em ustang!

Poker has been one of my favorite, if occasionally expensive, recreational activities since I went on assignment to South Africa in 1996 and came across some truly serious players, including my continuing poker mentor, Tom Cohen.

There is a tacit etiquette to social poker that is absorbed rather than learned, I guess, and it is particular to each game's host, and the circus of players. It adds that unique feel to every poker night that feeds your appetite and keeps you coming back no matter how many tragic hands you've dropped or how much of your own hard-earned currency walks out with a new owner.

I'm lucky enough to have been adopted into a ring of poker maniacs, all locals, here in Mexico City and our weekly games have become a highlight for me. I brought my little Leica to one of the first games I was invited to and did some tabletop shooting that yielded some really atmospheric pics. I revisited them this week just to practice some Photoshop techniques and thought this one came up well. The title, "em ustang!"is how one of our crew has taken to calling a Hold 'Em variation I imported from my Washington DC games, called Mustang Sally. It's become a favorite with the crew as it gives you the chance to play either the five cards you're dealt or just two with the table cards, as in regular Hold 'Em. I think the cartoon treatment goes well with the outsized behavior during our games.