"I Also Like To Live Dangerously"

Well, that was damned fun.

Last night, my uncle had my brother, sister and cousins over for a "Casino Night." Much like everything else he does, my Uncle Ray pulls out all the stops for get-togethers. In this case, he recently purchased a combination roulette/craps table, a blackjack table, and a suitcase full of chips. Now, I'm no James Bond, but I have played craps before, and can hold my own in blackjack. Roulette is fairly easy . . . but I didn't have a clue how to play Texas Hold 'Em.

Yeah, yeah, I know. ESPN (and every other damned station) televise this stuff, but I was never all that interested. Add to that the fact that I haven't played poker since I was in high school, and I looked like the biggest loser in the room. Thankfully, my Uncle Ray and my brother Chris enlightened me - plus Chris told me to check out Party Poker online. Soon, I was ready to go.

At the beginning of the night, Ray gave everyone (13 of us) $460 worth of chips. We weren't playing for any real money, since it was the first time, but Chris, his wife Kim, my sister Allison and I all ponied up a $5 pot for whomever had the most chips at the end of the evening. We started with roulette, and I came out about even. After that we moved on to blackjack - where I got my ass handed to me. How many times can the dealer (Uncle Ray) draw a 20 or better???

My brother was making stupid bets . . . and winning on them. A short while later, we started playing craps, and Chris kept making stupid bets . . . and winning! I, on the other hand, was making safe bets . . . and losing my shirt. By the time we started playing Texas Hold 'Em, I was down $200. Nice.

About seven of us were playing Hold 'Em, and my 20-year old sister was cleaning house. I won a few hands by bluffing - I am a compulsive liar, so this game played to my strengths! - but lost more than I won. All in all it was a lot of fun, but I need a lot more practice.

When we tallied up the scores, I ended the night with $149 of my original $460; Allison finished with about $300, Kim finished with a little over $600, and my jackass brother won the pot with his $1,310. Crap.

Next time, I'll be ready for him.