I don’t have any games.  I don’t play board or card games with my family and friends. I don’t even play games on the internet.  If there is one word I have for games, it would be “despised.” I believe games are a waste of time and don’t benefit anyone.

Except the powers-that-be have set up games as a way of life here in this dimension, and if you don’t play, you’ll get played.

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game”

Is a running meme in the ‘hood. And I do hate games.

But in the immortal words of the infamous author of PIMP, “Iceberg Sim” (Robert Beck)

“ I forgot something important that you must remember until you go six feet under…. There are only two kinds of people in the whole wide world, grifters and suckers…. [With suckers,] let their stupid brains stay asleep in their chump world. Keep your own brain honed to razor sharpness in the secret world of con. –Iceberg Slim

Yea, it sucks, but in the game of life, there are suckers and grifters. If you must pick one, you might as well choose grifter.   At least there’s some honor in it.  Grifters keep their word when given. But most importantly, you must stay awake.

I was on a discussion board recently, and I admitted that I don’t seek approval or acceptance from society. I’m WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), and those in the audience can take me or leave me.  Since I must play a game, it’s the game I most like to play.

A woman responded to my post that in the past, she’s played life another way.  She said whatever the person in “authority” believed of her, she went with it and played the hand she was dealt.

She called it being “passive-aggressive.”  I call it being a hustler.  A hustler identifies a mark, notices what beliefs he has confidence in, and then Wham! Plays him like a fiddle!

Her actions displayed the difference between a hustler and a sucker.  The difference is how they see reality.

A hustler recognizes that reality is chaotic and in a state of flux.  But a hustler also realizes that within chaos, there are patterns.  Therefore, she sets a goal.  She analyzes her opponent(s), identifies her resources, reviews her options, looks for the angles, and plays them as they arise.

A sucker has no angle. He just lives in this neat little world of social construction and believes everyone will behave according to the rules of his makeshift world.  He becomes an easy mark simply because he thinks his beliefs are real.

The woman admitted she didn’t like to work hard, and maybe that was her truth. In telling her story, however, she admitted she had patience. For some, patience is hard work.

As Robert Greene quoted “Iceberg Slim” in his blog, he noted

“Patience and time is the hustler’s creed. “I play for time and see what happens,” says Elizabeth I, the great hustler Queen of England. “

Patience was a virtue for this hustler woman.

Playing games for the win takes patience to plot, plan, persevere, and ultimately get paid.

Hustler or Sucker?  The choice is yours.