I can’t remember putting my thumb out but somehow I was a hitchhiker in a world I knew nothing about and I managed to catch a ride with a busload of poker crazed lemmings heading for the coast. There’s something to be said for staying home, quietly raising children, cooking and cleaning, paying your bills, and slipping quietly through life in a comatose state with no mind ripping memories. That something is “FUCK IT!!”

I never wanted to sit at home with a lampshade over my head and pretend my whole being wasn’t screaming to be out in the mix. I may have played the role for quite a number of years but in those days I did what was expected of me. That sentence should say it all; a lot of us do ‘what is expected of us’ without ever questioning. That was me, up until the busload of lemmings snagged me.

Ah-h-h-h…if you’re a true poker player, you want to know what happened to the $20 stack of chips that turned into a pot with Bill Ogg playing the hand through for me when I had eights backed up. Of course I lost it. Bill helped me play it off…he played worse than I did and he knew what he was doing.

My bartending duties were now extended to taking care of anyone that wanted a drink at the 5 card stud table. At first I was shy about moving around the table but then it became the best show in town. I took their orders but I was there to watch the game. I can’t remember any of the first faces, other than Bill’s but things began to change. If memory serves, this game was a $1-$2, and all streets were either check (there was no bring-in) or bet anything from 25c up to $1 – that included a 50c or 75c bet – on the first four cards; and the $2 option appeared on fifth street.

One of the first players I remember was Kim Louden. A tall, strikingly beautiful gal from Korea…literally. She had met her husband while he was there in the service and came back to the US, unable to even answer the phone because she didn’t know the language. She knew “Fuck-shit!” though. I think those words are universal. She came to play poker and I watched her curl around the bar stool as she played. It was amazing, when I first met her, I couldn’t understand anything she was trying to say and within a short time, I knew exactly what she was talking about. We became the best of friends. At later points in our life when we were out to dine, she would tell me to order for her because the waiter/waitress couldn’t figure it out. Maybe if she pointed they would have, but I’m not sure how far she ever got with reading English.

Along with Kim’s introduction to the five card stud table, others began showing up and playing. And suddenly it was a local community of five card stud players. I worked three out of seven days and never frequented the OX on my days off so it seemed as if someone threw down a few seeds, watered them, and instant poker players were growing out of the green felt.

A few times I took $10 from my tips (tips were sparse, if I took $10, I really shorted my take home money for the shift) and played in the 5 Card Stud Game. One time I made a straight and ran it into a flush – I didn’t even know what beat what, I just kept raising until I was bust, and then still thought I won the hand. The sad part was that I did not even try to learn how to play. There were no books, no tutors, and everyone was pretty even in skill level – as in none – except for some of the old timers that had played before God was born. The first time I lost $10, I thought I was going to throw up. What a horrible feeling. I felt as if I had cheated my family by taking that money away from them. It got easier. But it took many more stages before it got really easy.

I may have cashed out winner, I may not have, that part I don’t remember, all I remember is the rush, the desire to play, to feed the addiction, the need to be at the table. I was no longer a hitchhiker, I was the driver of the bus heading for the coast.