Poker Nights, Beer, and Friends

I used to be a very active poker player. We had a group here at the Level Up office that would have Poker Night mostly on Thursdays. The buy-ins started at P200 (winner take all), then went up to P300, and eventually the norm was P500. After a few more months, the standard went all the way up to P1,000. I remember winning more than P10,000 in one game because some people bought back in. I don’t think that made up for all the time that I lost though, hahaha!

I noticed one thing though – I have the same amount of fun and satisfaction when I play P200, P300, P500, or even P1,000 games. I just have more pressure to win when the amount gets higher. That’s the fun and danger in gambling though. That’s when I knew I crossed the line already since I started taking it really seriously and I wasn’t in it for the fun part anymore.

I played Poker with my guildmates in World of Warcraft in our last EB and I had loads of fun playing against new people. It gave more satisfaction despite the lower pay-out (won both games @P500 buy-in, hehe). That’s when I realized that for me – and I’m speaking personally here – I find the pleasure of Poker in the game and in the company of players that I’m in.

Friendly competition gets the adrenaline pumping and it can really de-stress you from the daily grind of work. That’s why I’ve decided to drop Poker and try to do other stuff that costs less money, haha. Gambling is a very deceptive trap that can sneak up on you. You won’t know that it actually has you under it’s spell unless it’s too late. I’m not saying I’ll never play Poker again, but now I have and I know my limits. It’s good that I realized this before I lost money or went to debt because of this game.

I’d rather use the money now to eat out and have good food! More dates with Mich and the Food Tripper gang, hehehe.

I’ll post my next food review this coming Saturday night. I hope you’re all doing well and that you’ll all have an awesome weekend!