Sometimes it is Luck!

Coming home from church today, I was driving in the left lane about to veer into the turn lane when an oncoming car swerved into the lane and almost hit me. It was a 30-something year old soccer mom in a SUV with a mobile phone on her hear and suffering from a severe case of "cranialrectosis".

I was able to move out of the way, honk my horn, and still get into the turn lane correctly to get to where I was going. I also mentioned something to my wife about women drivers, but that was not the best of my options at the time.

The fact that I didn't hit that idiot with a driver's license is because I was paying attention and had the experience and the understanding of how to avoid a problematic situation.

This is the case with many things in life!

My father used to tell me "Son, accidents happen when people aren't paying attention". Now in my experience, this is definitely the case in most cases if not all.

Sometimes though...you get lucky. We have all had it happen to us before...close calls, bad situations that never fully develop, etc. When I was 17, I was driving my mom's car and acting like an idiot. While at a green light, I figured that I was going to be smooth and screetch the tires. I soon lost control of the car and while in traffic the car spun 3 or 4 times crossing over into the oncoming lane and then back into the median. When the car stopped, there were no scratches...no dents...no injuries...just a severely damaged ego and a good lesson for an idiot kid.

I attribute this to a loving and protective God that kept me from harm. This is my belief because of my faith. Most people would consider it lucky.

You say tomato...

Now what does all of this have to do with poker?

There are a lot of times where I win at poker because of my skill. Poker is a game of skill. You need math skills as well as intuitive abilities to play correctly.

The book says that once in every 45 hands you should see AA, KK, or AK. Sometimes it feels a lot longer than that. When you catch AA, you are 80 to 88% to win the hand. My average online (where I can track it) is more like 68%. Online players typically are not very good and tend to call large bets and raises incorrectly and suck out a win. It happens.

It is nice when things go your way.

Here is a hand that exemplifies how things can really go your way!

I am playing in a Poker tournament at the final table. I have over 30,000 in chips and most of the players are between 20 and 40K. The blinds are 1000/2000 and I am in late position dealt AcAs. The player UTG raises the bet to 5000. The next two players fold. I raise the bet to 8000. The Button folds, and the Small Blind calls. The large blind folds and the UTG player quickly calls.

The flop comes out Kh/Ah/Kd.

You flop the nut fullhouse. The SB bets 10000. UTG calls, and I just call.

The turn card is a Qc.

The SB pushes all-in with his last 9000. The UTG player calls, and I push my last 12000 in. The UT calls the last 3000 chips (leaving him only 600 chips).

SB shows AK. UTG shows pocket Queens. My aces are golden.

The river card is a 5. I take down a HUGE pot and go on to win the tourney.

These hands come one in 2000 hands.

Phil Gordon (a noted poker pro) says that your objective is to get your money in with the best hand.

Sometimes you do everything right and still don't get the golden ticket....and then sometimes it takes no skill at all.

Sometimes it's luck!