I'm All In

I held my two cards close, and looked over my cheat sheet. A full house beats a straight, right? And what about a flush? Or two of a kind? I held onto one of my black chips, considering my next move. This Saturday I learned poker. Texas hold 'em, to be more specific, even though I have no idea what why it's named that. At at a dinner with a few friends, after we polished off a meal of salmon garnished with spiced cranberries and savory butternut squash, we decided to play a round of poker. It turned out to be only one round, which took almost two hours. Dan used to venture out to poker on Thursday nights with some guy friends, but in recent months the game has died down as people have moved away, stay late at work, or have more family responsibilities. I never knew what really went on there. I learned early not to ask how he fared...I hate losing money and the thought of walking away with $20 or $30 less in your wallet pains me. Plus, he could never answer my general questions of how his friends and their significant others were doing. "We don't really talk about that" he would say. But on Saturday, when people were suggesting a game, I was curious. I dropped $3 into the pot and slowly learned the rules. It was so much fun! Not only because I came in second overall, and was able to get my three bucks back, plus two more. I was intrigued with when to fold, when to stay, and when to raise. How to conform your face into a blank slate, so your opponents don't know if you have a royal flush or nothing at all. (I need to work on my poker face; whenever I would get a good hand, I'd squeal in excitement). I finally got a glimpse of what happens at on poker night.