15th May, 2008

Life Or Something Like It (The Poker Tournament)

I like to think that life is like a poker tournament.

You enter into a tournament. You get your first hand. You must now choose what to bet.
You're born with strengths and weaknesses. Your parents must choose how much they are willing to spend on you. In other words, what schools you go to, what kind of clothes you'll where, and what toys you'll have.

Some people are born into rich families... kinda like a flush. Others are born into a poor family... kinda like a pair. I guess its the luck of the draw.

So you start with school. Now, you choose whether to work hard and get the best grades you can, or to waste your time, your teachers and your parents money. Imagine being dealt a four of a kind and folding.

When you finish your education, you enter the working world. Again, this is he luck of the draw. Some people get given an opportunity to make a fortune. Consider having been dealt a king, queen, ten, and jack of the same suit. The chances are extremely high that you'll score a royal flush. Even an idiot wouldn't throw that hand away.
Some people have to create the opportunity for themselves. Consider being dealt one ace. The ideal play, assuming your other cards aren't related to each other, is to draw four. This gives you a 4 in 47 chance of drawing at least one other ace. If you don't draw any aces, you could always bluff your way through. All in all, what one does with one's hand, is more important than the hand itself.

At some stage, the game has to end. If you've had plenty of luck, and you've played well... you will come out well. If didn't have much luck, but you still played well, you should come out well. If you've had plenty of luck, but you didn't play well, you'll come out at a loss. And if you didn't have much luck, and you played badly, you'll also come out with a loss.

Sometimes people cheat. Maybe they engage in tax evasion, or they start selling illegal substances. Sometimes they get caught, sometimes they don't. So too, do people cheat in poker games. I know of one personally. I won't mention their name, but nobody wanted to play with him for long.

Conclusion:
We need to learn to focus on the good cards, not the bad cards. We need to learn, not to rely too heavily on luck. We need to learn to create opportunities for ourselves. Remember, when Maverick started with a hand of only one useful card, and his opponent had a straight? Maverick didn't give up. He bravely placed his bet, and drew four new cards. Both players placed bets until they were all in. His opponent sure of victory, turned over his cards and laughed. Then Maverick turned over his cards. He had a royal flush. The highest possible hand. He walked away with half a million dollars that day.

Life is about taking risks. My advice, take them while you're still young.