Texas Hold 'Em

I love to gamble. Blackjack is my favorite game and the only one I understand enough to bet more than the minimum. My record win is 1300 dollars on my 40th birthday. Happy birthday to me!

I was excited to see that one of my social groups was doing a Texas Hold 'Em 101 event. I noticed the event leader was someone I had not met before and it was to take place in his home, so I made sure there were people I already knew on the attendance list. There were 3, so I felt pretty comfortable going.

We met at Chili's for dinner first. I saw the organizer at a table with two other guests and joined them. He was not the kind of guy that makes my jaw drop because he is so gorgeous, but not bad-looking. Much better than his picture. He's bald, which I don't always like, but it works for him. Then he smiled and I saw that he had braces. Shallow Jen made a brief appearance.

I learned that he does a lot of the same things that I do. He is running the San Antonio Marathon in November. I'm running the same race but doing the half. In the parking lot after dinner he noticed the bike rack on my car. He says he puts a bike rack on his tiny BMW convertible. That mental image makes me laugh. The bike is probably bigger than the car.

Then we all went to his apartment. It's a tiny 900 square feet, but very nice. The kitchen was as large as his living area. The floor was a hardwood-look laminate instead of the ugly shag carpet in most rentals. Where the dining table should be, he had a poker table. OK, we have just confirmed he is not married. He had an area rug in front of the sofa and the walls were decorated with black and white photographs in frames. The bathroom was as large as the bedroom. There was nothing special about the tile and did not have a garden tub, but it was nicer than most I've seen in a bachelor's apartment. I don't know about the closets. The doors were closed and I was not going to be that nosy.

He was on the 11th floor and had a bird's eye view of the city lights below. The red and green of the traffic lights next to the white of the street lights and the light from various house and office windows almost looks like Christmas. When I made the statement that no one could see in this high up so he could leave his blinds open all the time, someone remarked that people could see in with a telescope. He went and got his binoculars and said when that happens he looks back. I like that attitude!

We spent about 30 minutes learning the rules of the game and practicing a few just-for-fun deals to learn how to place bets, then played a tournament. For 10 dollars, we each got 1500 dollars worth of chips and played until we were out or won it all. I did not win. I need a lot more practice before I'm ready to play poker in a casino.

It was his first time leading an event so I thought about sending an email telling him what a great job he did but never got around to it. This morning, I found a message from him in my inbox. He said he had a lot of fun, would love to see me again, he's doing another one this weekend and hopes I can make it. I get messages like that from a lot of people in this group, including women, so I'm not making too much of it. I am going to make sure I'm at the next poker party, though.