Father and son bonding at the $2 poker table

“What’s he doing sitting down here?” a man asks as my son seats himself at the poker table. I flinch for a second, but I realize the man is joking when he adds, “Doesn’t he know you have to be old to play in this game?”

It’s my first time taking my son, Aaron, to a South Florida card room. I chose to take him to the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach to play in a game where the maximum bet is $2. We’re starting slow. We each have $60 in chips.

The original plan had been to take Aaron on his 18th birthday, last Aug. 22. But he had school- related activities that day. Then, came college applications, then a class trip and, the next thing you know, it’s seven months before we get a few hours together. Go ahead, hum, “Cat’s in the Cradle” or Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game” if the mood suits you.

So we finally get a Friday morning free, and find ourselves with eight older men, several of them over 70. Florida is one of the rare states where 18 is the legal age for poker, although it’s still 21 for slots and blackjack. The lower barrier sometimes creates interesting scenarios, such as when Harrison Gimbel, then 20, won a tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Among his prizes: a seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. He waited a year. Because it’s Aaron’s first time at the table, I ask the man seated next to him if he’d mind trading seats so we could sit together. In higherstakes games, I’d never do this — collusion could be perceived — but I’d think it’s OK in a $2 game. The man politely declines, and I don’t make a big deal out of it. Aaron can handle himself.

He strikes up a conversation with the man, and they verbally replay hands as Aaron wins or loses, just like the rest of us.

It’s a very soft game. If only two players are left for the river, they both check. In our two hours at the table, only once is a player’s raise re-raised.

But there’s a reason games such as these are called “no fold ’em hold ’em.” Even though I raise ($2!), my pocket aces are run down by a guy with 10-8 who sees two more 8s hit the board. Three times, I flop top pair, and each time I bet, and each time someone with a lower pair catches the card that beats me on the turn or the river. Dad is sad.

Aaron, meanwhile, is having a ball, even though his stack is down to about $30. He flops two straights, but doesn’t bet them. He’s just wired to be nice. That works to his advantage when a grandmotherly type sits down, has three 2s, but doesn’t bet.

“Look at that face,” she says to him. “I can’t take money from you.”

After about two hours, Aaron’s stack is gone. Mine is down to $8. They say gambling addictions start with a win, a big score. I won’t have to worry with my son.

We hit the buffet downstairs, talking about what hands could have been folded (his ace-3, for example) or raised (he had kings once, and flat-called). I shared a few thoughts, many of which he had already gleaned from his neighbor at the table.

I know taking your son to play poker may not be a big deal to many dads, especially if the boy is gifted in sports, has a hobby such as fixing cars or fishing, or even is a frequent concertgoer. But to this dad, who writes about poker as part of his vocation, today is as good as it gets.

Next time, Aaron raise grandma.

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nsortal@SouthFlorida.com

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