![]() Just pure thought, a blogged journal with true honesty. Not an encyclopedia full of prior research. It’s meant to be a comprehensive study and reflection from an ordinary man. It’s not just about a career, hobbies, residence, activities, efforts, et al. When I’m finished in one year, I hope to have more answers about the future and what I will do with the remainder of my life. 365 days of reflection to discover who I am and what I want out of life. I decided to start my own version of the “365 Daily Challenge” where since March 13, 2017, I’ve posted a characteristic either I currently embody or one I’d like to embody in the future. ![]() How about you? Anyone play cards? Bridge? Pinochle? I’ll even take a Go-Fish! Bring me a deck of cards (if there aren’t any books available, that is), and I am in total bliss. It’s a bit of a gift, and I am grateful for it. But at the same time, it’s also one of those natural talents I’ve always had - not something I really had to learn. It’s one of the few things I excel at… so I let myself brag just a little bit. And I am good at math, so I apply some statistics to decide what my chances are, before making any risky moves. Go ahead… call me a card counter… nothing wrong with it. I keep track of the cards, so I generally know which ones are still left in the deck. Some might think I should have let my mom win on Mother’s Day, but a real card-shark couldn’t do that, could he? HaHaHa! (I’m just being funny with my little note of sarcasm here… but I did win…) It was a close one, but Dad and I kept our lead in the final hand and won the game. And we did win this last Mother’s Day when we played for a few hours in the afternoon. I don’t believe any of them read this blog, so I can comfortably say my father and I usually win without them chiming in or being embarrassed. My father and I team up against my mother and my better half. But playing cards on the weekends is a fairly regular thing. I’ve also said my personality is not all that addictive, so I luckily am content to go to casinos maybe once per year and give it a shot. After a few hours, I walked out of there with another $1K. When they all went to bed at midnight (ha, I say!), I hit the BlackJack tables… found myself a friendly dealer with hardly anyone else at the table, and I put my card playing skills to the test. For my college graduation trip, some friends and I went to Las Vegas. It seemed I had a knack for this thing they call gambling. But at 21, I gave the slot machines a chance and won $1k that night. I say “legal,” because as a kid, I’d often accompany my mom to Bingo, go with my dad to the lotto store or play betting games on vacation in the Catskill resorts we visited. When I turned 21, my family took me to Connecticut for my first legal gambling experience. But we’ve talked about that in the past! It’s a game of skill, math, risk, chance, perception, bluffing, psychology… all things that build our brainpower… you know, good stuff. With each new skill, I became a very strong player. As I grew older, we learned Solitaire, Hearts and Spades. My family played games such as Poker, BlackJack, Follow the Lead, 4 of a Kind, Sevens, Criss-Cross. ![]() But sadly, it went off the air by the time I was old enough to legally play it. ![]() When I stayed home sick from school (ahem, cough cough), I’d watch the TV Game show “Card Sharks” and dream of the day when I could be a contestant. ![]() These are magical words to me, ever since I was old enough to understand the different games. 52 cards, 2 thru 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace.Wild cards. Four suits, diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs. I love everything about the concept of cards: Two colors, red and black. When I went away for college, I setup all the games among my fraternity brothers and friends. And their parents watched them play on the boats coming over from Germany. They watched their grandparents play as children. As a child, I watched my grandparents and parents play card games nearly every weekend. Playing cards has run in my family for many generations. OK, that said… yes, it’s a noun, but when I thought about things people clearly identify with me, being a card-shark is one of them. In Britain, it’s called Card-Sharp… an interesting little twist.And I am not sure I’m good enough to be a professional player. Card-Shark also means someone who plays cards professionally or cheats at card games.Now let’s set the record straight on a few things: Card-Shark: a person who is skilled in card games ![]()
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