P-p-p-poker Face

Last night, S and I went to poker night at Christine and T’s place. I had known from reading Christine’s blog that she was having a rough go of it lately because one of her hearing aids had konked out. Only relying on the one aid was leaving her drained and was making for long days.

My day at work yesterday was spent copying and pasting…all day long. I had to move text from a presentation and move it into another application. The best part? I only got half way through which means more days of copying and pasting are ahead.

A poker night seemed like a good way to end a long week. After work, I picked up some snacks and beer and came home to meet S. We hung out for awhile and then said good-bye to the gal pal who was quite upset with our disappearing act.

The set-up for last night’s game was different; it was a cash game, the blinds would only be fifty cents throughout and we could buy-in as many times as we liked. There was some brief introductions after our arrival which was followed up by us sitting down at the table to play some poker.

I got off to a rough start and got badly beat on some hands. The rules of the game allowed for players to give money to each other (just not during a hand) so S was able to spot me a few bucks. I think I was psyched out by the fact that the blinds were only fifty cents and that the chips in front of me were mostly fifty cents and a dollar. I think I bet more then I would have otherwise, which lead to the loss’. I sat back and settled down a bit. I won a few hands and ended up giving S some money so that she could keep playing.

Some of the other players at the table were folks’ I had met before. G and his wife D were there as was the gentleman with the movie-title name. D was sitting next to me and I couldn’t help but notice just how much make-up she had on. I wanted to ask her what the special occasion was. The other players were gents who work with T and who neither S nor I had met before.

During the game, Christine was her usual cheerful self. She tried to engage the players at the table by asking about their days but it was slow going. Another part about the rules that was different last night was that players could leave at anytime, as long as their chips remained on the table. This allowed Christine and S to go out for smoke breaks; which helped Christine feel like the social aspect of the evening was still there.

Little did we know that things were able to get more social. The house phone rang a few hands into the game and it was a friend of Christine’s saying that she was in the neighbourhood and would like to pop in. Although a bit hesitant about receiving this friend, there was little choice since she was already on her way.

By the time the friend, L, arrived Christine was already out of the game and thus took over the role of friendly host. L arrived with two friends in tow and Christine quickly found herself with a full house (no pun intended).

Not long after L and the gang’s arrival, S found herself out of the game. She joined the socializing happening in the other room while I continued to try to make the most of my chips. I hit a bit of luck and won a few hands. As is usually the case with me, my luck ran out I was out. I could have bought more chips, but I saw the chip stacks the other player’s had and didn’t feel like contributing to their stacks. I withdrew from the poker room and joined S, Christine and group in the kitchen and living area.

It wasn’t too late, but I knew I’d have to get up early today to head over to my parents’. I motioned to S that we say good-night and she nodded. I figured we’d leave in the next little while, but the minutes passed and S didn’t move from where she was standing. This left me a bit confused since she wasn’t really involved in the conversation; Christine was doing most of the talking.

It wasn’t until we left that I learned that Christine was finding it difficult to keep the conversation going with her impromptu guests. S knew about it because Christine had filled her in while the two were on a smoke break.

The discussion with the gals was pretty lively. We talked about being single, dating, being partnered, gay marriage and coming out, amongst other topics. One of the gals finally announced that she had to get going so her friends decided they’d all share a cab together. S and I collected our things as well and we all walked out together. The three gals got into a cab and Christine thanked us for staying and keeping her company.

When we left, the poker game was still going strong; I’m guessing it went well into the night. Upon getting home, we fell into bed, a long day capped off with a fun night with good friends.