Off to the Shed

Armed with the following:

• 1 slab of Carlton Draught stubbies
• A six pack of Bees Nees,
• A six pack of Little Creatures pale ale
• A six pack of Little Creatures pilsner - voted the best beer in the world by Stu
• 2 six packs of Cascade Light (for those driving of course)
• 1 bottle of Glenfiddich (scotch)
• 1 half bottle of Dalwhinnie (scotch)
• 1 bottle of Skyy Vodka
• 1 bottle of wine (probably not worth mentioning)
• a few bottles of soft drink
• a couple of ‘platters’ carefully prepared by my fellow bretheren (aka a few bags of chips, some dip, some cheese and of course a couple of pizza’s and a garlic bread
• 1 apple tea cake - more on that later
• 1 300 (correctly weighted) chip poker set
• 1 deck of playing cards
• The pocket Idiot’s guide to Texas Hold’em (just in case)

Yes, you may have already guessed by either the title heading or the huge stash of health food and beverages listed above, that one, we were attending a world peace summit, or two, we organised ourselves a POKER NIGHT!

Thats right, Jared, Tim, Count Valvasori - Ads, Richard, Ben, Stu and I, after months of planning and scheming with our respective partners and wives, managed to hold our first Friday night poker event!

The night commenced with us all meeting at my place, and The Wife was safely tucked away for a girls night with Clarkey. We put out some ‘platters’ and some drinks and talked about the week and general topics of interest, and then adjourned to the dining room which saw the original dining table transformed by a piece of green felt into a poker table (with thanks to the wife).

The cards were dealt, and with a few of the rules re-explained we commenced the game. Being the high-rollers we are, we all chipped in $10 just to create a direction for the game and give us some financial incentive, its funny how the game changes with as little $70 dollars on the table up for grabs.

The first game seemed to go for ages, but was full of enjoyment, I had no idea we had so many personalities in our group! We shared many stories and had quite a few drinks and after around 3 hours, the winner was… Me! That’s right my two pair was just too good for Ads, who decided it was best to not reveal his cards that took me to all in on the river!

This brings me to the introduction of the Apple tea cake. This was carefully prepared by my wonderful wife. I arrived home in a flurry, making sure that the drinks would be cold and the food ready, and found on the table an Apple tea cake with a sign on it saying ‘Eat me’ with one slice strategically removed. It isnt something that you would normally see at a poker night but I think it just shows the more sensitive side of our group. In the intermission we all hoed into the cake which was sensational, and then resumed to commence the next game.

Different from the first game, a few of our players showed more bravado early on, which was good and created a lot of excitement, added with a few drinks the crescendo was building. Ben was the winner of the second game, who was the quiet achiever of the night, who layed low during the first game, and seemed to struggle early in the second, but then with a couple of good hands had him back, and in the play off with Ads who, having now twice come second is poised to be the next big winner.

It was a great night and a great thing to do with mates, I am so looking forward to the next one. Invites will be going out in the next week.