Day 2: The Crossroads of Poker and Transformation
“Poker is not just a card game played by people. Poker is a people game played with cards.” ~ Doyle Brunson, the Godfather of Poker
New to the game of poker in 1996, I was a successful business owner in my late 40s who had no idea what beat what. The only cards I had ever played when I was a kid were Old Maid and Rook.
At the poker table, I felt like a fool.
No, at the poker table, I was an idiot.
Consider how crazy this sounds.
As a 6-foot 5-inch tall woman and the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs real estate managing broker of Southwest Florida, I took custody of 267 properties in one day and supervised dozens of crews; HOWEVER, when I sat down at the poker table, I was a wussy.
Don’t get me wrong. By nature, I was the opposite of being a weakling.
I was one of the best negotiators in complex commercial transactions on the national scale, but at the poker table? Not so much.
When I stepped out of my comfort zone, my mojo — my confidence that I could do anything — was missing in action. I was bluffed off of winning hands and lost trying to bluff with squat.
Even if you’ve never played a hand of poker, I bet that may sound familiar to you.
Then, as if by the grace of the poker gods, I ended up in a tournament sitting to the left of the Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson.
In poker, when you are seated at the left of a player, you have an advantage. You are blessed when you are to the left of a great player. That day, I was very, very lucky.
This great man of poker spoke to me with respect. Without remembering the specifics of the hands, Doyle was kind and gentle.
When I told him I had no idea why I was so bad at poker, he profiled me and openly shared the results.
Doyle Brunson said to me, “Donna, use your people-reading skills to play the game. Stop overthinking.”
Information changes at the turn of a card.
Action at the poker table goes clockwise. The person to your right acts before you and gives you information as long as you are aware.
We make decisions based on the limited information we have. But we never know it all.
What was a correct decision a moment ago can change in the blink of an eye; at the turn of a card.
Players act and choose to fold, call, raise, or re-raise. Regardless of what cards come, situations often change.
That sounds a lot like life.
Takeaway
Life’s Poker Blessing
“May you make all the correct decisions (with the information you have), remain unattached to the outcome, and may the cards break in your direction.” ~ Donna Blevins
I was grateful to have Doyle’s daughter, Pamela, known as “Queen Kitty,” on my podcast, Big Girl Poker Chat. Go here.
My first and last self-published Shortform ended 2021 and is here.
Starting off the year, thanks to Susie Pinon, I published in The Orange Journal and shared about me becoming the Helicopter Daughter of my amazing mother, Mama Peggy, who is now 95. You can find that here.
For a 4-minute audio of my signature MindShift Exercise™, go here.
Dr. Donna Blevins, a poker mindset coach, received the Recognition Award from the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Donna teaches online worldwide from her home on the Gulf Coast of Florida and loves speaking in person.
