The Poker Game

[Kelly] All right you guys we're here to play poker. Let's  go. How much you want, Norm? [Norm] Ah, give me 40 bucks worth. [Norm] What's the rush, Kelly, you got a broad lined up later?  [Kelly] Well the game can't last all night. You want me to get you one? [Norm] Ahh, you know me Kelly, the wife's the only one. [Bill] Ah, Kelly feels that way too. [Norm] Yeah? [Bill] Anybody's wife. [Johnny] Right, pick 'em when they're ripe. Waste not, want not. [Kelly] That's right. Hey Stu, come on, let's go. [Kelly] Ah, while you're here, friend, remember, this ain't integrated housing. [Kelly] Just tell folks youse a Mexican. [Stu] Oh si, senor. [Kelly laughs] [Johnny] Start me off with 20, would ya? [Ken] Yeah, I'll have 25. [card shuffle] [Johnny] Look, ah, can anybody get a drink around here? [Kelly] Yeah, right at the bar. [Kelly] Wha - get one for me while you're up there. [Johnny] Okay, how about you guys? Same? [Bill] I'll just have a beer. [Norm] Yeah, please. [Johnny:] Yeah, well what about you Spanish Rose? A little tequila? [Stu] Another soda and scotch, Senor. What is your name? [Johnny] Johnny. As in Johnny Walker. As in Jack Daniels. [Kelly] Your deal, Stu. [Bill] Ah, I'll just take 10 for now, Kell. [Kelly] Oh, you're really plunging in there tonight, huh Bill! [Stu] Let me have 25 to start. [Kelly] Okay. [Stu] Is five-card stud okay? [Norm] Yeah well listen, let's uh let's skip the three raise limit, keep the game interesting. [Ken] Oh come on, Norm, nobody's got as much money as you. Let's just keep it friendly, what do you say? Okay, Ken baby, but I'm gonna clean you either way. [Man] Heh, heh, heh. [Don] Hi, is this the poker game here? [Johnny] Hi, yeah. [Don] My name's Don. [Johnny] Oh how do you do?  Johnny. Well come on in. Can I fix you a drink? [Don] Oh, no thanks. [Johnny] Oh, all right. Well, you know our host. This is  Kelly, and uh Bill, and Norm Gordon. [Stu] Hi, Stu. [Stu] I'm Stu. This is Ken. [Don] Ken, how are you? Good to see you. [Ken] How are you? [telephone rings] [Kelly] Any friend of John's. [telephone rings] Hello? Yeah, he's here Margaret, just a second. Ken, it's  for you. It's your wife. [Ken] Gee, thanks Kell. Yes, Margaret? Yes, well don't get upset about it. Why don't you call Barbara? Yeah, well maybe he's at Harold's. Well, don't get hysterical. Look, I'll talk to you later. Yeah, alright. [Stu] Come on, that's enough socializing for now, gentlemen. The game is five card stud. [laughter] Hold onto your hats, 'cause we're going under a low bridge. You got a problem, Ken? [Ken] No, no, it's Robert. He joined the SFL. He went to a meeting to protest the draft tonight, you know. I told him to stay away from those people, get a haircut and a shave or lose his car allowance. Oh, ho, that's tellin' 'im. [Ken] Well, he's in my house, he's gonna obey my rules, that's all. [Stu] And what did Bob say? It wasn't a discussion. [Stu] Where is he now? He left the house, Margaret's hysterical, thinks he's gonna be gone for good. He's probably around the corner at some girlfriend's house. Well I hope he gets some sympathy. You don't think you should be with her?  [Ken] Unh uh. Go ahead, deal. [Stu] Don, don't I know you from somewhere? [Don] I don't know, I work the coffee shops around the campus, you know. [Stu] That's it, you're a comic. [Don] Right. [Ken] A hippie, eh? Well, a rose by any other name. You know, I think that's unfortunate, that reference to smelling as sweet. As far as hippies are concerned. Hey, you know, I can play some other night. [Kelly] Sit down, sit down, rest, play the game. [Kelly] Ken is only joking - come on Ken. [Johnny] Yeah, what's the matter with you, Ken, did you catch his act or something? [Ken] No, there's nothing personal about it. I just object to the poisoning of young people's minds that's all. That's what they said about Socrates. And you know what happened to him, don't you? They killed 'em. ["Insight" theme music] "Insight" - stories of spiritual conflict in the 20th century. ["Insight" theme music] "Insight" ["Insight" theme music] It's sometimes difficult to face reality.   Especially the reality about ourselves. Yet we die inside unless we do. Why are we so afraid to be ourselves? Because somehow or other we've gotten the idea that we're evil. We don't like what we feel we are and so we spend all kinds of time and energy running away. Different people do this in different ways. Some people refuse to feel. They exclude from consciousness any unpleasant emotion. Other people build false fronts to deceive other people and themselves. Still others have to constantly prove to themselves that they're not as bad as they think they are. The man who lives for money, who must have power, who feels the need to constantly demonstrate his  sexual prowess is doing this, he's running away from himself. Are we really that bad? I don't think so. Sure we all have problems. But with the time and energy we spend running away, we could easily solve those problems and become the kinds of persons we want