"We're in our element"

As Mrs. Surf and I enjoyed a great time in Tunica she made the comment "We're in our element." It was such a true statement. I really feel at home in the casinos. I enjoy being able to play games that involve luck but you can apply skills to that give you a chance to lose a small amount or win a huge amount. I love hearing the comments of the unskilled gamers that say things like "It's all luck" or "You can't beat this game; the house always wins." While it is a true statement that the house always wins more than it loses, it doesn't win every session or even against every player. There are games in the casino that you can beat on a regular basis. It can take a lot of studying and applying the proper discipline to do it, but it can be done.
Poker is different from most casino games in that you are applying skill to beat the other opponents at the table along with a combination of the luck of getting the right cards when you need them; sometimes you need them and sometimes you don't. The house always wins at the poker tables as they take a rake of the action no matter who wins the hands. I have had a nice run at the tables the last week or so. I made the money in two of three tournaments we played at Kajagugu's last Friday and I had a great night at PokerCats Tuesday cashing out for 4 1/2 my original buy-in after getting there two hours late due to a meeting at work. I went on a run on Riverstars today and finished 14th of 1,071 almost making it to the final table. Thanks to Weak, Waffles, and Kat for the nice words of encouragement during the tourney and especially to ThePokerEnthusiast for hanging out with me from beginning to end keeping me calm and steady throughout with his helpful insight.
Have a great week everyone!!!