I Never Learn

It's tonight, 7:30 p.m. and I'm pulling up to my apartment in the town where I work (I spend weekends in the city where I grew up), and my next door neighbor calls me over to play some Hold 'Em. At the game is the same guy who was really drunk and belligerent when we played at J's house (see "A Poker Emergency" for a fuller explanation), and drunk guys never change, so I'm not really down to play, and I really do need to get some work done. The thing is, they need my poker chip set, and if I say no, then they can't play. Also, I can't say no to people, even when I really, really want to. I say that I'll play for an hour, until nine, and alomst immediately, the guy who was acting foolish at the last game is acting foolish again, calling for his lady to get his shotgun so that he can, well, shoot me. This is supposed to be funny, somehow (maybe in some alternate universe where "shotgun bits" are the height of comedic achievement), but mostly, it's really annoying. Also, this guy keeps betting out of turn, which is never cool, and when he gets called on it, he acts even more belligerent. Also, he showboats when he's got a winning hand, waiting until somebody else thinks he's won and is about to reach for the chips, or is even reaching for the chips, before he turns over his cards, which is about the biggest dick move that you can make at a poker table. Of course, because I can never concentrate around drunks, because I can only focus on their misbehavior, I lost my entire stack, even though I can defend my stacks against way tougher players at way tougher tables. Seriously, there was not one moment when playing tonight was any fun. This was the last time.