Heather Irwin

Eng. Comp. 111

9/10/07

Narrative Essay

Revenge may be a poor attempt to hold onto something that has been long gone, but it sure is sweet! A couple weeks ago, I had one of the proudest moments of my life when I beat my cheating ex-boyfriend at his favorite game, Texas Hold’em. My best friend, Nikki, also went with me that night (she was the girl he cheated on me with). We walked into the dark, smoked filled bar with our lip gloss and a smile. Our original plan was just to make him uncomfortable; I never thought I would be able to man handle him in one of his favorite hobbies.

When we walked in, he looked as if he was going to pass out when we sat down two tables away from him. Ramel, the coordinator for the game gave us our chips. I knew how to play, but I had never played in a tournament before. Five hands into the first table, I took out one of the men at my table. Within the next half an hour, my table gradually decreased in size due to my hidden Hold’em skills. It wasn’t too long after that I took Nikki out of the game. Before I knew it I had my chips stacked up, and Ramel was moving me to another table to continue playing. He seemed just as surprised as I was that I had made it past the first table.

Soon men and women began to drop from my second table like flies. Most of the people there looked at me as a child and figured it was pure luck that I had made it to the second table. I played dumb. I acted as if I had no idea what the hands were, or how the big and small blinds worked. The men looked at me like a silly woman invading their sacred game of Hold’em. The few women that were there gave me a sad look as if they sympathized with my fake stupidity.

Ramel moved him to my table, and the look he gave me was nothing like the other ones I had been getting all night from everyone else. He looked at me as if I was a parasite sucking all the fun and freedom out of his life one hand at a time. I gave him a devious smile, and shook his hand as if he were a complete stranger to me.

No doubt it was obvious I knew what I was doing when the final table sat down with my ex two seats to my left. Nikki came over to give me support and watch him squirm. I became confident and empowered. For months I stayed with him not knowing he was humiliating me behind my back; and that night, it was my turn to knowingly embarrass him. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I began to prepare to fight for first place.

The big/small blind was now at a maximum 1500/800. The first hand was dealt; I had pocket aces. I raised to see who was brave enough to call without the flop even being on the table. Three of my opponents, including my ex, called my bet. The flop came out: ace, eight, and duce. I raised 3,000; only my ex and one other man called. I wanted to slowly clear the table, so I put in enough to make the other man go all in. After some consideration on his part, he went all in, and my ex called it. We turned our cards over and the river came out. They had nothing compared to my triple aces. I took half of my ex’s chips, and all of the other man’s

chips. It’s a really great feeling to send someone out the door with their head down. And then there were six.

Not too far after the first man left, another man followed. Within ten minutes I only had three challengers remaining. It was pretty much a shoe in by then that I was going to win. My only competition was my ex, and even he was beginning to sweat. We began to accumulate a small crowd of people from the bar that moseyed over to watch the final four battle for a spot in the cash game. The next one to go was the only woman at the table; she was very cordial and shook my hand. My stack of chips was more than twice the size of my ex’s when the third man gave up.

Then there was two. I was sitting face to face with the man that has forever changed the way I will view men and relationships. As many times as he had control over me, this time I had the upper hand. I was going to win. I was going to show him I was better than him. And that I did when I threw my hand on the table and beat him with a pair of queens. The crowd erupted in applause. I casually smiled and nodded at him. A scowl came across his face as he pushed the chair back and sulked out the front door.

Finally everyone who took me as a ditzy woman realized I was a force to be reckoned with. In three hours time, I gained back my pride. That was the same pride he slowly shattered over a two year period. It made me realize how much I learned from him, but also the reality of not needing him. I grinned the whole way home. He called to congratulate me later that night in one of his drunken stupors. I never knew what pure bliss was like until that night.

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