Besides bourbon, what else do you like to do?

by Colonel Steve Akley

If you are reading this, bourbon is going to be the bond that ties us together, but are there other hobbies you are interested in?

For me, it's poker. I play once a month... during the week from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

It's very regimented... four hours... no extensions, and we've been doing this for years. 

How long? 

At least 25 years. I started playing cards regularly when I was probably 16 years old. My Dad was a poker player and I just loved the game. These events where his buddies would come over seemed like a blast when I was a kid. As soon as I was old enough to learn the game, and have some money via my part-time bagger job at the local supermarket, I played cards with my buddies.

When everyone got married... we started to have a hard time getting a game together, but, there was a group of us that decided we were committed to this. We began playing once a month and that was our night out. 

The only rule is you can't miss a game. This might involved changing family events, skipping out on work functions but if we set a date, you have to play.

Once, one of our crew got hospitalized the day of a game. Obviously, he couldn't play. The funny thing was, the next month he showed up with a  note from the doctor stating he was unavailable to play the previous month and should be excused. We still put him to a vote to decide whether or not he stayed in our little poker club or not and one of the guys actually voted to ban him.

You gotta love rules.

Anyway, for me, poker is an outlet. It's a fun way to forget all of your problems and hang out with a. group of friends that I usually only see there. We give each other hell, we have a lot of laughs and if you are lucky,  you might walk away with a few bucks... which you will probably donate back the next month.

It's perfection, really!