The point of gambling? You learn you hate to lose. Part 1

One of the most prevalent memories I had about gambling didn't really involve it at all. I was in Las Vegas with my uncle who was on a business trip. Grandma decided to hunker down and play some slots as most elderly people seem to do. Being the loyal grandson, I decided to sit beside her to keep an eye on her. About a minute later this semi-hag of a waitress comes up to me and asks, "Are you old enough to play?" I honestly reply no and she politely asked me to leave the area since I'm not old enough. Fair enough I walked around leaving my grandmother alone.

While in Edmonton I got my first chance to really gamble. My brother is an avid texas hold'em poker player so I was interested to play one night. We entered the casino he called the Argyle, which is just a sort of nickname because that's the name of the street it is located on.

Being my first time really gambling I was quite nervous. I signed up for a 3/6 limit table and the waiting list looked enourmous. But as luck would have it, they opened up a new table because of the line of players. So here I got my rack of $80 in chips, going into the breech. I sit two spaces to the left of the dealer, set up my chips in piles of ten and away we go.

There are only three hands of singificance to report. Two of them which will really determine the future course of my poker playing.

1. I get Ace/four (A/4). I quite forget, but the flop produced another Ace and another 4. However seeing the heavy betting, I fold my two pair I think after the turn (4th community card dealt). Eventually on the river, another ace hits. The winning hand was a guy who had 4/4. He had a fucking full house, 4 over Aces. Had I stayed in, I would have a full house, but Aces over 4....resoundingly better. Well throwing away good hands is part of the game, but it doesn't make it any easier.

2. I get a shitty hand. I think 6/2, but I play it anyways. I don't quite know if this was me taking a stand to play in general considering my pot was really getting low, almost 2/3's gone. At that time I was at pretty low spirits because lady luck was not shining on me. On the flop, two 2s hit. Now for some reason I have an action where I just widen my eyes, so I guess I learned I have a problem and should control that. Sitting pretty I just call or bet if someone checks. It seems other people think they have a better hand. Lo and behold on the river I get another 2. I have quad 2's, and the pot is pretty massive (comparatively). Possibly one of the biggest pot in the game. We show our cards and boom, my monster hand totally fucks over his. My first win and I'm giddy as hell. Being the newbie I was, I begin to stack my chips showing my novice skills, and the dealer waiting for no one just totally deals the new cards, even on my pile of unstacked chips. I basically had to fold that one.

3. A few hands down the road, a spot was left empty by a player leaving earlier. A new one enters looking particularly experienced in the poker of playing. I get Ace/4 suited, hearts. I play it regardless of what happened last time when I had this hand. The flop produces 3 heart suited cards.

Holy shit.

I had a flush, but not just any flush. A flush with the ace. I really don't people to know I have the flush so I check. People bet or raise or reraise and I follow suit. By the time betting started for the river, it was just heads up poker between me and the new poker player. She raises and I think I reraise her. She calls. By now the pile is probably just as big as the previous pot I won (comparitively mind you). She shows her hand, a flush with hearts, but I have the ace of hearts. No wonder she tried to muscle me out, she thought she had it, but so did I.

After another hand and a tip to the dealer later, I pack up and leave the table. The final take, $160 dollars. $80 dollars in winnings. I was slightly disappointed/greedy because I wanted an odd number, perhaps $163 or even $162. But money is money. Not bad for a first night out.