Chapter IV
Player.
The Joker solves problems.
It was the end of July in the twentieth. By car, we left Greece, left this paradise on earth. The route was simple, we load in the Greek city of Piraeus, we go to Athens, we pick up the Greek Era and in the fourth we go to Frankfurt am Main. Final stop Frankfurt am Main. The distance between Athens and Frankfurt am Main is quite decent and is about 2000 kilometers. In the end, we all packed up, loaded up and left.
On the second day, closer to noon, we were almost at the entrance to Germany. We got into several traffic jams and had to stand for some time, but there were no other problems along the way, our following did not arise.
For me, in general, it was a discovery that the Volkswagen “Tiguan” turned out to be quite a roomy and comfortable car. It was clearly not a racing car, but well-designed and roomy in terms of luggage. The trunk of the car was filled to the limit with bags and suitcases. As a result, in the late afternoon we were already in Germany itself and were driving along the outskirts of the city of Frankfurt am Main itself.
As a result, in the very city of Frankfurt am Main, we undressed with our dear Greek fellow travelers. David and his girlfriend Era left for the opposite district of the city, where they rented an apartment. Lena and I stayed with my relatives, to whom I brought some gifts from Russia, photographs and a couple of letters, sealed envelopes, in which there was an active correspondence between German and Russian relatives. It is important that I delivered everything safe and sound. It was important to convey gifts, photographs and letters, which I did with respect for this matter.
That was the first time I saw Blizzard’s World of Warcraft game. Curse from Blizzard, a nasty game that should be destroyed)) There was a lot of time. We stayed with my relatives in Frankfurt am Main for almost a whole week. Of course, we didn’t have a bad rest in Greece either, but here in Germany we partly continued our busy vacation. Yes, there was quite an interesting event. There is a small German city near Frankfurt. Maybe I’m confusing the name or it definitely sounds something like this. City of Bamberg. Although I may be wrong, probably most likely. It’s not that important. We went to this city to Lena’s old friend.
A purely German city in the German style. On the height of this city stands an old German castle, and the city itself is located around the surrounding castle. The whole city, which is surprising for the constructions, goes from bottom to top and you constantly climb up the streets and residential areas of the city, and at the very top there is a German castle. The castle is a museum. We must pay tribute to the German architects and designers that the whole castle and all the objects, the gallery and the paintings were all made and the objects were selected for medieval Europe. Huge hall. There is an oak huge German table 6-7 meters long. Black bog oak, approximately 800 years old, and on the table itself there were engravings of the knights of the “Tifton Order” and you could buy branded beer, which is brewed in this castle and on this German land.
As a result, the three of us sat in this castle for half a day. Drunk from the heart of this noble German beer. We looked at the museum, gallery, knights’ armor, axes, swords, maces, crossbows, etc. And already late in the evening we had a bite of this wonderful place. I remember this strange beer. No, this is a great dark beer. Perfectly brewed according to the old recipe, but after this beer there was some kind of strange state. You don’t seem to be drunk, but we laughed a lot and constantly. It is clear that this beer definitely added some substances that created euphoria and fun)) Eifiderzein is my old castle)) Although it is possible that there were herbs in the dark beer or it is some part of the secret infusion that is added specifically to this beer.
What’s the bottom line? We returned back to Frankfurt on the fast trains of the German railroad, which I liked. We must pay tribute to the fact that the Germans with the railway system work like clockwork and our high-speed train of 300 kilometers per hour brought us to Frankfurt like an arrow. We spent a couple of days with my relatives in Frankfurt, and then went to an apartment in the city where Lena lived and studied, the city of Karl Ruhe. We didn’t have time to arrive. Lena’s mother arrived, a very strict woman. I will write, of course, jokingly, in some way, her mother reminded her of a GESTAPO worker. Strict interrogation and clearly posed questions. I got worried and my broken English-German language completely killed my accent. I thought that I would not interfere with them. Still, a mother came from Berlin to her daughter. I felt superfluous, and then all these thoughts that were spinning in my head that her parents wanted to find her a mate from their aristocratic environment, which tormented me with certain doubts.
I just got in touch with the Greek and we agreed, with David, to meet him at his rented apartment in Frankfurt, since the situation also has the fact that his Greek girlfriend, Era, went back to Greece to work, since the tourist season was going on, which in summer brought in the most revenue from tourists.
