My family is full of traditions, and as far back as I can remember, the adults have always played poker at least one evening on nearly every trip we make to Sioux City. It's by no means high stakes poker (as the quarters, nickels, and dimes on the table should indicate), but one lucky individual usually walks away with an Abe or Alex in their pocket. Since we are in town for a wedding, and many of the family members were involved with the rehearsal dinner, poker this time around was questionable, especially as it was 9 p.m. and we hadn't started yet. But my 84 (I think) year old grandma left no question about whether we would play when she said that "Joanne (my mom) is hardly ever in town, and Lori (my aunt) is moving"...let's play!
Although I can remember the adults playing poker, I very rarely have ever joined in. But Pete came along this trip to Sioux City, and my relatives didn't really leave him a choice but to play. Since he was playing, I partnered up with my little brother Ted and joined in the fun. In the picture above, we are playing "Three Card Monty", one of the group's favorite games. In the picture below, my mom is defiantly showing her (what appears to be) awesome card.
In the end, I only played about 3 rounds. Lori coached Ted along while I did other things; my Uncle Ted helped the newbie Pete out. Ted walked away with about $3 profit, and I think Pete was up about $.50. I'm not sure who ended up being the "winner", and we were all pretty tired the next day from dealing dimes so late into the evening, but none of that really mattered anyway. It was just about spending some time together, and I'll lose $3 or be a little bit tired for that any day.
