The hole in the table

I've mentioned before how big a fan I am of Stephen King. You already know that "Misery" is one of my favorite novels. You also know that one of the reasons why is King's wonderfully powerful metaphor for the process of literary creation - falling through the hole in the page. I'd like to reuse that metaphor in the context of poker. Just to recap, King was talking about when a writer is at his peak of concentration; when he's so in the zone his actual physical surroundings fall away, replaced by the landscapes and locales of his imagination. He starts by looking at a blank page, but as he creates, the page disappears. He falls through the hole in the page.

I submit to you that the act of playing poker is also an act of creation. Just as you can fall through the hole in the page when you're writing, you can fall through the hole in the table when playing poker. When you come to, you might be surprised to discover how well you did while under the creative spell. That's what happened to me last night.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        73     3        0
 50000       800           6        87     2   105000
 50000       800           6        85     1   195000
 80000      1000           6        78     1   312000

delta: $378,600
balance: $4,830,171