No gambler enjoys going on a losing streak.
It certainly fouls up the perfect life. It shortens one's temper and makes a person less generous with his money.
When the cards turn on a poker player, it can prove devastating on a short-term basis. When I am losing, my confidence ebbs and I am under the influence of a divine discontent that makes me wonder what I am doing wrong.
Poker wins go in streaks. At least, that has been my experience over the years. Because I have been on a losing streak, I am going to try to break it by making a long cross-country trip. I'm going by car so I can experience the freedom of the open road.
A losing streak generally starts when a person plays too many hands. This means you should rein in your eagerness to bet. Save that money for premium hands that work four ways and that give you plenty of 'outs.'
Being Taurus and Italian, I sometimes get into trouble because of my stubbornness. I keep on playing the border-line hands hoping to overcome the odds. Alas, that seldom happens and my chips suffer.
Now poker players rarely have hobbies they can turn to when they aren't playing poker. I am a reasonable tennis player and I played golf until I broke my arm when a green-broke horse threw me. I lost some of the power in my right arm, and have been trying to get into a mood to play golf ever since.
Changing your opponents is a good way to stop a losing streak. Your new foes may be better or worse players than the old ones. The only way you can find out is to play them.
Another way to stop a losing streak is to change games. I am thinking of playing blackjack and dice when I arrive in Phoenix. A controlled roll in dice sometimes pays off, and blackjack is a staple game for most gamblers.
I'll do some horseback riding when I arrive in the Valley of the Sun. There's a riding stable near South Mountain that rents good horses for $25 an hour. Another stable exists next to the Superstition Mountains.
I think I'll rein up a good horse and do some exploring along those ragged ridges where Apache Indians once concealed themselves before an attack. The Superstitions were referred to by my artist friend Ted DeGrazia as 'lmy gems.' Ted, who built the Studio of the Sun art gallery in Tucson, loved taking a horseback ride into the Superstitions.
He painted the mountains as well as the Yaqui Indians who had roamed those spires in the old days. I rode with Ted one weekend when he burned $1 million worth of original artwork beneath a wooden Apache cross. Ted burned the paintings to protest the federal inheritance tax law which he felt was unfair to artists. The protest worked. Sen. Barry Goldwater, who was a fan of DeGrazia's, introduced a change to the inheritance tax law which passed in the U.S. Senate.
Before he died of lung cancer some years ago, Ted revealed to several friends that he had buried some of his paintings near Weaver's Needle in the heart of the Superstitions. He didn't give the location. Ted had a wicked sense of humor and was too wise for that. But I know the location is within an hour's horseback ride of the site where we camped next to a spring. With that knowledge and a little bit of luck, who knows what I might find?
JennaROX
7 years ago
Geno! What a trip! Inheritance & DeGrazia! I inherited 8 DeGrazia plates a few years ago! I think there are some other items of his in all of this stuff, too. The plates are of little Indian children. I am not a fan of South Western motif, but the Pico's definitely were. Mr Pico (John), is the great-grandson of Pio Pico,...
Geno! What a trip! Inheritance & DeGrazia! I inherited 8 DeGrazia plates a few years ago! I think there are some other items of his in all of this stuff, too. The plates are of little Indian children. I am not a fan of South Western motif, but the Pico's definitely were. Mr Pico (John), is the great-grandson of Pio Pico, the last Governor of California when it was still part of Mexico & Mrs. Pico, originally an Ochoa, grew up in Arizona in the 1920s. They traveled the world while John worked on infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia, South America & UAE. Interestingly, John & I, graduated from the same high-school, 52 years apart! Whittier High is located in a suburb of South East Los Angeles & John used to ride his horse to school everyday. Imagine that! Riding a horse in Los Angeles & tying it up in front of your high school. What a trip! Anyhow... I am off on a tangent again & wanted to let you know I have been playing poker everyday lately. Yup! Strapped my poker panties back on & I have even won a little bit of coin! Wonder why you are headed back to Phoenix, in this blistering heat? My Dad is in Sun City & it was 119 there on Father's Day! Just insanity! I hope your chariot is fitted with supercharged AC because that desert is on fire! :) See ya when ya settle in somewhere! :) GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
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jade
7 years ago
Hi Geno, This is just one of those stories that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to chime in on. Another road trip, are ya........ I have no idea where you are now! Didn't you move away from Phoenix recently? Anyway, changing opponents sounds like a good idea. To do that you will probably have to change the casinos...
Hi Geno, This is just one of those stories that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to chime in on. Another road trip, are ya........ I have no idea where you are now! Didn't you move away from Phoenix recently? Anyway, changing opponents sounds like a good idea. To do that you will probably have to change the casinos you normally would play and of course you know I'm hardly an expert, but that sounds like a good plan as well. Being the new mystery man in town can be intriguing for you, for the other players, guests and even the staff at another casino. Maybe you'll get lucky with the cards and.......... Before you sit down at that card table, don't forget about that horseback ride. I love horseback riding. It will clear your mind before the game and exercise muscles you forgot you had. Maybe even locate the site you want to comeback to dig for those paintings! Too bad, doesn't look like a metal detector's gonna help you here, unless Ted packed up his paintings in metal cases. Either way it sounds like fun. In fact, I had a terrible losing streak going on at my favorite casino. I finally bit the bullet and deposited somewhere I hadn't in a long time, played some games I hadn't played in a long time as well and it paid off big, really! Good luck Geno. I'll nail up the horseshoe for ya.............
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