#pokerdealing

So this weekend is Rock the Universe, I haven't ever really been to one. I remember youth group back at my HS going frequently and I didn't really opt to go. I suppose the closest thing to this would be Grad Night when I saw the band "Yellowcard" and other bands in concert. It wasn't Christian band focused but it was a lot of fun to do that combo of bands and fun rides. This should be even sweeter because Islands of Adventure has fantastic roller coasters and the bands showing up to Universal include the likes of Casting Crowns, Jesus Culture, and Tenth Avenue North to name some of the more prominent examples. Need I say more? The only thing that could possibly make this more perfect for me would be if Skillet was at Rock the Universe instead of Night of Joy, haha. That would just be over the top, but anyway suffice it to say it should be a ton of fun and the company are a bunch of new friends from Church so I am sure it will be a blast.

As far as exercise goes I have been consistently doing something every day, yesterday I did 20 minutes straight on the elliptical which was quite intriguing to me. I was doing sets of 5-7 minutes and all of a sudden I could do 20 minutes without interruption. I am down to that last target threshold I spoke about in my prior entry, down to 199.5 just under the 200 mark (borrowed the scale at my grandmother's house, I don't have one handy here). More motivation to visit her and get that extra information on where I stand in goals. So my next target is 175-185 which is my ideal weight I think given my frame and height. BMI is not completely accurate. Technically at 175 being 5'10 I would still be overweight by a decimal. Clearly there are even Olympic caliber athletes who have probably little to no body fat and would read obese on it. Anyways in consideration of my frame, personal preferences, and desire to gain some muscle without becoming a slave to the gym - I figure in the end that 175-185 zone will be my sweet spot.

Still intend to audition as a Poker Dealer soon, I have still been practicing my scrambling, squaring, riffling, pitch, mentally figuring rakes for common bet sizing, hand reading with kickers (although I have been minimizing this since it's second nature from being a player so many years), and polishing being able to deal some of the less common games. I can now comfortably deal Texas Hold Em Limit/NL, Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi/Lo, and 7Card Stud. There are a few more exotic games that I don't know how to deal in precise terms, but I am aware of how they're basically played such as Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw (NL), etc... These are very rare to see spread in South Florida, I actually believe I have never once seen them down here. With that said it's always nice to know as many games as possible so that you are qualified to deal as the trends dictate. Today Texas Hold Em is still the "Cadillac of Poker", but tomorrow it could be another game. I think this opportunity, if God wills for me to get the job, will come in handy and will give me some very relevant job experience in relation to my fields of study. I will go back and finish my BA at some point, there's no doubt in my mind, but I think this could be a very convenient position for me at this time. God willing it will all fall through smoothly and I will do well in my audition when the time comes.

I haven't been playing as much Poker, I went on a minor downswing in the game and have not really built up any momentum again. So my hourly got knocked down from $4/hr at around 520 hours to $3/hr at 524.9. Haven't had my premium hands connect well with boards and been running dry on high hands as well. Given the rake structure of low limit games you need to win a high hand once in a while to stay profitable. I don't want to risk a significant portion of my bankroll at 1/2 NL stakes, so I have been playing much less. Still up $2,037 over those 524.9 hours since I started tracking but I am down $278 on this year specifically. No complaints, I still feel like I have been playing well but the truth is at the 2/4 limit level you're mainly there for entertainment. A winning player can be essentially breaking even in monetary terms. Even analyzing this year on it's own I have played 227.9 hours over 9 months, and because of recent losses it averages out to -$1/hr. For $1 per hour, in a game where I could be winning as well, I see it as a friendly cost for entertainment still looking at it objectively. Since it is only a hobby for me I can play or discontinue playing at anytime, so when I go on a downswing I just basically step back and play less. These are my net results, but if you include tips I am a way bigger winner. Of course tipping dealers isn't included in my profits as that would be dishonest, and tips entail an aspect of playing that keeps the games going. If dealers did not get tipped, they would not function on their base pay. The gross income (pretipping profits) is technically 3,978. So my net income is 2,037. That means I have tipped dealers $1,941 over the last 2 1/2 years or so that I have begun tracking my results. If I become a Poker dealer a piece of that pie may come back to me, but we'll see what materializes in the near future.

In the Christian community gambling and even Poker may sometimes hold a negative connotation. I have written extensively on why I think it's not intrinsically sinful to play Poker. Gambling is a bit more unfavorable in the sense that you're spending money that could be used for greater purposes like donating to the poor or helping local ministry. Poker may be used by some as a vehicle to gamble, but it is a beatable game in the long run depending on what limits you play, your discipline, bankroll management, game strategy, and approach to the game. Suffice it to say even a losing player can budget an entertainment fund to enjoy the game responsibly and minimize his losses while they enjoy some leisure activity. In the end if you are predisposed to compulsive gambling or aren't a big fan of card games I would not recommend playing. I would also recommend staying away from it if you are struggling with issues of greed or covetousness. The truth is that if you have these vulnerabilities Poker could open the door to problems in your finances or emotional life.

