What brings a gambler back to the table night after night? Doesn’t he know he's not in control? It's risky, putting your money up to chance. He waits for his first hand, surveying the other players, sizing them up. He glances at the dealer, as he expertly deals the cards, each player his own hand. The gambler has been here before, he knows the risks but he also knows the possible gains. He's watched people lose everything yet, he keeps coming back. Why?
           The fate of the game lies in the dealer, overseeing the game and handing out the cards. In life, we also have a dealer, someone handing out the cards. But He is no casino employee and the cards He deals are definitely not up to chance. G-d hands us our cards and we can take them, possibly turn them into wealth, or choose to fold, get up from the table, and give up. Life's hard because we are not in control. But put your trust in the dealer and put your chips down. It will be worth it.
           Every player wears a poker face, allowing players to only see what they allow them to. In life, we only allow others to see our poker face. We expertly craft a façade to show to the outside world to hide the cards that we've been dealt. Some may be hiding a royal flush with a straight face, others may be hiding a two and seven off suit behind a confident smirk. In poker, we are aware of this phenomenon and treat our fellow players with distrust. In life, we forget that we don’t see the full picture, we forget that everyone hurts and everyone struggles. But the truth is we all have cards we wish we could toss.
           Poker is a game of chance. A chance to win and a chance to lose. Life is a gamble. Except no one asked us if we wanted to be dealt in. We are simply put here and handed cards, money, and asked: "What kind of player are you?" Are you the kind of player that folds right away? Are you the kind that foolishly loses all his money thinking he's invincible? Or are you the kind of player that takes risks but knows when to fold? There are always people in life who become overconfident due to some success and end up losing it all. And there are also those who never take any risks and remain on a financial and emotional plateau.
           So why does the gambler come back? Or maybe the question is "Why do we?" We come back to the table over and over again. Because we believe. In G-d, the dealer, to oversee our game. We know that while we may not know what everyone else is going through, we all are dealt seemingly bad cards. We calculate the risks and rewards and sometimes it's scary. But that's okay. Because hey, that’s life.