I set my
radio to 95.7 FM to tune into ESPN as I began my Tuesday
workout at Dixon.
But
what caught my eye wasn't the commentators or some
breaking sports story; it was the bar at the bottom of
the screen.
"All
new episodes of the World Series of Poker 2004 begin
in..." with a timer counting down the time.
And
I thought, there is now a "sport" that overweight,
out-of-shape people can participate in and win millions
of dollars... or poor college students can bet their
weekly food money on.
Now
I don't know if I'd really call poker a sport, but it
has been picked up by ESPN, many of my friends and me
included. We all watch hours and hours of the yearly
poker tournaments played across the country.
I
looked up the definition of the word sport on
dictionary.com and the closest definition I could find
that would actually classify poker as a sport was the
second definition.
It
says a sport is, "An activity involving physical
exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or
customs and often undertaken competitively."
The
whole physical exertion kind of kicks it out from the
sport category, but it is competitive, that's for sure.
This
summer with the lack of people and activities in
Corvallis, some friends and I engage in some harmless
games of poker, with a small buy-in of five dollars.
And
each week I walk away with my original five dollars plus
others' money.
Knock on wood.
My
most impressive game, or rather hand, of poker, more
specifically, Texas Hold 'Em, came about a month ago.
Now
I generally have pretty good luck when I play. And I
have taken more than my fair share of people out of
games with higher full houses than their's.
But
this week was better than the normal luck I have.
In
our final hand of the night, I was dealt pocket aces,
which if any of you play poker, know that that is a
pretty good hand to be dealt.
But
on the flop, even more good luck ensued. The flop
consisted of the other two aces and a ten.
I
tried my hardest to keep a poker face and joke alongside
my friends as if I had nothing.
As
the other two cards were revealed, two of my competitors
went all in as I quietly called each time.
When
we revealed our cards, once again I had out done my
competitors. They both had full houses, while my four of
a kind beat them. So I won over five dollars from that
one hand (which in our small buy-in amount is a big
deal).
It
was so amazing that I have a picture of it on my camera
phone.
The
day before I had seen episodes of last year's World
Series of Poker and one of the guys had four nines, and
I thought that was amazing.
But
this definitely beats that because instead of me
watching some other guy winning chips, I was getting the
money.
Oh
and might I add that I was a girl, winning guys' chips,
including guys who had been trash talking all week about
taking my money.
The
game of poker has always traditionally been a man's
game, with the founder of the name poker being Jonathan
H. Green.
But
now it's no longer a man's game.
More
and more women are getting into it, with one woman
currently being one of the top 10 poker players in the
world.
And
although I've never been to a World Series of Poker,
I've had hands that could give some of those
"professionals" a run for their money.
No
pun intended.
After all, I have had four aces. And four aces beat a
full house any day.
