The Importance of Poker on a September Day


Introductory note from
Diane McHaffie:

This Mike Caro poem first appeared on the inside back cover of Poker Digest magazine, shortly after September 11, 2001.

It stands in contrast to many of Mike’s poems from his pre-poker past, which usually don’t rhyme and have muted structure. Here he uses precise meter and rhyme to create an almost childlike rhythm — until we reach an unexpected final thought.

The photo is from the National Park Service and is in the public domain.

  • I’m the director of operations for Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU), assisting Mike with the development of Poker1.



The Importance of Poker
on a September Day


Our lives play like a poker game

We bet, we bluff, we call, we fold

And no two hands play out the same

And no new day shall be foretold


We seldom know what’s next to come

We face our future, unresolved

Life’s cards are always shuffled from

A deck too deep to have evolved


We never grasp the truth beyond

We’re not supposed to see that far

And so we share our poker bond –

A bond much greater than we are


Oh, poker is important, see

Because it’s like life’s training ground

And all our poker strategy

In life is even more profound


But then toy planes plow through the glass

It doesn’t look like truth to me

Towers falling into crumbled mass

A terror that ought never be


Deep, deep below the tangled towers

And down within the darkened pits

There is a room that once was ours

It is a place where poker fits

Mike Caro



Published by

Mike Caro

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Known as the “Mad Genius of Poker,” Mike Caro is generally regarded as today's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. He is the founder of Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU). See full bio → HERE.

 

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