Ante Up

On Friday Emily sat in my lap for the first three hands of what was to be a very profitable poker night. Over the course of each hand, she learned how to bet, call and raise. The first hand was 5 card stud. We had an ace up so I explained to her that the odds of losing to a pair were much slimmer if we pushed the other players out of the hand early, thus "raise."

Since it was the first hand of the night, Cary stayed in (as he always does) and caught his pair on the last card. I explained to Emily that since it's a low stakes game, people stay in hands and hope to get lucky. Thus she says, "You got lucky Cary." Ok, she was coached a little.

The second hand Emily learned to call as the bets stayed low so we could try to build a hand. This time we caught the pair and Emily got to rake in more chips to play with. The third had was garbage, so Emily learned to pout and say, "I fold!"

Side Note: Thank God for video cameras because the following is caught on film.

The next morning I was awoken from a deep slumber by Sondra who was insisting that I come see what the girls were doing. I walk into the toy room and there is Madison laying on a blanket with Emily sitting across from her dealing poker. They even have stacks of chips and decent size pot.

Sondra sits down to play her hand and Emily proceeds to deal everyone another card. I keep having to remind myself that Emily is 2.something as she deals 5 card stud exactly the way she saw it for only 2 hands the night before (3rd was 7 stud).

I kneel behind Madison to help her with her hand. We catch a pair of sevens so bet all of our chips and Madison smiles (baby trash talk). Of course no one folds. In fact, Emily goes back to the container of chips and gives everyone a new stack. Madison catches a 9 with the fifth card giving her 2 pair, 7's and 9's. She bets all her chips and wins the pot. Not too bad for a 3 month old.:)

I can picture it now - allowance day poker games. "Come on papa, double or nothing." :)