The Gambling Joint

I started Kung Fu lessons about a month ago. The Kung Fu studio is just down the street, beside the Blockbuster and above a drapery shop. The instructor and his wife live in the hood. They seem like nice people. They are certainly enthusiastic about helping people get fit. They are open every night till about 9 pm, so I thought I found myself a work out studio to practise my form and movements.

Today, on the way home, a neighbour invited me in for tea. He brought out some cards and we played poker. I told him I had just come from the Kung Fu studio down the street. He said,

- Oh, that gambling joint.

- What do you mean?

- They play poker there every Wednesday night.

- Get out. I can't believe that. It's a Kung Fu studio. Where do they play?

So he described the studio exactly and said they played in the sitting room.

- Who organizes the gambling? I queried.

- The owner of the Kung Fu studio. I forget his name.

- Big C?

- That's it.

- I can't believe that. Is that how he keeps the studio alive?

- I don't think so. I've been there three times and I've never seen him win.

So my neighbour described how the gambling works. Turns out it's just a harmless game of neighbourhood guys getting together to play for fun. You put $20 in the pot when you enter and the winners share the pot. That means you never lose more than $20. There are about 15 people who go regularly, but only about 6 to 8 show up each week.

So it's not a big gambling ring. But that Kung Fu master of mine, living the seedy life behind his students' back.