i received a clay poker chip set for my birthday last summer. for the last several months, in lieu of bar hopping and booty shaking my friends have opted for smack talk and cozy company. we are a little older. a little tamer. we are cash conservative (with the bigger picture in mind) so five hours of boozing it up in casa comfort is our preferred way of spending a weekend night.
we are addicted to texas hold 'em poker. tournament style, so that multiple winners can bask in victory. we require a nominal, $5 buy in. it's unbelieveable how tense games can get for a potential $5 loss! quickly, you study your opponents. are you hiding something? did the corner of your mouth turn up into a smile when you looked at your cards? you must have good cards since you don't have to pick them up on every turn (a pair of anything is fairly easy to remember depending on what time it is).
the public has been innundated with televised poker tournaments. the world poker tournament and celebrity poker series have won our attention. everyone wants a piece of the action. i want chip glory. once a fool, i am now a little hustler grabbing for the winning pot before it's even mine. i've placed top two in every game i've played in the last few months. i'm not that good. but because i don't drink, my friends are severely handicapped as the night progresses. now...how to convince them to buy in at $50? i'm tired of lunch money. i want dinner money!
new york's street elite got together this last weekend. our first game started at 11 pm. cheech and chong made an appearance at around midnight. ro made bets without even looking at his cards. ease threw in his casio calculator watch into the chip pile...with a straight face. we were ready to loot our host, ryan's art collection and barter with valuables that did not belong to us. adam, bem and pauline left us before we could convince them to stay for a second round. game two started at 2 am. by 5 in the morning we were delirious, hurting for sleep. everyone present claims it was one of the best game nights in recent history. i can't argue with that. any night in new york city where i arrive home with more money in my wallet then when i started is a fantastic night!
