Mat's gambling (spoilers from Book 3 and on)

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Is it just me or did Mat's gambling seem to come out of nowhere in TDR? Yeah they hinted at it for a paragraph in TGH, but it seemed to just take off as if we knew he was a gambler from the start.
 
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It could also be partly because he spent most of the first two books "sick." TDR was the first time we really got to see him as himself since Shadar Logoth in book one.
 
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I think the ruby dagger had something to with him acquiring the luck. I believe the first time we really see his luck is at the tavern he went to, right after he was healed from the dagger.
 
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From the start he's been the type to get into sketchy situations. Dice, cards, and battles aren't the only gambles one can make. Mat risked much simply steeling a pie or pulling a prank (mostly his hide at the mercy of the Women's Circle), and the fundamental premise which allows for luck is, indeed, risk. Now, over a period of time, it can be understood that he became quite proficient at managing risk, and so, increasing his successes by increasing skill. But skill is not luck. Luck is just as available to the novice as to the master, however, an understanding of risk would allow one to enter oneself into scenarios where luck (the possibility that chance will fall in your favor) is more easily obtained or where it will have the greatest effectiveness. Mat has been lucky all along, simply because he possessed an adept understanding of risk. At Tar Valon, however, he demonstrates exceptional luck, surprising even himself. This, I do not believe is an effect of the dagger, as Padain Fain possesses it for far longer and doesn't get in the slightest bit more lucky. The luck that Mat experienced here is completely possible for any person to come by, just extremely unlikely. I'm inclined to take the Moiraine approach and say that it was an effect being ta'veren had on the Pattern. Mat, Perrin, and Rand all started in the first book as relatively weak ta'veren, which is why Moiraine couldn't tell which was going to become the Dragon Reborn. She just had a hunch it was one of them. Later, though, each began to grow in strength as a ta'veren. The scene with the Tar Valon inns and Mat going on a serious winning streak may have just been the start of when his capabilities truly began to emerge in earnest.
 
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Mat mentions that his luck had always been against him, before. Most of the pranks and enterprises he undertook that he thought would work for sure went horribly wrong seemingly by chance. His luck just flip-flopped, from The Dragon Reborn through the rest of the series. It was mentioned in The Eye of the World that he got in trouble for gambling with merchants' guards. In The Great Hunt he was gambling with the guards and other commoners, and later with Hurin while traveling to Falme. He continued to gamble with Hurin while on the way to Tar Valon until he was too sick to move.
 

Amaryla Leper

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I Think Mattrim and Amier kinda explained it all - it was always there, just not in the same way or extent as later, but it's not like it just came completely out of the blue. I kinda like the gradual expansion it had, both in the intensity and the importance for the story.
 
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