I’ve often said that life is like poker, and vise versa, and
sometimes, lessons from one can be applied to the other. Today’s lesson comes
from a recent discussion I participated in (on Facebook, of course) regarding
abortion (still a hot topic nearly 40 years after Roe v. Wade).
The discussion (if you can call it that) was shared from a
link from a pro-life site, supposedly about a dilemma a young wife faced when
she went to the doctor and found herself pregnant – again. She already had a 1-year-old, and couldn’t
afford another child. You know where
this is going – the doctor gave her a “choice” between killing the unborn fetus
and killing her infant, and the discussion took off from there.
Now I don’t want to make this a comment on abortion. I will disclose that I am pro-family-planning,
which is the vein in which I made my FB comment. Rather than make the “either or” choice (and
frankly, very few things in life are just two choices), I backed up the truck
to point out that IF the woman was serious about not being able to afford a
second child, her choice should have been made BEFORE she became pregnant. That is, she could (a) use birth control, or
(b) not have sex…or at least, not have penis-in-vagina sex. I’m sure there were other choices, but those
were the two I mentioned. I’ll tell you
about the response I got later…onto to the poker discussion now…
Like the pregnancy situation, your poker play should be
thought-out BEFORE you get into trouble.
Like chess players, you need to think a move ahead…or two, or three
moves. You will be a much better player if you reduce the times you say, “What
should I do NOW?” and plan by saying, “What should I do IF…”
For example, let’s say you’re on the button with J-10
suited, it’s passed to you, and you raise it up. The small blind folds, and the big blind just
calls. The flop comes J-9-4 rainbow, the
BB checks…and you…well, you plan ahead.
If you think about your choices now on the flop, and on the
turn, and, for good measure on the river if you make it that far, you’ll make
better decisions overall. If you bet
your pair of jacks now, and he folds, no problem; you win. But if he calls…what do you do when the turn
brings an Ace? A face card, making a
potential straight? Another 9?
By thinking about all the potentials now, you can decide to
bet small, or bet big, or to check your pair with so-so kicker (it depends on
your stack size, your opponent’s stack, his playing tendencies, etc. etc.
etc.). But deciding HOW you’ll play the
turn NOW, you’ll play the FLOP better, because you won’t have to make the
agonizing decision later – you already know what you plan to do NOW. And you also have to consider what to do if
he RAISES now…Hardly an “either or” choice, also.
So make certain you’re planning ahead to avoid those complex
decisions. Both on the felt and in real
life. That way, you’ll be a winner.
So how were my comments about not having sex received? Apparently, NO ONE is in favor of not having
sex – we’re all rabbits or something. The
birth control issue was a bit more moderated, but as always, I am amazed at the
number of people who claim that this is just not possible (mostly guys who don’t
like wearing condoms). Boo-frickin’ hoo, guys.
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