My Winning Hand...The Luck Of The Draw

 Playing card games...for us, it's sort of a family tradition over the Christmas break. This year did not disappoint. We brought up the chips and the cards and had a great time. We also brought up a guide that tells us which hands are best, and which are crap. Later that night...

I had a great hand.

Growing up, we played card games, but not a lot of poker. It wasn't so much that we were against it, although, there is a running theme within our culture about the evils of face cards. That didn't make a lot of sense to me because other card games, PIT, Uno, and others have number cards, many of which have the same number of cards, 1-13, as face cards, 2-10/Jack/Queen/King/Ace. I suppose there's the stigma that they used face cards to gamble.

Gambling...not really my thing.

Thankfully.

We live in a non-gambling state. On the edge of our state, just past the state lines, there are gambling casinos. I've visited these establishments, even spent some money on the games...mostly the slots. I played slots because I don't really understand the bigger games. And I don't have a lot of money (either have or to lose...), to learn the table games.

But, our family does like playing a game of poker now and then. We tried experimenting with the different styles of the game, Texas Hold 'Em, and such. Didn't really take. Regular straight poker seems to be our jam.

When we played the other night, I got a good hand...one of the best. I play so infrequently that I had to check the paper to see just how good. Funny, whenever I played growing up, it seemed I always got better hands, and not just me, but everyone seemed to get better hands. I remember getting full house hands all the time. Nowadays, I get a pair about 90% of the time, and the other 10% is where I go for a straight or a flush and I get nothing. Occasionally, I'll get something better. I'm probably remembering things when I used to play differently.

Because we don't play that often, it may be a long time until I get such a good hand again.

But, who knows...? It may happen the next hand I'm dealt. Such is the luck of the draw.

The Return Of Family Game Night...Hopefully

 Last weekend my daughter and her fiancee were home so we decided to go downstairs and resurrect something we used to do quite frequently...

Family Game Night.

Sometime last year, it was an almost weekly thing. On Sunday nights we'd gather downstairs in the party basement and play games. These weren't complicated games, for the most part. We'd usually settle on poker or gin rummy or another card game. We even bought poker chips and a battery-powered card shuffler to make card distribution more fair.

We started with Poker. My best hand came when I asked for five cards because the five I was dealt were not good. I was handed three queens in exchange. I really couldn't bet big because everyone knew I was dealt something good or I wouldn't be playing...couldn't bluff my way out of that one. After a few rounds, we switched to Skull King.

We were not a "gaming family" before we had a place to play and maybe that's why we haven't ket up the tradition. Things this winter have been crazy and with an upcoming wedding, it's gotten even more so. Still, there's nothing like hanging out with the family, not expecting to win many hands but sometimes you do, and just enjoying each other's company.

I'd like to say we'll continue the tradition. The past couple of months we've been so tired on Sunday nights, mostly because we've had to shovel snow most Sunday mornings. Plus, planning a wedding can be exhausting.

I guess with anything, time will tell.

Another New Years In The Party Basement...

 Another New Years Eve has come and gone...the same can be said for New Years Day. And, as per our usual since we finished the basement, our family spent it downstairs, around our bumper pool/gaming table, drinking Martinelli's Gold Label Sparkling Apple Juice (and the Cranberry/Apple combo...), along with Christmas treats...

Yes, we know how to party.

Of course, "party" is subjective. Like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. 

Years ago, I would see ads for a big New Years Eve celebration in downtown Salt Lake City. This must have been decades ago because I believe they've kept up the tradition for years. All I could think about when I saw those ads was, "Why in the world would anyone want to spend New Years Eve outside in a city located in the Rocky Mountains?"

Obviously, I've never attended such a celebration.

I never thought about how all those people at Times Square in New York City waiting for the ball to drop willingly chose to attend. They were outside in a northern latitude city. I never questioned their sanity. Then again, when you have hundreds of thousands of people jammed into a small space, maybe they generate enough heat to make the decision to celebrate logical.

No, I'm boring. I stay inside at New Years Eve. The last time I think I celebrated outside was years ago when I lived in Denmark. I ventured out on New Years Eve and watched happy Danes celebrate the arrival of 1986. I also saw a drunk man almost get his head blown off as he looked inside a tube of a huge firework to see if it would blow.

Yes, it blew.

No, he was not injured...well, maybe his hearing.

I had a blast this past New Years Eve. God willing, we'll gather again in the party basement on New Years Eve and pull out another board game--maybe next year we'll play Hallmark Monopoly. We haven't played that in a while.