[Jambine]

Don’t know why I feel compelled to share this, but here goes. A quick preface: all the family & friends mentioned, are card players from a way back.

Sunday afternoon prime rib with family & friends at the parent’s house (Mom sure knows how to put up a standing prime rib!).

After dinner I’m showing off some samples of my new HPC Chipco’s to my brothers, who are properly impressed. These are the same guys who provided my elementary tutelage in poker as a kid years ago (always at risk of my weekly allowance). So then Dad pops in and chiding my recent chip decision, says “Clay is the only way to go, ceramics will never catch on” (guess he has not been in a casino for few years). Then he gets out his chip set (old Paulson’s) for comparison and sure enough, a poker game breaks out.

Blanket goes over the dining table and we begin a rousing 9 handed game of Nickel-Dime Hold-Em. I ask my Mom if she knows the game and she replies “It’s just a variation of 7-Stud isn’t it? Deal the cards dear”. After three hours of lively play, the game breaks up and Mom cashes out with $22.00 on a $5.00 buy in. I’m up $3.00 and my brothers were all skinned (to a man).

So I’m up $3.00 in three hours. I swear this was the best session of poker I’ve had in years.

Merry Christmas all !

[austin5string]

Originally Posted by Jambine

I swear this was the best session of poker I’ve had in years.

Merry Christmas all !

Ain't family grand? Missin' mine this season. Couldn't get off work at my new job to go home.

Merry Christmas to you, too!!

~John

[andrewst2]

Which Paulsons? Got any Pics?


By the great story!

[PocketRocket]

Umm... you didn't pick up that 'tell' from mom?

Reminds me of the time I jokingly said "How do you play this game, 'poker' " to a bunch of younger colleagues and out of just plain pure dumb luck cleared out the table in less than an hour (takes no skill when you keep getting dealt The Nuts.) Needless to say, I played dumb and redistributed a bunch of it back to keep things going and I didn't want anyone to get the impression they were being hustled. It was just a low stakes (quarters) dealers choice game.

Originally Posted by Jambine

“It’s just a variation of 7-Stud isn’t it? Deal the cards dear”. After three hours of lively play, the game breaks up and Mom cashes out at with $22.00 on a $5.00 buy in. I’m up $3.00 and my brothers were all skinned (to a man).

So I’m up $3.00 in three hours. I swear this was the best session of poker I’ve had in years.

Merry Christmas all !

[Jambine]

Originally Posted by PocketRocket

Umm... you didn't pick up that 'tell' from mom?

Nobody at that table believed Mom was a rookie. She just had not played for while. Although it did seem to come back to her pretty quickly, and, she did quadruple her stack in 3 hours.... hummm.....

And, BTW, Dads set is some old Paulson Starburst Hot Stamp (no edge spots, but a real nice set). Don't have any pics to show.

[NanaBanana]

Very nice story, Jambine! I love hearing "poker" stories like that - reminds me of some of our dinners/get-togethers.....


and Merry Christmas to you and your family!







BaNaNa

[PocketRocket]

Gee you sure know how to make a guy feel old
Yeah, I have a set of old unspotted Paulsons as well, but they've got initials rather than cancelllation marks. Tends not to a appeal the younger types though as there seems to be some expectation for edge spots, denominations, inlays and the like. But those chips did serve me well for decades; hey were replaced last year with TR Kings and Chipcos. They're in an off-site storage facility these days.

Originally Posted by Jambine

And, BTW, Dads set is some old Paulson Starburst Hot Stamp (no edge spots, but a real nice set). Don't have any pics to show.

[PocketRocket]

What? You invited the kids over and then fleeced them? I'm trying to envision Ten wearing the proverbial barrel

Merry Christmas Nana!

Originally Posted by NanaBanana

Very nice story, Jambine! I love hearing "poker" stories like that - reminds me of some of our dinners/get-togethers.....


and Merry Christmas to you and your family!







BaNaNa

[Lynbark Designs]

*****SAPPY STORY WARNING****

Ok.. so the warm family moment Jambine described and the responses compelled me to dig up a holiday story I penned about 6 years ago.

