It takes a big man to admit when he has acted foolishly. Any one who knows me will tell you that I am not, in fact, a big man by any means. They will most certainly regale you with tales of my foolishness, however; though that’s neither here, nor is it there. Let it be known that little men can also admit their bone-headedness (that’s a word, right?).
I sat down at my favorite online casino over the weekend, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I had done a good job of saving money from my paychecks, as well as knocking out some credit card debts that were hanging over my head since I moved from Astoria. I let my sense of accomplishment and freedom from debt get the better of me.
That’s right: I, a professional writer for a site that provides advice on how to play Caribbean Stud Poker, turned an ignorant eye to what I, myself, had written. As a result, today’s nugget of advice is born of a tale of greed, foolishness, and … ultimately… of woe. So, what is today’s advice?
DON’T GET GREEDY
I started my misadventure by depositing what little spare cash I had dutifully scraped together, a modest $450. Things started well enough. I wisely chose to only ante $50 dollars on the first hand, which had luckily worked in my favor. I earned $200 after getting a straight flush against the house. Excited, yet still cautious, I continued through the next three hands with an ante of $50. This is how I should have played the rest of my hands.
At this point I had earned a cool $600 total, and for those keeping track at home I was now sitting on $1050. A smart man, regardless of his stature, would have said, “Alright! I should quit while I am ahead.” Note that I have never been frequently regarded as a “smart” man. Here follows a brief (but no less personally painful) account of how the rest of the game went down.
- Feeling cocky, I moved the ante up to the max limit of $200. I won $800, so my total became $1850
- Even more swagger took hold, and I anted another $200, this time losing $400. Down to $1450
- Anted $200 again, surely I’d have better luck. Nope. Lost another $400. Down to $1050
- Lowered ante to $100. Lost $200. Down to $850
- Anted $100 again. Lost another $200. Down to $650
- Determined not to wind up where I started, I anted $200 once more. I didn’t wind up where I left of… instead, I lost another $400. Down to $250
- I just had to get back to $450, so I decided to go back to antes of $50. Sadly, I lost $100. At $150, I decided it was time to retire
My mistake came from letting the enticing prospect of lucky hands get the better of me. I even went so far as to bet absurd amounts on hands that wouldn’t have granted me any favor in a game of Go Fish, let alone Caribbean Stud Poker. I started out strong, and convinced myself that I would end as strong.
So, what did I do wrong? Well, for starters, some of my final bets were made on hands that didn’t contain as much as a pair of 2s, nor an Ace or King. As you’ll recall, I made a specific point to tell you to always/only bet on a pair in Caribbean Stud Poker. It was advice that I refused to acknowledge.
The worst part is this: When I (or any one of you) plays hands with so little care to the guidelines of the game… The casino won’t notice my measly $300 it won. However, I will feel that loss for weeks to come.
So remember, my friends: DON’T GET GREEDY.