R.I.P. Cairo Poker

A good deal of my social life here in Cairo has revolved around a weekly poker night started several months back by a guy named George.They were a great opportunity to dust off my texas holdem skills (by skills I mean losing $100 on the internet) without losing a ton of money. The buy-in was LE 30, a little under $6.

At first we played using a jar of 1 pound coins that George had gotten somehow from a bank but later graduated to actual poker chips after one of the players came back from a trip back to the US. We would order fast food, and after a few beers the inevitable Darkness song or two would to pop up on the playlist.

I know poker is not the most “Cairo” activity – it’s not taking oud lessons or learning Arabic calligraphy, but that didn’t really bother me.I had a great time and there’s still plenty of “Cairo” time left in my schedule.

Various people would come and go, but we could always get a lively game together until the last month when most of our regulars departed.A message to the main foreigner listserv in town yielded a few prospects, but none of them materialized at game time.So unfortunately poker is on hiatus for the moment.Maybe now I can get serious about those oud lessons.