About six years ago a few friends and I started playing poker on regular basis. Over the years the venue has changed as we’ve all moved around the Twin Cities. Other friends have joined the game and some have left (leaving their money behind ). Still, the core group of us who started this regular ritual has remained in tact… until now.

One of the original and founding memebers, Colin, is moving on to “greener” pastures- Boston, MA. Last week, we had our last game together. We invited most everyone who has ever played with us to his final game but, for various reasons and somewhat fittingly, the only ones to make it were the usual suspects.

Knowing how much Colin loved our games and how much he’s going to miss them, I took the opportunity to capture the essence of our games in Troy’s garage. I’d always wanted to photograph our poker games and this gave me the perfect reason. I compiled a few of the best and descriptive photos into a story board, had the usual suspects sign it, and framed it as a going-away present for him. I’m fairly certain it’s not going to be found on a wall in the living room of their new house, but I assume he’ll have a “man cave” and it should go quite well there!

Here are some of my fave shots from that night…

 

We’ll miss you, Colin! Good luck in Beantown! You’ll always have a chip and a chair here in Troy’s Garage!

You learn something new every day…

In the game of life, good friends are hard to come by. And when you’re lucky enough to find one, treasure the moments you have with them because you never know how long they’ll be around.

In the game of Omaha, every starting hand is a good one… except four-of-a-kind in the hole!