The Wisdom of Walter Sobchak

"You have got to buck up, man. You cannot drag this negative energy in to the tournament!"

A line from one of my all-time favorite movies: The Big Lebowski. It's one of those films that you can watch over and over again and still pick up new things on each viewing. Take Walter (John Goodman), for example. Although it's not apparent at first given his unhealthy obsession with Vietnam and the fact that he's a tad crazy, Walter is arguably the smartest character in the movie.

For starters, he's well educated, referencing Lenin by his birth name, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. He waxes philosophical about the tenets of socialism versus nihilism. He's right about the toe not belonging to Bunny, and in the very same scene cites a Supreme Court decision regarding free speech. Walter's initial theory that Bunny kidnapped herself also proves to be almost spot on.

And, of course, there's that little nugget of wisdom at the beginning of this post, which proved to be an invaluable piece of advice for a tournament I cashed in at the Poker Palace yesterday. I've played their daily tournament several times since moving to Vegas a few months ago because the buy-in is cheap and the competition is so soft that anyone with solid poker fundamentals has a great chance of cashing.

I had been pretty card dead the entire time and lost a lot of chips with AKs in position when another guy check-raised me after flopping a set of jacks. A few hands later, someone drew out on me, costing me most of my stack. Situations like these can be very frustrating when you keep watching the lesser-skilled players scoop monster pots after calling raises out of position with cards any decent player would have folded from the get-go.

I went into the first break on tilt. "I'm through with this stupid tournament! We've got to start playing bigger buy-ins so we can play real poker!" I ranted to Sunshine, who reminded me that you cannot push these kinds of players out of pots. I returned to my table still steaming and a little deflated due to my small stack when I heard a voice inside my head.

"You cannot drag this negative energy in to the tournament!"

Walter was right: I didn't stand a chance of surviving without an immediate attitude adjustment, so that's exactly what I did. I purchased my $10 add-on, which made my small stack a little bit bigger, dropped my negativity, and waited for a spot to make my stand.

"All-in," I announced shortly thereafter when I looked down at the 78 of spades in late position, happy to just pick up the blinds and antes, but I quadrupled up when I picked up a set of 8's on the turn. l doubled up again when my well-timed pre-flop raise enticed the player to my right to shove his QTo into my pocket aces and the big blind came along for the ride.

Granted, I got lucky, but no one has ever won a tournament without getting lucky a few times--especially one with starting stacks of 40 big blinds and 15 minute levels. You can't win a tournament on tilt either. Moreover, given the fact that our thoughts influence the world around us, I've no doubt that changing my energy lent itself to the lucky streak that helped me make it to the money.

And I owe it all to the wisdom of Walter Sobchak.

Bitter Haircut

It's been a while since I made a post and right now I'm feeling the same way I was the night I started this blog, which means it's time for some therapy.

A couple hours ago, Sunshine got a text from her boss stating that he had just turned $10 into $500 at the roulette table. Almost immediately she looked at me and said, "That's exactly why you never win anything," even though I hadn't said a word.

But she knew exactly what I had been thinking, and she was exactly right.

Earlier this evening, while Sunshine was at work, I went to the Flamingo to use the $5 in free slot play I received for becoming a Harrah's Total Rewards member. I was hoping to get lucky and double-up then wander over to the blackjack table and win some more. Every gambler's dream, I know, but it was a freeroll.

What I was really trying to do was round up enough money to sit down at a cash game or at least buy into a tournament, so needless to say I was a little jealous when I heard someone else had basically done just that. Moreover, I haven't played in a couple weeks and have been itching to do so, especially tonight.

Lately I keep dwelling on how badly I need money so I can play poker and wishing I had enough to play every day--and not just for the profits; much like soccer, I just love the game. It's as though I'm walking this fine line between passion and addiction.

Sunshine hit the nail on the head though: I'm full of lack (kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?), or at least that's my experience, and one that manifests itself over and over again in my life. It's a vicious cycle that will continue until I change my thoughts.

She was right; I have a hard time being happy for other people. It's a habit I learned from my mom, but there also comes a point where we have to stop blaming our parents for everything that's "wrong" with us. My buddy Ernie sold a pilot to Fox a few months ago, and even though I told him I was stoked for him, in the back of my mind I was also thinking, "Why can't something like that happen to me?"

Until I can genuinely be happy for others' good fortunes, I will never have any good fortunes of my own.

"So how do I get to the point where I am genuinely happy for other people?" I asked Sunshine.

"Stop focusing on the lack. You're so wrapped up in it, when something good happens to someone else, it becomes one more reminder of what you don't have. Learn to be okay with your life the way it is."

I'm lucky to have someone in my life who always seems to tell me exactly what I need to hear.

By now you might be wondering why I titled this post "Bitter Haircut." It's because I've had long hair for the past five or six years, but this afternoon I chopped it off. I've had several job interviews since moving to Vegas three months ago, but no offers, so I thought my hair might have something to do with it. It was never a problem in LA when I was working in entertainment, but Vegas seems more conservative and a lot of the positions I've been interviewing for have been corporate.

I actually made an appointment a couple weeks ago, but chickened out at the last minute (apparently, I was still "attached" to my long hair). I was afraid of ending up with a dorky haircut, like so many of the styles from my past. Interestingly enough, that's exactly what I got, and it's the worst haircut I've ever had. Our thoughts really do influence the world around us.

It's like Wayne Dyer says, "Change the way you look at the world and the world you look at changes."

Easy for him to say, he doesn't have any hair! ;-)