Pat Them on the Back

22 June 2021

By Frank Scoblete

My mother and father taught me a valuable lesson when I was a kid; never be jealous of someone who is successful or be jealous of people who might be more accomplished than you.

There will be people more intelligent than you; better looking than you; better athletes than you. There will be people who make more money than you; perhaps far more money. Do not envy them; do not sneer at their successes. Be happy for them. Be satisfied with yourself.

I think that was great advice. I’ve had successes in many areas, yet in those areas there have been people better than me. There are better teachers, better actors, directors, better writers, better athletes and better casino players. A great chess player, my uncle a chess master, once told me “there is always someone better than you. Accept that fact. But always do your best. That is all you can do. All other things are out of your hands.”

I accept it.

In something as simple as good and bad luck this truth also factors as well. There are people who will be luckier than you. And simultaneously unluckier than you. I remember the wonderful story of the woman who won some 36 million on a slot machine (I believe this was at the old Desert Inn) and several days later she was in an awful car crash that paralyzed her.

There have been winners of giant lotteries who have mishandled their money and lost it all. Luck gives and takes. We have to realize that.

I do accept this.

How are we to handle individuals of our acquaintance who have enjoyed good luck in the casino?

Say you are watching a craps game at a crowded table that you can’t squeeze onto and a shooter goes on an amazingly amazing roll? Players are whooping and hollering and slapping each other five? What should you feel when you see someone you dislike making a small fortune?

Don’t envy the person. Don’t begrudge the person. Be satisfied with theoretically slapping that person on the back. If you had been at the table, that very table would be different and that same shooter may have had a terrible roll during his turn.

I remember one time at the Sands in Las Vegas. I was getting hammered at blackjack and then two guys who had never played blackjack before came to the table and immediately on their first hands each received a blackjack. It was (I will admit) hard to say, “All right, see how easy this game is?” and act as if I were truly happy for them.

I think some people might have whined and uttered the complaint that they had been playing for over an hour and had rarely seen a blackjack. The truth was that the players who got those blackjacks did not take those blackjacks from you. They just had more good luck at that moment than you. Had they not come to the table; chances are you would not have gotten a blackjack during that round of play.

As an actor one learns that you must show the proper emotion on your body and face that a scene calls for. It doesn’t matter what you are actually feeling. If the scene calls for you to be happy, you must be happy. It doesn’t matter that you have a headache.

Someone’s good luck does not call for you to tell that person, or any other person, how miserable you are that you didn’t have that same good luck. Congratulate that person and don’t wallow in negative feelings. Such feelings can’t bring you good luck so why bother giving in to them?

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books and at bookstores.