Lessons I Learned From Playing Big Two

For most of us who grew up being fanatic followers of the "God of Gambler" movie franchise, our Chinese New Year celebrations would definitely not be complete without a game of Black Jack, Baccarat, Poker, Big Two or Mahjong with our family members, relatives and close friends. It is often said that the Chinese, in particular, are good at calculation because of their exposure to such games, which obviously do involve some form of calculation. Failing to calculate accurately would mean a disaster to our hard-earned "angpow" money.  :)

I, for one, is a huge fan of the card game popularly known as Big Two. I love this game so much because:

1. It makes me think.
2. It gives me thrills.
3. It tests my self-control.

And on top of all, it gives me some extra pocket money IF I do well for the 3 items above.  :)

In a game of Big Two, you will find many types of players with different characters and playing styles, but for the benefit of our topic here, I just would like to talk about these 3 types of players:

1. Bad players
• Players who get angry, and start cursing or slamming their cards on the table upon being dealt with a bad hand.
• In real life, these are the sort of people who keep complaining about not having luck, or see themselves as victims to life's various challenges.
2. Mediocre players
• Players who get disheartened, and play by the flow with the hope of not losing too much upon being dealt with a bad hand.
• In real life, these are the sort of submissive people who accept fate and tend to live by the rules of the majority or remain within their comfort zone.
3. Good players
• Players who smile and remain poised, and start plotting their strategy to win the game despite being dealt with a bad hand.
• In real life, these are the sort of fighters who challenge status quo, dare to change the rules of the game and grab the bull by the horns.

I have also heard of instances where there are some wise elderly people within the Chinese community who secretly use a game of social gambling after meal to gauge the character of their potential son-in-laws. These candidates are rated to see which of the categories above do they fall into:

1. Bad players would face elimination.
• Who would want their daugthers to marry a loser who gets emotional easily?
2. Mediocre players would be KIV.
• Who would want their daughters to marry a "yes" man who doesn't know how to fend of challenges?
3. Good players would get "promotion"  :)

So...which type of player are you?

Are you someone who blames everything on luck?

Are you someone who plays by the rules of others?

Or are you a FIGHTER?


And by the way, who says cards are just for gambling?  :)