Playing poker can make you feel like a God. But not when you win.
No, it starts to happen around 4 a.m. and you’re ready to leave the table. Even though you’re doing pretty well, you’re old and your leg has a piece of embedded shrapnel from fighting overseas wars; it always begins to ache if you stay up too late.
(I made up that last part, but that would be cool.)
Anyway, to leave a poker table you have to go “all in"--wager your entire mother lode against everyone at the table. Technically, you could win the entire game right there. What’s more likely to happen is that you lose your chips in a few simple rounds, giving you a graceful exit.
However, going “all in” is like a meteor striking Earth, causing upheavals and volcanoes and tidal waves. Nothing is the same afterwards. The next day, when you talk to the players, you realize that a lowly life form that had only a few chips to her name had risen from the muck to become the dominant species of the game--the ultimate winner. And someone who had enough chips to start his own financial empire was blasted from the evolutionary chain.
You are like a God, and all of your subjects regard you with appropriate emotions--awe, fear, gratitude, and revulsion. And it was all because you wished to effect a massive redistribution of wealth. Come to think of it, maybe you’re more like Ralph Nader.
Posted by Greg at 04:04 AM. Filed under:
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Ralph Nader is God? Losing that election isn’t making Him look so good.
so ... when’s the next poker night?
This happened to me literally three nights ago at my first ever poker game for money. Except my all-in “motherload” was just the last 75 cents I was about to lose. But I went from risking that last 75 to making it out of there with nine bucks. WHOO! (Ok, small bets, but that’s not the point.)
The point is, STOP SPYING ON ME. I’m kind of freaked out.
I had a similar experience in a Brisbane motel room a couple of weekends ago. I was busted and, actually, glad to be out as Cameron Diaz was jumping around in underwear on the television.
Well, one of the players insisted that I take a small loan to continue playing. I refused, she and the others insisted. I took a small loan (enough for one hand) and won. I repaid immmediately (w/interest) and went on to win the entire pot an hour or so later.
People need a god - even if he’d rather be watching bony chicks frolic.
Oh yeah, before I forget...downtown Brisbane is kind of charming but the outskirts are an ultimate wasteland.
Whilst playing Texas Hold’em, my opening flush got beaten by a last-card full house. Disgusted as I was, I played the next hand without even looking at my cards. Taking advantage of my madness, one player bet me up to the max. After we bet the River, he said “Can you beat two pair?” I answered “Don’t know, let me check.” and proceeded to turn over two cards that completed my own full house.
Fate is a reckless mistress.