I got to the computer late tonight

because I was teaching my daughter to play poker.

My wife was cleaning the closets and rediscovered a set of chips and cards in one of them and my daughter wanted to learn to play. Last night she whupped me good, so I thought she at least understood the cards and hands, but tonight, when I introduced the concept of bluffing (and running up the pot and getting the other guy to fold) I found that she had no idea what she was doing. Of course, that didn't keep me from taking all her chips. Then, when I realized the depth of her ignorance, I went back to basics and taught her about two-of-kind, three-of-a-kind, straights, flushes, what to do when you catch someone dealing off the bottom of the deck and such-like. She took it very seriously when I said, "If someone comes up with a pair in a flush, you pull out your derringer and plug 'im in the forehead." Hopefully, the serious look just meant she had no idea what I was saying.

Tomorrow we break out the cigars.

Oh, the other day I said this was funny. Sorry to mislead you. I was short on sleep and punchy. This is much funnier (though not absolutely so, just relative to my capabilities). The eagle-eyed will notice that my judgment was so impaired that I continued to blog for several hours afterwards.