Sharks: The rabbit foot never worked for the rabbit
The Matlock Blog:
Before leaving for Vegas, more than several people wished me luck. I hate that. All of them knew that it was HIGHLY likely I would play poker. But for whatever reason, people insist on thinking that it is really luck that wins in poker, or any gambling for that matter.
In a sense, they are right. You see there is a difference between gambling and betting. Betting is an agreement that the losing side will pay the winning side a sum of money when proved wrong. Gambling however is playing games of chance for money. As Steve Lubet said, "All gambling involves betting, but not every bet is a gamble."
In poker, as in litigation, the best never rely on luck. Of course, everyone can get lucky, and as the saying goes, "It is better to be lucky than good." But that "run of luck" is just that, short-lived. Any beginner can sit down in the poker room at the Mirage and flop a nut straight. He might win quite a bit in fact. But chances are, the longer he sits there, the fewer chips he will have when he eventually pushes back.
That same is true in litigation. Luck has nothing to do with winning. At least long term. I have seen cases won and lost for the silliest, and luckiest reasons. The problem with being lucky, or at least relying on luck, is that it never lasts.
Matt Damon said in Rounders, "If luck had anything to do with it, then why are the same five guys always sitting at the final table of the World Series of Poker?" Or something like that. The point is the same for litigation. There is a reason there are those in Cooperstown, and those in the minors. Luck has nothing to…