Raising the Stakes

Raising the Stakes

13 July 2012

Five hours from now, I will be at my poker table, playing Texas Hold ‘Em with a group of friends, and trying my luck for a few bucks. I’m really not a very good poker player, but somehow, after two months of playing poker on a weekly basis, I still have a positive balance. I play very conservatively and I usually know when to stay in a hand and when to fold. I know how to play just well enough to survive, and I can play out until I have a hand that I know can undoubtedly win, at which point I force my competitors further into a pot that already has my name on it.

Well life for me over the past month has felt very much like a poker game. I have played very conservatively, and while it is paying off here and there, I haven’t won a huge pot yet. This, however, may change.

After talking with a manufacturer and crunching some numbers, I feel like I have been dealt pocket aces. Almost all of the table has been knocked out already, and the only thing holding me back is the bet. At this point, I am still the underdog. I don’t have enough chips on the table to be able to knock my opponent out, but with a good hand and a smart move, I could easily win enough to knock him out in the next hand. The problem is that I haven’t seen the flop yet. While it seems in my head that I have a good chance of winning, I still have to bet over half of my chips to see the flop.
I do not think that I will get a better hand anytime soon, so it makes sense to just go for it and hope that it plays out how I want it.

Who knows, maybe this will be the hand that allows me to cash out big time.