In the previous installment, recall that we found that beginning in the 1960's with corporate ownership of casinos, poker was not a favored game because it wasn't a house-banked game and, therefore, not a game that the casinos could control. In all casino games, the casino, the "house", controls and banks the game. Therefore, the casino can alter the game's rules to assure itself of a steady winning percentage.

A successful and steadily profitable poker player should avoid emotional extremes, whether high or low. Making steady profits in poker, regardless of whether you are playing professionally, semi-professionally, or only casually, requires you to have discipline of mind, body, and soul, and in particular the ability to avoid becoming angry over bad bets or becoming overly exuberant in times of good luck. You will need to develop patience as well as measured temperament, because without these the volatility inherent in this game can bury you in the graveyard of emotion.

The entire history of the United States, particularly the Western lore, were all about gambling, and in particular all about poker. Even though for many years playing poker was not considered something that nice people would want to do, the fact remains that many presidents of the United States going back to the Revolutionary war, and soon thereafter, and for all the years since, all played poker.