It's loosely based on facts and is an homage to a very close friend who died much too young. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with poker, I know if he were here today he'd be as much of a chip junkie as I am and would have been at our New Year's Eve tourney next week for sure...

“The Yule Club”

My hand searched frantically through the cluttered box marked “X-Mas Misc.” I pulled the aging frame from the box an exhaled in relief. With a delicate blow, the attic dust vanished to reveal a fading memory that this holiday season would unfortunately force me to revisit. Although scratched and faded, the 30 year old image captured perfectly an unequaled friendship at an age of fun and innocence. From a small shoddy clubhouse knelt four 12 year old boys arm-in-arm beneath a hand painted banner, “The Yule Club.”

“Here ye. Here ye. The annual Yule Club meeting is now called to order.”

Rusty enjoyed being president. Dressed daily in khakis and button-downs, he was the club’s financier. Mark was our brawn. Pleasantly plump, he was no slouch at the dinner table but strong as an ox. Neil was the crazy one. On spaghetti day, he would suck a noodle through his nose and make it dance at the back of his throat like an earthworm on hot pavement, eventually gulping it down as we cringed in disgust. I was the brains of the bunch. With a passion for reading and a zest for PBS, schoolwork came easy. My blue Adidas binder overflowed with notes and diagrams of past and future capers.

The club’s bylaws were simple: (1) no individuals were injured, (2) no belongings were damaged, and (3) never get caught. Over the years there were minor pranks like replacing the Smith’s nativity scene with pink flamingos and garden gnomes. Or the year our principal decorated her yard with 4 foot letters spelling “Merry Christmas.” It was three days before she realized we had rearranged them to say, “CRAM IT MS SHERRY.”

Christmas of ’73 was our final and most elaborate caper. At the big corner house, the Martin’s arranged a set of self-playing holiday chimes that rivaled any professional handbell choir. The Martin’s privacy fence presented little resistance; Cujo, on the other hand, would be a problem. The “protector of the bells,” Cujo was an 18 inch super-mutt, half poodle, half alligator. Our plan began with Rusty tossing over some leftover filet mignon, distraction enough for Neil to string 100 feet of fishing line through each holiday chime. Finally, Mark would lower Neil from a nearby pine branch with a heavy duty extension cord around his waist. Hanging upside down, Neil would quickly tie the fishing line to Cujo’s collar while he gobbled down the prime beef. Unfortunately, we hadn’t anticipated Cujo’s low budget tastes as he ignored the filet and sunk his teeth into the 3 day old bologna stuffed deep in Neil’s Member’s Only jacket. The jacket became our only casualty, but the caper was a wonderfully noisy success.

That Christmas would be the Yule Club’s last. The following year brought many changes: junior high, teenage girls, new interests. Growing up, for some reason, meant becoming serious, making the grade, securing the best job, and working hard to earn a living. We would always be friends, but never like the Yule Club days.

I was told Neil stayed late at the office that snowy night, squaring away things for the holidays. Once carefree and full of life, Neil (like the rest of us) had succumb to the adulthood pressures of making the bucks, paying the bills, keeping the kids in fashionable clothes, and postponing the fun until retirement. Wiping tears from my eyes, I gazed into the faces of four young friends, a monument of free spirit and a love of life. I leaned past the array of poinsettias and peace lilies, placing the photo gently at Neil’s side.

As I drove away from the funeral home, a smile broke through a now steady stream of tears. I whipped into the next subdivision and located a target. I quickly dismantled a large Santa and reindeer. Putting the sleigh in the middle, I created a 4 on 4 reindeer tug-of-war. It wasn’t the grandest of schemes, but tonight it worked. On the scroll in Santa’s hand, I smiled and wrote,



“For Neil,

With Love,

The Yule Club.”




************ Everyone enjoy the holidays and do take some time for friends & family.... Then hurry up and deal!

[PocketRocket]

Okay, maybe a little sappy. but the thought is good; while it may be a time to celebrate with friends and family, it is indeed important to remember the friends and family members with whom we celebrate in spirit only.



Happy Holidays Brent.

Originally Posted by Lynbark Designs

*****SAPPY STORY WARNING****