So If You're Lost And On Your Own, You Can Never Surrender, And If Your Path Won't Lead You Home, You Can Never Surrender

--"Never Surrender", Corey Hart

I'd make a lousy gambler. My predeliction for addictive behavior coupled with my rather impulsive nature tells me I would probably lose money hand over fist if I were to ever seriously take up gambling up as a pastime. But it isn't just those two qualities that lead me to this conclusion. It's also the fact that in every game I play; in whatever contest of wills, intelligence, or wits I engage in, I have one strategy I always seem to come back to that would preclude me from ever being a successful gambler.

I will play to the bitter end even if I'm losing.

I noticed it first in Monopoly. Whereas most people will eventually tire and give up at a certain point (of course, after playing the incorrect way the entire time), I have this need to finish every game I start. Not only that, but I would rather go out trying a risky strategy and losing big than playing it safe and be nibbled to death. In Monopoly this directive would lead me to use up all my money on building up the only monopoly I possessed, even if it was in the low-rent district, rather than following common sense and saving at least some in case I landed on my opponents' spot. My risk/reward spectrum is very much skewed to the big risk/big reward mentality.

Monopoly is where it began, but it's Magic that brought my no retreat/no surrender mentality under a spotlight. While the game was at its peak of popularity every week, sometimes multiple times a week, I would go over and play Magic with my cousins. I would see how my one cousin would play, cautious and calculating often to the point of slowing down the game for the rest of us. Then I would see how his brother played, mixing up strategies, attacking quickly one moment and holding back the next. But me? I always played the same. I would send the biggest guy I had or all my guys all at once to stomp my opponent. Then, failing that, I would sling a spell that served to kill my opponent in one fell swoop. Never mind that it would invariably kill me in the process--sacrificing myself and ending the game in a tie to me was better than waiting to lose after a five or ten minutes more. I would rather kill myself in a game if it means taking out my opponent than concede defeat.

In fact, when I designed my small quiz on the bottom of this page, "What Kind of Leader Are You?" I thought I would end up being a Mantis. I have no compunction against sacrificing the small pieces in an effort to achieve the overall goal.

It doesn't matter if those pieces are markers on a game board.

Chips at a casino.

Or friends in real life.

Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers