Luck Matters

"Ya know, one of these days, something REALLY bad will happen to you. IT HAS TO!"
-Elaine Bennice (Talking to Jerry in the Hot n' Heavy episode of Seinfeld)

I think luck is the most influential factor in our lives. Where we are born, our means, the people who we've met and influence our decisions and personalities, and the opportunities that present itself. Worst thing is that most of our luck we can never see or understand. It's invisble. You could have missed a chance to meet your future girlfriend or boyfriend by sitting on a different seat on the subway or just narrowly missing them by a minute at the bar. Maybe that extra gust of wind cost you from winning your downhill sky race which is only measured in milliseconds of difference. In judged events at the Olympics like figure skating, a judge's mood during one particular set could make the difference between a gold medal and being off the poteum. Thinking about the string of events that consitute one's "Luck" can drive someone absolutely batty. I used to give myself massive headaches trying to wrap my head around universal consequences of luck. One of my favorite movies, "Match Point" opens with a monologue about the importance of being lucky in life. Most of our life is not in our control even if we feel like it is. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.

Only thing that matters in this life is giving yourself the best chance to get lucky. Maximizing your "life" equity. Taking every edge you can find to accomplish something you want. You can't win if you don't play. If there's a job you really want, maybe beyond doing the interview you can stop in and say "Hi" to the manager couple times a week without even mentioning the position. Maybe if you're looking for a partner you could spend more time at bars, clubs, museums, dating sites, etc. Doing things like this doesn't gurantee anything. Doing little things to maximize your equity in getting the best possible result will help, but in the end it's more important to be lucky. Since we don't have control of luck what really matters is giving yourself the most chances 'to be' lucky. Putting yourself in right spot is all you can do.

My first reaction when I think about the last 2-3 years in poker for me is that I've been incredibly lucky. I fully assume I've run far above expectation in tournaments. At the same time, I worked harder at it than anything else in my life. I moved out to Vegas for a summer. I knew it might have negative effects on my personal life, but I did it anyway. I put in insane hours online and even just watching others play online. Read a ton of books, joined multiple training sites for poker. I put myself in a position to get lucky and luck has happened to fall on my side exactly where I had hoped it would. I haven't done the same in my personal life at times and I've felt unlucky as a result. But who knows if I really have been, it's invisble anyway. I could have easily squandered opportunities without realizing it. I need to put in some more time in maxmizing my life equity outside of poker. However, it will have to wait until after the world series because the plan right now is to win a bracelet. A little over 2 months in Las Vegas and I'll be focused on nothing but winning a bracelet. We'll see what happens. For now, if you play poker and someone tells you that winning is all about luck, you can tell them from me that it plays a part in everything. Lawyer, doctor, daytrader, I don't care who they are. If they are doing well, they have been lucky somewhere down the line. Luck matters. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Good Luck All!
Simon Charette
(pokerbrat13/tedlogan19)