I never pegged myself as a typical poker player. Fact of the matter is that I didn’t think I got the nerves for it. If it is true that poker more than anything is about the ability to stay cool and observe the other players, then I am as good as gone.
Nevertheless, the time has come to dust off that ol’ deck of mine and try to learn a thing or two about poker. If nothing else then it could be a good lesson when it comes to reading people. So let’s gather what I know for a fact:
There are 52 cards in a deck. Aces are, at most times, good. Now I just need to learn the rest.
That can be done at Chilipoker.com, but I doubt that I have the terminology to grasp any advanced rules. Maybe I should rely on the beginner’s luck and head straight for the tables instead.

I do have experience in playing Yahtzee. I admit that there are no cards involved, but you still got your full houses, straights, chances and so on. I don’t think it would hurt to play one more round of it, just to get the basics down and to avoid embarrassing my company at any casino. There is more than one way to play poker, even though Texas Hold’em is generally favoured. It is probably Texas Hold’em at an online poker site that I’d go for, considering how convenient it is pridewise to start anonymously.

Even though I wouldn’t walk away from the money, I am more curious about the social part of it. Gambling is as old as storytelling or firemaking - god knows how many friendships and feuds it has resulted in over the decades. I guess that at a certain point you know the technique so well that you can start paying some real attention to the others at the table. It is said that everyone has their giveaways. Without having a clue what mine would be, it would be interesting to try to detect differences in the other players behaviour and learn how to use it to one’s advantage. Once you could, you’d have a real upper hand.

Until then I’ll try to remember that having all cards in red isn’t something that will bring the big bucks in. Chilipoker, here I come.

“You can’t lose what you don’t put in the middle”, Mike McDermott says in the ‘90s poker flick Rounders. “But you can’t win much either.”

These words neatly sum up the agony and jubilation of poker playing. Actually, they kind of sum up the conditions for living in general. You’ve got to give a little to get a little.
Of course, in the harsh world of poker, it can extend to losing so much money that you’ll be in debt ‘til your dying day, as well as it can extend to you leading the slick life of a multi millionaire.
I don’t think I will ever do either. I am a shy better, a so-so poker player and I have no real illusions of grandeur. However, I am fascinated by the phenomenon as such. Since 1970, three men have won the World Series of Poker Championship twice each. A fourth man has won it three times. Why is that?

How, on a planet full of poker players covering all ages and nationalities, is it possible that the same guy can end up with the championship even two times?

At some point, I think you have to forget about the luck part. Obviously, all gambling is about luck or chance to a certain extent. But there is a whole other side to it too, that I find worth exploring. Being a top notch poker player isn’t just about mastering all the techniques.
Far from it. In addition to being skilled at the game I reckon that you have to have quite a sharp sense for math in order to calculate the odds. You have to be able to read even the slightest change in another players expression and you need to have a killer memory. You need to be bold enough to improvise, yet controlled enough to not get careless. And if you have dodged all the other pitfalls, then you still have the lifestyle issue to deal with. In the world of professional poker playing, there is undeniably some drinking going on. Late nights and the need to stay focused might call for something even stronger. Stu Ungar, who according to most people is the undefeated champion, died already at the age of 45 from heavy drug abuse.

Nonetheless, I think that poker can be a fun and rewarding pleasure. As a matter of a fact, I’ll devote this blog to looking into it. Welcome.