Last weekend was my first time playing poker in over a year. I was on vacation, in the company of good friends. Raaga was already in bed. I was very excited! I paid five times more than I ever paid for any of my prior poker outings. I was motivated to do well! I picked a K for seating arrangement. It felt like the odds were in my favor! The first round was uneventful, with a 2 and a 9, not suited- Fold was my decision. I had a J and a Q on the second draw. Completely smitten by the face value of my high cards, I raised before the flop and got rid of half the players on blinds. Flop was A,A,J for which another friend bid a hefty chunk and made everyone else fold. I was still very much infatuated by my cards, a pair of Jacks! I matched his hefty chunk, an overkill for the kind of odds my cards had. But then, that's not all! I went ALL IN! My opponent called me on it, had a full house with his A and 10 as the Turn card was a 10, and promptly kicked me out of the game. I still cannot understand why I went all in on the second round of an expensive game of poker with non-stellar hand. If only I reconsidered my decision after seeing the other guy's bid!
Now that I think about it, that night of poker, or all five minutes that I lasted of it, is probably not too different from how I am in general. I am not much of a re-thinker. And I am not very proud of it. I wish I slept on making decisions instead of blindly going ahead with them after a quick initial consideration. When in school, there were numerous tests in which I would have scored better had I gone back and checked my work before turning it in. I rarely re-read the long emails (or blogs such as this one!) I type before clicking 'Send'. I seldom change my mind after I form an opinion. It only took me a couple of months to form a very strong opinion on a tall and handsome man. Fourteen years ago, today, I confessed to that man my opinion of him.
I went all in. On a big blind. I took a big chance. Thank heavens, the odds have been incredibly in my favor- on every Flop, Turn, and River, for the past 14 years and counting. That night on the banks of Hussein Sagar lake, and every day since, in this game of poker called life, I have the winning hand!
Now that I think about it, that night of poker, or all five minutes that I lasted of it, is probably not too different from how I am in general. I am not much of a re-thinker. And I am not very proud of it. I wish I slept on making decisions instead of blindly going ahead with them after a quick initial consideration. When in school, there were numerous tests in which I would have scored better had I gone back and checked my work before turning it in. I rarely re-read the long emails (or blogs such as this one!) I type before clicking 'Send'. I seldom change my mind after I form an opinion. It only took me a couple of months to form a very strong opinion on a tall and handsome man. Fourteen years ago, today, I confessed to that man my opinion of him.
I went all in. On a big blind. I took a big chance. Thank heavens, the odds have been incredibly in my favor- on every Flop, Turn, and River, for the past 14 years and counting. That night on the banks of Hussein Sagar lake, and every day since, in this game of poker called life, I have the winning hand!
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Tapioca Kheer and Double-ka-Meetha: Took as long to decide on the sweets to share with the husband this afternoon as I took to decide on the person I would be sharing my life with, 14yrs ago! |
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