Texas Holdem'

Edith woke me up with a cup of coffee and a surf report. The plan was to get to the water asap. I once again had some organic cereal for breakfast and then we headed straight for the water. I twas nice and sunny and the water warm. Manu stayed behind to watch some football. Us chicks got straight out to the back, and waited. It was great weather and the water was ful of surfers. Messanges is a beach break with 3 peaks. Left and rights were perfect, smaller and cleaner than the day before i was feeling excited. Got my first wave , wasnt spectacular or anything, got taken out, and struggled to get to the back again,but it didnt take me that long. The next 2hours were amazing, i had so much fun, ended up mainly taking some small ones on the inside, since the back was closing out too much. It was groovy. Just us girls out for a surf, the guys were pretty gentlemanly letting us have a few good ones. Thanks…. 

We got out of the water with massive smiles on our faces but they were soon replaced with grim expressions as we trekked our way up the big dune back to the car park. We went home, had some famous Manu Taub organic lunch and chilled for the rest of the afternoon.Tonight was going to be a good one, Bertand Fleury and Tuva Jansen are going to join us for dinner and some Texas Holdem> Only problem i have hardly ever played and Manu had told them i could play well. When i heard this i stressed. USually i was the one filling up the drinks and watching….note * Watching not playing……. 

My dad once told me before an exam at school, ‘If you cant dazzle them with your brilliance, Baffle them with your bullshit….’ 

In this case i had given the impression that i was capable ,and i really wasnt….. I tried to skype my dad for some advice but he wasnt answering so next best option…Google. Google : Texas holdem Game rules and tips…. 

It was pretty darn useless.. it just gave names for that i already understood, i read and read and i was sure nothing could save my soul… If you cant walk with the big dogs dont piss on the tall trees… im not sure what the outcome wil be…. I’’ll let you know when its over…. 

( Continued)

Time 00 :30. Just finished a 3.5 hour poker game. The Holdem field consited out of Bertand (The Pimp of Poker) ,Tuva ( Lady Luck) , Manu ( The Guru) and myself ( The Fish). What were we playing for ?? 20Euros…I know Its not much but the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Organic tea with Organic honey was the drink of choice. Manu & Bertand were old poker rivals, they had played many times before on various trips around the globe, the latest one being a mysterious journey deep into Peru… I didnt ask about that.It sounded top secret. 

We were four people, bleary-eyed and set with grim expressions. This was the real deal. My first proper poker game. It was on. 

Bertand shuffled the card and was the first dealer. He slammed the pack of cards onto the table and asked me to cut. … I looked at him funny, kinda guessed the middle of the pack, picked it up and put it down next to the other half, i looked at him questioningly and asked :’Like that ?’ …. He didnt answer and just nodded his head , shuffled again and started dealing….. I didnt know what the hell was going on and i felt like a right idiot. Manu looked like he was accessing some sort of psychic powerhouse inside of him, he had this half spaced out half focused look on his face. Tuva and Edith were just chatting away. There was french flying all around me, and i felt lost like i have never felt lost before. I shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death and i shall fear no evil… 

The game began. I was Big blind, Manu was Petit Blind, we made our Preflop bets and they laid out the flop. Nothing. I panicked. I folded Immediately. 

Manu was dominating the first few hands and then Bertand took over, Tuva got a few lucky ones, and i was just about to die, but somehow managed to stay alive with a few lucky cards arriving everytime i was all in. By some stroke of luck i survived right till the end. Maybe i was just too careful, maybe its just my stubborn Afrikaans nature that kept me hanging on by my fingernails. At some stage i was actually doing well, but once again, just like catching my wave the other day, my good fortune was short lived. 3 chips left, manu the same. We were both all in, and i could feel the end was near…. We were all dominated by Tuva and we were both out. It came too suddenly, I felt empty, depleted, drained. I sat there staring at the blank space on the wall……. The very next hand Bertand beat Tuva and dit was all really over…… We said our goodbyes , Manu and i cleaned the kitchen and everyone went to bed. 

As i said in my previous update i dont have much experience. Though i could not get hold of my dad earlier, some support was given to me on skype by Gareth in Wales and Bastiaan in Holland. My main Texas Holdem eductaion came from http://school.pacificpoker.com/default.aspx. Thanks guys…. 

What i learned about Poker and Life today : 

Always try and make the best decision possible with the information you have attained.It may not necessarily mean you will win the hand, or lose the least amount of money.
 

Life is an ongoing poker game, filled with many easy and tough decisions every day. Life is also predicated by luck in many instances, in many cases no matter how good of a decision you make you feel like life just crapped on you. In life we often go on "tilt" where we let our emotions take control of our actions, and it often leads to the making of bad decisions.
 

Live life to the fullest? With poker, you could find yourself with more profit if you play more and more poker, as long as you make good decisions…. Maybe we could apply This same concept to life, you must go out and live life, take risks, make decisions. If life craps on you some of the times, then so be it, but we must move forward because if we stop making decisions and stop living we will never be able to to make the most of our lives and we will never overcome the mysterious "luck factor".

 

I really am not at all into poker philosophy or anything.. .... just learnt something new today….and its all just spewing out of my brain. 

Life’s a bluff, deal with it. 

'And there's one more thing...............it's been emotional' ( Quote: Lock Stock and two smoking barrels, the debt collector, Big Chris/Vinnie Jones)