It Could Be Worse

Tom Gibson accused me of being a lazy bastard the other day, so I figure it must be time for another missive from the front line, aka the 5-10 PLO game at the Vic.

Hugh Buchanon is a fixture at the Vic card room these days, mostly doing his brai- er, playing, in the 5-10 PLO game. As anyone who has come across him knows, he is a well-spoken black gentleman who spends most of his time complaining about his bad luck.

Some of you may recall me writing about other whingers at the Vic, but, believe you me, Hughie-Buwee (as I once heard Panni call him) makes those other whiners look positively stoic. Without a doubt, we have a new world champion moaner in our midst.

So the PLO game is going and it's blinding and Hugh is super-steamed up, almost crying with frustration with how terrible his form is (I mean, the guy does play every hand and somehow ends up flopping monster wraps and flush draws every time which proceed to always miss - this poor sod is obviously cursed).

Now also seated in the game is a certain face who I don't know, which is unusual for me as I am pretty friendly with most Vic habituees. Nonetheless, all the other faces on the poker scene know him well.

Well a huge pot develops and as usual Hugh is on the losing end of it. After the cards are flung and a load of bellyaching from Hugh there is a bit of an awkward pause while the dealer gathers up the cards and shuffles for the next hand and everyone else wonders whether Hugh is going to pull up.

The silence is broken by the face saying, "It could be worse Hugh, you could have been born 60 years earlier - then you would have been a slave..."