So, I made a blog.
Everyone on the internet seems to have one these days, but if you're reading this right now you've chosen mine over all of the other options available to you.
Thanks!
If you were to choose not to read this, I wouldn't blame you. Frankly, I probably wouldn't read your blog so why should I presume to be so special?
Many people do though, it has been my experience in my short life thus far that most people assume that God, fate, or some other higher being is constantly observing and altering the course of their life; that everything that happens to them is some sort of evaluation marking the approval of this higher power.
I do not lend much credence to this particular world view. If God had to monitor the activities of all people all the time, He would likely become very bored; for that matter, what would be the interest to Him if He controlled all activities in the world, it would be like playing "The Sims" with no free will from any of the characters, and empty and quickly tiresome charade.
It's not God, but fate, luck, you might contend. How can luck possibly exist? Every action happens as a direct result of some other, some actions can be quantified and some cannot, but it is impossible to argue that things happen independently of some cause. To that end, I believe as so many before me have that luck favors the prepared, the vigilant, who do not expect luck nor scorn fate but accept life.
If you have read for this long, you deserve an introduction. I am an avid poker player (degenerate gambler by some counts), a competive bowler and 21 years of age, at least according to many of the card rooms across the country. I have been playing poker since I discovered the joys of Internet Texas Hold 'Em when I was 14 years old, and have had a modicum of success since then playing in Las Vegas, Foxwoods, Turning Stone and the card rooms of Los Angeles. I do other things as well, but I do not feel the need to talk about them yet, I am sure that you do other things than read blogs and you can hold onto that information for as long as you desire. I start this blog as I stare at my ceiling unable to sleep, flush with a win from a card tournament, in an attempt to convey some of the life lessons that this game of "chance" has taught me and some of the stories that I have heard along my way.
One of the major sicknesses that I have come across while playing is the "neverwin" degenerate player, who will not be satisified on a subconcious level until they have lost whatever money they have alloted to playing, certainly more than they can afford to lose. This player has tasted success at some point in their career, from positive variance ("luck", if you will), and has been backed up against the wall looking for that feeling again. This particular player, feels that God, fate or what have you, owes them victory, that they are due, entitled, that the next turn of the card will finally give them what they have been searching for. This sort of degenerating cycle will always lead to the crushing realization (too late or otherwise) , that fate will not magically make them a break-even player, that luck does not overcome reality, but in that moment the prospect that they might get lucky is enough to sustain them and keep them coming back.
I do not know what experiences life has dealt these people to need to win, to need luck, and to dane to expect it to come to them, but I have always found a more solid foundation in what I can see and control. I believe that God is benevolent, I do not believe that the outcome of a game being played by one person at one table in one casino is enough to cause divine intervention. Luck is everpresent in the mentality of most people however, optimists believe everything will work for the best, pessimists hold their belief in Murphy's Law, nihilists believe in nothing but that belief (perhaps a stronger belief than any?)
But I digress, for most luck is what keeps them sane, so just look to the dealer and ask, "Red Cards, Please?"
Everyone on the internet seems to have one these days, but if you're reading this right now you've chosen mine over all of the other options available to you.
Thanks!
If you were to choose not to read this, I wouldn't blame you. Frankly, I probably wouldn't read your blog so why should I presume to be so special?
Many people do though, it has been my experience in my short life thus far that most people assume that God, fate, or some other higher being is constantly observing and altering the course of their life; that everything that happens to them is some sort of evaluation marking the approval of this higher power.
I do not lend much credence to this particular world view. If God had to monitor the activities of all people all the time, He would likely become very bored; for that matter, what would be the interest to Him if He controlled all activities in the world, it would be like playing "The Sims" with no free will from any of the characters, and empty and quickly tiresome charade.
It's not God, but fate, luck, you might contend. How can luck possibly exist? Every action happens as a direct result of some other, some actions can be quantified and some cannot, but it is impossible to argue that things happen independently of some cause. To that end, I believe as so many before me have that luck favors the prepared, the vigilant, who do not expect luck nor scorn fate but accept life.
If you have read for this long, you deserve an introduction. I am an avid poker player (degenerate gambler by some counts), a competive bowler and 21 years of age, at least according to many of the card rooms across the country. I have been playing poker since I discovered the joys of Internet Texas Hold 'Em when I was 14 years old, and have had a modicum of success since then playing in Las Vegas, Foxwoods, Turning Stone and the card rooms of Los Angeles. I do other things as well, but I do not feel the need to talk about them yet, I am sure that you do other things than read blogs and you can hold onto that information for as long as you desire. I start this blog as I stare at my ceiling unable to sleep, flush with a win from a card tournament, in an attempt to convey some of the life lessons that this game of "chance" has taught me and some of the stories that I have heard along my way.
One of the major sicknesses that I have come across while playing is the "neverwin" degenerate player, who will not be satisified on a subconcious level until they have lost whatever money they have alloted to playing, certainly more than they can afford to lose. This player has tasted success at some point in their career, from positive variance ("luck", if you will), and has been backed up against the wall looking for that feeling again. This particular player, feels that God, fate or what have you, owes them victory, that they are due, entitled, that the next turn of the card will finally give them what they have been searching for. This sort of degenerating cycle will always lead to the crushing realization (too late or otherwise) , that fate will not magically make them a break-even player, that luck does not overcome reality, but in that moment the prospect that they might get lucky is enough to sustain them and keep them coming back.
I do not know what experiences life has dealt these people to need to win, to need luck, and to dane to expect it to come to them, but I have always found a more solid foundation in what I can see and control. I believe that God is benevolent, I do not believe that the outcome of a game being played by one person at one table in one casino is enough to cause divine intervention. Luck is everpresent in the mentality of most people however, optimists believe everything will work for the best, pessimists hold their belief in Murphy's Law, nihilists believe in nothing but that belief (perhaps a stronger belief than any?)
But I digress, for most luck is what keeps them sane, so just look to the dealer and ask, "Red Cards, Please?"
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