29-38-13-7-15-8…the numbers
that forged the legend of “Riverboat Ron.”
Rivera’s Powerball jackpot was big. It included a NFC South
Championship, a 3-year contract extension, and the slick-ass moniker “Riverboat
Ron.” The numbers weren’t random, however. They’re significant. Rivera had
played these numbers for three years before hitting his payday.
2-9 (2011 start)
3-8 (2012 start)
1-3 (2013 start)
7-15 in games decided by less
than 7 points.
8 game
win streak (franchise record) that ended in a 12-4 season, a division title,
and a home playoff game in 2013.
Winning the Powerball jackpot removed the angst of losing
for most fans. It was an electrifying
experience. Panther fans huddled around Rivera’s Panthers as they went on a hot
streak that would make any Vegas pro jitter with excitement. The hot-streak
ended, however, as they all do, in loss. Burned
by the river card, Rivera walked away convinced he had made the right
play. He was still Riverboat Ron, right?
All professional gamesters experience this defining type
moment. It’s not the hot streak. It’s
not the loss. It’s not even that the loss came because of a bad beat. It’s the
return to the tables that is the real test of a gambler’s fortitude. Rivera's 2014 return to the high stakes table will determine his legacy in Carolina.
Gamblers generally attribute winning to skill rather than
luck. Despite their devotion to the numbers, the strategy, the game, there are
times when they are reminded that they are still fundamentally games of
chance. In the end, the gambler is always gambling. The gamester
can respond to these defining moments in two ways: through instinctual confidence or a developing a festering fear of failure. The burn can either resolve
their confidence that chance can be mastered or paralyze them by the fear that chance is
not in their favor.
So how will Riverboat Ron respond? Is he a “chump” or a “champ?”
