Looking for a Sign versus Trusting Your Gut

Impulse versus Pragmatics is a razor blade

If one were to seek a difference between those new to the gambling world and those veterans of the green felt table, the most obvious is the balance between intuition and the external confirmation of the bet.

A less experienced bettor will often simply go with their gut, tossing chips in to the pot based entirely on an unwavering belief in their own infallible luck at the moment. The grizzled poker face has had those moments as well as plenty of the cards shattering that sense of inerrancy resulting in loss and humiliation.

The neophyte hasn't yet come to grips with the simple fact that the longer you play, the more you lose, that while big risk can sometimes open up to big rewards those moments, over time, can be counted on one hand.

The seasoned fortune hunter looks for signs of potential wins as opposed to relying on his gut with the latter being a rarity rather than the rule. Card counters have all but given up on the idea of plucky fortuity, assessing the odds in real time to ensure a triumph in the game.

Impulse versus caution. Overconfidence battling pragmatism.

Yet, in gazing into a life, it is those big, perhaps thoughtless, risks that we remember. There is an adrenalin rush to going all-in on a pair of nines in contrast to the reasonable bet. We don't tell stories about the reasonable player despite his longevity at the well because the tale of one who approaches the grift reasonably is dull. We are not inspired by the practical, the cautious, the smart play. Those who play to win are just more fun than those who play not to lose.