Face your Phase 10 demons

I love Phase 10. Great game. Easy to learn. No pieces. Doesn’t take 4 hours to play. Only a little math.

Phase 10 teaches several valuable life lessons too.

1. Patience with yourself. You might fall behind a bit. Maybe a lot. All is not lost. You can still win.

2. Patience with others. Some lunatic players think it’s their God-given right to progress through the phases step-by-step, i.e. they never want to feel behind.

3. Pay attention. Don’t discard what others have been picking up. Don’t forget to look at the up card before drawing from the main pile. Sometimes we miss the low-hanging fruit.

4. You don’t have to win a single round to win the game. This is the “base hits and doubles win ball games” approach. Moneyball. Home runs are a blast (especially Freddie Freeman walk-offs) but small wins compound and get you where you’re going.

Now slow down and look at those.

Where are you weakest? I’ll go first.

I’m a patient guy, so scratch those two. And I have an eye for detail. Unless I’m looking for something in the fridge.

But I LOVE home runs. In business and life.

So do most people. Sometimes we want a bit more excitement than compounding gives us.

That’s a pretty good way to lose card games and a great way to lose money.

Which one's your weakness? I’d love to hear.

All the very best,

John Montgomery