20 Reasons Why Poker is Like Life

• You can do everything right and still lose.



• You can do everything wrong and still win.



• Sometimes the bastards win.



• Sometimes the idiots win.



• When the chips are down, you usually lose; but when you win under those circumstances it's incredibly sweet (and memorable).



• Every so often you don't deserve what you get but you get it anyway.



• There is no substitute for hard work.



• You can be cruising along, thinking you have the world by the balls, and something will come out of nowhere to bruise and bloody you.



• It's not what you deserve; it's what you take.



• You will get the feeling that your friends, life, and God Almighty Himself are conspiring against you. Sometimes you will be right.



• Coming in second place can win you acclaim, notoriety, and money - but it's a pale shadow to winning.



• Having friends is more fulfilling than being a lone wolf. Defeats are softened, and victory sweetened, when shared with friends.



• If you don't learn from your mistakes, you are bound to repeat them, over and over again.



• Know thy enemy as you know thyself.



• Chance favors the prepared.



• Boorish, brash, uneducated behavior wins you little but the silent contempt of your peers, bearing in mind rule 4.



• In a perfect world, you either win with honor or lose with honor. Sometimes your adversary does not believe or practice this rule - but you should still, all the more because he does not.



• If you don't love it, it's an excruciating way to make a living.



• If you swim in waters too deep for you, it rarely ends well.



• There is always someone smarter than you.