Poker

Aces high, Queen kickers, pocket rockets, full house - kings over nines, I see you, raise you, look at you, lose to you. Two pairs on the flop, nothing on the turn, full house on the river. And you burn it all away, on the river card, to chance, fate, yes, but primarily to him. To your opponent.

Poker isn't luck. Its strategy. Poker is not a game of cards. Its a game of people. Poker is a game that is not limited in space, only in time. Once the game starts, everything is considered, everything is a part of it. Nothing you do while the game is running gets discounted. Nothing you say, you don't say. Nothing you hear, you fail to remark on. No looks go unnoticed, no breath goes unexamined. Poker is not a game you play in turns. It looks like one, but its not. Everyone is always playing, always counting and discounting, considering and projecting their considerations into a melting pot of information, from which they must synthesise a strategy. A strategy that can beat your strategy. A strategy through which I can win over you, not one that only lets my cards win over your cards. In poker one must lose in order to win. One must risk in order to achieve glory, one must be humble and look to be underestimated by his rivals. In poker you must speak and listen. In poker you must have seven eyes: one for the cards, one for the dealer and one for each of your opponents. In poker you must die at first in order to be able to live again. You must suffer in order to flourish. Poker is a zero-sum game. You want to be the sum, not the zero.

And that is why so many life metaphors are taken from the world of poker. "You must fold while you're still winning", "take care of what you have", "double or nothing" "I took my chances, I went all in".

And that is exactly why, if someone ever asks you 'how do your live your life?' you reply: "Texas. No limits..."