I think most Men go through a stage where they decide to set up a poker night for their friends for a small amount of money. I guess that is now where I am in life, after being invited to a poker game with the local neighbourhood boys. The problem is...
I have never played poker.
Not a single hand.
Of course, I have seen it in movies where they talk about full-houses, flushes and pairs of aces - but that is the extent of my experience. Suffice to say, I am not Rainman. But I said yes to the evening, just to spend some time getting to know the guys a bit better and talk some crap (I assume), while they get frustrated trying to teach me the rules and tell me when it is my turn to fold.
I am great at folding. You should see our towel cabinet.
And I suspect that it would be useful to have a poker face, which I do not. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, but I don't spend a lot of time lying either. Which reminds me of something funny my wife said the other day when I was joking around with her.
"You are a terrible liar, your face gives you away."
Would you want me to be a great liar?"No."
I think this puts a dent in my poker abilities.
But my care factor is very low. Normally, I wouldn't do things I have so little understanding or experience with, but I decided to just "not care" and give it a go. The cost of failure is low, and the chance for having a bit of fun quite high. So the return on the investment is worth it. Not that I think about normal social interactions from an investment perspective personally, but since I am looking at this as an opportunity to grow myself a little, it makes sense in this context.
Poker used to be really popular in Finland when I first came here, especially online poker. It was popular everywhere of course, but they banned it here soon after because it was gambling, and gambling is fine - as long as it goes through the government monopoly. Some of my friends and clients were very good at the online poker, with one of my clients who was a well-paid engineer, doubling his salary every month through playing.
It did cost him his marriage though.
I am not a very good gambler.
I get how people can get addicted to it though, because it gives that opportunity for a massive dopamine hit. Yet, there are far more losers than winners and while everyone has a system, most people fail because their emotions get in the way of their system. They aren't playing the odds, they are playing their feelings. And this is what I am going to have to do tonight, because I don't know the odds. I just have to go with my untrained intuition in the hope that I get lucky enough, not to do anything stupid.
That is unlikely.
However, while I don't know how to play poker, I don't compete for much, and the sense of loss felt at the cost of a few euros here and there will have zero effect on me at all. Not because the money is nothing, but because I have become accustomed to losing far, far, far more than that over the years in crypto. Some will feel those pangs, just because they aren't used to losing, even if the money is meaningless. I can just wear it with a smile on my face.
I have that up my sleeve at least.
Taraz
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