Play, Pause, Play

30 April 2024

By Frank Scoblete

Play, Pause, Play

We’ve all read the countless articles and chapters in books, and we’ve probably seen many videos about this topic too. I’m talking about when to quit playing whatever game or machine you are playing. Indeed, I’ve written many of these articles, chapters and videos.

Today I am not going to write when to stop playing. I do not care if you are ahead of the game, behind in the game or just even at the game. (Of course, many players who say they are even at the game are actually behind but that is in fact their own personal business. Many players con themselves and attempt to con others about their playing situation. But that’s their business.)

There is no stopping play in my mind with this article. Correct. I am not going to tell anyone to hang it up and stop playing. No sir. I say, “Keep playing!”

Except. In one small moment. By analogy; if you took a deep breath and missed a decision at the game you’re playing or slowed the pace of the machine you were attempting to break, did you actually stop playing? I say “no, sir.”

What if you took two deep breaths, have you stopped playing? Three breaths? Four? Five? Ten? One hundred? Five hundred? A thousand? And on and on?

In my view, you are still playing even if you miss some decisions. Seriously, who says you must play every single decision at a game in order to be considered a player playing the game or you are no longer playing the game? No one that I know.

In short, you are playing if you think you are playing, even if time passes between this decision and whenever the next decision is wagered upon. Yes, you are playing if you think you are playing.

The Pause That Refreshes

Okay, let’s say you have been logging in a lot of time playing. You might be really, really tired. You might be ahead, maybe even by a lot, although your eyes are drooping and you are starting to look a lot like Yoda.

You might be getting slaughtered or close to it. You might actually be even – for real. But you can’t really grasp much of what is happening around you. (Yawn!) Let’s be frank here; you are actually kind of out of it.

Now some experts would say, “Quit, right now.” But you don’t want to quit. You want to keep playing until you actually do look like Yoda.

Now, I am going to tell you something different. Here it comes:

Don’t quit. Just take a break. Pause awhile. Tell the blackjack dealer to cover your spot with a see-through chip as you go to the bathroom or just ask the dealer to save you a space at the craps table; “I’ll be back in a moment or two.”

Now, moments are individually understood; a single second on a clock can be long for me and short for you. Yes, it is the relativity of time I’m talking about here. Seriously, you have been in classrooms where the teacher was so boring his or her lessons never seemed to end. You could be wishing for the end of the world when such a teacher labored on.

Or you may have attended meetings where the speakers were worse than if they hadn’t spoken. Time dragged seemingly into infinity.

But you have also spent time with teachers who were great and the time flew by – same with public speakers, or comedians even. On a clock, an hour is an hour but in life our hours can be radically different lengths of times.

So, now feel free to take a pause in the game you are playing. That pause could be a breath or thousands of breaths or more. Don’t count them; that would be too much work. Just take a pause in your play.

If you are staying at a casino hotel then go to your room and take your pause by maybe stretching out on the bed and closing your eyes. Time can pass. So what? You are on a pause now. Oh, you are still playing the game but at this very moment you are taking a pause – one that will refresh you.

A Short Breath Can Be Long

Okay, it is possible that you might fall asleep while you are pausing but that’s perfectly a fine thing; you probably needed that sleep. You never want to deprive yourself of sleep. That would be bad for you. Just ask your doctor.

Okay, okay, so you slept like a baby and you now have to go home because you have to go to work or a family dinner or something or other and you have to put off playing for a while. So what? You are still in your pause.

The game has not ended. You haven’t quit. Your pause is still going on. You’ll be in the action soon enough.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries, and bookstores.