Game 31

Gotta FB message inviting me and the spousal unit over to a friend's house for a game of 31.  Spousal unit thought it was a retail party for selling tote bags that are the latest rage at tailgating gathering.  I inquired if it was some new version of strip poker.  It was neither, turns our its a card game, and the more that attend, the more fun it is!

The hostess provided all the party supplies and all the attendees were responsible for BYOB, and appetizer and $5 a head, to make it interesting for the gents.  Ain't no quicker way to get the men folk involved and to mention cards and money!

We had quite a few varieties of BYOB's.  Me, I took my Mic Ultras, the spousal unit had her iced down pino g. One woman came with a fully loaded wine in a box, just for her consumption.  I could just see her trying to explain it to the popo, "but officer, its not an open container" as she squeezed the outlet to refill her cup!  As far as beer, I saw Coors, Miller Lite, a Bud or two, but the craft beers have done took over.  Glad I brought my own, everybody offered one of those fancy beers to try, but there were too dang many choices, and some with the oddest of flavorings.  As my Uncle Jimmy Beckham told me, "if it looks like piss, it probably tastes like it too"!  He was a cocktail kinda guy.  With Uncle Jimmy still in my mind, I stuck with my Ultras.

Everyone filled their plate with all the appetizers that filled the kitchen.  You could tell the men folk didn't do the cooking, as meat was so scarce that I thought this was a gathering of vegetarians!  Me, I brought two boxes of cheese straws to further contribute to the lack of man grilled heaven.  One young feller had made a "buffalo dip" and I congratulated him on almost bringing a casserole!

Time for the game.  One of the attendees took the time to explain the rules of the game.  Turns out there is very little opportunity to find a cheating partner, since there were no teams, just three tables for the game and you were on your own.

We had the giggles, and yep, we even had a screamer or two.  The BYOB helped to loosen up the stiffest of gamers.  We had one fella the groaned the whole game as he would grab a new card and discard another.  Musta worked, as he won the game at our table.  I tried all of my tricks to break his string of good luck but I was put out of the game before any of it worked.  Turned out he came in second in the championship round.  The amazing thing to me, his lowest hand all night was the last hand of the game!

Before you knew it, the game was over.  The fella that explained the rules was the eventual winner, go figure!  Came time to leave, but with so many cars, you had to wait your turn.  Some of us made a game out of that!  Fun was had by all, and as far as I could tell, everybody went home with the one that brung'em!

Anne & David, thanks for the invite!