Texas Hold 'Em was just a form of weekly entertainment with friends. But once I discovered it was more than a game of cards, I was hooked.

I never liked most card games played for money because luck seemed too much of a factor. That's what attracted me to Hold 'Em - there was actual skill involved.

Poker is also one of those rare casino phenomena where you're playing against other people and not the house. So naturally, I found myself in the poker room during a trip to Vegas.

And in that room, I learned one of the most important lessons of my life.

Two players were "heads up," which means everyone else at the table had dropped out. One of them went all in, the other called, and their hands were revealed. The player who went all in had a straight draw, while his opponent had the stronger hand.

When you're trying to catch a straight, the odds are against you. They're anywhere from 8 to 17%, which means you'll roughly lose 9 out of 10 or 4 out of 5 times.

In other words, the first player was gambling whereas the second was following strategy.

As luck would have it, the gambler made his straight on the river (last card).

Coincidentally or not, a few hands later I found myself heads up with said risk-taker in a near identical scenario - this time he had a flush draw.

(Side note: hitting a flush has even worse odds than catching a straight, makes you wonder why this guy wasn't at the roulette table instead.)

Predictably, he went all in.

Yet I hesitated on calling him. I knew I had the better hand, but it's not an easy decision with $200 of your own chips at risk.

This is the thing about poker, even if fortune is on your side there's no such thing as a sure bet. You can do all the right things and lose, another person can do all the wrong things and win.

You also can't avoid a bad beat, if you play long enough it is 100% inevitable. A bad result will happen to you no matter how strictly you follow the correct process.

However, as long as you take your feelings out of the equation, and treat poker like the game of statistics and psychology it is, the wins will outnumber the losses.

But here's what makes life different:

More often than not, you're going to lose.

This is fine, because you're playing with a full deck. As long as you don't bet the farm, you'll always have more hands to play.

So don't worry if you fall down, simply pick yourself up. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're drowning when the pool is just 2 feet deep.

Luck happens, but skill endures.

Cheers.

P.S. He left the table shortly after missing his flush ✌🏻