Hookers and Poker

Lee (the consummate gambler), Adam (the hobbit-looking English kid) and I flagged down a cab on the streets of Santiago after our weekly poker game last night.

We all piled in when this woman came running and barged in the taxi door.

"Go, go!" she said in Spanish.

She was obviously flustered: out of breath, panicked and not making much sense. I understood only a little, and I think my fellow English-speakers only caught a little more than I did.

She slouched down in her seat so no one could see her from outside, and she didn't have any money to pay the fare when she asked to be let out a few blocks later. She had been talking crazy, not making any sense, and looking out the window for her unknown pursuer.

When she got out of the car, she immediately ran across the street and jumped into another taxi.

It was a weird end of the night. The only thing I can figure is that she was a prostitute on the run.

Poker itself was a good time.

We ordered the usual 2-for-1 Domino's pizza and played limit hold em the whole time. There was a left-over keg to drink from. I got wiped out, winning only one hand the entire time.

I didn't have any luck at Mexican poker, the winner-take-all game we finish the night with, either.

As Lee was walking out the door, he was disappointed that he had only broken even.

"Anyone want to bet on high card?" he asked.

So that started a wild round of betting on who could draw the higher card out of the deck. At its height, people were making side bets on who would draw the high card! Lee profited more than 20,000 pesos ($35), and I lost a couple thousand.

I even had to borrow my taxi fare from Lee.

Then I gambled some more of that away on high card!

Good thing I had enough left to pay the cab driver -- the prostitute sure didn't.

Hand of the day:
Tight spot for a baby set