First Live Poker

Butch Howard

I had never played poker in a casino before this weekend. I set a limit on the amount I could lose and fully expected to lose it all. I am not really comfortable around people, not used to handling chips and the other details of play that are different from online, and not a very good poker player anyway. So I had a plan. Play fairly tight until I got comfortable (if at all); get acclimated to the felt, chips, chairs, dealers, noise, and everything else going on; figure out whether it was something I wanted to do again. Smaller goals in the plan were to see if Mary cared for the casino or at least did not mind being there while I played and whether the kids could be entertained while there.

The results were not bad. I relaxed enough eventually to enjoy and would like to try it again. I end up a little ahead for the weekend, which was very good. There was enough things to do close by that Mary and the kids were entertained during the day.

Mary had a not bad time in the casino, but was not really thrilled with playing the machines (she might have to get into poker some more to see how that goes). She got a lot of rest, saw those movies (Pirates and Shrek), and we had some more time together after the kids headed to bed.

We stayed at the Gold Strike and chose it for no reason other than some friends said that's where they stay when they go. All in all it was a good time and I think we will go back soon.