Poker/Life/Happiness

I saw an interesting thing at the poker table I had never seen before. A young, conservative-looking fellow was about to sit down at the table, but before he did, he clutched a cross that was hanging around his neck, looked skyward, closed his eyes, kissed his icon and genuflected.

Did this guy serious think that the gods would favor him now that he blessed himself or whatever he did? Lets get something straight here. There are no poker gods. Nothing but probabilities determines winners in any given session and, in the long run, you need to know what you're doing if you want to come out ahead.

This is not to say that I eschew the spiritual. Absolutely not. Although I'm Jewish, I've always found myself most comfortable with the Buddhist approach. Peace and harmony must be found from within. All things go in cycles and are interconnected. Things are never too good or too bad. Moderation. Acceptance. Humbleness. Almost an indifference leads to true contentment.

Think of it this way. There are six important aspects of our life; (1) Relationships; (2) Our Health; (3) The health of those whom we love; (4) Career; (5) Financial; (6) Art (or hobbies, art and passions). Hardly ever, if ever, will all these parts of our life be going great at the same time. Some will go well, while other flounder. Even within each category, we'll have sub-aspects that are going well and sub-aspects that are hurtin'. Accept that this is how things are. Work on what needs working, but don't sweat the bad stuff.

For me, poker has been a tough road to hoe as of late. I'm feelin' like poor Utah in Vegas. I get kings, someones got aces. I hit a straight, someones got a higher straight. Sometimes it goes like that. Its the nature of probabilities. They are streaky. But if something isn't goin' well, consider it as an opportunity. The 'ol lemonade from lemons way of thinking. Now when I go to the poker room, I'm very focused on lowering my risk at the cost of winning a big hand. I'm practicing low risk poker. For example, instead of raising just enough to keep one caller in when I've got pocket aces, I now go all in. I'll take the small win during a cold spell. I'm workin' on the low risk gear. Keeping all gears in tip top shape will only help your game. Also, I take this opportunity to focus on bad streaks for a new course on my poker education site.

But as it so happens, one of my weak relationships has improved markedly. I don't think I did anything different (I may have without realizing it.), but things just suddenly got warmer and happier.

Also, as I mentioned in the last entry, my first business is close to being sold which would be a boost for my financial situation and for my career goals. I'll give you an update on this soon as the lawyer cloud drifts away.

I hope most of your six aspects are doing well.