I’m the king of the world! Well, not really. I’m the king of the poker tournaments at KClinger’s Tavern.

Well, not really. But I was almost the king. And that has to count for something.

I didn’t have a whole lot to do on Thursday night so I figured I would head to KClinger’s to play in their poker tournament.

I don’t consider myself a poker expert by any stretch of the imagination. I know the No Hold ‘Em craze has gripped many people, but I manage to just play for fun on the computer.

With those experiences, I figured I could hold my own in the local tournament. If I didn’t do well, I still would have had an opportunity to go out for the night and drink a few beers. That can never be bad.

Besides, I would get the opportunity to sit at a table with other people and play cards. Sure, there was technically no gambling going on. But we all got that proprietary notion when they put the chips in front of us, even if we didn’t pay a dime for them.

I wondered at first if I was in over my head. I have friends who play for real money all the time, and I worried that the people sitting at the table with me were the same way.

But, little by little, they dropped off. I didn’t win much at first, but I also didn’t lose. Then I had a hand that gave me a chance and I won. A couple of hand later, I won again.

Finally, I had leverage. I could take chances. I could bluff. I could pretend I knew what I was doing.

A funny thing happened. It worked. I won a few more hands. At some point, I looked around and realized that I was winning. Not just at my table, but for the whole competition.

Something had to be wrong. I don’t do things like this well. But there I was with stacks of chips bigger than everyone else. Not that size matters.

I got a little more confident. I knocked out a few people with brazen bets. Eventually, it came down to two of us, and I had a huge lead in chips. I got another beer and mentally prepared for my crowning moment.

Twenty minutes later, I was congratulating him on a remarkable comeback. I really don’t know what happened. I tried a few bullying bets, made a few bad decisions and found myself with fewer and fewer chips.

But I really didn’t care. First of all, I won a small prize for my second place finish, which helped me feel a little better. Secondly, I had a chance to flex my mental muscles in a different way.

I’m sure a lot of people think I will go to heck in a handbasket, especially since I played cards so close to such important historic sights. I’m stunned a lightning bolt didn’t take me out when I had the winning hand.

I had fun. That’s all I care about when I sit down at a card table or plop down in front of a slot machine, whether I’m using my own money or playing just for fun. Sometimes, that’s all that matters.