Cards Stories

   Hearts, as played by Amy, Mark, Willie, and Bob was as much a contact sport as a card game. They’d all been varsity athletes in high school, were still competitive, and hated to lose at anything, including cards. The current debate didn’t center on the game, however, but which album to play during the next hand. “Okay, y’all,” said Amy, addressing Mark and Bob while collecting the cards, “we’ve played ‘The Good, the Ba...

Holiday Heart (Eve Gaal) Like a string of Christmas lights your life began with little cards and greetings. Godparents, grandparents and neighbors welcomed you into the world. Holidays and birthdays, added to the delicate string. Propped on your nightstand you enjoyed the funny sayings, smiling characters— Blinking, bursting with joy. You try remembering the old cards you wish you saved. Nostalgic and dog-eared, some work...

All through the Fall, Winter and Spring months I continued to deal blackjack. While in the academy we romanticized what the job would be like, and all too soon we realized that we had deluded ourselves. Ninety percent of the time we dealt to the flotsam and jetsam of the intercity dwellers. They would seat themselves at my table change one hundred dollars into chips and start betting.They would tap the table constantly wh...

I had passed the interview and Math tests for a table games dealer, and was admitted to gaming school. Now you are not paid to attend gaming school, money for beverages, snacks and parking comes out of your own pocket. They had a very strict set of rules about attendance, being half an hour late or leaving half an hour early would earn you half a point. A no show was a full point, as well as arriving more that one hour la...

Went to a casino the other day,A game of hold 'em I was hopin' to play,Entered the poker room and looked around,Found me a seat and sat right down.As I laid down my chips and started to play,I hoped that luck would come my way,For a while the cards were running cold,Most of my moves were check and fold.As the game continued on,I realized half my chips were gone,But before it could go from bad to worse,I saw my luck was ab...