When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer

I should have known not to make a mockery of things much more powerful than I.

Faithful readers of my blog already know my thoughts about such things as luck, karma, horoscopes, and any other new-agey train of thought that consists of nebulous generalities supported by selective observation. In fact, there is a term for such observation; it is called "confirmation bias". Essentially, this is the tendency to believe or focus on evidence that supports your pre-existing beliefs, while discounting evidence to the contrary. For example, a fervent believer in extraterrestrial life would point to the various photos and detailed accounts of UFO observation and be convinced they are true. And surely, the government's and military's denial of said UFOs is a grand conspiracy. In fact, for some it only lends more credence to the supposition.

So, fine. We all have our beliefs, and that's OK. You can go ahead and be all freaky if you want to. But it dawned on me the other day that my lack of belief in most things supernatural may have actually been working against me! This occurred to me as I gazed at the contents of the small bookshelf in the apartment I'm renting. Among the contents:

"Holy Ice: Bridge to the Subconscious"
"Women of the 14th Moon"
"Crystal Healing" and its faithful companion, "The Message of the Crystal Skull"
- and my personal favorite -
"Listen to Your Pain"

I had to at least entertain the possibility that my apartment was a vortex of mystical energy, and the reason I have been doing so poorly in poker is that I have not been giving these powers their due. So yesterday, I decided to make amends. I had already determined that the feng shui of my apartment was way, way, off...so I moved the free-standing jewelry box, that I was always bumping into at 0200, into the closet. Then I had a huge bowl of Lucky Charms. I don't know if the fact that it was on sale when I bought it renders it less effective - perhaps my prospective fortune was also reduced by 20%. Finally, I decided to pick a book from the shelf that I thought would have some good advice for a poker player - "The Psychic is You" - and looked for a quote which could be my spiritual guide for the day.

You can imagine how dismayed I was when Chapter 1 stated that everyone is psychic! This was pretty much the opposite of what I wanted to hear, although it explained a lot of the hands people have been calling me with. Engaging my confirmation bias, I ignored that assertion and paged through the rest of the book, looking for something, anything, I could use. Finally, I came upon this:

"From my own experience, I can say it is very easy to fall into the trap of playing out others' programs, if we receive them and fail to translate them properly."

Seemed applicable! So I wrote it on the back of the paper I was going to use to log my hourly results, and headed off to the Bellagio. People of the world, hear me now. The deities of whimsy do not appreciate half-hearted attempts at worship. Apparently, it's either all or nothing, like with the Great Pumpkin. You must be sincere. The night can be summed up with two hands with total pot value of $1100 - my AQ losing to A8, and my JJ getting sucked out by K9 on a 9-high board. Well, shoot. I guess if there's one other-wordly sensation I can subscribe to without question, it's deja vu.

So, another $400 of buyin gone. I've got today to try to get some of it back, and tomorrow Amy comes out to visit. Meanwhile, I'll be looking through "Phoenix Rising", by Mary Summer Rain, for some words of wisdom. I mean it this time.

HAND OF THE DAY:
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You know, I wrote out a whole HOTD and then I realized that I was describing a strategy that I've used several times with great effectiveness on this trip. I also realized that in all my time playing poker, I can't remember seeing anyone use this same strategy, or reading about it. I'm sure it's been done before, but it most definitely is not common. So this one, I'm going to play close to the vest. That makes two totally lame HOTDs in a row - Chuy called me out on yesterday's, and rightfully so. And I am aware my not sharing this could easily be perceived as me being selfish/paranoid/arrogant to the point of ridiculousness. Ha! Losers! I AM selfish, paranoid, and arrogant to the point of ridiculousness!!! Now you don't have to whisper about it behind my back!

Actually, there is a syndrome that I'd like to talk about, but it will involved a lot of writing and after already typing up one HOTD I don't feel like doing another right now. It actually dovetails nicely into today's theme of extraordinary beliefs. So bear with me, and we'll get to it tomorrow.