Poker Buddies

These are the guys I play poker on Fridays once in a while. It's rare to see a photo of us -- we generally show up, talk a little entertainment business, and play poker. But the guy in the middle holding the cake, David Himmelstein, a screenwriter, has decided to move back to Cambridge, MA. I envy him. In a rare show of minor emotion, a cake was gotten for his last game with us. (It was festooned with little cards and a roulette wheel.)

One guy's missing -- Chris Kruize, a production accountant -- several days ago he had his gall bladder out, and he couldn't make the game. Pussy.

It's a weird experience, this game. I got into it because my friend Stephen Bulka (pictured to the left of me) got me into it. I've been playing for maybe 5 years? Maybe more. But there's very little personal discussion at the game, so nobody really knows anything about me, except that I used to work in animation, and maybe that I am married. But it's fine with me. We joke, drink a little beer, insult each other's poker prowess.

It must be mentioned, though, that this is no "Odd Couple" cigar-fest. No, it's a modern Southern California poker game. We used to order subway sandwiches, because everyone thought pizza was too fattening. We recently switched back to pizza, but a few guys still bring their own lo-cal meals. I bring peanuts and chips on which to snack, but Bulka brings grapes. Jeez. Also, our stakes used to be nickel-dime-quarter, and I lobbied to raise them to fifty cents-dollar-two dollars. Now keep in mind even these raised stakes mean that on a terrible night you could lose $60. But some of the players fought this tooth and nail. Luckily the higher stakes prevailed, so at least it feels like you're playing for actual money. One other note about the wimpiness of the game: Randy Kornfield (pictured to Himmelstein's right) has a college-age son, who whenever he plays, inevitably beats us and walks away with $80 of our money. We hate him. Really.

Still, it's fun to have a regular poker game, and much to my delight the insults fly and are often hilarious. But I am a terrible poker player.