Are The Poker Gods Friendly?
December 6, 2007
When asked by a reporter something like :”What, in your opinion is the most important question facing humanity today?” Einstein thought for a bit then replied, “I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves.
“For if we decide that the universe is an unfriendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to achieve safety and power by creating bigger walls to keep out the unfriendliness and bigger weapons to destroy all that which is unfriendly�and I believe that we are getting to a place where technology is powerful enough that we may either completely isolate or destroy ourselves as well in this process.
“If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially ‘playing dice with the universe’, then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice and our lives have no real purpose or meaning.
“But if we decide that the universe is a friendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to create tools and models for understanding that universe. Because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives.”
I have the strange habit of searching through brilliant quotes from genius thinkers, and seeing how they apply to poker. Oddly enough many of these quotes fit perfectly when applied to poker, I guess that just goes to show how brilliant some people really are. Einstein’s “Is the universe a friendly place” is the perfect example.
When developing a productive mindset the first question you must answer is : “Are the poker god’s friendly?”
If you believe that they are unfriendly you will always have a mindset that someone is out to get you. In you’re head you will be the most unlucky person on the planet. When you lose it’s never going to be you’re fault, you will just be “running bad”. Instead of considering how to improve your play you will just consider yourself unlucky and move on to the next hand.
If they are neutral then we will constantly be at the mercy of the god’s shuffle of the deck. We will have no control of the outcome, with winners and losers being decided randomly. With no control we will just be treading water, hoping we are lucky enough to be on of the chosen winners.
However, if the poker gods are friendly the game becomes a true challenge where everyone has an equal chance to match wits, with the winners decided on merits. We can all compete in a game knowing that when all is said and done the decisions we make will determine how much we win. Instead of being favored on a whim the gods reward study, dedication, and determination. If the poker gods are friendly the game can be seen for the mental challenge that it is, and everyone can enjoy it for the stimulation it provides.
Sadly the majority of poker players believe that the poker gods are far from friendly. Most even go so far as to believe they accidentally slept with one of the god’s girlfriend and are being punished for all eternity. This leads to people throwing things when the lose a big pot, berating a casual player for a poor play, and allowing the swings of poker to affect their mood outside the game. If you think like this you will never truly be able to fully enjoy the game, and will never be able to meet your highest potential as a player.
Believing that the universe is a friendly place is going to improve your life, and cause a massive shift in how you think about poker. Most people can’t even fathom that poker can be enjoyable while you’re losing. It just eats them up inside until they become the bitter player bashing the guy who just plays for fun. Instead you can choose to believe that the gods are friendly and enjoy the competition and personal improvement that is necessary to grow as a player.
This type of thinking might be a little out there for a poker blog, but my philosophy is if it worked for Einstein why can’t it work for us?
