Texas Hold 'Em

I played a few rounds of Texas Hold 'Em with a some buddies last weekend. Despite its success on television, I don't rate it very highly as entertainment. At least as a participant. Mark summed it up pretty well - It's just not very social. It's a bit like inviting people around for a Chess tournament.

I've played Poker since high school with a wide variety of players (or 'playaz' if the mood takes you). We started with 1 & 2 cent coins and moved up to using matches as chips and cashing in at the end of the night. The purchase of 'chips' has even been considered on occasion. We've even discussed 'high stakes' games, although none have come to fruition.

My biggest gripe with playing Poker is the betting. We can never seem to reach an equilibrium where betting has meaning, but doesn't mean breaking someone's bank account. The game feels like it's lost all its thrill when you don't bet. This weekend we played with 200 toothpicks each. We set the maximum bet at 4 picks and played for about 4 hours. The end result was sufficient picks in each person's kitty to keep playing for at least another 6 hours. Hardly edge of the seat entertainment.

I think the answer is : Poker nights need a good soaking in Beer.

With yet another failed Poker experiment out of the way, we moved onto the ever faithful Hearts. The highlight was Pete laying down the 'Black Bitch' only to have her return home with "her boyfriend" (King of Hearts) and "his little brother that his mum made him bring along" (Jack of Hearts).

Hmm. Hearts humour is disturbing.