder syndrome. Pun unintended!
For example see the letter Pa recently replied to in the NST. Ok, that was probably the best analogy I could think of in the middle of clinic. Glad you like the book.
hello koki,
yesh... don't u hate it when ppl win due to dumb luck but like u said as with life, in the long run, dumb luck isn't very reliable!!! And at the end of it all, it's the cowboys with skill that are left standing!! :)
Btw, I found it quite amusing that one of the first tips in the poker book was: it is not wise to play under the influence of alcohol. Made me recall that time in Cork when Hollers went 'all-in' without even looking at his cards!!! Also, now I get it...or is it just a coincidence that Hollers or rather 'Hollywood' is named after... a poker term meaning delaying on purpose when it is your turn to act...!??!!
I am learning lots from zis book. Only slight problem I have with it is most of the advice targets high-ish limit games, with a table involving at least 10 players. Which would probably be a bit different to how I would normally play my low-ish limit games with an average of about 6 players. e.g on pg 107, he goes "you have a big pair,say a K-clubs and K-spades, and the flop is J-heart,9-hearts and 8-hearts." He says let it go. Would you? I mean... it's scary flushage potential, but i dunno... it's still a high pair. Then again, it's scary straightage potential too. Hmmmmmm. I guess all i'm saying is, i would probably not be as tight when it comes to smaller people numbers/smaller limit play.
Which brings me to an interesting observation. I notice that poker has a lot to do with putting yourself in other people's shoes. (am I stating the obvious?) I dunno, but I've noticed that selfish players seldom win, long term. (Another poker-life analogy?) I reckon a huge part of the game is about trying to figure out what someone else might be holding. I mean, it's hard not to just be engrossed with your own hand...
And chip off the old shoulder... hahahaha. I'll chip off your ass in a minute... (or up your ass?)
Ow.
-Baja
Hello Baja. The advice I think applies to all stakes games. The advice on kings is very good. The worst types of flops for aces or kings is the coordinated flop where straights and flushes are out there. So called 'ace-killers' (hands like J10 suited)will love those types of flops. So if you get bet into I think you have to really consider folding. Thinking about it, even if you hit your 3rd king on the turn it is 50-50 chance that king will be a heart almost certainly making someone a flush. Then you have to pray the river pairs the board for your full house. Not a good situation to be in you'll agree.
Last week I played in a large tournament (£20 buy in) at the casino. About two tables left I made a pot size raise with pocket jacks. Then a player who I identified as being tight reraised. I thought about it for awhile then folded and turned over my jacks. He turned over pocket kings and was fuming that I folded the jacks even though I could have afforded to call and set him all in. Everyone on the table was very impressed by that fold though. I went on to win the tournament and £1600. This I think illustrates very nicely your well made point about putting yourself in other peoples shoes. A 'selfish' player would have just instantly reraised all in I think. Poker is so about putting yourself in others shoes. What would you have done in that situation if you had a pair of kings and had played tight all night and was getting a bit short stacked? I think poker gives you a real insight into people.
We are playing tonight so I will tell Matt and Hollers about that tip in the book re:alcohol. Everybody here still has a laugh about the time Matt stole your burger!
Congratulations on your big win! I am too impressed with your fold. Sometimes I feel it takes more guts to fold a good hand than to raise. And remember what you told me... You never win with jacks!!!!
I laughed out loud remembering the burger incident!! Almost forgot about that!!
Have fun. Miss playing with the group. I will be poker-deprived for 2 months, until maybe Jan or Feb when u come back and you steal all my top trumps cards again... haha.
-baja
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