More importantly, it is the first time I've actually played football (soccer as the Aussies call it), since... Form 5? As in on a real pitch. Just the feeling of grass at the soles of your feet as you chase the ball invigorates my every body. We had around 18 people so a game of 9 against 9 commenced. Not even 5 minutes into the game, yours truly scored the first goal!
It was brilliant execution, where I closed down the defender with the ball and managed to get a lucky ricochet towards the goalie. With a side foot I managed to get it into the near post, with the keeper well beaten. It was a great goal, and a precursor of things to come!
My friend Sven(the tall blonde dude) was also playing as well and boy can he play! It seems that height is a huge advantage. But he can still punish any player with his deceptive pace and skilful play of the ball. The first match was close, with my team winning 4-2, with me scoring one goal (obviously) and Sven scoring a hattrick! His last goal was magic in itself, with a deft flick to take it past the keeper and a simple tap in with his weaker foot.
The second game was just pure ownage though. The two British dudes, Mike and Rich were on one team, and Sven and Clemens (Germans) were on another team. It became a reenactment of the England-Germany game just recently played.
All I can say is that we won 8-0. Without a doubt, whatever team I play in wins. Though I didn't score any goals in the second match, my contribution to the overall play was essential to us winning. ;P Sven scored another excellent goal, which was just insane!!!!!
As he was running towards goal, he was closed in by 3 defenders. With a nice flick, he brought it over one defender's head, then swivelled to the side a la Ronaldo to beat the second defender. Not to be outshone, he flicked the bloody ball over the third defender again, and then shot a grounder to beat the keeper. Just plain class.
Anyways, it ended just in time for dinner. A few of my friends came to my place to take a shower and have dinner. There was Sven, Kiew (Malaysia), and Kevin (Mauritius). It's a pretty good deal at $8 per meal considering that the average dinner outside would be $7, not counting the fact that in my place, food is served buffet style!
After dinner we took to a few games of ping pong and pool, as well as banging a few melodies on the piano to eat up time. Emma's (the small girl from England) birthday party was at 9. With that, we were off!
Because Emma was studying politics, most of her friends were from Europe.. Basically, I was spoilt for choice. There was this cute French girl who had jet black hair, and vaguely reminds me of Selma Hayek. Then there was this German girl, Liz who had hazel grey eyes. There was also Ina/Ena, who hails from England. The party was alright, but I did enjoy the drinking game, called Kings of Beer, or Rings of Fire.
In summary, this is how it works. A pile of cards is spread around the table face down. We then take turns to take one card, and depending on whichever card you pick, you are required to do something. I can't really remember how it went, but here's the gist of it:-
Ace - Shitmix (As it's aptly called, the first three people who took the Ace gets to pour anything they want inside a bowl. The last person drinks the whole thing)
2 - Scull a drink (bottoms-up)
3 - Put three fingers on your drink and drink that amount
4 - Put four fingers instead
5 - Choose someone to scull his/her drink with you
6 - Truth of Dare
7 - Mention something that you haven't done before. Anyone else who has actually did it has to drink (This one is quite hilarious, especially when it relates to sexual activities)
8 - Waterfall (The person who took the card drinks, and this is replicated by the person next to him/her and then the person next to that person and so on. Only when the person on your right stops drinking can you put down your drink
9 - Choose someone to scull a drink
10 - forgot
J - forgot as well
Q - Toilet card. Only the persons holding the Queen can go to the toilet. Everyone else can't. Shit.
K - Categories (The person picks any category, like flower for example, and everyone has to name a flower. The person who stutters has to drink)
At about 12am we received a warning from International House's (place where the party was held) tutors that we either shut up or move out. Obviously there was no way we were going to shut up so we were planning on going to a nearby pub. Then this crazy dude by the name of Chen said, "Why don't we go to the Crown Casino?" This brought huge cries of "Yeah!" and excited faces. About 10-15 of us then commenced our journey to possibly the most happening place in Melbourne!
Sven and I had to go get our passports so we took a cab and then proceeded to Crown Casino. We then met up with PJ (France), Chen(Malaysia), Derrick (Malaysia), and Estel (France). All I can say that it was mind-blowing! The first thing that gets stuck in your face is that bright yellowy-orange glow so prevalent in casinos. Then you notice the huge numbers on the slot machines, like "$45,698 to be won by you!". Moving on we saw roulette tables, exactly as how it is depicted in the movies. The blackjack tables were further on, with the typical stone-faced dealer showing fancy card work. The way they deal out the cards is really smooth; it's kinda like flicking the card to the person. This makes the card go straight to the person and that it almost never flips up. It also happens to be fast as well.
