Papa Hemingway and Poker

Ernest Hemingway was a man who loved writing, women, bullfights, drinking and gambling.

His gambling included going to the races and playing poker, especially when he was drinking. He played against actor John Wayne, film director John Huston, photographer Robert Capa, police officers, attorneys and guests at hotels where he stayed in America, Austria and other places around the world.

He referred to horse racing as a 'demanding friend' and often took his wife and other women to the races with him. Hemingway played poker like he lived his life -- aggressively and with passion.

'Never call,' he said about poker. 'Either raise or put it down.'

He was a good bluffer. In an interview, he told a reporter a short story writer was a person who could lie well. That line alone made him a man I would have loved to play against.

He spent a lot of time handicapping horses and when he wagered, he bet a lot. He wrote about all his passions and once wrote a short story about a fixed boxing match

Sometimes I find myself wondering what it would have been like to have played poker against the Papa of literature. I might have laid back and waited until he was well into his cups before I challenged him, but challenge him I would.. Like the late World Series of Poker winner Bill Smith, Hemingway was a formidable drinker and nobody can continue playing good poker if they have been drinking a lot.

I used to drink a lot when I played poker. It relaxed me and it was fun. In those early days, most of the poker players were drinkers. We would play for two or three days at a time, sleeping between hands and having the dealer waking us when it was our turn to act.

I once visited Hemingway's home in Key West, FL. Hemingway loved cats and the number of cats at his home amazed me. I saw his old typewriter and looked at the photos on the walls and I dropped by Sloppy Joe's, the bar where Ernest did much of his drinking.

Key West is a beautiful place with incredible views of the ocean. The beaches aren't much since they are loaded with sharp rocks rather than the fine white sand that makes Florida's West Coast famous. I can see why he loved deep sea fishing and spent so much time aboard his boat going after the big fish when he wasn't writing.

Papa would have been a formidable opponent, no question about it. His death by suicide was a tragedy. I wish he would have hung around a lot longer.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).