One-of-a-Kind

I had been spending some evenings at the officer’s club watching a poker game that went on nearly every night. Most of the players were captains or above and the game was a dollar-ante and a pot limit, a player could bet the size of the pot at any time. Several hundred dollars could be the limit on a given hand.

I fancied myself a poker player but had never ventured into anything but small stakes games. Since I was single, and not sending any money home as many soldiers did, I had accumulated quite a stash, there was certainly no place to spend money in Korea. I determined I would allow myself $200 to lose if a seat ever opened up and I had a chance to play.

The evening came when one of the players had been shipped out and I was invited to sit in. I lost $50 that night, $50 the second night and another $50 the third night. The next day I got orders sending me home and I was to leave the following day. That gave me one more night and $50 to spend.

During the first three nights a captain from our office playing in the game sensed that I might be out of my league and I noticed him trying to help me in subtle ways. For example, if he had a real good hand and I was the only other player in, he would raise the size of the pot to tell me he had a sure winner and to get out.

It was getting late in the evening and I opened a hand of draw poker with a pair of aces. Several players called, as did my captain friend. I drew three and picked up another pair of aces for a nearly unbeatable four of a kind.

Apparently several good hands were out and the pot was bumped a number of times before the captain’s turn. He had drawn only one card and quite probably held two pair. He hit his full house and raised the size of the pot indicating to me he had drawn well and I better get out, even with three of a kind.

The other players dropped out and I had a dilemma. I knew I had him beat, even if he had drawn to four of a kind, my aces would win. Only a straight flush could beat my aces, an unlikely circumstance. I called his bet and raised him back the size of the pot, now at a large sum. If I had not raised the other players might have accused us of collusion. Since the captain had his full house he felt obligated to call, even though it was going to cost him about $400 to do it.

When I showed my four aces, he didn’t say a word but I know what he was thinking. “That’s the last time I wet nurse a second lieutenant in a poker game!”

To top it all off, I told the group my orders had come and it would be my last night in the game. Almost everyone but me was a big loser that evening and the sad part for them was they would not get a chance to recoup from that lucky “shave tail.”