There was one very promising idea that my friend, David, told me about, that there is a great place in Frankfurt where you can play poker. We have come up with a great no-lose poker scheme. How did it work? Poker table for 6 seats. A deck of cards 54 cards plus the Joker. The whole deck of cards plays and 2,3,4,5 and, accordingly, the Joker. An interesting name, probably, in translation it will sound like “Dumb poker” or rather “Simple poker”.
The main point of this poker was that there was no dealer or croupier. According to the rules, you are dealt 5 cards. If you raise your bet, you can discard and replace 3 cards. You can raise the card again and discard 1 more card. Maximize the bank on the table and open up. Nothing so complicated, everything is logical and understandable.
We drove to the outskirts of Frankfurt, where there was this wonderful place where they played poker for money. Just down the road when you leave Frankfurt airport. You drive into the city itself, into its suburbs, where long rows of German cars from Mercedes, BMW begin, which are sold by German German companies from large car dealers. These endless rows of cars go by. Of course, you will see the color of the German nation there, these are workers, builders, hard workers, people who work in catering, cafes, restaurants, sellers, auto repair shops, strong German guys from German construction sites and factories, that is, people who actually and the entire German economy (the main engine of Germany) is supported, and since this is a suburb of the city of Frankfurt, you will see emigrants, illegal immigrants, prostitutes, drug addicts, drunks and homeless people there. This is the real Germany and you can watch how ordinary citizens of Germany live.
Yes, but before a couple of days we trained closely. We bought a deck of 54 cards with the Joker and played poker for two days at David’s apartment. We developed a system of non-verbal signs and gestures, which consisted of:
- pass with bad cards;
- raise rates with a good entry of cards into the hand, a full house;
- certain signs at the bottom floor of cards from 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10;
- certain signs with a high suit of cards jack, queen, king, ace;
- senior card;
- pair;
- two pairs;
- set (trips);
- flash;
- full house;
- caret;
- straight flush;
- royal flush.
We dedicated two days to this. David, Stefan and I have brought their level of poker to an acceptable level in order to understand the essence of the game, what to do and what not to do. They brought the system of signs, non-verbal signs, our emotions to mastery, in order to understand which cards someone has in their hands.
Were prepared, collected and disciplined. No alcohol. Cards require respect, preparation and concentration, and it is important to understand the course of the game and feel the cards intuitively, to use your intuition to the maximum.
We arrived at 21.00. outskirts of Frankfurt. Typical building with 3 floors. Perhaps earlier in this building there was no larger hotel or such a mini-hotel for emigrants, but in the end, probably, then this building was transferred to a residential building where apartments were rented out.
before entering the apartment. You dial a phone number. You go up to the 3rd floor. You enter the apartment. You exchange money for chips and pay 50 euros for entering the apartment for entering the game. We all entered at different times.
Very polite lady at the entrance. I handed her 50 euros for entry and exchanged another 300 euros for chips. Two rooms of your choice. Two poker tables. At 21:00 people were mostly in the same room. There were 3 people at the table. I joined 4. Rates from 1 euro to 50 euro. 50 euros is the maximum bet at the table, but at the very beginning they played from 1 to 10 euros.
After some time, my second opponent and Greek friend, David, came in. He became the 6th player. that is, 6 players sat at the table, and then one of the players came or left. New players came, but basically there were always 4 players at the table. I paid attention to this never less than 4 players, that is, cheaters were sitting at the table.
We did not drink alcohol, but pretended to drink. I poured it into a glass and put it next to it and it creates a feeling among others that you are drinking alcohol and relaxed, but it was not so. You are the most focused. Your brain has turned into a counter machine that counts cards and combinations, analyzes the system of all the signs that you receive from friends. Your efficiency of brain activity and activity goes up and up, mental stress grows. It sometimes feels like time has stopped. You toss a chip at the top with two fingers and it freezes in the air and rotates, the longer you play poker and sit at the table more time, therefore, it seems that time around you freezes for a moment, the music plays forward, and then it seems to you that music plays backwards like fast forward. All this is happening because your brain has turned into a card machine. Only numbers, only combinations, only the search for the desired combination of cards. That is why time stops.
Basically, at the table, we played together with Stefan. To his credit he is a strong player and smart and knew how to play poker. It is very important to be able, understand and, most importantly, feel the cards and combine all this with non-verbal gestures and symbols. In the end, we caught Lady Luck by the tail. The game went well. It was me or Stefan who took the bank from the table, some games were lost. We tried to play carefully and not attract attention. Stefan met a girl there, with whom they talked for a long time and drank rum. We tried not to show or show ourselves that we know each other, so that the opinion was created among those around us that all three of us came from a world of strangers to us.
