By the time this issue of CardPlayer hits the racks all over the country,
Christmas and Hanukkah will be over, and the new century will only be
hours away. I hope you all had a great Christmas or Hanukkah and I
want to wish you all a very Happy New Year, Century, or Millenium. Or,
if you’re one of those people who say it’s really not a new century until
January 1, 2001, consider my greetings just a little bit early.
On a couple of trips to London, my wife and I took the tour of the city.
We were able to see all the sites that London had to offer. One of
those sites, a very celebrated one, is the changing of the guard at
Buckingham Palace. The whole process is done with much fan fare. It
reminds me somewhat of what I see happening with the changing of the
centuries. My local newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily News, has
counted down the event for the past few months.
There is also a big electrical sign that I see every time I go to play poker
in Los Angeles. This sign has been keeping track of the days, hours and
minutes, until the new millenium comes. I guess we all, to some degree
or other, have been anticipating the event. I remember as a grade
school student trying to figure out how old I would be when the year
2000 came. I thought it would never come. It seemed like an eternity
then, and now all of a sudden, here it is.
Maybe it’s just me, but now as I look back, it just seems like this century
went by too quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were at the
halfway point of the century, and the next thing I knew the last half is all
but gone.
A good friend of mine was telling me the other day how glad he was
going to be to see this century go. Naturally, I asked him why. He went
on to say that as a poker player, contrary to others who play by the
month or year, he played by the century. He went on to say that he had
a bad century. He started to relate to me all the bad beats he had
endured through the years. After a couple of bad beat stories, I
stopped him and explained that I didn’t have a whole lot of time. I
asked him if he could just give me the ones where there was a lot of
money at stake, and I assured him that I would take his word for the
rest.
After he was done, I tried to comfort him by telling him he had just had a
bad century. I went on to tell him it happens sometimes, and not to get
down. I assured him that a lot of good players I know ran bad in the
1900's. I noticed he began to perk up a little, so I went on tell him most
of the writers who write strategy say you should view poker as just one
long game. They are in essence saying you should play by the lifetime.
At this point, my friend seemed to be sitting quite a bit straighter and
definitely seemed to be much more alert.
I figured I was on a roll so I decided to use some amateur psychology on
him. I told him not to dwell on the past, but view this as an opportunity--
a chance to wipe the slate clean, forget about trying to get even for last
century, and concentrate on the new Millenium. This is a chance for a
fresh new beginning.
I think I succeeded in making him feel better because as I was leaving,
he told me I was probably right. He said he was going to reread every
poker book he had. He vowed to play better than ever next century.
My friend may have had somewhat of an unusual reason for wanting the
century to end, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought my
advice to him might not be bad advice for all of us. I guess what I mean
is that this might be the perfect time to make some resolutions that we
really “try” to keep. After all, think how neat it would be to say, “I
haven't went on tilt at the poker table this whole century.” Maybe
something like, “I haven’t thrown a card since the 1900’s.” Or maybe a
health related resolution such as, “I haven’t had a cigarette this
Millenium.”
The thing is, this could be the chance of a lifetime. You won’t have
another chance like this for another one hundred years.
For what it's worth ...
Christmas and Hanukkah will be over, and the new century will only be
hours away. I hope you all had a great Christmas or Hanukkah and I
want to wish you all a very Happy New Year, Century, or Millenium. Or,
if you’re one of those people who say it’s really not a new century until
January 1, 2001, consider my greetings just a little bit early.
On a couple of trips to London, my wife and I took the tour of the city.
We were able to see all the sites that London had to offer. One of
those sites, a very celebrated one, is the changing of the guard at
Buckingham Palace. The whole process is done with much fan fare. It
reminds me somewhat of what I see happening with the changing of the
centuries. My local newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily News, has
counted down the event for the past few months.
There is also a big electrical sign that I see every time I go to play poker
in Los Angeles. This sign has been keeping track of the days, hours and
minutes, until the new millenium comes. I guess we all, to some degree
or other, have been anticipating the event. I remember as a grade
school student trying to figure out how old I would be when the year
2000 came. I thought it would never come. It seemed like an eternity
then, and now all of a sudden, here it is.
Maybe it’s just me, but now as I look back, it just seems like this century
went by too quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were at the
halfway point of the century, and the next thing I knew the last half is all
but gone.
A good friend of mine was telling me the other day how glad he was
going to be to see this century go. Naturally, I asked him why. He went
on to say that as a poker player, contrary to others who play by the
month or year, he played by the century. He went on to say that he had
a bad century. He started to relate to me all the bad beats he had
endured through the years. After a couple of bad beat stories, I
stopped him and explained that I didn’t have a whole lot of time. I
asked him if he could just give me the ones where there was a lot of
money at stake, and I assured him that I would take his word for the
rest.
After he was done, I tried to comfort him by telling him he had just had a
bad century. I went on to tell him it happens sometimes, and not to get
down. I assured him that a lot of good players I know ran bad in the
1900's. I noticed he began to perk up a little, so I went on tell him most
of the writers who write strategy say you should view poker as just one
long game. They are in essence saying you should play by the lifetime.
At this point, my friend seemed to be sitting quite a bit straighter and
definitely seemed to be much more alert.
I figured I was on a roll so I decided to use some amateur psychology on
him. I told him not to dwell on the past, but view this as an opportunity--
a chance to wipe the slate clean, forget about trying to get even for last
century, and concentrate on the new Millenium. This is a chance for a
fresh new beginning.
I think I succeeded in making him feel better because as I was leaving,
he told me I was probably right. He said he was going to reread every
poker book he had. He vowed to play better than ever next century.
My friend may have had somewhat of an unusual reason for wanting the
century to end, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought my
advice to him might not be bad advice for all of us. I guess what I mean
is that this might be the perfect time to make some resolutions that we
really “try” to keep. After all, think how neat it would be to say, “I
haven't went on tilt at the poker table this whole century.” Maybe
something like, “I haven’t thrown a card since the 1900’s.” Or maybe a
health related resolution such as, “I haven’t had a cigarette this
Millenium.”
The thing is, this could be the chance of a lifetime. You won’t have
another chance like this for another one hundred years.
For what it's worth ...
Chance of a Lifetime
By Vince Burgio
By Vince Burgio
