Day 66. Texas Hold’em

Nothing much to report about the day, except that I worked very steadily, because Thierry had told us that tonight a bunch of people were coming for a grand tournament of Texas Hold’em.

Indeed, starting at about 7 pm the crowd started gathering. Let me see, to start with there were Arto, Thierry, Auréle and Nura, Alexis (Auréle’s brother) and his girlfriend Jennifer (in the photo), Jacques and Sara, Sylvan, and yours truly. Unfortunately Alexis and Jennifer had to leave due to an emergency, so that left the regulation eight players. We all came in with $30, and for about 3 hours I managed to stay in the game. Win a few, loose a few*, but at the end I lost my last chip and had the good sense not to buy any more.

Here are a few of the gamblers (from left to right): Horacio, Auréle, Arto and Arto (again), Thierry, and Sylvan.

Tterms used in Switzerland for card games include:
Paire – two of a kind or pair
Brelan – three of a kind or set
Suite – Five on a row or straight
Couleur – Five of the same stock or flush
Full – a pair and a set
Carré – Four of a kind or poker
Quinte flush – Five of the same stock in a row or straight flush
Olín – This termed baffled me for a couple of hours, until I figured
out they were saying “all in”

At the end Auréle and Sara won the tournament (and a handsome sum of money) and we all had a good time.

* Shame on my students for not teaching me how to play Texas Hold’em. I was but a pigeon in the hands of “les requins” (the sharks)!