I wasted a shitload (100 assloads = 10 shitloads = 1 fuckload) of time as a young whippersnapper (it’s my dream to get called a whippersnapper just one more time) playing poker. In middle school, high school, and the first half of college I played every poker game known to man at least once. It’s an arguable point, but a pair of aces in your hand in Texas Hold’Em before the flop is probably the most powerful betting position you can be in when you’re playing poker. In other words the last thing you should do is fold (throw them away).
But I read an old poker book by Doyle Brunson or somebody that said you’re not a real poker player until you fold pocket aces at least once. Because after that, you’ll be able to let go of any hand at any time if you should get out of it. I ended up doing it in college at a casino I went to all the time. When I did it, I showed them to the guy sitting next to me who called me “his nemesis” because I beat him all the time. I’ll never forget the look he gave me when he saw I was throwing away pocket aces. I knew he’d never have the edge on me after that.
At the core of it is the idea that you are bigger, badder, and better than everything. You don’t need lady luck, because you’re going to win anyway. You’re not grateful for every break you get, you know that you deserve them. If anything, luck should be grateful just to be in your presence. If you believe this to the core, nothing will shock you or take you by surprise. Setbacks are just scenic routes to success and luck is when you find the shortcut. No matter what happens, you’re getting there.
Things in life similar to folding pocket aces are: quitting a great job, dumping a great girlfriend, moving away from a great place, leaving a great party, and throwing away a winning lottery ticket. None of them are logical, but you do it to remind yourself that you’re in control.
And remember, when you fold pocket aces, make sure you show them to somebody.
11 Comments
July 18, 2008 at 8:36 am
[...] iwantleave wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI wasted a shitload (100 assloads = 10 shitloads = 1 fuckload) of time as a young whippersnapper (it’s my dream to get called a whippersnapper just one more time) playing poker. In middle school, high school, and the first half of … [...]
July 18, 2008 at 9:02 am
[...] Talk to the author know. [...]
July 18, 2008 at 9:24 am
[...] PokerPlayer wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBut I read an old poker book by Doyle Brunson or somebody that said you’re not a real poker player until you fold pocket aces at least once. Because after that, you’ll be able to let go of any hand at any time if you should get out of … [...]
July 20, 2008 at 4:09 pm
You told me this story before and I still don’t believe it… But your end point:
“Things in life similar to folding pocket aces are: quitting a great job, dumping a great girlfriend, moving away from a great place, leaving a great party, and throwing away a winning lottery ticket. None of them are logical, but you do it to remind yourself that you’re in control.”
Well… That’s genius hero.
July 21, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Well clearly I think this is insane. But I wish that I didn’t. You do things because you believe them and not because other people get it. Again insanity (part of the definition actually)…but the kind that makes you feel alive. And what’s more important than that? Martini Mondays….a necessary advent to every week.
July 22, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Agreed, skeptical about the pocket aces, but the end point is beautiful indeed. Well done.
July 23, 2008 at 7:59 am
“And I’ve never been so alone, and I’ve, never been so alive”
That pretty much sums it up in that song right there. To the guy who emailed me asking about how to be able to let go in a relationship: read this post, I think it pretty much explains how and why you can do it.
And the story is true, I was playing 5-10 limit at Turning Stone. And yes, Martini Mondays are the shiznit. There’s really no reason I won’t be a regular.
July 25, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Oh yea? Can you give up sex for 10 years? Can you control your desires including your eating habits? I doubt it. Keep trying.
July 31, 2008 at 2:00 am
those are such boring conversion factors. i’m disappointed in you.
shitloads are not metric units.
July 31, 2008 at 8:32 am
i felt like the metric fucktonne was overplayed
July 31, 2008 at 1:35 pm
you didn’t throw these away before the flop, did you?