I flopped the nuts

Poker has taken the nation by storm. My theory is it's genesis came from a movie made in the late 90's called Rounders. It's a story about a guy who funds his way through law school by playing poker. Now he doesn't just play in weekend games with his buddies. He plays in the underground, illegal, get your legs broke by Guido, games. He is a straight shooter and a pretty good guy, but he lets his conniving friend talk him into things that would not happen in reality. Hey, it's a movie. It has a ton of quotable lines like, "Gimmie three stacks of high society." (1 stack would be $10,000 you do the math), "No-Limit Texas Hold'Em is the caddilac of poker.", "I flopped the nut strait.". and my favorite of all time "Listen, here's the thing, if you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.". I won't give the end away, but it is definitely in my Top Ten.

Last night, I had one of the grandest and yet maddening dreams. I dreamed that I was playing poker (The Cadillac of Poker) in an unknown casino somewhere! I sat down at this blood-match with a million dollars (I have no idea why I had that much money, but it's my dream). So I ante in and draw my cards from the dealer. For those of you who don't know how to play Texas Hold'em, buy a book. The basic premise is you receive two cards from the dealer and there are rounds of betting. You play your two cards and five community (everyone else can play these as well) cards to make the best hand possible. I take a look at my cards (Ace, 9). Nothing spectacular but I call. Well the lady across the table is there with her husband. She is very boisterous and quite annoying. Not sure if she had been drinking or what, but again this was a dream! So the flop comes out and its a Jack and two nines. I check the bet (basically add no money and provide the other people an opportunity to check to get to another card or open the betting). So the lady starts talking smack. She talks about how I don't have a good hand or I would have bet on the flop (Little does she know). She then gets belligerent and starts telling me how she is going to teach me how to win a million dollars playing poker (insinuating she is going to take my bank roll). So she opens with a hundred thousand dollars and I call. The fourth card (fourth street, turn) comes out and its a 9. So I just made a four of a kind. For those of you not aware, there are only three hands that can beat my hand (Four of a kind with a higher card, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush). I am pretending like the 9 on fourth street didn't help me (acting weak). I start counting my chips (even though I know exactly how many I have). I want to make this obnoxious broad sweat a little!

I am getting ready to make my move.

Calculating!

Waking up???

Wait???

What happened!

I woke up. I was about to move all in and woke up! I actually laid there trying to force myself back into a slumber. I tried pressing my body down into the bed hoping this would force me back to my surreal condition. No luck. I was so frustrated. I wasn't so perturbed by the fact that I didn't get to put the old harpy in her place. It was more vexxing to not know! It will torment me to not know if I had the best hand. It will trouble me to not know what was the fifth card. Argh... So I got up and ran 8 miles (and then found $20. Not really, but that's what you're suppose to say when you realize your story isn't that great!).