It is easy to smile at an insult and pretend it's funny when the person insulting you is hosing you with money.

When you make a bet, you're saying something.

Despair, in short, seeks its own environment as surely as water finds its own level.

I absolutely don't believe in anything. Full stop. Including luck.

Divorce transforms habit into drama.

Hold'em is a game of calculated aggression. If your cards are good enough for you to call a bet, they are good enough to raise with.

To put yourself into a situation where a mistake cannot necessarily be recouped, where the life you lose may be your own, clears the head wonderfully. It puts domestic problems back into proportion and adds an element of seriousness to your drab, routine life. Perhaps this is one reason why climbing has become increasingly hard as society has become increasingly, disproportionately, coddling.