The league is comprised partially of the group we spent New Year's with at the beach. They are our Game Playing Friends. Everything from actual on-the-diamond-hitting-and-fielding-softball to fantasy football to cards and board games to drinking games. Play hard. Party hard. The games are, at times, made more interesting by adding a financial element.
Yes oh yes. Our Game Playing Friends like to wager.
Wagering adds a new dimension to a game, more excitement. But I'm a fiscal conservative. Gambling is to water as fiscal conservatism is to oil. I'd like to be able to enjoy playing because it looks like fun, but I
Hi Low $1 Minimum was a card game played but twice during the trip. I'd never played it before. Turns out it is a pretty simple game. Everyone antes up a buck. Two cards are dealt face up with space in between for another card. The player has to guess if the next card dealt will be between the values of those face up.
Like this:
Two face up cards are the nine of ♣ and the two of ♥.
Player bets $1.
Dealer deals the six of ♠.
Player collects $1 from pot.
Two face up cards are Jack of ♠ and the Five of ♣.
Player bets $2.
Dealer deals the Three of ♥.
Player pays $2 into the pot.
Okay, I trust you have the gist. If not, read the above over until you do. Then keep reading for the two twists.
Twist 1. If either of the first two cards dealt is an Ace,
the player must specify if it is a high Ace or a low Ace.
Twist 2. If the third card dealt matches either of the
first two cards dealt, the player must pay double their
bet to the pot.
We sat at the table, money in hand. A time limit was set. Someone said "We'll stop playing this game in fifteen minutes." Everyone nodded in agreement, looked at the clock and nodded again. I was thinking "Huh?" because we never set a time limit or just play a game for 15 minutes. I didn't ask why. Because I'm quiet like a mouse. Shhhhhh.
The cards dealt are irrelevant. It's the pace of the game I'd like to convey here. It moves quickly from player to player. When the spreads in the cards were wide, the bets would be larger. $5 or $10 or $20 at times. The round ends when someone wins the whole pot. Ante up and begin again.
It dawned on me, after watching the bills fly around the table, why a time limit had been set. I dropped $10 in two minutes. No more for me. Our Game Playing Friends, well they were really getting into it. As was Wendy. The tossing of the bills. The taking of the chances. The tension. The anticipation. The thrill of seeking that thrill is, of course, why there was a time limit.
The largest the pot got was $71. I won't document the drama which momentarily boosted it to $142. It wasn't pretty. Similar to a daytime soap opera but with a happy ending. But the guy didn't get the girl. Or the money.
I really enjoyed watching them play. The fickle nature of the cards. No mercy. Watching my friends react. Each of them had a losing squinch. I call it squinching when one's face gets all disappointed looking and pained. A grimace. Eyes would look down or turn away, faces would squinch as hands counted out dollar bills into the pot. We non-losers-of-the-moment would
Of course when we had winners, we would cheer. Particularly when we had big winners. Which we did. I decided I would love to go to Las Vegas with this group of friends. Both the ones with the seemingly worst luck and the ones on whom fortune shone. Either way, they are all gamers. And we always have fun, no matter what the game.
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