Life’s A Lot Like Poker…

Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.

I’m not sure I really regret any risk I’ve taken. I may regret the consequences or pain of the risk but not the risk itself.

Because what’s the alternative? Sit around and do nothing, always worried about “what if”? No thanks. I mean my mind does that enough with the anxiety disorders I deal with. I worry more about the risks I didn’t take because of fear. I worry about what could have been if only I’d risked more.

Every Action Has A Cost

The older I get, the more I realize that everything has a cost. There is no neutral action. Even inaction is action. Because life, like poker, has an ante (or blind).

You can fold every hand you get, conservatively protecting your stack of chips, waiting for that perfect hand.

But then you begin to become aware that your stack has been cut in half and you haven’t even played a single hand. Tournament style play is an even more accurate representation of life, where all players start with a certain amount of chips and once they run out, the player is eliminated.

In tournament play, just like in life, the ante (or in this case the blind) doesn’t stay the same. The blind is just the two forced bets that the two players to the left of the dealer must make before the cards are dealt. The big blind (the second player to the left of the dealer) places the full bet and the small blind (player directly to the left of the dealer) places half the full bet. The blind cost increases the longer the tournament runs in order to speed up play.

Play to Win or Lose by Default

If you wait for that perfect hand (assuming that it does eventually come) you’ll usually have very little to bet even if you go “all-in”. Even if the cards come out in your favor, the reward is minimal compared to the stacks everyone else has amassed. Even when things go as planned, you’re still in a poor position. You’re still able to be pushed around and bullied by those around you.

What usually happens, though, is that the perfect hand never comes. The blind ends up forcing you to put all your chips on the table in desperation even with a terrible hand. But even a little luck isn’t enough to get you back in the game because soon the blind comes back around to you. You have to get lucky multiple times in a row to even stay alive…that’s never a good place to be in. Most of the time you leave the table wishing you would have made a move earlier.

Your Time is Like A Stack of Poker Chips

Life is the same way. We all start out with a certain amount of time (and money). The older we get the more things cost because of inflation. The more time costs because of how little left we have to give up. It’s never too late to start, but it damn sure helps to start early.

Because life rarely gives us that perfect hand either. We have to kick and scratch and claw our way forward, often stumbling. Each time we stumble we get stronger and learn. We acquire “chips”. The person that waits to take any chances until they’re on the chopping block is going to get eaten by the sharks who’ve already gone through lots of stumbling and lots of learning. Even with the best idea, the best output, it’s going to be extremely tough to catch up.

Take As Many Calculated Risks As Possible

Of course you can play too loose too. You can take too many chances and end up out of the tournament early. You want to take calculated risks. Calculated risks often fail too, but at least you put yourself in the best position to win. The great thing about life, unlike poker, is that failures rarely knock you out of the game.

You may end up broke. You may end up wounded. But you’re still in the game. The risk wasn’t for nothing either. You’ve learned a valuable lesson on what to do or not to do next time. We should do our best to avoid paying for lessons we could’ve gotten for free, but sometimes, even those you have to learn the hard way.

So risk early and risk often. And pick yourself back up when you get knocked down. Because to risk nothing means to do nothing, and risking nothing means you end up having nothing. I don’t mean just monetary wealth either. You’ll end up old with no chips and a whole stack of regrets.

And Remember: “Fortune Favors The Bold.” – Virgil