Play Your Hand ~ It’s The Only One You Have

My husband and I have a standing date one Saturday evening each month to play cards with friends. Tonk is our game of choice. The stakes are low and its a lot of fun.

This weekend’s gaming was a little different. As I sat around the table with my opponents and watched how they played, I realized playing cards is not much different from living your life.

A card game is a simulation of moves based upon reasoning. Each decision that is made by a player is analyzed in terms of the expected payoff that decision will generate. The correct decision is the one that leads to a payoff at the end of the round.

It is a game of chance as you are making some educated guesses based upon the hand you’ve been dealt and without knowing the cards that have been dealt your opponents. If you could see your opponents’ hand, you could make winning decisions with certainty, but that is not an option.

You can not throw in your hand as you are required to play the hand you’ve been dealt. You may be dealt a bad hand. In that instance, you have to quickly develop a strategy to stack your hand to win. If you move too slowly or think too long, the opportunity to set your hand will pass you by.

After playing a certain number of rounds without winning, you have an opportunity to observe the other players and determine their competitive strategy. This could increase your chances of winning subsequent hands. The tables can, and often do, turn once you’ve increased your confidence. At that point you begin winning.

Just like any risk you take in life, you have to know your breakeven mark and have the will to walk away once you’ve reached an established limit. Winning or losing, you have to know when to walk away. You must know when enough is enough.

Success comes to those who stay in the game! Play your hand! You never know how the tables may turn.