Twenty Four Hours of Poker ... By the Numbers

I made it.

I started playing poker at 12:28 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 and played the last hand of a $1/$2 modified H.O.R.S.E. cash game just over 24 hours later. Oh yeah, since we hadn't had quite enough at that point, we played a $5 No Limit Hold'em Tournament to cap the experience.

For the last few days, I've struggled to come up with something coherent to say about the experience. In fact, I've been struggling to come up with anything coherent to say about anything. Pretty much all I've been able to write is "poker," which, thanks to one player, became the catchall phrase for the group at approximately 2 a.m.

The Godfather, a man who refuses to be referred to by his given name in print, who traveled all the way from upstate New York, was the man behind this movement. Win a big pot? "Poker." Lose on a suck-out on the river? "Poker." Catch trip aces in razz? "Poker." Taking a bathroom break? "Poker."

Three days later, my brain is finally returning to normal, or at least my version of normal. Now that I've had a chance to analyze the experience, here's a breakdown of the 24-hour poker game by the numbers …

15: People who took part in the game
3: People who played for the full 24 hours
5: People who started at 12:28 p.m. on Saturday
8: Largest number of people playing at any given time
6: People playing at 12:28 p.m. on Sunday
6.4: Average number of people at the table
4: People in the No-Limit Tournament, including all three players who played for 24 hours
1: People allergic to our cat … sorry Frank!
150: Total man hours spent at the poker table by the group
4: Total woman hours spent at the poker table
3: Episodes of Star Wars played by our VCR
3: Times The Godfather said "Oh, this is the one that starts with words scrolling up the screen and then pans to spaceships in the sky."
2: Times we played the Rounders DVD
368: Miles driven by The Godfather to attend
872: Times the word "Poker" was said
3: Straight flushes showed down
5: Hands won with quads
20: Pushups I did at 3:30 a.m.
3: Variations of H.O.R.S.E. suggested by the group (including H.O.S.E.R., adding Pineapple for H.O.R.S.E. P. and adding a wild card game for W.H.O.R.E.S.)
12: Donuts brought by Liam at 4:25 a.m.
2: Rugby games played by Ryan prior to arriving
60: Pints of beer in a quarter barrel of Budweiser
52: Approximate number of pints consumed
10: Approximate number of pints consumed by Noah
13: Estimated liters of flatulence expelled in my living room
8: Estimated liters of flatulence expelled by just two players … thanks Shobu and Akin
64: Ounces of crackers and cookies consumed by the group
0: Ounces of vegetables consumed by the group

I lost eight hours of sleep and a few bucks along the way, but overall I think the experience was worthwhile, if only for the social aspect of the game.

I doubt I'll ever want to play poker (or do anything for that matter) for that long again. But who knows, maybe by the time I finish catching up on all my lost sleep, I'll forget about how hard it's been to function these last few days and only remember how much fun we had along the way.

All I know is I'm glad it's over. Poker.

In his previous life, Aaron Todd was a sports journalist by day and a poker player by night. He can now be found covering the poker beat for Casino City and making horrendously unsuccessful bluffs in his home game. Write to Aaron at aarontodd@casinocity.com.