Stomping Time

Back in 1998, Eddie, Brian, Jaime, and I took a trip up to either Mount Snow or Killington, Vermont. It's hard for me to remember exactly which one it was, I think on this particular trip though, it was Mount Snow. We were skiing during the day and playing cards/gambling at night. At the time, Brian and I were really into Big 2, a Chinese game based on Poker Hands (ie, 2 pair, 3 pair, straight, flush, four of a kind, straight flush, etc.). The idea is to throw out as many cards as possible with the winner being the first person to throw out all their cards. Brian and I were pretty much veterans of the game while Jaime and Eddie had basically just picked it up on this trip (at least the gambling version which employs a different strategy vs the non gambling virgin version). It's not unusual for new players to make mistakes and get stomped. In Cantonese, when you lose in a new gambling game, we call it a "tuition fee". All newbies to the game typically pay this fee. I did when I started and I know Brian did as well, and as sure as rice (real rice now, not that brown sh$t) is white, Jaime and Eddie were paying this fee now. Halfway through the game, I remember thinking, "wow, we're really kicking their asses". Literally, as soon as that thought passed and the next hand of cards were delt out, Eddie had a miraculous hand and made a play that would eventually make him the ultimate winner for the night. In that one hand, he held a straight flush, four of a kind, and 3 of a kind. In one swift motion none of us could do a thing. He threw out his entire hand before any of us could throw out more than a single card. This was almost 10 years ago, and I have many fond memories of Eddie, many more based on merit than luck, but there was something to this as well. In that time, I've stomped, and been stomped in the same game but I have NEVER seen anyone stomp like Eddie in that one hand. I think that he knew himself that the odds of landing that hand were extremely slim and I remember very clearly the satisfied look on his face after thowing down. I've uploaded a photograph from that trip. Eddie's play was the most memorable event on that entire ski trip.