By Tommy Angelo
Thirteen years ago, my career had become too little profitable. I needed to be able to count on an income. So I left the group to become a professional poker player. I was playing the small limits without rake, in houses, apartments, churches, after the bingo or any other place where was the action
For my birthday last year, my girlfriend has enrolled me in a course of writing fiction at Stanford. Maybe I could become rich by writing a novel about the art of finish broke she asked me.I have been at each of the sessions of three hours. I did all my homework and I was attentive in class. The professor told us: do not let the facts away you to a good story. It marked me as an author and has forever changed my way of perceiving reality.
But the story I'll tell you now is true. It must, otherwise there would be no purpose to tell it to you. I'm like an astronaut who would return the moon to tell his impressions on Earth. I am like a man who for five years has lived alone and who has forgotten forests and who would come to us the story of his adventures. I am a poker player who hesitated long before bed its as before the flop to the $20-40 limit Hold'em and who finally did. Here is my story.
Thirteen years ago, my career had become too little profitable. I needed to be able to count on an income. So I left the group to become a professional poker player. I was playing the small limits without rake, in houses, apartments, churches, after the bingo or any other place where the action was. The parties were very very loose. I read a book that said often lie. So what I decided to do and I was able to live comfortably. My definition of live comfortably was: never stop me from going to a concert because of the price of the ticket. As a poker player, I was winning or solvent if I may say otherwise.
I was studying the best players, players who had respect for all and who had money. One of them never showed his cards or never mentioned his opinion on such a hand. It does tiltait ever when he lost much or he was unlucky, he was irritated by anything. It was immune. And I told myself I could do it, I was going to me y lead after having spent the remaining years of my life to be too emotional and disclose information. I was going to teach me how to keep my secrets.
And then came an idea that made me almost the feel of a sting to me. Sunset ACEs before the flop. Just to do it. To see if I could. To see how I feel. But an inner voice asked me: "but why?". Why is auto-infliger a thing so destructive?
Because it was there, as a mountain to climb.
But some climbers lose fingers during their ascent. Some others have permanent damage to the brain due to lack of oxygen. Some die. The mere fact that the mountain is there is a stupid reason to justify a stupid move.
You are right. But rather than get insults, could you be kind enough to point me the mountain?
Okay. But are you really sure you want to climb the mountain today?
Yes of course.
If we advance 10-year-old in 2003, I played a session of Hold'em during which I lost a pot with a pair of ACEs in hand. No reason, I made a quick calculation of how many times it happened before. I multiplied by the number of hours played years. I played millions of hands in poker home games. Which means that I had ACEs 4000 times. If I lose 1 hand on 4, it is so say I lost 1000 times with ACEs. I lost 1000 times with a pair of ACEs in hand!