Anyways, we registered for our membership, and proceeded downstairs, where the REAL game begins. Upon descending the escalator, we were inundated with rows and rows of Poker tables, with hundreds of dome cameras eyeing the tables from above like hawks to their prey. You notice all kind of characters, from the pimple-faced adolescent (not me!), to the 60-year old Chinaman, to the crippled in a wheelchair. It was awesome, really. I wanted to take a picture, but I didn't want to be thrown out before I even got started!
The minimum buy-in was $60. After the buy-in you register for a table at the counter and wait for your name to 'blink', upon which you would be given a random table. This prevents friends from sitting on the same table and colluding. The palpable fear I felt when I sat down gave out a pretty good stink. I noticed the guys in suits around me licking their lips in anticipation, impatiently waiting to eat up my money. There's just something about the whole concept of a proper dealer, chips and security systems that makes it quite surreal.
To play I had to pay the casino a 'buy-in' which was $3 (Rm10!). With that I was on my way! Boy oh boy are casino players shit scary! Only in my first game, the guy with the biggest pile (probably around $500) put out $15 pre-flop. With my big blind already in and a decent high hand, I decided to follow him. The flop gave no indication that I would win whatsoever. And that was how I lost Rm45 in the first minute of sitting down. Yeah. F*cking shit.
With $45 to spare, I tried to soldie on, but somehow just kept getting swallowed by everyone. The different poker faces were as inscrutable as inscrutable will be. I was still pretty overwhelmed at this stage and didn't know how to get out of this shithole. When Adam and Roo came to check on how I was doing, I was down to $16 left, and not looking good at all. With sympathetic looks they told me Good Luck and went to search for the others.
Then suddenly it got to me. I have been playing defensive and 'pussified' this whole while, and that's exactly the right way to play; if I was interested in losing all my money. With that, I grew some balls and decided to bluff on the next game. I went in with a decent hand as well, and continued with the flop. When the Ace came out, I decided to go for the best and put down $10. Everyone was pretty shocked, which was amplified by the short silence. They were like ,"Shit, the Asian dude is raising, wtf man. He's been losing all this while, he probably has a good card. Screw it, I'm folding."
And with that, I won $15! Spurred on by my close call, I started playing more aggresively. Of course, luck came into play as well! With a pair fives in my hand, I earnestly prayed for another 5. And what do you know? It came out in the flop. But that's not the best part - it came out with an Ace and a King! I swear I could see the smirks on some of their faces when they saw those cards. Knowing I could lure them in, I raised $10 at the first river, upon which they duly replied, thinking that I was the fool in raising them!
When the final card came out I know there was no way I could lose this one, unless someone has a better Three of a Kind or a Full House, which was impossible. With that, I went all in, pushing my chips into the middle of the table, a la James Bond. Then I sat there staring at everyone as indifferently as possible, but with my heart thumping so hard it could burst. When people followed, I gave out a silent scream of joy, knowing that I pretty much got back my $60 and has even more than that! When I flipped my cards open the others just moaned and cursed, and threw their cards to the dealer. One for Daniel, zero for everyone else!
Daniel Craig, Daniel Chua, same thing!Of course, it wasn't all rosy after that. It kinda went downhill after a few more rounds, so I decided to get out while I was still in the green. With $84 worth of chips in my hands, I went to the Chips Deposit counter and received my lovely extra $24!
The others didn't do too well though, save for Chen. Chen was quite the veteran in poker, and took home $40. He injected a bit of stratagem in his play. While I was playing the silent Asian kid, he played the funny Asian kid who needed money for his rent. Awesome! Sven lost $30, so he wasn't feeling too good. Estel lost all her chips in 10 minutes (o.O), and Derrick followed soon after. The worst hit though was PJ, who couldn't believe that he lost $60 and put in a further $90, which he unfortunately lost as well. He was understandably upset, and didn't speak much on the way home.
Well, that's my first experience ever in a casino and you know what? It felt bloody good! The rush of blood when you play with real chips and watching the security dudes walking around and serious faces on your table, you know you've witnessed the pinnacle of the poker lifestyle! Of course, I won't make this a habit. But I'll probably go for a tournament, as new members get free buy-in to win $250!!!
Till later.. And don't gamble! :)
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