The Teacher
After days of delays and time conflicts, I nervously awaited a call from my good friend: Alec. In the hidden circle of underground poker, everyone was pre-screened and brought in by veteran member to the group. Alec was my connection. When the video chat connected, I noticed a room setup similar to mine with posters decorating one half of the room, and a hockey video game running in the background.
“Hey how have you been man,” I enthusiastically started our conversation. We talked tirelessly for 15 minutes about the cultural differences of our experiences at Northeastern and Emory and our friends back home. After realizing how much time had passed, I started to explain what this interview was about, and asked to obtaining consent. He tightened up and asks, “Wait, what state are you in again,” and as I tell him Georgia, I sense him relax as he grants me access to his personal story. We start by examining what got him into poker several years before the thought of playing had even crossed my mind. He says his “upperclassmen teammates and friends” invited him to a shady basement to play one day for 20 dollars. As he goes more in depth, he describes a dark room and a velvet table. This imagery, so common to underground poker, makes me recall my first time playing at Alec’s house. I probe deeper into the events that happened that night, and reveal more similarities between his first time and mine. He tells me that he was wiped out and lost in just three hands, a similar experience to my first time where I was forced to watch in less than 30 minutes. He then went on to explain the outcome of that hard lost. He was distraught and embarrassed, but instead of going home, he stayed and watched as his new teachers played the game with such confusion and grace. Later, he went online and started researching techniques and played online games in order to improve his understanding. |
After asking what happened next, he tells me that a few weeks later, he went back and made a remarkable recovery by placing in the top three. This roller coaster of humility to triumph was the start of one of the best players I know, and I admired his determination for coming back after such a tough beat.
I asked this now veteran winner what his favorite part of the game is, and he tells me that it was the “bond formed with the other players” as they go through the intellectual grind of poker. I reflected on this answer and thought about all the tight friendships I made with other players, and how no matter how the cards we folded in the end, our relationships never suffered as result of them. I then went on to ask about his mindset when he plays poker. He explains how when he gets in the zone, he takes a different persona and “shuts off the rest of world” to concentrate solely on the game. He then explained how now it was harder to concentrate since 20 dollars does not matter as much now as it did back then. We started to wrap up the interview by talking about hilarious moments such as the time a friend of our had the four of a kind, the best hand you could have, and only bet the minimum amount, and asked after the hand whether his hand was good. It was moments like these that create bonds and inside jokes that make sturdy friendships last for years. I finally understood his appreciation for friendship and brotherhood, and decided to conclude with one final question. I asked, “what advise you would have for newbie players,” and he responded elegantly “watch first, don’t call, and make sure to always enjoy the game and the people you share it with.” |