The Truth of the Cards

When I was a child I used to believe that the only way to win at a game of cards was to get lucky. Every time I was handed a good hand I thought I was being blessed by Lady Luck or some other supernatural power that would help me win a hand. Whenever I got a bad hand I would wonder if I was being cursed or if the dealer was cheating somehow. Back then, I never understood that it took a lot of skill to truly play a game.

When I got a bit older I then understood the importance of reactions when playing card games. The way a person would react even the slightest notions would allow a player to see through their opponent. From facial expressions such as their eyebrows, eyes, lips to even how they move their body such as shifting their body to make it seem they are trying to get to a more comfortable position around the table or taping their hands or feet all these are cues to have somewhat of an insight to what they have in their hands.

Once I entered high school I learned the entire mathematics of how to play the game with even more skill. This was also convenient for me because card games, especially Texas became extremely popular among the students of where I attended. Students from all grades and all ethnic groups would gather around and play this game to the point where the administration became aware that was a mass problem and therefore banned the presence of a deck of cards at campus to stop the students from gambling their lunch money and allowances away.

But I don抰 think that I learned much from games where money was involved. I believe I learned the most when my friends and I would go and play obscure games where we would make up the rules as we progressed through the game. When playing these games I would notice my friends wouldn't make any gestures or expressions nor would they seem to calculate their chances of winning in the game but however I did notice that they would continuously commit to a certain action repeatedly under some circumstances.

When I came to this realization I wondered if they noticed themselves that they did the same thing over and over again without realizing it. Then I began to wonder if I did the same thing. Would I repeat the same action over and over again under a certain trigger? Sadly, I realized that I did. When I got myself a good hand I noticed that I would wait till the pot got bigger before I stuck. Sadly this only happened to me couple times because before I could strike the other players would always fold which confused me.

I don't gamble for money nor do I play card games that much. I'm more of a PC gamer if anything, but I do find it enjoyable to play every now and then with a close group of friends during a weekend night. But the game of cards isn抰 as easy as it seems. It is truly a deceiving game.