One of the values that I keep is to have fun. Work hard, play hard. One of my favorite past times is kicking back and playing cards. Those of you who played set back with me at DE only saw a glimpse of how I love to play.

This past weekend I was in Rhode Island for my wife's annual "family reunion." One night always becomes Texas Hold 'em night and that is exactly what I did on Saturday with five other members of her family. It was a great night for fellowship. The card table is an excellent place to shoot the breeze and catch up with her family members, especially her brother and uncle who I basically only see at this event each year.

I've been working on really being in the moment for the past three weeks or so and decided to put that to use during this game. All night I had some good cards to work with and played some hands. I also lost a couple of hands as all poker players will from time to time. In fact I really only won two or three hands all night.

This game was pretty easy, it was a $10 buy in, nothing fancy. Anyone had the option to buy back in one time if they so chose. Good for me I was the only person all night who didn't buy back into the game.

There are three hands in particular that I'll talk about. The first was a simple hand that came down to head to head play with Suzy's cousin Ray. He and I play enough together that we have a feel for each other's style of play. He's a bluffer and I am, well I won't say. Let's just say this time I was holding a straight and the potential was there for a full house to beat me. All night I kept asking innate, "what do I do?"

As Kenny Rogers says, "you got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em..." And who would know better than innate. So I sat there reading Ray and letting innate do the work and get back to me. Eventually it came to me to play out this hand and I called "all in," meaning I was betting all of my chips at one time. Innate told me he wasn't going to have the full house and that I was safe for a win. Wouldn't you know, Ray folded and I won about $15 on that hand.

Again, Ray and I faced off around midnight. This time I had pocket Aces with an ace on the table. No full house available, but a low straight was enough to beat me. The thing with Ray is he loves to gamble, so I played his card. This time I wasted no time. As soon as I saw the ace, innate told me to call him in and I called "all in." I figured the other players would get scared and back out, but that Ray would call me. And that is exactly what happened. Now, holding three aces on fourth street is a very nice place to be, but its even better when your opponent flips over an Ace and King paired and there's no other King on the table. Basically I had him beat without flipping the final card and I cleared him out.

The final two hands I'll talk about in combination. Around 1AM innate told me to cash out and go to bed. I was up about $50 on the $10 I invested initially. A pretty good night's work. This time though, I didn't listen to innate and you can guess the outcome. It only six hands for me to lose it all. In fact, I lost half of it on the final two hands. The first one I simply got beat. I had a good hand and was right to be playing. Although for the money on the table, I should have bowed out after the flop. Such is life. But the final hand I got played.

On this night I played very tight, only coming in on hands that I knew I would win. That's easy to do when you are asking innate to guide you. As I said above, innate told me to go to bed at 1AM. I tried to bluff my way through this hand and Suzy's uncle had me pinned. I lost my hand and my whole stack and ultimately I lost $10 on the night.

All in all, losing $10 for a night and being the only one not to have to buy back in is a good night's work. But as BJ says, when innate tells you to do something, move with all the force of the universe behind you. When innate says to stay your hand, stay your hand. The first time you don't listen to innate, innate goes cold towards you or a long time. For me, it cost me about $60 in total. All night I listened and acted. The first time I did not listen, I lost big. Then I lost big again, and again, and finally again.

Moral of this story, listen to innate and act when innate tells you to act.

(I blame this the end of this story on Judson and Balsamo for keeping me up late at night while in the Dominican......HAHA!)

Good story Bri,
I am an avid poker player as well, and I have always played more of a spiritual/ emotional, "from the guts" sort of game. Getting in touch with innate has made quite a difference. You cant ignore the numbers / odds (although I think pot odds are one of the biggest suckers bets in poker), but like you said, when Innate speaks ...you listen.

a little something I whipped together w/ GIMP "All the photoshop, w/ none of the price"