One of the perks of being a columnist for the world's largest gambling websites is the emails I receive from my readers.
We have thousands of members in many parts of the world and they are intriguing people who are well versed in nearly every phase of gambling. This morning an email came in that made me smile and do some serious thinking.
'Dear Geno,' it read:
"You do write some provocative articles about strategies and casinos where you have gambled and led an adventurous life. I have a question for you. If you had your choice of people living or dead that you could play poker against, who would you pick? Please let your imagination run wild. Smiles, Andrea W., San Diego, CA.'
Ah, San Diego. Shelter Island. Beautiful women. An incredible city with much going for it. Thank you, Andrea, for the memories.
Who would I choose, living or dead, to be my opponents in a poker game?
I will take Andrea's advice seriously and let my imagination run wild. Let's start with Geronimo, the famed Apache Indian chief who had a passion for poker, whiskey and driving intruders from lands the Apaches felt belonged to them.
I once interviewed:
a 104-year-old former Apache Indian chief named Nino Cochise. He lived in a small Arizona town with his wife, Minnie, and he had published his autobiography, 'The first 100 Years of Nino Cochise.'
Nino was a child when Geronimo went to war with the U.S. Cavalry. Nino and his young friends would play games with the wily chief after he had gone through a night of drinking and playing poker with his braves.
As he staggered to the river to 'drink up the creek' in order to cure his hangover, the Indian children would run after him and thrust arrows between his legs to trip him.
Geronimo would growl like a bear -- was he playing? and chase Nino and his friends up a tree that he would shake until they fell out of it. Then he would roar with laughter and make his way to the water. I think Geronimo would have been a formidable foe at any poker game.
My next opponent would be a tossup between Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, both of whom I have had the pleasure to interview.
Reagan would be a genial foe
His warm nature toward others, including his political enemies, was unprecedented in Washington D.C. I don't think he had an enemy in the world, although I could be mistaken. He was friends with Ted Kennedy, Tip O'Neill and even Walter Mondale, against whom he ran for President. I think I could have beaten Reagan at poker because he didn't have the killer instinct that would have let him check-raise me.
Richard Nixon would have been different
Nixon had a shrewd calculating mind that allowed him to win thousands of dollars about ship when he was in the U.S. Navy. He won enough money from his shipmates to finance his first Congressional campaign. Nixon gained the nickname 'Tricky Dick' for good reason. He was a tricky politician as well as a poker player and I believe Nixon would have made mincemeat of me at the game.
My fourth choice to play poker against would be French actress Brigitte Bardot, the incredible star of Roger Vadim's movie, 'And God Created Woman.'
Bardot may have been the most delectable woman of her era
She was 17 when Vadim, in his early 20s, began a relationship with her. Brigitte's father was a stern French judge and they were secretly married. Bardot was still living at home and Roger would crawl into her upstairs bedroom through a window after climbing a tree.
One morning she frantically called Vadim and told him her father had discovered what they were doing.
'Roger, he has a gun and he is looking for you,' she said.
Vadim was petrified. 'What shall I do if he finds me?', he asked.
Brigette thought about the question for a moment. 'Well, I suppose you'll have to kill him,' she said. 'I would rather be an orphan than a widow.'
Vadim and Bardot's father later became good friends and told that story to many of their associates.
The best poker opponents are people you respect and admire.
Thanks for the question, Andrea. I loved it.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
