Poker

 I suck at poker.  I hate to disclose all of this since it means I can never play poker with any of you as you will know how to take me to the cleaners.  Not that that will be difficult. Vincenzo belongs to a club here.  It seems that there is a club for many different groups of people.  One for white collar workers, one for blue collar.  One for soccer fans, one for union people.  But, all for men.  Vincenzo plays poker at his club probably 3 times a week.  As you walk into the club, there is a large room with many card games going on.  The most popular is the classic, traditional Sicilian card game of Briscola.  I remember my grandpa playing this all the time. Here it is played with a special deck of cards with different characters.  Still the same game, but it would take some study to get up to speed with the game.  

My poker experience is with a small group of friends that would get together for a friendly game, maybe every other month.  Those games have died out as people have dispersed to other places, including the great beyond.  I was never very good at the game, but with very low stakes, I never suffered too much for my ineptitude and always enjoyed getting together with friends.  (If my friend Lane happens to see this, he knows better than most, all my poker weaknesses and has taken a bit of my money.)

Vincenzo invited me to substitute in his group for a game of poker.  It was five card draw game with only four players.  To make it more interesting, they play with a deck of 28 instead of 52 (should be perfect for me as I'm used to not playing with a full deck.)  The deck consists of cards from 8's through aces.  What this does is increase your odds of getting straights, full houses, three and four of a kind. Whereas two pair may be a decent hand with a deck of 52, it's not so great in a deck of 28.  They start off with €40 euro  each, and each chip is worth €2.  You're pretty much limited to maximum loss of €40 or €50 if you want to throw some more in.  The rules are essentially the same as in regular 5 card draw, but with some local variances on betting and raising. So far after 2 games, I'm down about €100. 

The first invite was for me sitting at Vincenzo's elbow watching and getting a feel for how the game worked.  Vincenzo's friends are great and include another avvocato (lawyer).  My next invite was due to l'avvocato not being available, and I was the sub.   I was a bit nervous, and made stupid mistakes and lost.  The second game, I was bit more comfortable, but made the same stupid mistakes, and was easily bluffed out of a couple hands where I should have known better and same result - losing.   Keep in mind the whole game with the usual poker banter among players is all in not just Italian, but Sicilian dialect.  After my losses, I could tell they felt a bit bad for me (not all that bad) and I felt that I was more a nuisance to them than a good addition to their group. I tried to explain this to Vincenzo on the walk home, and it was difficult to explain due to language barriers.  So,  I followed up with a text thanking him and his friends, and offering to bow out of future games.  He said not a problem and they understood and enjoyed my company (and probably my money.)    So, the next time it was back to  school and Vincenzo had me back at his elbow observing rather than losing more money.  All was good, but a bit boring not being a part of the action.  But, definitely cheaper for me.  

A couple nights ago, Vincenzo once again invited me to join them as l'avvocato was unavailable.  We showed up, and l"avvocato was there, so I was once again a spectator.  As a side note, I got a bit bored as a spectator and noticed all the action in the room seemed to be on the other end where many were watching a Briscola game in progress.  I went to watch for a few minutes and understood nothing.  I came back to my table and said: "Ho capito niente." meaning I didn't understand a thing at the Briscola table.  They all cracked up at that. 

Now Vincenzo, knowing I was a bit bored, changed places with me and let me play his hand with his money (not bad work if you can get it.)  He was still looking over my shoulder, so I was a bit reluctant to go crazy on how I was playing.  His chip pile started to dwindle.  Not all my fault, as the cards were not in our favor.  But, I still made stupid mistakes and as Vincenzo so aptly pointed out, I'm easily distracted.  Not a good thing in poker.  My most embarrassing example of this was one time dealing and I spaced out and dealt 6 cards before waking up.  At about this time, Vincenzo decided it was time to step back in to try and save his remaining chips.  Unfortunately, his luck had turned and he came out losing about €20. 

On the walk home I got a bit of a lecture from Vincenzo.  He explained that poker can be a dangerous game, and you need to pay attention.  He honed in exactly on my flaws as a poker player.  I am very easily distracted and lack the necessary concentration. I seem to have this problem in most games that I play. Many players know all the cards that are out there, what everyone's tells are about, what they are betting and what it all means and what the odds are of prevailing with your given hand.  I'm pretty much oblivious, but I'm having a good time.  Rather an expensive approach to the game.  

As with many games, golf included, (which I'm much more familiar with, although equally as bad at) they do tend to say a lot about someone's character.  Unfortunately for me.  As the song says, you need to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away.  I hate folding them and I hate walking away, as then you are done, and miss out on all the action,  But, the action costs.  I'm easily bluffed as I lack confidence and the security to take a risk, and other times I stand up to a bluff when all odds are against me.  I usually walk away kicking myself for the mistakes I made and telling myself I knew better, and should have trusted my gut.  

These poker games are one of few diversions I have here, and I hope I continue to get invited.  Maybe I can even recoup some of my losses.  Ciao till next time.