Putting Bad Beats In Prospective

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Putting Bad Beats In Prospective

Everyone whines about bad beats in poker and for a reason; they hurt! They hurt our determination, they hurt our bankrolls, they hurt our will, they hurt our poker souls and sometimes our will to play the next game. Bad beats make us curse, cry, smash mice, blab to other players, put down other players, scream at the poker god. A bad beat must be placed in prospective however. How bad is a bad beat when one compares it to bad beats beyond a poker table?

The greatest poker players on earth never cease to stop teaching us, they seem to teach by accident on many different levels. During the opening of the Aussie Millions Poker Championship, Joe Hachem discussed the flash flooding and loss of life and property in Queensland Australia. He said "Watch this video, and remember it, it may put your bad beats in prospective". It was the best advice I received all year! I probably shouldn't have just quoted those words as they were not his exact words, but fairly close. The video showed heartache on every level. Let me explain!

The tears rolled during the video, life's bad beats were certainly thrown at these people. How many of us can say they have had a $500,000.00 bad beat? People on the video did, even kids - their house, assets, property all swept away with only a slab of concrete remaining. How many of us have had a "priceless" bad beat? By priceless I mean a bad beat that you will never forget that changes your life forever in an instant and takes the ones you love most from you; in the most horrific way? Again, a man on the video did, he lost his wife and son, they were swept away in a torrent of water, his son a non swimmer who was hailed a hero as he begged for his little brother to be saved first. Imagine the little brother bad beat - His brother was swept away as he was rescued and his mother looked at his brother being swept away and let go and went with him - This was right in front of that little boys eyes. Now that IS a bad beat!

I lay awake most of the night thinking of bad beats. I thought of every bad beat I have ever had on a poker table. I then thought of every bad beat I have ever had in life. There is no comparison. Yesterday I changed, I changed forever! My bad beats have been much like these I talk of. I have watched my own home burn down in front of my eyes, with it many memories and every possession I owned as well as my beloved mans best friend, my dog. I have lost loved ones and friends to horrific accidents. One week I remember losing 8 friends and family members. I have died and been resuscitated and suffered the most horrible health battles and pain imaginable (to this day). My trip aces being smashed by 7 and 2 off suit is now in my mind not so bad when I think of this.

Of course I don't want to think of these things but the last 3 days for me have been pretty disasterous and I have shed sub-mountable tears. Maybe sub-mountable is an understatement, my face is swollen from crying it seems. You know, what I am about to write doesn't even seem like a bad beat now, but for me it has felt like it!

I was told by my doctor I would have surgery next Thursday
I was told my nan was in kidney failure etc and was going to die
My son smashed his arm, pretty much compound fractured it
My son had a 3.5 - almost 4 hours surgery on his arm during which the crash cart was called, I almost lost him
I spent a night and day with my agonized screaming son, now filled with plates, screws, wires, staples and other forms of metal
I was advised my grandmother died
I was asked to write an obituary or whatever it is called
I wrote it
I passed out cold to wake all night to pain relief begging, nightmares and bloody flooding again!

I am over my bad beats and now have them in prospective, I hope I helped you too - that is all.