“Picture this: you do not know how to play poker, you have never had the desire to learn, and at this point, you are a little too afraid to ask. Yet, somehow, you have found yourself in the GMB on a friday night, surrounded by Card Soc members, tired VDP pilgrims, the Hist, and the Hist-adjacent, for a charity poker night. How did I get here? In the spirit of society sidequesting, I decided to dive out of my comfort zone on a Friday night. What could be further from it than organised card games, which I have a penchant for losing, quite badly? But not being able to play was not going to stop me from getting dressed up and hiding in the Hist committee room. Despite my reservations, I had been assured that this event was for charity, with 10 per cent of the money raised being donated. I love charity, and losing money is a virtue when it goes to a good cause, right? With some more (un)willing participants gathered, we set off for what promised to be an interesting night. Win or lose, I was determined to learn something. Luckily for me, the members of the Card Soc and the Hist were very accommodating to the lack of expertise on my part. In the chamber, more high-stakes games with experienced players were taking place. One turn around the room, and I knew that was not for me. More beginner-friendly games were held in the Phil Convo room, easing us in and allowing people to watch to get the gist of it. Turns out, poker is not as bad as I thought. We were not quite at the level of tactics, leaving the games mostly up to chance, but maybe that is the fun part. I secured a seat to watch a couple of rounds, and now I know what cards I should want to have. Throughout the night, we were also able to retreat upstairs, where the Hist kindly treated us to some free wine and music to dance to. My night ended as many Fridays often do, haunting the Pav for twenty minutes before huddling in a corner of O‘Regan’s basement, with the rest of my black-tie clad companions, feeling slightly out of place. While this was a one-off event, Card Soc offers weekly games in the Eliz room, offering a relaxed environment for players of all levels of skill and experience. They also offer lessons, which I probably need, so you can justify a trip to Monte Carlo. They are aimed at absolute beginners as well as those who want to improve and learn some much-needed tactics. Did I win anything? No. But maybe the real winning was … No, I did not win. But I did not really lose either. A new skill has been gained (kind of), great photos were taken, and now I can say I attended a Hist black-tie poker night. On second thoughts, I might keep that last bit to myself.
Original story
Continue reading at University Times Ireland
universitytimes.ie
Summary generated from the RSS feed of University Times Ireland. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on universitytimes.ie.
