The Cards Are In Charge

In the game of poker you have chips, cards and people. In golf you have a golf club, a golf ball and people. In tennis you have a tennis racket, a tennis ball, a net and people. In football you have a ball, nets and people.

In the three latter games you do not see the nets or balls controlling the game. The golf ball doesn’t just decide to bobble off anywhere it wants and in football you don’t see the net kick the ball back out into the area. In poker…now that’s a different story altogether.

Poker is one of the only games or sports where the players are not in control of the outcome. In poker the cards control the game and not the player. The player can try to influence the play by imparting their skill and knowledge into the game, but ultimately the cards will decide who wins and who loses.

In poker even Phil Ivey could lose a heads up match against someone who doesn’t even know the rules. If the clueless player just moved all-in every hand then Ivey would eventually call with the very top of his range. Lets say Ivey gets aces then he is going to call an all-in from the clueless player but it is now up to the cards to decide whether or not Ivey’s hand holds.

Once you come to terms with the fact that the cards are in charge it will help you control your emotions a lot better. Quite simply if the cards control the game and you cannot control the cards then why worry about it?

Last Updated 22 November 2013
Poker - The Cards are in Charge