My friend Michael Lovitch has Poker Night every Tuesday.  I’ve wanted to make it to this for a very long time.  I finally got to attend. They also have “Night rider Sundays” which I’ll have to come back another time for.

Night rider Sundays are a bicycle bar-hopping event.  I don’t drink much (these days… when I’m not at events.  When at events, I let loose), but that sounds like a blast.  I did drink this evening.

I didn’t know it, but Michael and I were not allowed to be back at the house before 2AM.  His daughter takes after him in his night owl tendencies.  I have the same tendencies, and while Michael likes to joke around about everything, he takes the “5 year olds need to get their sleep” subject very seriously.

I’m on paragraph 4, and I still haven’t mentioned that I don’t really know how to play poker!  Ooops.  So here’s what happened:

We got to Sloan’s house.  It was early- 7:30 or something.  We brought with us a bottle of Tito’s Handmade Vodka (from my stash that I carry with me at all times), and some V8 juice that Michael had.  It was gonna be a Bloody Mary night.  Michael poured, and they were VERY strong.  In fact, it seems that the 2 of us had finished the bottle by ourselves.

There were so many people there, as this poker night has been going on every week for 6 years now! It was a very cool crowd, and it was fun to note that other than Michael and I, nobody was in marketing.  There were dancers, scientists, and a slew of other normal people.

We drew cards to see which table we were sitting at. I got the other table.  Like a good host, Michael walked me to the other table, and asked the people at that table to look after me, as I don’t know much if anything about poker. One guy wrote down what beats what, in the order.  So, high card, 1 pair, 2 pair, etc…

The thing that was funny is that I didn’t end up using it.  I would call with a pair of 3s, or a pair of 6′s… and I won…. again and again.  They thought I was hustling them!  Really, they thought I was a pro that was faking, because I’d ask “So, I burn one, and reveal 3, right?” ( I didn’t want to screw up the shuffling! I think over the last 4 years, I played twice before this evening).

This guy, Paul, started kicking ass.  He actually won the entire evening’s game. After a while, my winning streak ended.  I’m not sure that there’s a lesson here.  Maybe it’s that you can win without knowing what you’re doing.  Maybe it’s that there’s a benefit to being unpredictable.

Whether there’s one or not doesn’t matter.  Poker night is a fun way to spend an evening. It gave people an opportunity to catch up with each other, get away from their families, and compete.

We left Sloan’s, and went to Finn’s — the Irish bar up the street.  Don’t forget… I said earlier that I found out that we couldn’t be home until 2AM.  This is the point that I learned that.

It was Jack and Cokes for me for the rest of the night.  Initially Michael and I spent the time by the bar, catching up on things, and having some pretty intelectual debates about numerous topics.  I love hanging out with smart people with a sense of humor!

After a while, some of the other guys from Poker night asked if we’d like to join them for a game of Poker at the back table.  Someone brought a metalic case filled with cards and poker chips.  It resembled what you might expect of a spy that was carrying a fancy gun case.

I met 2 new people at this game. It was actually at this table that I learned a few important tips.

1)You don’t need to pay to stay in if your hand sucks.  Small blind and big blind are mandatory, but if you are not either of those, and your cards suck.  Fold.

2)Know that old song?  You gotta know when to hold ‘em, you gotta know when to fold ‘em.

3)You don’t have to battle every opportunity.  A pair of 2s is not that impressive when there’s aces on the table.

I’m not a poker instructor.  I kicked ass at Poker at the bar…. but that required making a lot of mistakes to learn what I needed in order to get decent.  I still have a lot to learn.

Maybe that’s the lesson.  Don’t be afraid to tell people you don’t know something.  Don’t be afraid to try something new.  Don’t be afraid to suck at it… that’s the only way you’ll get good.  Don’t forget to have fun… oftentimes, that’s the best reward… more so than the money prize.