The Hand Not Taken

I posted this photo on the Fans of the NMJL Facebook page with the caption "What would you do?"  The post received quite a bit of commentary.  The common consensus was to go with the closed hand; 444555 444555 DD.  Here is the story (with apologies to Robert Frost)

Two hands diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one player, long I stood

And looked at my card as long as I could

To where it said consecutive run with dragons

Then played the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was concealed and wanted pairs

Tough as for that the picking there

Had worn them really about the same.

Threw the joker, picked a 4 bam, threw the other joker

And both that game equally lay

In discards no throws had trodden back

Oh, I kept the flower for another play!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted the jokers should ever come back.

It wasn't long before I picked another flower; none had gone out.

I shall be posting this with a sigh

on Facebook ages and ages hence;

Two hands diverged in a game, and I --

I played the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

In all fairness, the hand would have come in the other way, as I picked and discarded a third five crack and a second green.  Thanks for playing along!