Mark Wright’s Blog

One of my favorite shows to watch on TV is The World Series of Poker.  I started watching it one day about five years ago when nothing else was on and ended up watching it for about four hours.  While the coverage ESPN provides is good, the psychology of the game is fantastic.  I was totally hooked.

Now that being said, I’m not a gambler.  Other than the odd trip to one of the gambling boats in Mississippi or Louisiana, don’t have much experience.  I am one of the few people on the planet that has never been to Las Vegas.  It’s not that I don’t like to gamble.  I’m just not very good at it.  The few times I have gone to the boats, I have come home with empty pockets.  I’ve heard stories of people losing millions of dollars at the tables and not batting and eyelash.  I lost $100 once and was inconsolable for a day. 

However No Limit Texas Hold’Em matches are classic matches of psychology and this intrigues me.  The first time I really watched it was in 2003 when an unknown named Chris Moneymaker roared through to the final table to take on Sam Farha, one of the best cash players in the world and beat him with two of the best bluffs I have ever seen.  I thought it was incredible.  I have watched Daniel Negreanu tell his opponent the exact hand he had not once but multiple times.  I watched in shock and humor as Mike Matusow took bad beat after bad beat.  If Matusow didn’t run his mouth constantly, I would almost feel sorry for him. 

Now you are probably wondering why I decided to tell you about why I like watching The World Series of Poker so much.  There is a point, trust me.  I was invited by one of our neighbors at work to play in a tournament that their company puts on.  It is strictly for fun and there are no high stakes.  It is just a bunch of people getting together and having a good time.  That being said, I am somewhat competitive.  Even in the office Rock, Paper, Scissors matches we have to determine who buys lunch, gets coffee, or just for pride, I play to win.  I started thinking about all of the knowledge I’ve gained by watching TWSP.  How can I parlay this vast amount of wisdom and vanquish my opponents?  After careful consideration and more thought than it probably deserved, I found my answer.  I can’t!  Watching something on TV, even if incessantly, doesn’t make you an expert.  If I watched every episode of ER, that wouldn’t make me a doctor.  So I guess that instead of trying to look for the angle that I will never find, I will just go and have a good time.