12.30.10
The New Year – and POKER!
It’s that time of year again–good intentions abound with resolutions and new beginnings. It’s no different with the poker world. We think of it as a fresh start. “THIS is my year! My losing streak ended with last year, and this year I am in the money!” Or, maybe last year was a great year of poker for you, and you are afraid that the new year could change or affect your “good streak.”
I enjoyed one of the articles I read in the December issue of Card Player magazine. The author, Dusty Schmidt, talks about why poker qualifies as a “profession”, a job, a game of skill. He makes the great point that it is possible to intentionally lose a poker game. Unlike roulette, slots, or most other forms of gambling which depend solely on factors over which you have no control–the roll of the dice, the slots hitting–you can deliberately lose a game of poker because you can decide to fold the winning hand, you can decide to call when you know you are beat. Likewise, you can intentionally win in poker. That isn’t to say your decision changes the odds or that it is ALL under your control…but some of it is.
That’s my intention, my resolution, if you will. I intend to win. I will study, learn, practice, and then do my best to win–deliberately.
Let’s see if it works!
Happy New Year!
