Poker

I participated in a game of Texas Hold ‘em Poker on Friday this weekend. I am no noob to the game, I have been playing mediocrely for the past year or so. However this was a special occasion, the Swedish cynic had recently obtained a new poker set for the anniversary of his birthday. It was an impressive set I must say. A large wooden box, polished mahogany. Inside a liftable tray of 200 clay chips, 2 packs of plastic playing cards, and to top it all off, coasters and ashtrays underneath the tray. This truly was the most pimpin poker set I have ever laid eyes on.

The night went on quite interestingly. We were 8 people sitting around a large rectangular table. The shape was at annoyance to most, apart from myself, who was sitting on the end with no fear of anyone seeing my cards. The first hour or so nothing especially interesting happened. People played cards, threw chips, drank their beer and their coke and their whiskey.

It was not until about 2 hours into the game that differences became apparent. 2 people cashed in and left, leaving it a more intimate game, and I unfortunately, was at the end of my 10 euro buy in. I decided to buy in another 10 euros even though throughout the whole night I had only won one hand. The biggest problem I saw was that with that number of people, bluffing was out of the question because it is guaranteed that someone has a decent hand.

The night continued on. We must have played for about 4 hours. The man on the receiving end of a tumbler of Jack Daniels had a large pile of chips in front of him, we later learn a total of 25 euros, after only a 10 euro buy in. For that hour between me buying back in and then, I still had not won a single hand, and my chips were being depleted quickly. It was only on a lucky hand of a three of a kind with one other opponent that I managed to win a total of 20 euros. I had managed to buy back my two entries and broken even. I had a few euros left, that which I spent on a possible straight on the final hand.