On the flip side of that coin there are many positive things Poker brings to the table that go unnoticed. You learn about people in a social environment. We're often functioning on social media behind our computers, tablets, phones, and laptops. Poker gives you an opportunity to interact with people of a diverse range of ages and socialize within the context of the game. You get to meet people of all sorts of different political, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds that are all essentially drawn together by their enjoyment of this passtime. If you are a student of the game you also receive the intellectual challenge of trying to improve your strategy by analyzing the way you play your hands and battling wits with people. The money that you put on the table should never be more than what you could afford to lose comfortably. You have to approach it win or lose, that if you've made the best decisions within your gameplan/strategy, you have to detach yourself in a practical sense from the results.

If you are too focused on the results this is called being results oriented. Often times you'll see some people wish they had played a hand to the river because they would have won the hand, when in reality they made the perfectly sound decision of having folded their hand when they held something mediocre. Without getting too far on left field in a strategic sense, just be happy with the decisions that you executed properly in light of the knowledge of the game you hold and what appeared your best choice given the information at your disposal. Don't detach yourself so far from the results that you lose accountability. The money might be a means of keeping score to whoever is playing, but if you actually need that money for day to day expenses you have no business sitting down at a table with it. Discipline yourself or stay away from the game if you cannot control it.

Other benefits of poker that seasoned poker players experience the fruits of include understanding how people think/reason, learning about body language, learning about personalities, and learning how to both win and lose gracefully. It is noteworthy to mention some people don't care to learn these things, but if you care to learn them you will be given a situation where you may most certainly polish these skills over time.

The monetary benefits to a winning player are favorable, but I suggest treating it as a hobby if anything for the majority of people. I know a few success stories, but for every one of those personal acquaintances I hold there are likely hundreds that tried a similar approach and failed. These people just had the very rare combination of skills and desires necessary to make it as a professional Poker player. The skill set is rare to combine into 1 person because the skills are often times diametrically opposed to one another. For instance if you are risk averse you cannot handle the volatility, but if you risk too much you don't have the discipline or managerial skills necessary to succeed. In the end you need to have a personality that manages the risk responsibly, but still isn't afraid of going through the upswings and downswings that are a natural part of the game. You need to have a high emotional tolerance and detach yourself from emotion in terms of decision making. You need to be a lifelong student of the game, and you need to spend countless hours grinding/playing the game in live and/or online environments. You need to be able to analyze statistics, interpret how the results should impact your decision-making and tailor these strategies to exploit the tendencies of your opponents. It sounds like a cutthroat world, and that's because it is. If you treat poker as a living it takes a very rare individual to succeed. So for every 1 Phil Ivey or successful poker player there are hundreds if not thousands that failed. This shouldn't serve to discourage you, it should just serve to enlighten you that playing isn't a wise career move for most people. All it means is that the game should be viewed with respect and each person has to assess for themselves if they even want to play, let alone make it a hobby, or treat it more seriously.

The game deceptively makes you feel like you're superior to most other players, or at least above average. It is an asset to be honest in assessing your own skills or aptitude for poker (as it is with almost any other life endeavor). You need to be honest with yourself with what leaks you have in your game and plug those leaks with new found experience and knowledge. Don't let the allure of the game make you think you're God's gift to the Poker world, one of the things the Bible is clear is that pride comes before falls. When your ego and pride exceed your abilities, the game has a propensity to humble you real quick if you don't keep it all in perspective.

There are pros and cons to Poker just like most other areas, depending on your approach and personal opinions these may be beneficial or detrimental enough to help you make the decision to play or to avoid playing Poker. Nobody else can answer that question for you, but fortunately it's not something that is of major significance for most people in the grand scheme of things. In moderation with bankroll management I believe, like drinking a glass of wine for instance, it can be enjoyed responsibly. If you're using Poker to numb the pain of other life events and squander a fortune you're not using it responsibly. If you drink for the sole reason of getting drunk/wasted, you're not employing moderation or discipline. You're abusing it in my opinion, but that's another blog entry. At those kinds of thresholds and possibly even prior, you're either in the engagement of sinful behavior or very close to them. It's something similar to being angry, when you're angry you're not necessarily sinning. It depends on the motivation of your heart and what you do during/after it. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:25-27 the following:

25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”[a] for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”:[b] do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:25-27 (NKJV)

So in other words, get rid of your anger quickly (don't let the sun go down on it). When you have just lost a significant chunk of money at a Poker game and you feel like you are tilted (angry, disappointed, not thinking strategically sound) if you aren't able to get up and walk away - Poker isn't for you. If you think you can sit down at a Poker game and win every hand or bluff every hand, Poker isn't for you. If you beat play money games with friends or online and you think real money plays similarly or you'll be able to transfer what you learned over to playing for real money - you're only kidding yourself and you need to reassess that quickly. I don't think Poker is a sin, likewise I don't think owning a PC is a sin. You can use your Computer for good or evil, likewise Poker can facilitate good or bad. Often times it magnifies whatever personal attributes and personality-oriented habits you hold both good and bad. 

Food for thought, I had fun reasoning this post out. Didn't really intend to delve that deep, but when I write about things that have a high relevance in my life or I have a passion about I tend to get wordy.

Hope it brought some insight to you or at least entertained you for a few minutes while you read it. Thanks for checking out my blog.

Sincerely,