We should all learn something new every day, right? Well, I figure that once I've done that, I'm done. I can clock out. And today I learned my new thing at 7:27 am.
Yesterday I was reading Liza's blog, which has a link to Wil Wheaton's blog (yes, that Wil Wheaton), who has a link to Paul Phillips' Live Journal. (Here is Wil Wheaton's description of Paul Phillips: There's this guy named Paul Phillips, who the poker pros call "Dot Com," because he made a megatillion quatloos during the dotcom boom. He retired in style, and became a seriously good poker player. He also writes one of the greatest blogs (actually a live journal) that I have ever read, and I don't say that with any hyperbole. He writes about poker, other players, technology, geeky things, and his baby girl with wonderful, honest, prose.)
So I went skipping around the internet and ending up reading some of what PP wrote about playing poker. Any activity that people are passionate enough about eventually has its own language and I don't speak poker. I know the fundamentals of the game - and have even won a few hands now and again - but I'm not one with the jargon. But I know someone who is. So I dropped him a note and asked about the one term I was having trouble parsing: "What is a bad beat?" I wrote.
And bright and early this AM I got the following reply:
A "Bad Beat" is when the percentages are heavily in your favor, but you lose anyway. If I have a straight after 6 cards are revealed, and the only way I can lose is if one of four remaining cards in the deck comes up at the end and gives my opponent a full house, (A one in ten chance) and that happens.... It's a "Bad Beat." It's when the luck of the game rears its ugly head.
Bad Beat. This is a great term. I love it and I intend to use it in real life because -- well, just look at it. I know that there are going to be many times when it will say what I want to say.
Now, mind you, I'm a big girl, so I did put some effort into finding out on my own before asking, but was only being directed to sites where people could complain about their bad beats (failure to suck it up.com). When I tried again this morning using another term that I couldn't quite parse, I got referred to Poker Tips, which has a handy - and very entertaining - glossary. My own vocabulary looks to be expanding pretty soon.
And now you have learned something new for today.
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2 comments:
Foxtrot has a series this week on playing online poker. Being in the UK I am mostly missing the big US poker craze, but I do notice it is huge everytime I am back in the US. To me it looks like another chance for the sharks to eat the weak while the weak think they have a chance. Like buying dot com stocks in the day.
Thanks, Leta! Now I've learned something new today. And before noon, no less!
BTW, I *highly* recommend Wil Wheaton's book, Just a Geek, as a must read for actors. His dedication, work, good luck, bad luck, vulnerability, and passion are even more inspiring in the book than the blog.
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