One of my dreams is to play Hold'em with Michael Jordan. I wish to take all of his money in some slow-call, trolling drag through checks and calls. Obviously, I have no idea how he plays. I'm simply presenting the fantasy from my point of view, like, duh.
You know about the idea how you can like "learn a lot" about a person by "fighting" them, that kung-fu-esque trope depicted oh-so frequently in "cinema"? You can learn a lot about a person by playing them in any sort of game, as well. And one of my favorite games through which to "get to know" a person is Texas Hold'em.
I was adopted into a family that had already adopted a korean infant, and by the time I arrived at nearly the age of four, he was about six years old, and he is my adopted older brother. We are both of korean descent, but we are not biologically related (the interesting thing being that i was the first-born child of my birth mother and lived recognized as such for the first three years of my life, yet i was adopted into a family wherein i was positioned as the younger sibling; there's no way this did not affect our relationship potential). Nevertheless, as my older brother, he took it upon himself to make sure that I knew a few cool "boy things." As a side note, I was also raised by my adopted father, a man who thought it was a compliment to tell me I'm as good as any boy, cause I could run like a boy, throw like a boy, bat like a boy, and I even rode a boy's bike, etc.
One of these cool "boy things" is indubitably Poker, namely, Hold'em. And I resisted this teaching for a long time, cause I thought it was pointless. What the hell am I supposed to do with the knowledge that this guy is obviously bluffing? My simple little mind couldn't see the point. And then I realized that my brother also didn't really get it either. And so, I quickly surpassed him as a player, and now, we are not supposed to play any sort of competitive-adjacent-type games or activities, etc.
I'll just say this. He's never, not once, not EVER beaten me at a round of Hold'em. In head-to-heads, he's survived, maybe, six hands, tops.
But then, I started to play the bodybuddy/lifemate, and he is a much better liar, which is obviously something to be noted. The thing, however, about the bb/lm's skillful lying is that he's forthright. It's easy to tell when he's lying, but he's also good at making you wonder if he's not-lying. A trickster, as it were. And, well, the bodybuddy/lifemate beats me nearly all the time. The only thing I routinely kick his ass at is Scrabble, but we are also not really encouraged to play too many games or activities with any sort of competitive potential, etc.
Thus, my affinity for Hold'em is something that I've tried to rub off on my favorite korean. I sent her a poker set a while back, cause after a round of flash-questions over [social media redacted] toward the end of last year, I learned that she likes to spend time with her friends, and her friends like to play games and do stuff together, etc. Being on the cusp of college, I thought a poker set would be a fun way to start introducing her to the social potential that poker holds. (gambling is illegal in korea for koreans, but one does not need to bet with anything valuable at stake to gain the skills poker holds, and re gambling, i think tournaments are stupid and the whole idea of the "professional" poker player is a fucking joke, and obviously, the addictive nature of gambling, etc., etc., etc., i'm talking here, more about the social qualities of the game between humans as opposed to presenting a dissertation on a personal blog about gambling addiction, etc., *iroll*)
Poker is a game of social skills.
A good poker player puts on a persona.
The persona does whatever it needs to do to make the table think whatever it wants to make the table think.
I recently watched the first season of Three Body Problem (or is it the digit 3 ... Body Problem?; we'll never know), and the climax of the series seemed to be (i'm not good at "reading" tv/movies, cause i have other skills) the San-Ti realizing that humans are liars. The idea of lying was not only something the San-Ti couldn't come up with themselves, but also, the idea of lying is something bad, primitive, because we cannot simply read each other's minds, we have to speak, communicate; our minds are separated from our communicative tools, and therein exists the fertile ground for lies, lying, and the liar.
Lying is a human social skill.
Humans are—first and foremost—social beings.
Having a large, extensive repertoire of social skills will—undoubtedly—take one far in life.
Lying is a human social skill.
Spotting the Liar, an even greater skill.
Think about what sort of cognitive function is required for a thing to know why and how to lie.
Children know how to lie.
More importantly, children know when to lie.
Theoretically, the child speaks lies to preserve their own self.
Foxes lie, just fyi.
Adults, however, lie for an infinite number of unknowable reasons. Thus, Hold'em is less about lying to deceive and more about lying to communicate. My older brother saw the game this way, but he seemed to not-understand the implication of it all. He read the game through its "rules," etc. "The numbers," he'd growl at me, "The odds!"
"Why would(n't) you bet (or not bet) on that hand! You have to communicate to the table that you have a strong hand, and make everyone pay to keep playing!"
He would legitimately become so frustrated by the way that I chose to play Hold'em that he'd lose it. My poker playing would make. him. snap. Every time. Every single fucking time. Cause, the way that I saw it was that yea, those are the "rules," but if everyone knows that—and thereby plays by them—what the fuck is the point?
In short, I am all-too curious about the way that Jordan must play the game. He's fucking Michael Jordan. The only thing I know about him—that I believe 100%—is that he does not like to lose. So what does he do? Who does he become to convince me of some bet? How does he hide himself to project the persona? Who is Michael Jordan?