Poker Night

2000-2001.

At the end of Junior Year I started a weekly institution: poker night. It was fun: my closest friends would come over Wednesday nights and we'd sometimes play cards. My mom would have snacks for us and we would have a grand ol' time.

My regulars were Tan, Hai, and Lehman, all band friends. If no one else, at least my best friend Tan would make it every Wednesday. We wouldn't play poker, but we'd watch a movie or some TV or throwdown in some other game. It was a fun routine that was nice and stable, which is something I desperately needed after having to leave everything I knew back at Pennsylvania.

When we had enough for poker, we did usually play poker. We only played 5 and 7 card draw and stud as well as Texas Hold 'Em, but I usually won by the end of the night. I hardly needed to bluff, as my luck tended to catch good cards for me. Also, I could read my foes. Friends, rather. I'm not the best player, but I'm good enough at odds and lucky enough at beating them.

Poker night, as with all good things, came to an end. Alas.

Oh right, my poker chips. Actually, my chips came from my friend Bob (technically, his dad I think). And they weren't so much donated insomuch as Bob left them at my house one night and I moved to Texas a few months later and that's what I used to use on poker nights.

So ... uh ... thanks, Bob. You were instrumental in a favorite tradition of mine even if you were 1500 miles away at the time.