Poker 101

After many years of avoiding it as much as possible, I am finally going back to college. I avoided it like the plague for the longest time, simply because while I love to learn, I hate being told what to learn. If I could go to school and study whatever I wanted, I’d be set. Then again, the minute I “have” to learn something, I usually lose interest in it. I’m a rebel like that.

So my schedule opened up, especially with my ongoing issues with surgery, and I decided to avoid boredom as much as possible and head back to school. How’s it going so far? I feel like I’m going to school to learn more about poker!

Yes, I have reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic, but between classes, everywhere I turn, I see people playing poker. Even today, when I met up with my friend, Alyssa, between classes, I looked down to the lobby below just as a guy pulled out a huge poker set and started separating chips. There was nobody there with him, but he was setting up for a game. When I left 30 minutes later, he was still sitting there – like he was waiting for somebody to come up, sit down, and play!

The first day of class, professors always ask your name, your major, what kind of work you do, etc. Usually, I just say, “I’m a freelance writer”. Inevitably, I’m asked what I write. I tend to give a response of “poker and gambling related articles, mostly”. At the point, my fate is sealed and at the end of class I’m bombarded by students, mostly males, who are begging me to get them a table at the World Series of Poker or into some other random tournament. Why they think I can do this, I have NO idea.

So I’m back in school, and it’s going great. The only way it would be better is if only Poker 101 was a class I could get credit for.