The World You Choose to See

One of the things I love about magic is that it is always encouraging me to see the world in fantastical ways. I am constantly looking for what the most incredible, or eerie, or breathtaking occurrence would be in any given situation, and I love the strange improbabilities it draws me to. Recently, however, I have ben getting deep into the world of poker, and I can’t help but marvel at the differences in personal world-creation I’m experiencing as I adopt the probabilistic, analytical view it necessitates.

Now, obviously magic has an analytical side in that even the most fantastical effect needs a concrete method. But the purpose, and central goal, is the impossible experience, and the method simple enables it. Similarly, poker does have a human, emotional side, from bluff-reading to superstitious hands (who hasn’t taken the occasional stab with the Doyle Brunson hand just because?). But for any serious player those inclinations are only ever there to inform the numbers, almost never do they supersede them.

Both views are clearly useful, each represents a very real world we can choose to see. Magic reminds us to be open to the impossible and to image and dream beyond any boundary, and poker helps us be realistic about likelihoods and the natural variances that come with any risk, big or small. But too frequently I get locked into one or the other and have to step back, because the most important choice we can make in any situation is deciding what is worth calculating and what worth cannot be calculated.

—Z.Y.