Every poker hand is a puzzle, every opponent a riddle. You’re not just playing cards; you’re playing people. The guy across the table might be trying to be a stone-faced enigma, but his betting patterns scream louder than a bad karaoke singer.

Is he bluffing? Overconfident? Desperate? Deciphering the information at the table takes sharp focus. And that’s just the first layer. You’ve got to calculate pot odds, implied odds, or the odds of hitting that flush draw on the turn. It’s math, psychology, instinct rolled into one, and it must be done on the fly.

During my military years, late-night games with buddies were a way to unwind, a rare chance to let strategy outshine rank. When I retired, I chased the dream of going pro, picturing myself at final tables with stacks of chips and a cool smirk.

The reality, though, was much less glamorous. The grind and lifestyle of live poker was tougher than I expected, the emotional swings, and physical toll were too great. I struggled to adapt, not because I lacked skill, but because my health, and my discipline were in a race to see who would crumble first.

Chronic pain, anxiety, and sleepless nights were my real opponents, and they didn’t play fair. At one point, I was juggling 13 prescriptions. I had narcotics, sleep aids, you name it was probably in my medicine cabinet. They dulled the pain, but clouded my mind, and a cloudy mind at the poker table is a death sentence. I was losing more than the pots; I was quickly losing myself.

This meant I had to come up with a new kind of strategy to not only manage my health, but also help me rediscover who I am.

 That’s where my health journey changed and like a miracle card on the river medical marijuana entered the game. Cannabis gave me back my health, or at least enough of it to keep fighting.

In this blog, I’m laying it all on the table: the mental competition of poker, the healing haze of cannabis, and the quiet truth that while marijuana might be medicine, it’s not cheap, and insurance isn’t footing the bill.

Thanks for joining me, Let’s shuffle up and heal.

-Pot Committed