Newhaven-Dieppe ferry
1989, in the days before Eurostar, going over to watch Scotland play France in a World Cup qualifier (we lost the match but still qualified - yay!)

I had a pack of cards with me, started playing a game of something or other with my mate Ian, suddenly we were everyone's best mates because we had a deck and they didn't.

So a good few tartan army foot soldiers (Scotland fans in other words) joined us on our table, we were playing a variation of pontoon called shoot pontoon, never heard of it before or since.

From memory, though this game involved players putting money in at the start of every hand, and that if someone won with a particular combination of cards they would scoop the lot. If no-one did, players would put in their stakes for the next game, and in this way the pot could very quickly mount up after a few hands.

Now, rule number one of playing cards is never put money on a game you've never played before. Rule number two is never play when off your face on the booze. Of course, I broke both.

Two or three hours later, and about fifteen minutes outside Dieppe, I suddenly have the rather sobering realisation that I've blown my spending money for the trip.

Fucksocks.

And as I'm wondering whether Ian has brought enough to sub me some money in Paris, I'm still playing the current hand when all of a sudden I turn over a card and - holy fuck - I have THE fucking hand.

Went off the boat with three times the money I boarded with, which was just as well - first pint we had there (admittedly with a nice view of Notre Dame) cost over £4, and this was 20 years ago...
(Capo, Thu 7 May 2009, 16:32, Reply)