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Hollowine -> Wine and Poker (7/25/2008 5:18:44 PM)
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So new to the board, but addicted to CT now that I have most of my cellar online and can finally manage it efficiently. I've been baking this idea for a few years, wanted to see if you all might contribute to the mix and see what might be a fun way to blend my two favorite hobbies.
I've been thinking it would be great to find a small group of local friends that have more interest in Wine than reds with meat, whites with fish, and who also would enjoy a friendly game of poker every few weeks. My thoughts were that a 2-3 hour card game with some great wines and conversation might be a fun way to relax, and afford the opportunity to experience some wines you may not try on your own. Here are a few of the thoughts I've had about how to structure this, and I am open to comments or other suggestions:
On the Poker front:
I'm thinking it pretty much can't be a cash game. The legal aspects of that are one major reason, because one of the ideas I had was to use this nice alcove room in a local restaurant who said they would be happy to host the games, especially in the winter months. The other challenge with cash games is that not everyone who drinks wine is necessarily a good poker player, so I don't want people feeling like they are just human ATM's. Also, most of us would rather spend the dough on more wine. But as in any game of chance, someone does want to be the winner, even if just ceremonially.
On the Wine Front:
The point here is to enjoy the wine, so I don't want $7 bottles bought at Safeway on the drive over showing up. Granted, we aren't going to do First Growth Bordeaux night either, but I think we could figure it out. We also want to drink responsibly, so if 9 people each bring a bottle, we likely aren't going to want to drink nine bottles...ok, so we are going to want to drink nine bottles, but we probably won't and shouldn't. Also, there should probably be some kind of theme (Suicide Cab's, Bullets and Bordeaux, etc) at least some of the time to keep it interesting, and there should be some democracy to set the theme so we aren't drinking Aussie Shiraz every week.
So here is what my current thoughts for the mechanics are:
- Have a group of 8-10 people that hopefully are regulars, but maybe it is a group as large as 20 so that we can always get a table of 8-10 together due to schedules, etc.
- Play at least once/month so we have something to look forward to.
- Set a theme for each get together (Region, Varietal, Price, QPR, etc)
- Everyone brings a bottle within the theme, but they are all brought Blind (Bagged). The Buy-in and "posting of the Blinds" is literally you bring the bottle, add it to the pot and you get your allocation of chips (Should Chips be allocated based on Bottle Price??)
- Everyone draws a card - High card and Low card have to open their bottles for the group to share during the event. If additional bottles need to be opened during the night, we choose randomly (or maybe we give people the option to bring a "hey, you gotta try this" additional bottle that can be "off theme"
- The winner of the night (basically whoever wins all the chips) gets the remaining bottles as their "Booty" to take home. Additional fun might result from unwrapping the blind winnings to see what you get to take home for your cellar.
- At the end of each session, vote on a theme for next gathering, or let winner or first out (loser) to pick theme.
What do you all think? I'm sure at least someone would have a good idea I could incorporate, if you aren't already doing something similar.
Any poker players among the vinoheads here? I live near Hood River, OR but would like to try to get something going here or in Portland if you are nearby and/or interested. Would be willing to consider once or twice a year Road trips if others might be interested, but I think the stakes would maybe have to be raised for those "World Series of Wines" events.
Cheers!
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