By Neal Wooten
I kept a deck of playing cards on the counter of my fitness center in Montgomery. Whenever a new member signed up, I’d dazzle them with my best card trick. One day, two young ladies, coworkers at a hospital, joined the gym. I began the trick, handed the deck to one of the gals, and asked her to shuffle the cards. She tried, but it was a clumsy attempt at best.
I had never seen anyone so unfamiliar with playing cards. “You were raised with a lot of money, weren’t you?” I asked.
Her friend laughed. “How did you know? Yes, her family was very rich.”
I didn’t know for sure, but I had never met a person who grew up poor and did not know how to handle a deck of cards. It’s just a very inexpensive form of entertainment. While other kids were playing with the latest cool gizmos, like Lite Brites and Spirographs, we were sitting around the table playing card games. By the time my oldest sister was 12, she could handle a deck like a Vegas dealer.
On rare occasions, it would just be me and my two older sisters, and we could play Crazy 8s or Go Fish. But, more often than not, it was the entire family, and we played grownup games like Rummy and Setback. I determined long ago there are two types of families: those who allow you to play three of the same number as a spread and those who don’t. My dad strictly forbade that. We could play three aces, but that was all.
We played Blackjack a lot, but Dad’s favorite poker game was Seven Card Stud, Deuces Wild. Since it was dealer’s choice, when it came to me, I always played Five Card Draw, nothing wild. My sisters favored Dr. Pepper with twos, fours, and tens wild. I’m sure some psychological study can be made based on how many wild cards a person prefers. I never wanted wild cards, and I also never buy lottery tickets.
But all my aunts and uncles on Dad’s side were also avid card players, and I loved playing cards with them. The favorite game for my dad and all his brothers and sisters, however, was Tonk. I don’t run into a lot of people who know that game, but we had to know it at a very young age. Dad hated playing with people, even young kids, who didn’t play smart. He also hated to lose, so that created a Catch-22.
With all the electronic devices today, does anyone do this anymore? If so, feel free to invite me. But, just a warning, I will win.
