tangentwoman

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Shuffle up and deal

The Smelmooo and I have enjoyed watching the World Poker Tour for a while now...2 years, maybe? We were flipping channels one night and stumbled upon the WPT, and both of us sort of mocked it: "Poker on TV! Riveting!" But, as it turned out, it really is!!

I'd played poker a little bit in high school and, inspired by the WPT, played Texas Hold 'Em with my in-laws (and even, once, with my co-workers, during an especially boring conference call. I totally won, but we unfortunately were playing for paper clips). But I'd never actually played poker in a casino. I'd been to Atlantic City a couple of times, and played a few slots, a few hands of blackjack, fewer hands of Let it Ride. I made 10 bucks on the slots during a layover in the Las Vegas airport. But that was it...until this weekend.

The Smelmooo and I took a break from his work convention to head over to Harrah's in Atlantic City, which was incredibly crowded on this rainy, yucky weekend. I had planned just to watch, or to go shopping or something while he played poker, but there was a huge wait to get a seat at a 2-4 table (which, for the uninitiated, means that it's about as low-stakes as you get...2 bucks to bet; blinds are $1 and $2, so you're forced to put in only $3 every 10 hands, which isn't so bad for a skittish gambler like me), so I added my name to the list, and all of a sudden, there I was, actually playing real poker in a real casino!

The Smelmooo and I initially ended up at separate tables, which actually was probably a good thing, because I sort of established myself on my own, and then he joined our table about 15 minutes later, so it was perfect. We had a lovely afternoon, which surprised both of us a little bit, because we didn't really plan the day, and we definitely didn't expect to stay for so long. But in the end, we both came out ahead, and I was totally shocked to be up $33! Which, to me, is huge, although I realize in the gambling world it's impossibly small potatoes. But when you'll only put out $50, it's not a bad return on investment. I may be hooked.

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