  so i've been thinking about poker ( surprise) nbsp;  here's a pair of stories for you:  5 of us left in a 10 person sit n go tournament. nbsp;
 top 3 cash. nbsp;  i'm hanging in there. nbsp;  i have 500 chips left,  which is 4th place.
nbsp;  i'd much rather have 2000 chips. nbsp;  so it is.  suddenly,  i'm given the opportunity to get some chips.
nbsp;  i get KK. nbsp;  the dude in front of me raises. nbsp;  i move my mouse over to the button that says,
 'All- in' and hit it. nbsp;  i'm all in. nbsp;  there's nothing like being all in.
nbsp;  it is either all done,  or all coming your way at the end of this. nbsp;  there is no in between. nbsp;
 unless you chop. nbsp;  but who does that.  dude to my left goes all- in. nbsp;
 betting comes bak around ot the guy behind me. nbsp;  he sits. nbsp;  we sit. nbsp;
 he thinks. nbsp;  we wait. nbsp;  he types in 'AJ'. nbsp;
 AJ against my KK .  he's a 2 to 1 dog. nbsp;  he has 3 outs. nbsp;  i have no idea what lefty has,
 but 2 times out of 3, nbsp; i beat righty. nbsp;  he calls. nbsp;
 cards start coming out. nbsp;  Ace comes on the flop. nbsp;  i lose. nbsp;
 so it is.  some joker says,  'good call. '& nbsp;  i close my window to prevent damage to my work laptop.
 hand 2: nbsp;  four cards are out:  3, 2, 5,
4. nbsp;  two spades two clubs. nbsp;  i'm holding 3, 4.
nbsp;  this is bad. nbsp;  it's just me and one other guy,  and there are only 4 people left in the tournament. nbsp;
 he bets 800,  which happens to represent my entire stack. nbsp;  i think. nbsp;  he waits.
nbsp;  i have 2 pair. nbsp;  i think he has that ace. nbsp;  i know he has that ace.
nbsp;  but he could be trying to muscle. nbsp;  no,  he has the ace. nbsp;
 i see my cursor moving towards the 'call' button. nbsp;  something clicks it. nbsp;  he turns over an ace. nbsp;
 a 3 comes on 5th street. nbsp;  i rejoice. nbsp;  i end up 2nd. nbsp;
 so it is.  & nbsp;  here's what i was thinking. nbsp;  did that joker who called my kings make a good call?
nbsp;  did i make a good call? nbsp;  obviously,  the first answer is no. nbsp;
 we were both way behind without many options. nbsp;  but then we won.  so what does that mean?  what i love about hold 'em is that the results of the entire game are established immediately. nbsp;
 the cards have already determined the winner before anyone bets. nbsp;  each player then takes a turn screwing up what the cards have decided. nbsp;  countless times the winner is laid down before the flop even because it looks like crap initially. nbsp;
 you put down your 9 deuce off suit because it looks like crap,  but then 2 2s and a 9 flop. nbsp;  you smack yourself,  and the dude next to you buys the pot before you see a 4th card.  supposedly,
 if you make the 'correct' decision,  i. e.  the decision the odds favor,  consistently over a long period of time,  you will end up ahead.
nbsp;  so if that guy calls my AJ 3 times,  he loses twice. nbsp;  but he won't call it 3 times against KK. nbsp;
 he may never do it again. nbsp;  he did it once and won.  in how many other games will you hear this:  'just because you didn't win when you could have doesn't mean you did the wrong thing. '&
nbsp;  what? nbsp;  there is no other game like that. nbsp;  in baseball,
 if you have a man on third with 1 out,  and you decide to swing for the fences but strike out instead,  no one will tell you you did the right thing even though you didn't win. nbsp;  it is in our nature to associate the right thing with victory and the wrong thing with defeat. nbsp;
 poker is so counterintuitive. nbsp;  nothing about it makes sense. nbsp;  as i said before,  the winner is predetermined.
nbsp;  as far as results go,  there is nothing you can do to change the fact that you either have the best hand or you don't. nbsp;  somewhere though,  everything goes wrong,
 and some people become better at telling the cards that they are the winner. nbsp;  and that is really something.  i love this game. nbsp;  see you in a week.
nbsp;  i'm off to vegas.
