Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Baseball And Poker

Hello friends. I hope you all are well. As I watched the end of the Yankee game the other night (the extra inning loss), I began to think about similarities between baseball and poker. Flashback to the top of the 9th inning: Yankees up by 2. 1 man on, 2 outs, 2 strikes, Rajai Davis up and Rafael Soriano pitching. Davis singles through the infield bringing Colby Rasmus, the go-ahead run, to the plate. 2 pitches later and the Yankees, instead of winning, find themselves with their backs against the wall, needing a run to tie and 2 to win.

If you know poker, specifically no-limit hold-em, you probably can see how the two games are similar. Imagine these two teams are the final two at the table. The Yankees have a commanding chip lead and the Jays need a miracle to win the big purse. The Jays, needing some runs, are forced to go all-in. The cards are dealt and here comes the flop. We have a strike-out, a single, and a pop-out. The Yankees are sitting pretty and are currently 90% favorite to win the hand. Here comes 4th street. It's a 2-out single. Still, the odds are heavily in the Yankees favor to win it all. The Jays need a miracle to stay alive.

Here comes the river. The Jays pull the one and only card that will help them stay alive. It's a 3-run homer. The Jays are overjoyed and now the chip leader. The Yankees are stunned and now have their backs against the wall. In baseball, like in poker, your fortune can be gone in a blink of an eye. The Yankees try to put the odds in their favor with Girardi's binder. In poker, Pokerlistings.com is the poker equivalent of Joe's book. It's the world's largest online poker guide with the best bonus offers guaranteed and exclusive free tournaments for new players

As you all remember the Yankees, thanks to that Jeter kid, did come back to pull even with the Jays. Only to eventually have their luck run out a few hands later. See what I mean? Baseball and poker, as games, share a lot of similarities. Both are fun games for sure. Baseball though, will always be #1

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie