An Evening with the Ladies and the Cards

S and I hosted our first poker night last night. It wasn’t a game for serious players though, as we wanted to have a casual, social evening mixed in with some poker fun. We also wanted it to be ladies only. The idea came about the last time Christine and T were over for dinner. We somehow got to talking about poker and I (or S) mentioned that we’d love to host a night and now that we have the space, we think we can do it.

A few weeks ago, T e-mailed asking if we were still interested in hosting a game. We said that we were and that got the ball rolling. After all of the invites had gone out, we found ourselves with 11 players ready to come out for some poker fun. I guessed that our dining room table could seat 10 people around it (snuggly, that is) so making room for one more person wouldn’t be too hard to do.

S’s best friend P accepted our invite and I just about fell over dead. Other than her close friends (S and D), P doesn’t socialize with gay people. Up until last night, she hasn’t gone to any events where there’d be gay folks, she never goes to Pride events and has been known to get really weird about sexuality. S told her upfront that there’d be a handful of gay women at the game, but P said she’d be okay with that.

The other players who signed up for the evening were Christine and T, N and C, Auntie J and three of S’s colleagues who we’ll call Ms. McGee, Cousin B and Stiff Neck. It ended up being a pretty even split between ‘mo’s and straight folks so I’m sure that helped put P at ease.

To make things easier, P decided she’d drive down to our place yesterday morning to avoid having to rush out to the ‘burbs after work to pick up her dog. Being a suburb gal, she had no idea how to get to work on transit so I went with her on the streetcar so that she wouldn’t get lost.

When I sent out the invite to the evening, I called the evening, “Pride Poker Potluck” or some such thing. Pride because it was on the eve of Pride weekend, poker because that was the name of the game and potluck because of the running joke that lesbians are all about the potluck. P thought that it was indeed a potluck and secured herself two bags of perogies to bring.

I met P after work outside of her office and she held out a little bag, “I got the perogies!” I told her that it wasn’t actually a potluck and she went, “ohh, it’s not?”

Upon getting home, we tidied up a bit and began to get things ready for our guests. Auntie J showed up not long after we’d gotten home and we were joined shortly thereafter by S. We killed some time by chatting as some beverages were iced and the counter was set for the appetizers we’d be serving.

Christine and T arrived first and I helped them bring in the chairs they so graciously brought with them. I should make it clear that T is an absolute poker genius and it was with her help that we were even able to have a game. The majority of the gals who were coming to the game were novices, some have only played a few times previously and some never having played before. T was kind enough to set up the game, bring her own chips and teach us at the table and the ins and outs of Texas Hold’em.

S and I have played poker before and are familiar with the rules and such. But T was able to explain about the best way to play a hand, how much to bet in certain scenarios and various other tips and techniques. She showed a lot of patience with us and I am very grateful that she donated her time for the evening.

With eleven women gathered around one table it was only natural that the gift of gab took over at certain times. Being in such close quarters with each other gave us the opportunity to chat and poke fun at how our stack chips measured up.

Ms. McGee got off to a running start; she bet pretty fearlessly and took a few hands. Before long, she was using her chips to make change for other players at the table. P, a first time player, ran into some luck and won a few hands too, one of them after hitting four of a kind.

S, ever the strategic player, would bet according to her desire for a cigarette. As the game wore on, she began to bet rather blindly; sometimes she wouldn’t even look at her cards and she’d go all in the hopes of losing and being able to go out for a smoke. Luck was on her side though as she never lost when all in.

I managed to win a pretty big pot when I hit a flush on the river so that gave me lots of chips to play with. Over the course of the evening, P mentioned making the perogies and we (Christine and I especially) felt that it would take too long to make them. First, they’d have to be boiled. Then they’d have to be fried. Who had time for that? There was poker to be played! Eventually, it was decided we’d just order pizza and leave the perogies for another time. Although, N was quite disappointed that the perogies weren’t going to be made.

We took a break to enjoy the pizza and then got back to the game. Ms. McGee and Stiff Neck had to leave as they had early plans today so we bid them good-night. Earlier in the evening, Stiff Neck had mentioned how much she enjoyed reading the blog. During the game, we were sitting at opposite ends of the table so it was hard to chat with her. I’m sure between the two of us, we could have had some interesting S stories to share.

After the break, there were fewer players in the game and the blinds were going up quickly so things moved a long much faster. S continued with her half-baked betting, often times pushing in a stack of multi-colored chips and announcing, “I bet this much!” Other times, she’d push in all of her hundred dollar chips and call, “I’m betting the purples!” Lady luck was on her side as she kept on winning each of the hands she played.

The final three players were C, S and I. I had never made it passed sixth place before so I was pretty stoked. There was some half-hearted grumbling amongst the group about there being a fix in place as both of the hosts were in the final three.

In the end, S ended up winning on a hand where she didn’t even look at her cards. She pushed in a stack of multi-colored chips and that was that.

Not long after, the remaining guests began collecting their things. N and C gathered the two folding chairs they had brought and said good-night, letting us know they’d had a fun time. Cousin B (who’s competitive streak had her hoping she’d win) called for her ride and was soon saying bye as well. Auntie J also had an early day so she left, even though she had initially plan to stay the night.

After helping T put her chairs, chips and laptop in her car, she and Christine headed home. P was staying over so she helped herself to another cooler and we cleaned up and chatted.

It turned out to be a fun night, as I knew it would be. It was great to have that many people over and enjoying themselves; it’s something that we still have to get used to with having all of this space. It terms of socializing though, it may have been too many people. There were some folks, like Stiff Neck and Cousin B, who I would have liked to have spent more time talking to but was unable because of the nature of the game and seating arrangement.

Some of the gals who did sit close together hit it off really well. Auntie J mentioned to N and C that she knows a wedding planner so they decided to exchange e-mail addresses. (N and C are having a big gay wedding in the fall.) P gave her card out to a few of the gals and she and Auntie J mentioned a desire to have a Euchre tournament – at our house, no less. When I asked why at our place, P said it was because we are “centrally located” between their two ‘burbs. Uh huh. Remind me not to be home that night as I have zero interest in participating (or hosting) a Euchre tournament.

I’m going to go ahead and use the pun/cliché and say that it was definitely a Full House of Fun last night.

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1. P-p-p-poker Face
2. Birthday Cards, Bad Steaks and Boobs
3. You’re Invited! Bring Your Own Food
4. “It’s a wonder you’re still around”
5. “Would you drink it?”
6. Tidbits
7. “Get our coats”
8. Speaking of Jerks…
9. Edmonton Oilers = Paris Hilton Hell
10. Our First Real Dinner Party