My card playing days started around the age of five, with local trips down the street to Virginia Snedden’s house.   Ginnie, my grandmother, was a wise gambler who taught me most of my card games, starting with 3 Card Poker, Rummy, Pinochle, and her favorite game, “Night Baseball.”   She also could make a mean macaroni and butter dish with a side of sliced red apples.   She was well known for providing two dollar bills every holiday for all the grandchildren.

Playing cards as a child never involved money or pots, and for all intents and purposes money games were kept from us.    After all, we were raised as good Roman Catholics and our parents would never expose a child to gambling.   So, as I grew older, I started to realize that when I was put to bed, all the festivities would begin.    As a kid I never wanted to go to church.  So, on Friday nights, Maggie, who was Ginnie’s understudy and running mate, would tell me that although my two older brothers were going to church, I didn’t have to attend because I was young.   Was I happy to skip church on Friday nights.   

Then one day it hit me like a sack of potatoes. It was all a façade!  Why would my two older brothers be going to church on a Friday night?  They were not going to church.  They were going to Grandma Ginnie’s house to play poker!    And the once-a-month, all-night Mass Ginnie and Maggie attended at church was a can of worms too!   Why did they have to catch a bus to the church? And why did the bus say “Atlantic City” on the front of it?  Suddenly my heart raced to realize I had been kept in the dark from all of the excitement and action! 

 

By this point I had mastered the art of temper tantrums, and I was then brought into the action.   At first I was just allowed to sit at the table and watch the games.   Everyone had his own stash, money bag, or superstitious jar for coins and dollar bills.   I wasn’t really allowed to talk, but I could ask an occasional question to try to pick up a fact or two. 

I knew that if I wanted to play with the big boys I had to learn the games.  I soaked up as much advice as I could and did my best to behave. That way, some day they would let me play.    At eight it was hard enough to sit still in a chair for five minutes, but in order to be around the adults one had to act like one.

It was a rotating deal, so not only did one have to learn how to play one had to remember the names of the games when it was time to deal.    My favorite is still “Screw your neighbor,” which sounds worse than it is, for it provides a nice pot to the winner and a great deal of excitement.  

Soon enough the relatives let me play.  I tossed in my first quarter to ante into a pot.   What an adrenaline rush! You learn that cards can leave you with the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.   But as you get older you soon learn that winning and losing fall to the side, for the good times of getting together playing, and that relationships you build with relatives, friends, acquaintances are what matters.  

We did have a few doors that needed to be replaced, after the anger of losing, but all in all I could not imagine a better way to spend a Sunday night than putting a small wager on the football game, playing some cards, having a few beers, and laughing the night away.  

I have pulled together a list of games which I have played throughout my life which I will share with you.   All of them were introduced to me by family and friends.  They are beginner level games so everyone can play them.  The inspiration of this book comes from having many people always asking for the names of the games and how to play them.     I hope this book keeps your poker club going and if you ever want to introduce a new game to someone here is your chance.    I promise you will never be bored of playing the same game after reading this book.