The Game is Afoot: Shuffle, Fold and Deal (201)

4 suits, 2 colors, numbers, and faces. Ace high, or low? Bicycle, Tally-Ho, Hoyle or Maverick. Gambling or entertainment. Tall houses or hands of fate- these rectangular badges of game and risk are not even uniform in size. Poker are 63mm x 88mm, Bridge are 56mm x 88mm, and large are 89mm x 146mm approximately. Purpose decides size and flexibility.

"Pick a card any card," a magician’s favorite tool. A green table of chips and bets will lure in most passersby at a casino. Cards have been around for an exceptionally long time. At first, when you break the seal- they slide out all slick and shiny. It is a struggle to shuffle, for they slip and frictionless wiggle to the floor.

They need to be broken in, used, and dealt. Held and placed. They gain ease of use with age. Yet in a casino they are replaced frequently to maintain the gloss and sheen of attraction and finance. For they need to look lucky.

They need to inspire a wager. These fiberboard, odds playing entities have been used to earn and lose, play War and Gin Rummy. Old Maid and Goldfish. Poker and Blackjack.

They are buried in cabinets, drawers, and steamer trunks. Their faces are likenesses of famous, dreadful, and funny, wanted, and revered, and characters of every story imaginable, fact or fiction. But the standard decks, 2 Jokers and 52, remain the industry and public choice of play.

I mean, I just now went through my house and we have ten decks all different brands, some blue, some red. Some Simpson’s, Disney, and Marvel. Endless choices.

We pull one from the deck to try to impress, we deal a perfect hand of Poker. We even play Uno and other card games- each with their own deck, colorful and alluring. Cards offer so much, play or build. A House of Cards might be fragile, but it is fun to design and it takes a lot of focus to maintain.

Children learn how to hold cards in their hand incredibly early. In a fan design, to see all the cards. Even with small hands they learn to sort and place in piles if necessary. We recognize the difference between suits, numerical order, organizing by face value: Jack, Queen, then King.

We play games based on each of these delineations. A deck of cards and a bored mind can lead to distraction. Hand your child a deck in the car, they are quiet and entertained for a bit. The act of sorting and organizing takes awhile and it is calming.

We shuffle, we fold the two halves together- by doing the bridge or sliding them together. We deal them out, each a random assortment, probability, and a hint of excitement. We fan them in our hands, gazing upon them, some with a tell, others without.

And when our hand is over, we shuffle and offer a new fate, a new chance at redemption, a new chance at retrieval of our wages. We continue this over and over, throughout a game. 

It does not matter which one- the process is universal. Like any game, we are often at the mercy of the cards. Unfortunately, there are cheaters, card counters and tricksters. We know this going in.

We are at their mercy. But many get caught, even thrown out of the game. We just need to keep a vigilant eye. We can choose to walk past the table, never play our chips, never enter the casino. We can draw on 17. We can fold when we are in doubt. We can choose not to challenge fate, for our house of cards might tumble.

Or we can choose to double down.

A simple deck of 54, tickets. Each voucher, depending on the game a different outcome. Each blind, each draw, each penny ante- creates our reality. Bridges, canasta’s, poker’s, and pinochles. Each route a different opportunity. Each deck a mosaic of chance, choice, shuffle, deal, fold.

Right now- as educators, we are not the dealer. We are a player, at an exceptionally large table. Chips stacking, toppling, and shifting positions. We have to stay in play though. Maybe sit out a round or two- but we need to stay at the pulpit. Cards in hand. Eyes vigilant.

The deck might feel as if it stacked against us- that the house always wins. That the dealer doesn’t have to hit on 17. But they do. The odds might seem not in our favor- and for the most part they aren’t. 

The house eventually will lose a round or two. But as with every system- "they are designed to get the result they want." But we can turn the odds against them. We are a part of the system, we do have a trick up our sleeves. 

We need to make a great bet. Keep our wits about us, show them our tell. Our tell is our educational philosophy, our dedication, our belief in making a difference. Our students are counting on us. 

So raise your hand, take a look at your cards- and strategize. You know how to play this game, in fact, you are great at it. See you at the table.