I Was in the Right Place at the Right Time!

Living in Palo Alto has exposed me to some of the richest and most successful businessmen in the world. There's no doubt in my mind that the environment in which you live has a direct impact on what you think you can accomplish in life. For example, being worth $5 million in Madison, Wisconsin, may be a big deal, but that's just ho-hum in Palo Alto, where a starter house costs almost $1 million! This has caused me to raise my sights. I mean, if these guys can do it, why can't I?

After talking to many very successful businessmen both inside and outside of poker, I noticed that they all said almost exactly the same thing to me when I asked them about their success. "Phil, I was lucky, I was in the right place at the right time." It was really weird for me to keep hearing the same thing from these guys over and over again, especially when I didn't fully believe them. They had to be doing something right. Finally, I formulated the following theory, which I really like. (I haven't seen this theory published anywhere, but I'd bet that other people feel the same way.)

I think that we all are in the right place at the right time almost every day. It's the people who are prepared to be lucky who can take advantage of being there. How do people position themselves to be lucky? It was Goethe who said, "Anytime that you take the first step toward trying to achieve something in life, all manner of good things will mysteriously fall into your path to help speed you along your way." Amen to that! I have witnessed this with a company in which I am involved that has created software that allows people to play poker on the Internet with people all over the world. We have licensed our software to the company that has created ultimatebet.com.

From the time that I originally decided that I would start an Internet poker room, doors have opened up for me that I couldn't see until I decided to move forward with the project. When I finally decided to move ahead with my own company, amazing things just kept happening to me, until I found a group that was already doing the same thing that I wanted to do. This group just blew me away, and I realized that I couldn't do 2 percent of the job that they could do. So, what did I do? I joined them, of course! My whole point is this: Once I started to move forward to start an online poker room, "all manner of good things fell into my path to help speed me on my way."

I can think of one more example that shows the difference between taking the first step and not, and how it may affect "being in the right place at the right time." Let's say that George and Chicago each have a dream of opening up a sports bar. George decides to take the first step toward opening that bar, but Chicago doesn't. Chicago goes to a local bar and has a drink, chats with the bartender, plays a game of pool, and then heads home for the evening. George goes to the same bar, and spends a little bit of time talking to the same bartender (who also happens to be the owner) about the costs, financing, insurance, and so on behind running and owning a bar. At the end of the discussion, the bartender says that he is thinking of selling the business. Slam-dunk! One hour after deciding to take a real step forward, an opportunity has presented itself to George. George may not move on this opportunity, but if he does and becomes successful chasing his dream, some night he will tell you, "I was in the right place at the right time."

Good luck playing your hands this week.