Jason Stringer

Well OK, I am definitely no ‘King’ in any kind of poker, but for a moment during last night’s game I felt pretty damn good.
I haven’t been playing poker long, but I have studied it plenty and learned enough to know when to wait for the right hand to put your money in the middle.  For the short time I have been playing the game, I think I have played more hands in the past week with my brother Michael visiting than I have since learning to play in March.  Michael loves poker, too, and we have been playing just about every chance we get.  It’s been great.

Last night we played with Kerry, Rochelle and Danny Clark.  Playing big tables is always more interesting, but it also takes a lot more patience.  You have to wait for the right hand to play.  After several hours, I scored a hand that has been haunting Michael and I since he got here over a week ago – pocket Queens.  I’ve beaten him with that had a couple of times, and likewise, the Queens have helped him wipe me out more than once.  So when I peeked at pocket Queens in the hand dealt to me, you can imagine the jubilation I had to keep contained.  Then came the Flop (community cards we all share to make our best hand) which miraculously beared THE OTHER TWO QUEENS.  This gave me an almost unbeatable Four-of-a-Kind.  I wiped out Kerry, Rochelle and Danny with that very hand, and then wiped out Michael (who was extremely short-stacked) the very next hand.  The Cowgirls did it for me and I won the game.  It warranted a stiff drink and a cigar.  It felt damn good!  Michael took the loss well: