After a late-night home poker game with some buddies, I talked one of my friends (we’ll call him Lucas) into going to the casino with me to play some “real” poker. Keep in mind that our home game consists of all kinds of stupid wild card games, and we usually consume way too much alcohol for our own good. Needless to say, the brief Texas Hold’em lesson I gave Lucas on the way to the casino, didn’t really sink in.

Ten minutes after being seated at the table, Lucas comes to life in a hand and raises the flop. I don’t remember the exact cards, so bear with me. Anyway, Lucas gets into a raising war with another guy at the table. I mean they cap every street, including the river. When betting gets finished, the dealer says, “Let’s see ‘em.” Lucas flips over his cards and says (in an noticeably loud voice), “Five of a kind!” Everyone at the table was frozen in silence. I didn't know if they thought he was joking or if he really was as clueless as he was letting on. The dealer looked at the board for a minute then pushed the pot to the other guy who had the nut flush. Lucas just sat in silence and continued playing for about 20 more minutes (until his rack of white was wiped clean).

I didn’t say anything at the table, but later that night I asked about the incident. He told me, “I thought my pocket cards were wild.”