Luck has not been on my side lately. It started this weekend with a little trip we took to Wendover. Wendover is just across the Utah border and into Nevada. Not a bad trip. Only about one and a half hours of the most boring stretch of salt flats and nothingness you could ever see. Anyway, that’s not why we are here. We are here to talk about luck. Yep, luck. Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t. I know a lot of you hippies don’t believe in luck and say stuff like, “There is no such thing as luck, you are either good or you are not” or “I create my own luck through practice and self discipline.” Blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH!!! Life has so many twists, turns and nuances, that you cannot honestly believe there is no such thing as luck.
Enough about that, time for my lack of luck report. I was playing Texas Holdem for the first time at a limit table (the maximum raises are fixed, unlike no limit where you can bet it all if you want). My friends Dumas and ‘lipe accompanied me to the poker room and we were ready to win some money. They had schooled me in just about everything I needed to know for play in a real casino. What to watch out for, what rules I needed to follow and how to do pretty well when you are playing against a lot of people. I was doing very good to start out. I was disciplined on what hands I should play and when to play them (SKILL). I was also playing against some very loose players that also happened to be a little drunk (LUCK). I was losing more hands than I was winning, but the hands I did win were pretty big pots. The play continued through the wee hours of the morning, about three or four in the morning. I was up about $55 total, not bad for limit play and since I only started with $35. With a pretty big stack of $90 I was feeling proud of myself. It was about this time that my luck drastically changed. I started to get bored and tired (SKILL). This was the one thing that my friends forgot to warn me about and this little miss on their part, cost me in the long run (LUCK). When you get bored and tired you start playing more hands and are not as focused. I got taken to the cleaners and then went to bed. So, as you can see, skill does play a factor, but luck usually wins out. One lucky or unlucky turn can spell success or disaster.
Speaking of disaster, my beautiful wife was in a car accident yesterday (LUCK). She was rear ended by another guy who was talking on a cell phone and not paying attention. She is okay, but it messed up her car and she has some back soreness. Hopefully we will get enough money through the insurance to fix or buy her a new car (LUCK).
Well that is what happened to me over the last several days. See you later hippies and may luck and skill be with you.
- Dr. Worm
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Poker Loses to date: $35
