Sandy’s day started with a good morning kiss and “Hi, honey!” She married her high school sweetheart, Gary, and they were living happily ever after. Each day was filled with the events of small town affairs. Gary owned the General Store, inherited from his father and he had worked there every since high school. Sandy worked at keeping their house in order and keeping up with and fueling the town gossip, church, social events and soap operas. Life was idyllic and boring.

Then poker came to town, quietly settling in on Thursday nights in the backroom of the General Store with 3 or 4 guys in attendance. The guys played low stakes and it was just a fun social event. Poker wound its magical spell and every Thursday night soon found 10 to 15 guys ready to play.

The guys called for fast food delivery, spent the evening playing cards and came home around 10ish. Their wives accepted Poker very well. Everyone was happy.

A few little wrinkles started to appear. Poker ran into midnight more than once with an explanation from the guys, “Hey, we just didn’t realize how late it was.”

Then Betty told Sandy that Dave lost too much playing the last few weeks and they were fighting about it. Sandy started to wonder how Gary was doing since he never mentioned anything about whether he won or lost. Sandy knew that Gary enjoyed playing…he never missed a Thursday session and he stayed until the last man left.

Sandy asked Dave about Poker. Dave’s reply, “You wouldn’t understand it.”

Not to be put down, Sandy made a mental note of finding out more about Poker. She went to the library the next day and checked out everything she could find. The excitement and adventure of stories about riverboat gambling and poker games fanned her desire to learn more. She ordered books written by authors that were considered to be authorities on the subject. The more she read, the more she wanted to play.

She watched movies about poker on Thursday night when Gary left to play Poker. She’d read enough to know that Rounders was a little far fetched but still she paid attention to every detail. She read the ‘Book of Tells’ and she now watched everyone, even in casual conversation, to see what they were doing and how they were acting. She was in awe of how much body language people actually displayed and she’d been totally unaware of it before.

She even started to watch Gary. Something was going on with him that she sensed more than felt. He had the slightest edge of irritation most of the time and he never would give any information as to why or what was bothering him.

Gary went on an annual buying trip for the store twice a year and he was leaving during the following week. The game would still be held, even in Gary’s absence.

Sandy was ready. She’d read, watched, and dealt out hands, knew which was the best hand for the game played…she was going to the General Store Poker Game in Gary’s place on Thursday night. An excited shiver ran over her each time she thought about it…this was going to be fun!

She was seated and waiting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the back room of the store. Dave would be there to set the game up within a few minutes. She was excited…knowing there would be a reaction to her presence made it even more exciting. After all, she was a woman and no woman had ever attended a poker game.

Dave stepped through the door at 6:45 and the look on his face would have stopped a freight train. “What are you doing here?” he asked, as if she were a complete stranger.

“I’m playing Poker tonight since Gary’s out of town.”

“What? You don’t know how to play and poker is for guys. This is our night!” his forehead creased and one brow curled up on end.

Sandy replied, “There are no rules that govern poker in this town…no rules that say it’s for guys and not us. And why should you have a “night” and we shouldn’t?”

“Well, you just can’t be here, that’s all!” he sputtered indignantly.

“If I can’t be here, then you can’t have a game tonight. I’m legally half owner of this store!” she said defiantly.

He finally lowered his gaze, grumbling, “I can’t disappoint everyone.” He started pulling chips and cards out of the cabinet.

Dave walked around her as if she was flea infested. He brought out cups and glasses, made coffee, called the local pizza shop for chicken wings, pizza, and salad. He went into the cooler and returned with sodas and ice.

The back door opened and the guys started filing in. Each one, in turn, stopped with a shocked look on their face when they saw Sandy. Dave just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders when they sent him a questioning look.

Dave started the night with the announcement that Sandy would be playing in Dave’s absence. The guys drew cards and took a seat…14 of them in all with 7 at each table.

Sandy felt the flush spread across her face as she drew a card and took a seat. She bought her chips and calmly sat down even though the butterflies in her stomach were trying to beat a hole through her rib cage.

All games were dealer’s choice. The first game was 7 card stud, roll your own. She gave it up on the first 3 cards…she chose holdem when it was her deal. She looked down to 2 Black Queens. All the raises were in before it got to her. She called.

The flop was Q-2-2. Of 6 players in the hand, everyone checked to her. She bet. Everyone folded but Dave. He called her. The turn was a Queen. Dave checked. Sandy checked. The river was an Ace. Dave bet, Sandy raised, Dave raised, Sandy raised, Dave raised, Sandy raised and Dave called showing her A-A. She never said a word as she turned over 4 Queens and took a deep breath as she pulled in the pot.

Hostile contempt flooded Dave’s face. He glared angrily at Sandy, she stared him down. “A woman beat me!” he muttered.

She had them right where she wanted them. She never took a hand past the starting gate if it showed no promise. All of the guys were on edge, wondering what she would turn over next. She did pull a few bluffs but the hands that she took to Show Down were legitimate hands.

The game ended by 12 p.m. She cashed in her chips, thanked everyone for a wonderful time and tipped Dave for setting everything up and cleaning up after the game. He took the tip but first made a show of “You don’t have to do that…it’s not necessary…” and finally he thanked her.

The following week, all the guys came after Sandy with vengeance when she entered a hand. She’d heard all week long from the wives about her playing in the game and what an unfair advantage it was for the guys to face a woman when they were all used to playing against each other…the wives wondered if they should start playing also…the guys were upset with the whole concept and hoped that Gary would be back soon to settle it so they wouldn’t have to make a decision.

She beat their pants off. The game ran until 4 a.m. because they were determined to get their money back from her. She never gave an inch…never played a hand unless she raised it and knew she had the best of it…she tossed everything else. She won 3 times as much as she had the week before.

Gary came home Friday morning, a few hours after she crawled into bed, exhausted from the game. The phone rang off the wall. She turned everything off and let Gary take care of it. He woke her with a questioning, “What’s going on?”

She told him. He asked her where she got the idea and the money. She told him, with small smile, that she used the ‘case $100’ and she’d been studying poker for quite awhile.

Was Gary upset? No. Sandy won back everything he’d lost. He’d been losing since the game started. They made a deal. Sandy would teach Gary how to play poker, the General Store would go up for sale, and they would move…somewhere where women could play any limit freely and no one thought anything about it.

Secretly, Sandy hoped some of the guys would pay them a visit…she knew they had no win!