Stranger on this planet

The title of this blog entry might appear strange for most of the readers, but there is a special purpose behind this and it will be explained later on in this blog entry. 

We keep telling ourselves that everything is getting better, because the technology is more advanced … but at the same time we don’t realize that we more and more depend on this technology and don’t respect the values that helped us to get where we are at right now. We take by far more for granted and become arrogant in our thinking, because we don’t pay attention to all the ordinary and little things anymore … even though they might bring us the most pleasure when we are down.

But have we really improved over the last decades and is the modern technology really worth it? Sure they are a nice addition and an asset when it comes down to functionality and availability of information, but is it an excuse to become lazy and don’t use our own mind? There are so many prejudices in our society because the mass media is manipulating our free will to decide what is right and what is wrong … and many forget that they are responsible for all their actions and have to cope with the consequences. 

It is kinda sad to see how most of us treat minorities nowadays, we become arrogant and tell ourselves that we are better than others and yet don’t try to help people that are less fortunate or plain and simple look down on them. The gap between the old and new generation is getting bigger and bigger, partly because of the modern technology and the different level of understanding and how to use it your own advantage. This shall not be surprising though, as the younger generation already grows up with it and learns how to use it while the older generation never had the opportunity and is a completely different experience.

Both do have their strengths and weaknesses though, the younger situation is able to adjust to a new situation much faster, but doesn’t know much about traditional values like respect … the old generation might be slower at picking up new technologies, but they can teach us a lot of lessons based on their experience and we should not be overly arrogant and ignore that. If you can combine those two and find the right balance, you will see that a lot of things become less complicated and give you a better understanding on how to solve difficult situations.

But how does all that work out at the poker tables? Do we judge the abilities and skills at the poker table based on gender, race, age and look? Quite often the first impression influences our emotions and takes over control, we do not always make the most logical choice because we are distracted by the society and its biased and generalized opinion. It is our responsibility to open our mind and decide if we take that for granted or not … but please don’t complain when you get beaten by your own arrogance.

The game of poker is attracting so many people all over the world and theoretically everybody does have the same odds to win, we get dealt the same number of cards and it doesn’t matter at all what those hole cards actually are. We can lose with pocket Aces and win with 27 off suit, that is just a matter of perspective. We define our own odds once the game has started based on our experience and if we are always capable to make the most logical choice in any situation … we have to keep in mind to get our chips in with a realistic chance to win. Prejudices will always influence our emotional balance and let us ignore all alarm bells that would normally ring when we should fold.

It doesn’t matter if we are Chinese or American, nor if we are 18 years old or 67 years old … but the biggest leak in this still testosterone triggered world is the respect that we show towards women. The male machismo barely knows any limits and we always want to appear as the strong gender because that was our natural role in the history. We always look at women as the “weak” gender, most think they are better and can outplay women at the poker table, just because they would never expect a bluff.

The very moment when you realize that you just walked into a trap and donated the chips to a woman or lost to a woman, you still think that this can’t be true … just a few notice and honor that the skill and the ability does not depend on the gender and that there are a lot of talented women out there that take your money on the river with a cute smile in their face. It might appear as weak from a male point of view, but do you actually have the strength and power to seriously respect that you lost to someone better than yourself? 

The key word in all this is respect … if you don’t bring up any respect for your opponent, no matter whom it actually is … you can’t expect respect in return. I know a lot of female poker players that kick some a$$ and show the men that all their prejudices are dead wrong. It still gonna take some time until more men realize that, it won’t stop me from showing you the same respect and value you based on your skill and abilities at the poker table. In the meanwhile … all you poker playing ladies out there … take them “male” chips with a smile on the face and don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are worse than them just because you are a woman.

If we really want other non poker players to accept and understand our passion for this game, we should all grow up and try to improve all the time … and also show more respect on and off the tables. Because we all enjoy this card game, no matter what gender, race and age we are, right?

I sometimes feel like a stranger on this planet though, because most people don’t show the same respect and are rude towards women … they think they have to be better poker players just because they are male. But grown up men turn into crying babies when they lose to a woman, especially when they are in fact better at poker … is that scenario really so shocking? It is not proven anywhere that women can’t be as good as men at the poker table, that is a prejudice and hopefully everybody will learn that lesson sooner or later. Show some respect and receive it in return, after all that will make the whole experience by far more worthwile.

Thanks for your attention.