As a result, we played poker until 5 am. It was already dawn and the first rays of the sun from the east fell on Frankfurt. In accordance with our doctrine. We carefully left this wonderful and wonderful place poker house one by one) We went to David’s apartment and decided to sum up the first round:
- David didn’t win or lose anything. Minus 50 euros for entry. David, said: “Guys, I tried, but it didn’t work, aces and kings didn’t come in”);
- Stefan won about 200 euros. Minus entry fee 150 euros;
- The cards went well for me, since we played well together with Stefan. I raised the most 450 euros from the table. Minus 50 euros for entry. Clean per night came out 400 euros, which is not bad.
In general, we were guided by the amount of the rise of 1000 euros. Raising more than 1,000 euros will be enough to implement our plans and resolve issues.
Stefan offered to go play more for bigger stakes in the second room from 50 to 500 euros. I didn’t like this idea right away in the sense that there is no money for a maximum bet of 500 euros and professional players and 100% cheaters play there, who will strip you to zero and you will still owe money. Another thing was to play for small stakes with acceleration from 1 euro to 50 euros. You won’t lose money quickly. You won’t be able to spend money anywhere and you can stop. In the end, we agreed that we were going a second time. It would not be bad to raise from 500 euros for the second time and finish there. Actually, cards and poker are definitely not the kind of occupation that will bring fame and fortune.
The next day, David did not go, but he warned us that he would be in touch on the phone, if there were any problems, he would immediately come and wait for us at the apartment. Sunday evening. Sunday. This happy day. We arrived and entered. We paid 50 euros for entry. They exchanged money for chips. They didn’t play badly. Sunday was 3-4 players at the table, the game was sluggish. The bank was not big. We were about to leave at 3 am. I didn’t go badly. In my mind, I calculated that 300 euros would be enough for me to complete and unconditional victory. Enough.
This is not a pleasant situation. I don’t know how, Stefan, I met a girl there. She persuaded him to go play in the next room for bets from 50 to 500 euros. I didn’t go and everything was clear. At 3 am at the table, two more players bet ten euros each. Some jokes laughter. Lost. Won. Won lost. More than an hour has passed. I alone at the table won another 100 euros in an hour, but then I think I should definitely go already. Okay, I’ll wait, Stefan, I decided to continue further. 6 a.m. We have already played at the table for two. I calmly and confidently undressed my opponent for money. Small bets are good because you won’t lose quickly and you won’t win much. By 6 am I had already won 740 euros. Collected all svli chesgl earned chips, exchanged for money. Ofederzein told everyone and went to the exit.
I took a taxi to David, where we all met, which ended up with Stefan in the second room in the second hall, where the rates were from 50 to 500 euros. I lost a little more than 500 euros and lost about 300 euros in debt.
The results of the second day of our poker tournament:
- David did not go and did not lose anything;
- Stefan was persuaded by some girl to play for higher stakes from 50 to 500 and he lost 800 euros. Why he went is not clear, but you should not play against professional poker players. They will undress you and you will have bare buttocks));
- I’m definitely lucky. There were great cards. Rich entrances. Aces. Corals and steamboats. There was a flush, a four of a kind and a straight, a royal street along the card entries, but here lady luck. Fortune. I kept thinking about what to buy and present to Lena with honestly won money. I counted everything. All finances were neatly distributed and laid out so that the money would last for a long time.
Stefan, of course, was upset that he had lost 800 euros ineptly. We are friends. We didn’t drink much vodka. I counted out 300 euros and handed them to Stefan. Brother. My brother. Let’s go tomorrow. Repay the debt and while we no longer play. The cards have this danger. A young and beautiful girl was not just sitting in the hall and beckoning to play in the next room for bets from 50 to 500 euros, it’s not just that people earn their money. That’s how cool and fun the master class on “Dumb Poker” took place. Masters of international class in poker)). After drinking a little more vodka. We all calmed down and went to sleep together, since Sunday did not end so well, but in general and in general it was not bad. Friends remain friends in times of trouble and in joy.
The story of gambling did not end there, and after some time in the same area, but a little to the west. We found another wonderful place. An Italian restaurant where mostly Italians gathered and played dice, “21” and poker. This will be the next fascinating story about hot Italian guys))
lets do it