Sniffles 'N Poker
Although still sniffly, I refused to skip my Saturday run. The first long run in awhile, I was sufficiently sore by the time I boarded the train for the most southern tip of Brooklyn to win myself some spending money.
After a slightly creepy walk from the train, I arrived mid-sneeze at the poker venue for the evening. As this is New York, most of the guests chose to arrive at least an hour late. Finally settling into play, I came to the sad, sad realization that I was playing with true novices.
And the only thing worse than playing poker with beginners is playing poker with loud, intoxicated beginners.
And the only thing worse than that is attempting to explain the rules after each hand over the shouting.
And the only thing worse than that is playing with people who keep getting up from the table.
I'm not sure how I managed to remain as calm as I did. Probably the only thing keeping my growing frustration in check was the fact that I didn't have much energy left. Well, that and there was money on the table.
I knew I could win. I knew as long as I played smart, which is hard with beginners, and got lucky, which is also difficult, I could win. Unfortunately, luck didn't show up to the party until late and I lost hand after hand. The hard kind of losing too.
Like when you have a full house, and the person to your right has a higher full house.
Like when you have a pair of jacks and the guy across the table has queens. It was that second big hand that almost did me in until I realized, amid the shouting, the river card (last card) had given me a straight. I had the jack. Ha! One down, took him completely out. Then the hostess found herself out of the game. I let the others fight it out for a bit, then won another big. OK, doing well. Now I was getting there.
Unfortunately a guy who actually knew how to play had shown up late giving him the edge and he was slowly collecting chips. Soon it was down to the two of us.
Great. I'm sneezing, and this guy has me dead to rights.
As luck would have it, the cards fell my way on one last big hand. He still had a lot of chips, as did I but being nearly 1am, we called it a night and split the pot. The only hurdle left was actually leaving the party. I considered crashing on the couch since I wasn't too keen on wandering a strange neighborhood to ride the subway this late on a Saturday night. One last shot of luck, the late guy also was heading for the same train as I was, and headed further north than I. So escorted by a polite Russian/Canadian, I arrived safely to my stop, $20 richer.
Not a crazy night, really, but I'm not complaining.
After a slightly creepy walk from the train, I arrived mid-sneeze at the poker venue for the evening. As this is New York, most of the guests chose to arrive at least an hour late. Finally settling into play, I came to the sad, sad realization that I was playing with true novices.
And the only thing worse than playing poker with beginners is playing poker with loud, intoxicated beginners.
And the only thing worse than that is attempting to explain the rules after each hand over the shouting.
And the only thing worse than that is playing with people who keep getting up from the table.
I'm not sure how I managed to remain as calm as I did. Probably the only thing keeping my growing frustration in check was the fact that I didn't have much energy left. Well, that and there was money on the table.
I knew I could win. I knew as long as I played smart, which is hard with beginners, and got lucky, which is also difficult, I could win. Unfortunately, luck didn't show up to the party until late and I lost hand after hand. The hard kind of losing too.
Like when you have a full house, and the person to your right has a higher full house.
Like when you have a pair of jacks and the guy across the table has queens. It was that second big hand that almost did me in until I realized, amid the shouting, the river card (last card) had given me a straight. I had the jack. Ha! One down, took him completely out. Then the hostess found herself out of the game. I let the others fight it out for a bit, then won another big. OK, doing well. Now I was getting there.
Unfortunately a guy who actually knew how to play had shown up late giving him the edge and he was slowly collecting chips. Soon it was down to the two of us.
Great. I'm sneezing, and this guy has me dead to rights.
As luck would have it, the cards fell my way on one last big hand. He still had a lot of chips, as did I but being nearly 1am, we called it a night and split the pot. The only hurdle left was actually leaving the party. I considered crashing on the couch since I wasn't too keen on wandering a strange neighborhood to ride the subway this late on a Saturday night. One last shot of luck, the late guy also was heading for the same train as I was, and headed further north than I. So escorted by a polite Russian/Canadian, I arrived safely to my stop, $20 richer.
Not a crazy night, really, but I'm not complaining.
posted by ldbug at Monday, February 26, 2007
12 Comments:
beyond 'snap' I'm lost. (Actually I'm good at black jack. Won a bit at that). Hope yer sniffles go quick
Losing a full house to a higher full house....
Owtch. ;)
Steve~
good story, thanx for stopping by.
4D - feeling better already!
steve - yeah, but I put her out later!
tkk - anytime:-)
muchos kudos!
I suck at cards. You would win against me everytime.
Glad you're feeling a bit better. :)
brooklyn - hey thanks!
biddie - well, luck does have something to do with it...
ocean's thirteen, i see
Look at you out there being a card shark! That rocks!
dilling - well, more like eight;-)
rock - hmmm, not quite, but a contender!
Am I the only one who wants to hear more about the 'polite Russian/Canadian'? ;-)
cleavers - I was wondering who might notice that! I actually played with a bunch of Russians. One guy had been living in Toronto for many years before moving here, though.
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