Fun crowd at the poker room.......

I went and played some poker on Saturday night. It was a good night to go, because the place was packed full of race fans since the NASCAR race was in town this weekend. To a poker player, that's usually an indication that there's going to be a lot of bad players at the tables.

I honestly played very well and still ended up about $10 down. Sometimes that happens when you play poker. I made two great laydowns that would have cost me a lot of money had I not made the good play early. I won a couple of decent sized pots when I did have a good hand. I played about 6 hours, so $2.00 a hour for a night of entertainment is certainly not a bad deal.

The NASCAR race fans brought in a great group of people. Generally, everyone was very nice. No yelling or irritating players. Just lots of people there to have some fun. There were a couple of ladies at the table as well, which always seems to make the mood of the table a bit better. One guy hit a great card to beat a good hand that one of the ladies had. In a sarcastic manner, I quickly chastised him for doing that to the lady at the table. I told him that I hoped that her family didn't find out what he had done. That got a good chuckle from the table, including the poor lady who had just suffered a brutal loss on the final card.

I later did the same thing to an older lady. I sheepishly turned over the bad news and apologized to her. She just smiled and said 'no problem'. Thankfully, she won a bit pot on the next hand. I commented that she won the previous money back and then some. She smiled and happily raked in the chips. No matter how many times you play poker, it's always a fun feeling to rake in those chips. It's that feeling that always keeps people coming back for more.

I got to know a guy next to me pretty well. He was probably around 50 years of age. He was a tight player, so I didn't have to worry about him too much in regards to the game. Basically, if he was in the pot, I was out unless I had a monster. We chatted about the football game that was on the TV. We talked about his kids who are now in college. His wife was playing at another table and would come by the table periodically to check up on him and see how he was doing. She was a character. She wore a big, brown cowboy hat and talked with a pretty heavy southern accent. She seemed like she would be a lot of fun.

I asked the guy what he does for a living. He said he was retired, but that he used to work for a refinishing company. They would work on new, old, and antique furniture to restore or complete its finish. He then said that his job is the reason he's dying. Evidently, there's a lot of toxic stuff flying around those types of companies. He said when he was younger, he was stupid and didn't take proper measures to ensure his safety from the dust and toxins that were in the air. He now has liver cancer that has spread to other places in his body. The doctors have given him a month or two to live.

There's really not much you can say other than 'sorry to hear that' when someone tells you something like that. It's pretty obvious that he did want to talk about it, because he was the one to bring it up. So I just let him talk. He actually played pretty well, had a good time, and won some money. Good for him. Eventually, his wife lost all her money, so she came over to let him know. She was willing to let him keep playing, but I think he was getting pretty tired. I wished him well and told him it was nice to meet him. Hopefully, the doctors are wrong about his diagnosis. He's a good guy and deserves the best. Unfortunately, the fate of people doesn't always match the quality of the individual.