I
spend a lot of time thinking about games, in a pretty rigorous and analytical way. Such mental habits are hardly the stuff of casual conversations with friends, especially when the game in question is a 4,000-year-old Chinese strategy game. But, over the past several years, my friend Ben has increasingly thrown himself into a different game, and has come to have it dominate his thoughts in the same way my own addictive diversion has. His chosen game, of course, is poker.
We had a lovely late-Valentine's-Day feast at Ben and Flea's, and most of the night Ben and I ended up talking about our various theories of games. Ben knows a lot more about poker than I do, but I've dipped my toes in the math and theory enough to give something for him to play off of in our conversations, and it's fun to try to find commonalities in our different explorations. Both of us are desperately hungry to talk about these things, and we have precious few outlets for it. A friend who can say even a little something about a subject you love is a glass of water in the desert, and a relief to your loved ones who have had to endure your dull monologues as well.
It was a delight. A second post in a row about how excellent my friends are? Well, they deserve more anyway. I do want to learn more about poker. That game is extremely fascinating. I just wish it didn't cost so much money to play...