Zen & The Art of Zynga Poker

Friends of mine meditate in different ways. For me, it’s Zynga Poker.

My friend Maria Morris wakes up early, sits quietly and breathes, “My thoughts are howling dogs. And sometimes I have a cat that’s been indoors and sees Mommy is awake and wants to be fed and lets me know by meowing every ten seconds. So meditating with either dogs or cats or thoughts: why bother? Because it helps focus during difficulties. AND when you create that habit, it also opens the door to peace, joy, and the divine.”

I want peace, joy, and the divine.

And, I’ve explored a little with meditation. But nothing gave me that consistent grounding until I discovered tournaments on Zynga Poker.

For me, meditating is playing a whole tournament sticking strictly to Basic Strategy. You see, I am an adrenaline junkie. I’ve heard myself talk myself into calling or betting with garbage cards. I want to play more hands than would usually be profitable.

How do I meditate? I play a poker tournament on Zynga. My goal is to follow Basic Strategy, which requires I slow myself down. I find again and again that Basic Strategy outperforms improvised exceptions to the rules. When I win you can hear me yell, “Thank you Basic Strategy! Thank You BASIC STRATEGY!”

If I were really meditating, I’d be content with following Basic Strategy and I wouldn’t allow my feelings of winning and losing to over shadow my ability to follow a predetermined plan for my play.

What I do know is that on days I can’t stick to Basic Strategy, I’m on tilt. Time to slow down a notch, or two. That’s when I notice… Wow, I was rushing.

In that moment, I breathe easier.