5 Card Poker Shots

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010

There is nothing like being young. And there is nothing like being young and bored on a Saturday night. Especially when you are in college, and get together with your buddies who are also bored on a Saturday night. That is usually a formula for life long memories that will be anything but boring!

When you are in college, it is pretty inevitable that you will find yourself strapped for cash. That's not to say that you won't still find yourself drinking, playing poker, or both! It's funny how it works out that you will not have money to eat or play in a real cash poker game, but you will always find some liquor in the house. (Or will somehow scrape together enough money for a 12 pack of beer.)

During times of strife like this, my friends and I would play a game called 5 Card Poker Shots. The game involved no money, but did include shot glasses for each person. The rules of the game were very simple. Every one gets dealt 5 cards. You are allowed to trade up to 3 cards when it is your turn. Every one except the person with the winning hand has to do a shot.

I recall one night where vodka was the drink of choice as host Tommy had 2 bottles of it in his kitchen (or so we thought). My roommate Jimmy was with me that night, which always makes for an entertaining evening. Jimmy loves to play poker, but loves even more to drink. He is always the guy that you can find doing a keg stand or doing a beer bong. He is also the instigator of the group, known for calling you a pansy (along with all sorts of other names I will refrain from), if you can't hold your liquor.

On this night, Tommy sat right next to Jimmy and said he would be pouring the drinks if someone else would deal. Little did I know that Jimmy was about to be taken for a ride. On the ensuing hand, the glasses were filled as Jimmy said "Drink up losers" and downed his shot. As everyone else drank, they all had a puzzled look on their face while Tommy made a face to all at the table except Jimmy. Jimmy also began blurting "I wonder which one of you pansies is going to puke first, sure won't be me," as he laughed and checked his cards.

Understanding the look that Tommy had secretly given us, everyone kept drinking and playing cards making small talk as the bottles began to empty. After an hour or so, Jimmy started to rock back in his chair making odd breathing noises as well as spitting. Halfway through his 15th shot or so he began to vomit all over himself complaining that he did not feel well. Stumbling over to the couch he passed out while Tommy got out a couple of pens and his digital camera.

You can pretty much put together what happened. Turns out Tommy had filled one of the bottles with water and had been pouring the vodka only in Jimmy's glass. This night everyone knew which pansy was puking first.