Golf Meets Poker
I’m reading a book that has a lot of descriptions of golf in it right now (not as boring as it sounds). It’s called SEAVIEW, written by Toby Olson, and it’s about a golf hustler whose wife has cancer and who is being tracked by a drug dealer he messed up a deal for. A weird premise perhaps for literary fiction, but the writing is so excellent I haven’t been able to stop reading, and now I kind of want to play golf.
The reason I mention it is there’s a passage from when the main character, Allen, is in the middle of a golf match against a group of guys. There’s a passage meditating on the spirit of competing for money in a game of skill that I thought really said something about poker at the same time.
From page 74 (of the newly released version from Hawthorne Books):
“The second advantage he had, had to do with money. For them, for Steve at least, the money was no more than a kind of whip or a term of humiliation. He was sure Steve did not care about the money, but he was also sure that what the money represented was a very serious thing having to do with self-esteem, which was much harder to lose and much harder to win also. For him, on the other hand, the money was very important. If he won it, he would pleased to have it. He needed it; it would buy things that he needed. But if he lost it, and he certainly did not want to lose it, it would be no more than the money he was losing. He could imagine himself going back without it; he would be sad about it, but that was all.”
Another passage a little later on says something else, but I like this for some reason. I’ve felt the same feeling at the tables.
Tags: poker philosophy, toby olsonRelated Stories
POSTED IN: philosophy
2 opinions for Golf Meets Poker
Jereme
Mar 5, 2008 at 3:48 pm
This defines a guy I know perfectly.
The guy inherited a nice business and makes 500k plus a year and is only 27 years old.
He will bust out early at our $10 freeze out ring game we play and offer to buy other people’s stacks .
I’ve seen him pay $60 (plus his original $10) for a chance to buy back in and win $90. I’ve also seen him bust out again and buy another guys stack.
It has nothing to do with the money.
Not my game and not my rules otherwise this crap wouldn’t happen but what can I do?
not play with him I guess.
Betfair Poker Player
Mar 7, 2008 at 6:56 pm
A new spin on only gambling money you can afford to lose or don’t care about.
A friend of mine is a horse race player and mildly successful. He has inherited money and get his thrill not so much out of the winning cash but proving his judgement right.
That’s where he takes the pleasure from not so much the money.
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