Julie
09-02-2005, 04:35 PM
In this week’s Player Spotlight, meet Al N Smithee! In his own words...
Lucky Charms at the Poker Table? I may eat them for breakfast, but I don’t bring them to the games (anymore). Don’t get me wrong, they work for many people. They’re definitely an advantage to the ‘Linuses’ among us who are slightly intimidated by the surroundings or other players or other players abilities (real or perceived) or realization of the shortcomings in our own abilities, or our outright lack of experience. Okay, pick several or all the above. It would appear that we certainly need our own security blankets to offset the imbalance.
Actual security blankets, however, won’t work. Where do you put them? Of course, they are too cumbersome to lay on the playing surface - even in a friendly home game where such might actually be permitted. They’re too warm to put across your lap, at least until you hit your great-grandmother’s age. Unless they resemble a serape you can’t just fling them over your shoulder either. And they become excessively moist when sat upon for an extended period of several hours or more. Ask me how I know that one. So the security blanket as ‘confidence builder/luck generator’ is out.
The old standby, the Lucky Rabbit’s Foot, also has had exceedingly less success since someone quite aptly pointed out that it didn’t appear to be too lucky for the poor rabbit - and he had four of them!
In this day and age of increased concern over security, the Lucky Horse Shoe could also be considered a weapon and it would be hard to get through a metal detector. Moreover, if worn it also makes an annoying ‘clip, clop’ sound even while strolling across the plushest casino carpets.
Four Leaf Clovers still may be of value - though nearly every Clover Leaf I've traveled on is usually laden with warnings like ‘Under Construction’, ‘Reduced Speed’, ‘No Passing’, ‘YEILD’ and the like. So I am now thusly concerned about the condition and possible similar deterioration of the vegetative kind.
A Lucky Hanky - though hankies themselves are a somewhat outdated accessory - could covertly be used as a kerchief or bandana and as such conveniently conveyed to and worn at the tables. Drawback here is that their value as a good luck token is greatly reduced once it is used to cry into on your way home over the losses incurred during the previous outing.
Lucky Rings - they see the hole cards before you do - have a tendency to scare easily. Lucky Amulets, bracelets, brooches, glasses, hats, shirts, belts, pants, shoes, etc. have more to do with fashion statements and personal confidence building than being actual purveyors of luck. My girlfriend once offered that I try wearing a pair of her ‘lucky’ panties to the tables, but that resulted in an increasingly unsettling conflict of concentration which severely undermined that evening’s quest to accumulate chips. However, I did get pretty lucky later that evening, but that’s a whole other story in a completely different sport.
Lucky Stones ROCK! But only if they are from the Mesozoic Era - right, FossilMan? Just be very certain they are not of the variety that are ‘petrified'.
In short, through all my trials and errors, I have finally learned that you make your own luck before you get to the tables. The knowledge you bring, or lack of it, will always have the overriding influence on the fortunes of your fortune. Good Luck Tokens, Lucky Charms, or Semi-Religious Rituals (I used to spin around three times for luck before taking my seat, the usual corresponding result being it just turned me into the ‘Big Dog’) and other ersatz confidence builders may have their place for some folks. But the proven, most reliable and best confidence builder you can bring to the table is that you are at least as knowledgeable as those sitting in with you. Your luck will now lie where it always has been for the best and worst of us Poker Players: solely in the deal of the cards.
(Just so long as they are using my lucky deck . . . .)
~Al N Smithee
Lucky Charms at the Poker Table? I may eat them for breakfast, but I don’t bring them to the games (anymore). Don’t get me wrong, they work for many people. They’re definitely an advantage to the ‘Linuses’ among us who are slightly intimidated by the surroundings or other players or other players abilities (real or perceived) or realization of the shortcomings in our own abilities, or our outright lack of experience. Okay, pick several or all the above. It would appear that we certainly need our own security blankets to offset the imbalance.
Actual security blankets, however, won’t work. Where do you put them? Of course, they are too cumbersome to lay on the playing surface - even in a friendly home game where such might actually be permitted. They’re too warm to put across your lap, at least until you hit your great-grandmother’s age. Unless they resemble a serape you can’t just fling them over your shoulder either. And they become excessively moist when sat upon for an extended period of several hours or more. Ask me how I know that one. So the security blanket as ‘confidence builder/luck generator’ is out.
The old standby, the Lucky Rabbit’s Foot, also has had exceedingly less success since someone quite aptly pointed out that it didn’t appear to be too lucky for the poor rabbit - and he had four of them!
In this day and age of increased concern over security, the Lucky Horse Shoe could also be considered a weapon and it would be hard to get through a metal detector. Moreover, if worn it also makes an annoying ‘clip, clop’ sound even while strolling across the plushest casino carpets.
Four Leaf Clovers still may be of value - though nearly every Clover Leaf I've traveled on is usually laden with warnings like ‘Under Construction’, ‘Reduced Speed’, ‘No Passing’, ‘YEILD’ and the like. So I am now thusly concerned about the condition and possible similar deterioration of the vegetative kind.
A Lucky Hanky - though hankies themselves are a somewhat outdated accessory - could covertly be used as a kerchief or bandana and as such conveniently conveyed to and worn at the tables. Drawback here is that their value as a good luck token is greatly reduced once it is used to cry into on your way home over the losses incurred during the previous outing.
Lucky Rings - they see the hole cards before you do - have a tendency to scare easily. Lucky Amulets, bracelets, brooches, glasses, hats, shirts, belts, pants, shoes, etc. have more to do with fashion statements and personal confidence building than being actual purveyors of luck. My girlfriend once offered that I try wearing a pair of her ‘lucky’ panties to the tables, but that resulted in an increasingly unsettling conflict of concentration which severely undermined that evening’s quest to accumulate chips. However, I did get pretty lucky later that evening, but that’s a whole other story in a completely different sport.
Lucky Stones ROCK! But only if they are from the Mesozoic Era - right, FossilMan? Just be very certain they are not of the variety that are ‘petrified'.
In short, through all my trials and errors, I have finally learned that you make your own luck before you get to the tables. The knowledge you bring, or lack of it, will always have the overriding influence on the fortunes of your fortune. Good Luck Tokens, Lucky Charms, or Semi-Religious Rituals (I used to spin around three times for luck before taking my seat, the usual corresponding result being it just turned me into the ‘Big Dog’) and other ersatz confidence builders may have their place for some folks. But the proven, most reliable and best confidence builder you can bring to the table is that you are at least as knowledgeable as those sitting in with you. Your luck will now lie where it always has been for the best and worst of us Poker Players: solely in the deal of the cards.
(Just so long as they are using my lucky deck . . . .)
~Al N Smithee