Late Night/Early Morning Woes

So we had poker night last night. I drank that six pack of honey blondes that my folks got from a micro brewery when they were on holiday. The beer was good. Tasted like a good Wiesbier but there was definately concensus thoughout the poker club that it gave us all gas.

Rubin presented a great scottish blend called Dimple and what an awesome presentation it was. Rubin's a great speaker. He's just finished his BA in politics and is starting an LLB. I think he will make a great lawyer one day if he manages to be the kind of dramatic rebuttal type speaker, we all see in court on those totally unrealistic legal dramas. I suppose it's a bit of a pipe dream to think that Rubin will ever occupy a real life set of LA Law or The Practice but he's extremely eloquent and he puts his point across thoroughly without boring one to tears. The Dimple was good too.

Ted came late cos he had a workshop from 6pm till about 10pm but we gave him leeway to buy in at the starting rate even though blinds increased by 400%. It doesn't matter, we took him to the cleaners anyway. I sat between Gavin and Herman, they bluffed badly which really helped my game. My luck in poker seems to depend on who I'm sitting next to. If the guys on either side of me are performing badly, it seems to lift me up to poker legend status. Now I'm not saying Herman and Gavin are bad players, they just had a bad night and they were out of the game before it even really started.

To cut a long story short, a lucky flush on the river led the game to consist of John, Rubin and myself and Rubin ended up winning with me coming in on a close second.

We established some strict rules last night, which is a good thing.
Rule # 1: Anybody who unnecessarily interupts the course of play gets a 20 buck fine.
Rule # 2: If you miss two poker nights in a row, you're out. This forces everyone in the club to make a plan.
Rule # 3: Spilling a drink constitutes a 20 buck fine.
Rule # 4: After the river has been spilled, once the remaining players have met each other, they will all show each other their cards. We couldn't establish whether this was the rule for poker or not so we made it up ourselves. Anybody who knows better is strongly encouraged to leave a comment to correct our misdemeanor to the art of skillful poker.

These were all added to the existing rules which really need to be documented.

So why all the rules? I think it's because all of us are hard working individuals with manic lives and we crave a bit of structure and uniformity.

After poker Everyone left except for Rubin, Gary, Ted, John and myself. Gary was talking me through some problem I'm busy having with Cindy. He has a lot of insight into the matter because his girlfriend and Cindy are best frineds and he hears all the moaning and bitching that goes on about me.

It ended up with more whisky, some red wine and some emotional, drunken chatter. Oprah would have been most welcome if our club was not a gentleman's only club. Anyway, rules are rules and thus Ms. Winfrey was not invited.

At 3:30 AM we lefts John's house and Rubin, Gary and I drove down to the garage to buy a pie and have a cigarette.

It's wierd that such a simple affair can fill such a void in one's life. Our poker club is one of the few things that keep me sane. It's a time to reflect without having to worry about whether my girlfriend is suitably impressed. It brings my perspectve to a real level where I can base the next month's decisions in business, life and love on the advice and experience of my peers.

I would recommend joining a club yourself. It really gives me a sense of community. Online communities/clubs don't count because they don't force me to be active within them. Face to face communication is key.

The down side? Having to wake up at 6:00 AM afterwards and going to work feeling totally exhausted. AAAAAH, I'll get over it.