That Game

I like games well enough. I may not be extremely competitive outside of not ever wanting to be wrong, but I like playing games reasonably well most of the time if I know how to play them. Boardgames are pretty fun, although there are too few opportunities to play. I got out of video games some time ago, not finding the financial outlay necessary to be in line with the amount of time and energy I had the desire to put in. I like card games in principle, but favor some more than others. I like blackjack, and would like it more if I could count cards (that applies to most card games). I very much like hearts, which I learned to play in Boy Scouts. I don't care for poker.

Tragic it is therefore that the sole game of cards I have the opportunity to play is Texas Hold 'Em. The game of poker and all its permutations is a total mystery to me. I have little interest in the psychological gamesmanship of the betting phases, and I cannot say what constitutes what hand. I have a vague understanding of where some of the hands are in relation to each other as far as strength is concerned, but would be flying blind in a game. The fact that I do not know how to play and consequently am not very good undoubtedly has a great deal to do with how I like the game, but whether I would like it anyway I can't say.

I have sat in on a good number of games, and the only thing I find terribly interesting is talking. I don't mean talk that is directly in reference to the game, but rather that which mostly could be happening were we doing anything and not specifically a game of poker. The competitive atmosphere of such games has an interesting effect on the disposition of people, and can be sometimes revealing about personalities and relationships. The talk at a poker game also allows for the possibility of rolling out jokes that have no place anywhere else, often having as a subject Kenny Rogers.

My attitude on poker being what it is, I contemplate periodic suggestions of a weekend trip to Los Vegas with some trepidation. I believe firmly in going places only to partake in the things for which they are know. That means that I have hamburgers at McDonald's, coffee at Starbuck's and would consider nothing particularly worth doing in Las Vegas beyond the general debauchery which they have worked so hard to become synonymous with. That is not to say that I'm intensely eager for all that, but what else would I do there? I can't afford to spend all my time watching Celine Dion, Wayne Newton and Ricky Jay.