Evenings

Friday's final table, hand by hand

Last Friday's tournament produced a final table of unusual variety: a geologist, a station cook, a bookkeeper and three people who had never played before.

10/09/2026

Evenings

Fourteen at the start

A dealer handling cards and chips at a casino table

Fourteen guests entered the Friday tournament, of whom six had played at the house before. The dealer, Rachel Fleming, spent the first fifteen minutes explaining the blinds, the order of play and the use of the dealer button, and by the end of the first level, every newcomer was following the game with growing confidence.

The field thinned steadily through the second and third levels. A young surveyor was eliminated on the strength of a hand that she described afterwards as the most instructive of her life. A retired schoolteacher was eliminated shortly afterwards and moved at once to the rail, from which he offered quiet and entirely unsolicited commentary.

By the second break, six players remained. Tea was served on the verandah, the dealers changed, and the final table was set beneath the brightest lamp. A good crowd had gathered, among them diners who had finished their puddings and wandered in to watch.

The last hands

A long duel

The final two were the geologist and the station cook, who had been circling each other for most of an hour. Hands were dealt slowly so that the crowd could follow, and the room fell quiet each time a card was turned. The cook held the better position for a time, but the geologist drew level with a well-timed raise.

The decision

The last hand was dealt just after ten. The geologist held a pair of queens, the cook an ace and a jack, and the community cards fell in a way that favoured neither until the final card. When it was turned, the room exhaled together. The geologist was declared Champion of the night, and the name went up on the board by the archway.

What stayed with us

As ever, nothing was won but honour. There was no prize, only applause and a photograph with the brass cup, which went back to its shelf before closing. Several newcomers asked what time the beginners' evening started, which is the best outcome we could have hoped for.