By Alan Suderman
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
If you feel like testing your luck, you can find a friendly poker game twice a week in the lounge at Highland Springs. But you’d better bring your “A” game and a little pocket money, because the regulars are no slouches.
Poker buffs
“There are three different poker nights a week and anybody can play,” says Mae Wilks, who lives at the Dallas community. Like any poker game, there’s a fair amount of goodnatured ribbing. If you forget it’s your turn, you’ll hear about it. Take too many pots, and you’ll hear about that too.
When Henry Blankenship lays down two pairs, Clay Krames shows the winning hand of three kings and asks, “Is that all you got?” The table groans and Bob Quinn says, “Clay, who invited you anyway?” But things turn around quickly. A few hands later, Blankenship lays down three kings of his own to take the pot.
Fantasy bingo
Over in the main lounge, some other residents are testing their luck at bingo. It’s nothing like the smoke-filled bingo halls where games take forever—Resident Services Manager Tina Hahn reads off numbers at a rapid clip. And the players are vying not for cash prizes, but for made-up gifts like a round-the-world trip that has to be completed in one day, or dinner with a favorite actor.
Doris Schugm, winner of the dinner, says she wants to eat with Dr. McDreamy from Gray’s Anatomy. “Oh yeah,” she says.
And puzzles too
For those who don’t want to tempt fate or maybe anger their husbands, there’s the ongoing puzzle table in the lounge. Residents there work together or independently to finish large complex puzzles.