First Throw, First Session, First Day

God was just about done creating the universe, when he realized that he had two extra things left in his bag of creations, so he decided to split them between Adam and Eve.

He told the couple that one of the things he had to give away was the ability to stand up while urinating. "It's a very handy thing", God told the couple, "I was wondering if either one of you wanted that ability."   Adam jumped up and blurted, "Oh, give that to me! I'd love to be able to do that! It’s the sort of thing a man should do. Oh please, oh please, oh please, let me have that ability, it'd be so great! When I'm working in the garden, or naming the animals, I could just stand there and let it fly. It'd be so cool, I could write my name in the sand. Oh please God, let it be me who you give that gift to, let me stand and pee, oh please..." On and on he went like an excited little boy who had to pee.  Eve just smiled and told God that if Adam really wanted that so badly, that he should have it. It seemed to be the sort of thing that would make him happy and she really wouldn't mind if Adam were the one given this ability.

And so Adam was given the ability to urinate while in a vertical position. He was happy and celebrated by wetting down the bark on the nearest tree, laughing with delight all the while. "Fine," God said looking back into his bag of leftovers, "What's left here? Oh yes, “multiple orgasms”.

A lot of people find that their first session at the tables can be a costly one.  If their first session is at the beginning of a new vacation, their first day can set a negative tone for the rest of the trip.  That is especially true if they have been away from the tables for a while.

That first throw at their first session on their first day is usually backed by some nervous energy and high anticipation.  For that reason, you want to have MINIMAL money exposed.  Until you settle into a comfortable groove, you are playing on nervous energy and you may be over-focused and wound up too tightly. 

The same thing has happened to me.  Bad results teach hard-learned lessons and you gain a lot of school-of-hard-knocks experience.

The cost of "experience" can be high, but the lessons seem to be more deeply imprinted that way.  They simply seem to stick to your memory a lot better.

If you don't get to play on a daily basis, each time you have a new trip, the first session can be the most dangerous, and the first few throws are the most dangerous of all.  Over-betting is a serious concern, and if you start a trip off with a losing session, sometimes it sets the wrong tone.

If I am away from the tables for more than two or three days, I keep my initial bets on myself to an absolute minimum.  It's because I have no idea what the dice are going to do.  If at all possible, I seek out the "cheap seats" low-minimum tables for that re-entry into Precision-Shooting.  Even three days off, can add a little rust to the edge of a well-honed knife.

The physical act of setting, focusing, aiming, and tossing is a big part of contributing to your success.  But overall, I'd say that it constitutes no more than 50% of the success factor.  I can't emphasize the psychological side of this game enough!  Keeping your anxiety and anticipation in check is very difficult.  When your hands are slightly shaking with nervous energy, you have to calm yourself down.  One of the easiest ways to do that is to have the smallest amount of money out there on the tables until you can get all of those butterflies in your stomach flying in a nicely organized formation.