Well, on Andy’s advice, I decided to check out the Aviation Club here in Paris. It sits right on the Champs Elysees amidst the cafes and boutiques. Here’s the story…

The Aviation Club is "private"… if the doorman likes the way you’re dressed, you’re in (bring a passport, though). When you get up the stairs and past the desk, the club splits in half… left half has "21" and baccarat, right half has poker rooms (one of which was being used for a tournament.)

First thing… ALL of the games are pot limit and dealer's choice. There was a sign-up board with buy-ins and blind bets listed. The 50 buy-in list with 1-2 blinds was about empty with no game going… so I had my initials added to the 200 buy-in 2-5 blind game. I watched one of these for over an hour, at first waiting for a seat and later waiting for the 50 buy-in game to begin, since I noticed that 200 didn't necessarily last very long in the 2-5 game. The other games ranged from a 500 buy-in and 10-20 blinds to a 10,000 buy-in with 100-300 blinds

The games were interesting… some I'd never seen. They had a stack of small oval cards with the names of the games on them… when it was your "deal", you place the name of the game of your choice face-up on top of the stack. There was the traditional Texas Hold 'em, Seven Card Stud, Seven Stud Hi-Lo, Omaha (high), Omaha Hi-Lo, and 5-Card Omaha (high). There was also Double Hold 'em, where the dealer deals out two separate 5-card hands on the table (two separate flops, two turns, two rivers) and the winners of each of the two hands split the pot. Another game is Courcheval, which is 5-Card Omaha High with the first card of the flop exposed before the first betting round. And finally, is a game called Aviation, where you are dealt 4 cards and the game is played like hold 'em… you discard one card before the flop and another after the flop (I guess it’s kinda Double Pineapple). There might be a 10th game, but I never noticed what was on the other side of the black Double Hold 'em oval.

They finally started up the 50 buy-in game at about 12:30 and things started well for me. Filled up on my first hand (Omaha) and patiently cruised through until about 2:30, when I had about 360 in front of me. It was clearly time for the Fates to take over. The riches to rags to hitting the pavement took place within a matter of about 3 minutes, but I’ll try to relate the painful details…

Game: Texas Hold 'em

Dealt: Ace-Jack of Spades

Pre-flop: 5 callers

Flop: King-Eight-Four of Spades

Bet: Two seats in front of me slammed in 18 (or something weird and pot-related like that). I just call and so do 2 others behind me. Excellent!

Turn: Two of Hearts

Bet: Original bettor starts with 50… I raise 100… two callers, including original bettor

River: Six of Spades

Bet: Original bettor checks… I bet 100… third player folds (K-8 hearts, it turns out. He's the only other English-speaking player at the table and I guess he thought that might comfort me in some odd way)… original bettor raises what I have in front of me… I call… and he’s playing the five-seven of spades.

Twelve minutes later… I'm closing the door of my hotel room behind me, and I don’t remember walking there. I have a bunch of chips in my pocket, though, so at least I didn't go for the whole 50.

Overall, I'd day the players were all very nice and civilized… unlike many I play with often at Hollywood Park and the Hustler (HP’s much worse). The club is old but well-kept. Not sure if I want to go for another session this week… I think I’ve probably subconsiously tailored my game over the years to structured betting, and, notwithstanding all of the "new" games I'd never seen before, I definitely felt out of my element. Of course, if not for a freak ending, I would have had a very profitable evening!

(Below is a painting on the Berlin Wall at the Eastside Gallery in Berlin).