Fluffy, white clouds make the sky more interesting — as opposed to dark, angry clouds that are pretty scary in the midwest. Driving along I-65 south just a few days ago I saw this small plane soaring through the clouds. Just seeing it took me back a few years and jogged a memory of my first hand of airplane poker.
When I agreed to go along on my first airplane poker experience, I had no clue what it even was. There were five or six couples with planes who met at the Seymour Airport. Each person paid the “banker/dealer” $50 for a random card — the first card of their poker hand. I remember the second stop was Bowman Field. Once there, the couples gathered for a snack and another card. I can’t remember the other destinations, but there were a total of 5. Of course, each flight to the next stop was spent talking about beating ‘so and so’ and cheating — combining the two hands to end up with the one best poker hand at the end of the day. Arriving at each destination meant more food, another $50 bucks from each person, and another card to combine for a winning poker hand.
Those of you who know me also know how much I HATE to fly. But this was different, you guys. It felt like I was in an airborne VW (a little Cessna 2-seater) with my own set of headphones where I could actually listen as the air traffic controllers chatted casually with us about their families. This experience was in stark contrast to the commercial flights I was used to and UN-comfortable with — and the airports visited weren’t the ones that I’d arrived at or departed from previously.
Landing at the last airport (back in Seymour), everyone received their final card and the poker hands were displayed over dinner. I remember I had a pair of 8’s… quickly shot down by every other person participating in the day’s activities. My hand was the absolute worst and cost my friend $250 bucks, and I can’t even remember who won the pot or if it would’ve even covered their expenses for the day. Still, it was fun, it wasn’t my money anyway, and it made a great memory.