Poker

I went to dinner last night at a friend's house – what was previously going to be a celebration barbeque for the completion of their extension and to celebrate their anniversary and a birthday but the weather put paid to that.

As often happens at gatherings of my circle of friends, a round of poker was in the offering for after-dinner entertainment and as the exact number of people going for dinner was uncertain until I arrived, I was asked to take my poker chips.

I happen to have two sets of chips, courtesy of Argos (for when I hold a poker evening), so I took both. On occasion we've used a LOT of chips in our games.

I should add that I only started playing poker about a year or so ago, and I'm not a confident player. I keep a crib sheet with the ten different poker hands in with the chips. This proves very handy during games, not just for me, but also is a dead giveaway and makes bluffing nigh on impossible.

A game of poker last week. Crib sheet not shown.

However because I own the two sets of chips and have a crib sheet, I had a good deal of problems trying to work out whether to bet or not, because one of my friends there – a few sheets to the wind, I should add – decided that I should know what I was up to, obtained the sheet and started to test me on it though it was still my turn!

Safe to say I was knocked out of the game, but not first which was pleasing. Of ten of us there I came fifth.

I should add this was in part down to me folding a good few times, and towards the end desperately clinging onto the last two chips I had in a pathetic manner until I was forced by the big blind. Curses!