On Poker and Red Horse

The first time I played poker was in March 2007 when I visited my brother in New Jersey. He brought me to a party with his Cebu friends and after the eating and the talking and the many kumustahans, the group decided to spend the night playing Texas Hold 'Em Poker. It was a play-and-learn session and I immediately got addicted to the game. Luckily the poker set belonged to my brother and when we went home after the party, we had a little game of our own until dawn. When everybody went to sleep, I immediately googled for the complete set of rules.

The next day, we went for a tour to West Point Military Academy and passed by Walmart on our way home. Guess what, I found a 300-chips poker set with 2 decks of cards and an aluminum briefcase for $20. Unsay dugayan, palit dayon!

When I got back to Cebu, I wasted no time in calling my drinking buddies and teaching them the game. It became the start of a weekly gathering. Every Saturday night, we would meet, buy our favorite Red Horse, and then play and drink and play and drink and play and drink and play until everyone becomes too drunk to read the cards and count the chips. I miss those nights.

In Singapore, beer isn't as cheap and Red Horse isn't as tasty. Lahi ra gyud ang patid sa kabayo sa ato. The only time I can play poker is when I'm logged on to Facebook which I haven't done for a few months now. It's just not the same when you're playing with real money and real friends...

This post was cloned from the author's former blog. To see the original entry and readers' comments, click here.