I was playing Poker just the other day when I had a HUGE epiphany. I’ll try to make this as un-jargon-y as possible for anyone that might have stumbled onto my first-ever blog post on Medium by happenstance.
It’s for all the poor folk out there who are a little like me in that they can’t help but indulge sometimes in a little toxic game called ‘comparison’ and its ugly brother ‘distraction’ — not being in the here and now.
It’s in your interest when you enter a Poker tournament to keep on top of things. To an extent, you want to have eyes on the table watching the action around you, and sizing up player behaviour, the cards, the odds, the stacks, the chips — essentially, there’s a lot to consider. So you have to be on your A game and always ‘on.’ You need focus — in other words, to be good.
But, then there’s also keeping an eye on what’s happening elsewhere. Assessing where you are in relation to other players ranking-wise, and keeping an eye on the blinds (bets that you MUST put into the pot, regardless of whether you’d like to — two players are obliged to do this every so often) because they increase in a tournament. So it’s especially important to know when to put in money, and bet, and when to not because you don’t want to fall behind, be too passive and blind-out of the tournament.
Poker favours aggressive play, but only at the right times. We often have to bide our time and wait for an opportune moment to play a profitable hand and increase our stack.
Well — looking at my position in relation to the other players of the tournament caused the epiphany.
While, it’s good to know your standing amongst other players — whether or not you’re on the bubble (the stage of a tournament where players get eliminated and everyone that’s left qualifies for a payout) — it shouldn’t really detract from the fundamentals and basics of the game.
And that is — playing your cards right.
And this applies to life, too.
If I get dealt a 9,2 and they’re not suited, like we can see in the picture above. I’m not playing that hand.
I can’t make a straight out of that hand (5 consecutive cards in ascending/descending order, for example: 6,7,8,9,10).
I can make a flush — although it wouldn’t be realistic (5 cards of the same suit, for example all hearts).
But, neither card is particularly strong — I don’t have a pair (a made-hand). I don’t have a premium/high-card like an Ace, or a King…
It’s 99 times out of 100 — a fold.
So, it got me thinking.
Whilst it’s good to have your eye on what’s happening elsewhere. It should never take away from your cards in that given moment.
Seeing that I’m currently 4,000th of 5,000 players should not will me or encourage me or fire me up to a play a dud hand like 9,2 and risk losing the whole tournament just because I have that pressure of bettering my position.
Poker’s very much a patience game, not unlike life.
As long as you play ABC Poker (what the professionals like to call statistically-sound Poker) and play the cards that you know will likely net you wins from the table, then you’re well on your way to 1st — whether that takes an hour if you get lucky with some cards or 10 hours.
It got me thinking about my own life and how often I look at peers of mine, or of accomplished people on LinkedIn or even heroes and inspirational figures and how often I get so down on myself that I’m here and not there.
But it’s one step at a time — one hand at a time.
And all we have to do is make sure we capitalise on those times we get dealt those Ace’s and not a 9,2 off-suit.
A final note…
Luck. Luck plays a huge part in life and sometimes life can just be unfair. And I think we need to lean into that more, just as a society on the whole.
I am partial to hustling. And I get that nothing comes unless you work at something. But sometimes, the better man will lose and that’s just a fact of life.
At one point in this tournament, I was up against the wall.
I didn’t have many chips left, and the only statistically-sound option for me was to risk it all, and put it all-on-the line.
I was dealt QQ, two ladies — the Queen’s — and I had two players raise bets before me. I was ecstatic. There was a lot of money in the pot before I even got to make a decision and I knew already what had to happen.
I had about 30,000 chips, and the players before me had something in the region of 90,000. Their raise was 7,000. A drop in the ocean to them, but for me — pretty much a 1/4 of my stack. If I was giving up a 1/4 of my stack, then I may as well risk it all and put it all in.
See — for those reading who don’t play poker — although we want action, and as many chips as possible. It’s best to also mitigate risk and not have too many people play against you. The more active cards there are, the more chances you’ll lose.
I reasoned with myself — this is the best play possible. I stand to double-up my stack and I have a top 3 hand, just behind AA and KK. QQ comes 3rd… and I’m pretty sure AK comes behind that because AK isn’t a made-hand yet. With QQ, I already have a pair.
I get a caller.
He turns over KK. Of the only two possible hands that could beat me… he had one of them.
I was content with my decision. I’d weighed everything up and it was an all or nothing moment. Sometimes you’ve got to take a chance. Alas, I was crashing out of the tournament. But it was either this, or keep getting dealt bad hands and folding.
5 cards were due to come out. And the only way I’d win is if I saw a Queen — of which, there are obviously only 2 left in the deck.
The last card — I s**t you not… was a Queen. And just like that, my fears were dashed — I doubled up. And the better man who had King’s — his stack was decimated.
I legitimately stared in disbelief and said to myself ‘wow, that is sick.’ I felt bad for the guy. Poker is a gambling game, but by all accounts I shouldn’t still have been there at that table.
All this to say…
An employer will hire someone over you — someone less fit for your dream job.
Someone that you love may treat you poorly or leave you for someone else.
There are countless things that shouldn’t happen… but will.
Play your cards. Keep your head up. And savour those lucky moments. And be patient.