Play it like Poker

I love playing games (take this literally). And this has been since a very long time now. As a high school kid, I was fascinated by video games and when I got my 1st one in 1997 I was ecstatic about it. Summer vacations were always about taking out my Mitashi video game and tapping the joystick from afternoon to evening. Super Mario, Contra, Tennis, Cricket, Duck Shooting, Bike racing and a few more like these - these were my favorites! This fascination then extended to computers, with added flair of being able to play music, watch movies and type on it along with playing games (yes, back then typing was as much fun as other things available to do on a PC). Dave, Solitaire, Virtual Cop, Mortal Kombat were some of the games I played on PC. Then came my 1st mobile, Nokia 3310 (I still love that phone). Snakes was the eternal game on it. By the time I upgraded my mobile to Sony Ericsson K750i there were umpteen number of games available to play on mobiles and computers, like Street Soccer and EA Sports Cricket 2010. Then came my Apple Ipod Touch and I could explore motion sensing games available on iTunes store. As of today, I love to play Angry Birds on Facebook, and Cricket and Tennis games on Stick Sports. And now I aspire to have myself an Android Tablet and a Sony PS3!

Devices changed, games changed but gaming still persists in me. Gaming as an activity is a boon for a restless mind like mine, as it keeps me engaged. An empty mind can be a devil's workshop, they say, and I know how devilish my mind can be without any sensible activity to indulge in. I won't say I like playing all kind of games. I do have a specific taste, tending towards sports (Cricket, Tennis, Football, Table Tennis) and action games (Counter Strike, Hitman, Max Payne), then comes fighting games (WWE, Boxing, Mortal Combat),  then strategy games (Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Chess) and then random games like Bubble Shooter, Run Like Hell and so on. However, casino games were never really on my gaming list, until I attempted Poker some months back. 

Poker is an addictive casino game. Thanks to its virtual availability, you can play it using pseudo cash but the anxiety of losing and the frenzy of winning a poker game is beyond explanation. You hold 3 cards in your hand and 5 cards are laid down, common for all players. The player with the best 5 cards (5 among his 3 cards + 5 common cards) is the winner of that game. And the outcome of the game can be exponential in either way. Now having played it, I understand how exciting gambling can be, and at the same time how devastating it can be. You can win big time, you can loose big time. But what struck me about this game is it's similarity to the way our life is.

What we do, what we pursue, what we work towards depends upon what is currently available to us in life. Ofcourse we work towards our aspirations and expectations, but these are based on what we already have. If you have completed your M.B.A. having specialized in any vertical and you wish to get a managerial job profile, there are high chances of that to materialize. On the flip side, with the same M.B.A. degree if you expect to land a career in Film industry or Army, chances of that becoming a reality are very very less. Not that you can't do it, or it hasn't happened before, but all those instances have been exceptions. And exceptions are rare; you can't guarantee being an exception with as much confidence. Some or all of your 3 cards decide if you will win that poker game or not, and not the cards laid down. You have no idea about the cards laid down until they open up, but the one's in your hand give you a fair indication. 

If you are holding a Queen of Diamonds, an Ace of Spade and a Nine of Hearts, you can bet towards getting a pair of either of these cards which could win that game for you. But when you are holding a Three of Club, a Seven of Hearts and a Two of Diamond all you can do is hope that your challenger has worst cards than yours. More often that not, we worry about things in life - the one's which we can control and even the one's which we cannot. When in a position like the second instance, I can choose to withdraw or pass my bet but I certainly cannot make the other players card come out to be worse than mine, can I? 

This is how life has to be played, based on what you already have, and what can you most likely achieve with what you already have. Outcome of things that you can control will depend upon what you already have. I aspire to have a self owned house in south mumbai and there are two approaches to achieving it. One is luck shining on me in some form of contest or will or dowry which gets that for me. Other is to work towards getting to Senior Account Manager, then Group Account Manager or Brand Manager and eventually reaching upto mid management level and in the meanwhile making sound investments (in property and gold, as these are ever appreciating assets). If this happens, I can liquidate my investments and fulfill my aspiration, and chances for these events to happen are far more realistic than luck simply shining on me. Not that I won't be happy being lucky but the happiness regarding fulfilling my aspiration by employing the 2nd approach will be much more filling, isn't it?

Life is a game of poker. Depend more on the cards in your hand. Hope for other cards to turn out your way, but make the most of the cards you already have. Those cards will give you your wins with highest probabilities and even higher satisfaction :)