Some of you might know that I enjoy playing poker. A couple of office buddies taught me the game just before the latest wave of "poker mania" hit the country. So, in a sense, I was on the cutting edge of that trend. Yeah, I'm bad. Uh-huh.

Anyway, I really do enjoy the game and think that it has a lot to offer to anyone who wants to learn. I do realize that not everybody thinks that poker is a positive thing but like most things in life, that depends more on the individual than it does on the game.

So here's one of the lessons I learned from poker: improbable ain't the same thing as impossible.

Ok, for those of you who don't know poker (and there are those who don't), you need to understand a few things. First, it's a card game. Second, it's only really interesting if you are playing for money (not for the sake of cash but for the fact that risking your hard-earned cash changes people's behavior and attitudes - it really does). Third, it's all about who can put together the best combination of five cards. The problem is that the better card combinations are statistically more difficult to get. They are improbable.

The best hand to have in poker is called a "Royal" flush. It's when you have the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of one suit (say diamonds). The odds of doing this are different depending on the kind of poker you are playing but let's just say you have a better chance of being hit by lightning. It's that bad -- but not impossible.

Now the lesson here is that any worthwhile goal is going to be difficult to achieve. If you think about what it takes (in schooling, time, dedication, money, talent, etc.) to become a doctor, a scientist, an astronaut, a musician, a plumber, a writer, an actor, an athlete, etc., etc., etc. You start to realize that the odds are always against you. You may fall short in time, money, dedication, education, opportunities, or a million other things and never reach your goal. But every day people do become doctors, scientists, astronauts, etc., etc., etc. Every day someone beats the odds and does the improbable because they never thought that it was impossible. They knew the difference.

And that's the lesson -- know the difference. If the goal is worthwhile, and you know what you need to achieve your goal, even though it may be difficult to achieve, you still have a chance of doing so. And in the end, a chance is all you need.

Interesting thing. Even people who should know better don't. I wrote a short story a while back called: "The Game." It was about a professional poker player who reaches a critical crossroad in his life. And he hits this crossroad right at the moment that he's one card short of making a Royal Flush. His decision to play, or not play, the hand will have far reaching implications as to what happens to him. I won't spoil the ending by telling you what he does but I think it's a fun read. (And you can find the entire story in my collection of short stories "Digital Daydreams" available from www.lulu.com. Sorry, had to do it.)

The interesting part is that more than a few editors (who play poker) rejected that story. Almost all of them said that when they got to the scene where he's drawing to a Royal Flush, they knew that it was impossible that he'd get that hand so they stopped believing in the story.

Hmmm? Impossible versus improbable.

Well, just recently I was playing poker. It was "Texas Hold 'Em" so I had two cards which belonged to me and I was sharing five cards on the table with the other players. In hold'em you combine your cards with the community cards to make your best hand. I'd gotten a Queen and Ten of Diamonds. When the first three cards were revealed, one was the King of Diamonds and another was the Jack of Diamonds. I had four of the five cards I needed for a Royal Flush. (Remember, I had a better shot at being hit by lightning.) I could also make some other very strong hands. My opponent bet some chips. I checked the community cards and saw that the third card being shown was a Six of Spades. There was a very good chance that he was playing a pair of Kings or a pair of Jacks. That meant he had a winning hand and I just had the hope of a winning hand. I opted to try my luck and match his bet. The next card to be revealed was a Nine of Diamonds. I had the Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, and King of Diamonds. It wasn't a "Royal" Flush but it was one card short of a Royal Flush. Mathematically, maybe one or two percentage points easier than the Royal Flush. But still less likely to happen than to be hit by lightning. My opponent bet big. So did I. He bet bigger. I matched him. The last card was an Ace of Spades. He bet big. I bet bigger. He bet bigger. I bet bigger. He matched it.

Imagine the surprise as everyone saw that his Three Aces (he had two in his hand, and one of them just happened to be the Ace of Diamonds) had lost to my Straight Flush -- a Straight Flush that was one card short of a Royal Straight Flush. People couldn't believe it. It was so improbable that it was, well, impossible. My opponent could not believe that I could get such a thing. He thought I was bluffing. (There's another lesson: Never assume your opponent DOESN'T know what he's doing.)

A few days later I repeated the exact same hand. I got a Straight Flush, King through Nine of Diamonds. Only this time I got the King as the last card.

I got hit by lightning twice in one week. It just goes to show improbable ain't the same thing as impossible.

You can bet on that.