从104岁老人身上学到的生活、扑克和长寿秘诀

David Mamet wrote “The Things Poker Teaches” for the New York Times Magazine back in 1986, in which he enumerated many lessons, including a crass thought that many genteel players cannot grasp: poker is about money. To Mamet, this unassailable fact meant that poker players needed to adopt a steely resolve, not giving their fellow players a break because they valued their feelings or felt embarrassed by winning.

But Al Staff, the 104-year-old host of a poker game at the Avila Retirement Community in Albany, New York, has drawn some different conclusions about the game. In Al’s game, the money is the least important part. “A dime a chip,” he tells me as I buy in. “We’re real big spenders.” The game is 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo split with a declare. “When it gets heads up we stop betting,” Al tells me. “We just turn ’em over.” “We don’t allow checking and raising,” he adds, as if protecting the purity of the game.

The other players in Al’s game were an assortment of residents of Avila, including a former Boilermakers Union business agent named Bob Cullon. “One of the first people I met when I first moved in here eight years ago was Al,” said John Bendick, a former State Police officer. Al is originally from the Albany area and used to be a successful accountant who once turned down an offer from Richard Bloch of H&R Block fame.GG扑克官方网站

But poker is what Al loves, and when Avila couldn’t offer his favorite game, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, he decided to spread it himself. The management obliged, and the game has continued apace twice a week for the last eight years. Even though many of the players in his game had played plenty of poker before, they still had to trust Al’s guidance as their teacher, especially as unspoken rules govern the games, like reminding Al of any raises with grace to help out the aging host. And yes, the game had changed a bit with time, as Cullon’s tendency to raise and press every advantage had earned him the nickname “the bully.”

While the game entertained and provided companionship for the players, Al acknowledged its limitations regarding longevity. “I don’t think it has any effect whatsoever,” he says gravely serious. “We have lost so many friends. We’ve probably lost at least seven guys since we started this game. And it hurts. But what can you do? The only person who knows the answer to when you’re gonna go is the man upstairs.”

The game wound up with little old ladies and men, including 104-year-old Al, clearing about seven dollars in the end—everyone heading home afterward grateful for another chance to enjoy life through the shared experience of playing poker. The story ends with a reference to Nick “The Greek” Dandolos, a famous gambler, who seemed to simply enjoy the “action.”