November Nine

Most people think of November as a month devoted to remembering and honouring the dead (historical people who upgraded to Holy-dot-com, deceased family members or World War soldiers), and within a few years we might think of November as the extra summer month which used to be the heart of autumn.

In Fred-land however, we like to think of November as the month in which the November Nine battle themselves through the final table at the WSOP in Las Vegas. The World Series of Poker, that is. Because Fred and Fred have more in common than an unusual appetite for canned white beans in tomato sauce and moderately peated single malts: we also love poker. Playing poker, watching poker (you have no idea how many websites there are, devoted to this card game) or talking about poker: whenever we meet, at least one of these aspects is covered. Without getting too sentimental, it was our common interest in poker that more or less brought us together, two years ago.

The WSOP is the biggest live tournament, held in the Rio (a famous casino in Nevada). You can think of it as the Olympics of Poker, since all kinds of poker games are played (No Limit Texas Hold'em - which is probably the kind of poker you know from Bond movies - Pot Limit Omaha, 7-card Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, HORSE, A to 5 triple draw and so on) and each winner earns himself a golden bracelet plus a fair share of money.

If there's one event you want to play and - preferably - win, it's the Main Event. This is a No Limit Texas Hold'em event, and this year the winner takes a whopping 8.5 million dollar. Only slightly better then 7 other players, who are also guaranteed at least 1 million dollars. While 'our government' is talking about budget cuts, trying to find a few billion euros (what on earth do they mean by that?), a bunch of poker players are flying back home with enough money to convert a random African country into a well-oiled machine. Not that it comes for free though, as each contestant needs to pay 10.000 dollar entrance fee. More than one paycheck, that is, for a seat at the felt.

This year's event is almost over. The final nine players - the November Nine - are raising, bluffing and shoving themselves towards life-changing amounts of cash. Hoping to get dealt better cards than A8 (and ace and an eight), which is known as the Dead Man's Hand: legend has it that this was the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his murder. Yups, poker players honour the dead...