Poker Night

15 guys, $300 and a boat-load of poker chips and beer obviously equals a night of fun. How much fun, though, is the subject of much debate around the Miller household today.

Last night I came home feeling great that I had played in my first no limit Texas Hold-em poker tournament. I paid my $20 buy-in, got $1000 worth of play money (in chips) and took a seat. 2 and a half hours later I gave up my seat to lady luck but not before I had a great time both winning and losing.

You see, Texas Hold-em has very little to do with cards or chips or luck at all. The game is based almost solely around bluffing and betting, which is an awful lot of fun if you’re a dirty rotten scoundrel of a liar like myself. I could go on for hours about all the technical details of the dealing, the betting and the nuances of gameplay, but I’m fairly certain it would bore everyone to tears. Besides, we’ve all seen the game played on TV so my amateur recaps featuring guys you don’t know (and I barely knew) wouldn’t be that enthralling.

The one anecdote I do feel compelled to share is that I won the first hand of the night with a straight flush. I have gambler’s remorse that I didn’t bet a ton more money on that hand, but I was a cherry player on the first hand and I still won about $300 in fake cash on the hand so I can’t be too regretful. Of course I gave all that money back to the house before the night was over, which seemed OK last night, but today I’ve replayed 3 or 4 key hands over and over again in my head trying to figure out just where they went wrong.

So now I’ve got this Poker jones that needs to be fed and nurtured. I don’t exactly know when I’ll get the chance to play again, but I’ll be ready when the opportunity presents itself.

Leave a Reply