to be. [Johnny] Well, I tell you, I can't get a hand if my life depended on it. [Ken] I thought your kings would hold up that time. [Johnny] Hey Don, what kind of an act do you do? [Don] Uh, I do things on newspapers, gossip, nothing heavy, just kind of funny stuff. [Kelly] What's funny nowadays, Don? [Ken] Riots in the streets. [Bill] Heh, no offense, Stu. [Norm] Kids supposed to be learning in college, attacking the people that sent 'em there. All right, ante for five card stud. [Stu] Hey, I remember, Don. I saw you at a little place over near Western Reserve. [Don] Yeah, Catalyst Coffee Shop. [Ken]  Yeah, I went to Western. It was a pretty nice school until you outside agitators started stirring up trouble. [Stu] Oh, his stuff was just funny, Ken. Heh. [Norm] Alright. [Ken] Two dollars on my queen. [Johnny] Well I fold. [Kelly] I've got a hunch I'm gonna stick. [Kelly] I'm in. [Bill] Oh yeah. [Stu] I'm out. [Norm] Two bucks for you guys to see what's behind that ace deuce. [Kelly] All right big Norm, I'm coming to get you. I'm gonna take you for your tenement houses. Your two and my two. [Norm] Oh you're gonna work hard for those tenements. There's your two, and I raise you two. [Johnny] Don, aren't you a little old for the campus circuit? I mean, face it kids don't trust anybody over 25 today. Do you trust me? Johnny? He doesn't even trust himself. But then... who does? Well can you just give me one good reason why I should trust any man? It's more fun. [Johnny] Is it? Well then things must look  very good through those rose-colored glasses. [Don] Won't you take a look? [Norm] Be careful. Johnny'll talk your ear off. He thinks too much, which causes... [Johnny] Yes, it causes me to drink too much. But Norm, these, these really work. They do. They almost make you look human. [laughs] Come on Kelly, what are you gonna do? Bet or  fold. I got you beat on the board. [Kelly] I'm coming to get you big Norm. [Stu] Well, I'm glad I folded. Oh that's right, play it nice  and careful just like your boss. You know, you two must be related, a cool and collected combo. Brothers under the skin. [Ken] Well, I wish Stu were my brother. I feel closer to him than I do my own son. [Johnny] How does your own son feel about that? Look, I'm sure Bob has his reasons for  what he does, Ken. [Ken] Reasons? For cutting classes, you mean? Marching, protesting, demonstrating?  Protesting what?! DNB, SL... don't even remember the initials. [Norm] Come on, come on. I gotta win some more  money and it's getting late. [Bill] Oh okay, I'll stay. This is done, but I'll stay one more time. [Kelly] Will somebody please whip Bill? He's getting tired doing it himself. I call you Kelly. I could raise you to the ceiling but I'll just call ya. [Kelly laughs] [Norm] Class rule out [?]. [Bill] Boy, what a jerk I am, I knew Norm had it going in. [Bill] Anyone want a... drink? [Johnny] Mmm, I'll join you. I hate to see a man drink alone. [Norm] Now you see, Kelly was hurting to win this pot. Bill, Bill just hurts, but I played it like a winner. Make a joke of that, comic. Jokes are always on the losers. How can you tell who's a loser? [Johnny] Weeelll, let's see how about a little seven card stud. That's in honor of you, Kelly. [Bill] Oh ho, see how your reputation has preceded you? [Kelly] Well if I had a wife like yours, Billy boy, I would gladly surrender my title. [Bill] Well if she was married to you, at least it would give her something to do, wondering where you were every night. Well, I would open for a half. Well and the king of spades. With a sign like that I would at least increase my bet to $2. [Ken] Oh come on, Kelly. Come on now. What? There's no offense intended. Stu's a credit to his race. Come on! Which race? I'm half-white and half-Black. [Norm] You're a sharp boy. We both study people. But I do it to make a buck. [Don] Yeah, whatever turns you on. [Norm] You Jewish? [Don] By faith or genetics? [Norm] What are you ashamed of? Why don't you cut off some of that hair and stop being a punk? [Don] Couldn't I still be a punk without all the hair? [glass clink] [Johnny] I'm sorry. [Kelly] Nice. Nice! [Johnny] I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it. [Norm] Slow down on the [...]. [Johnny] I know, I know. [Kelly] That is the second good hand that the dummy  here has lushed me out of. [Bill] Well go ahead and take it. You had me beat on the board anyway. [Ken] Hey wait a minute, Kelly. Wait a minute. Alright, just let it ride. It was a misdeal, that's all. [Kelly] I gotta make a phone call anyway. [saxophone music] [Norm] Three to one, he's calling a broad. Nothing bothers you. You remind me of my old man. [Don] I do? [Norm] He had a paper and rags truck. "Paper. Rags.  Rags. Papers." I used to ride up and down the streets with him. "Paper. Rags." Yeah? Yeah well, I can sneak out by one o'clock, huh? Ah come on Sal, what do you say? In the goy neighborhoods they'd scream at him, "Sheeny." He'd grin. "Kike." He'd grin. He bought by weight. They'd  wet the newspaper so they'd weigh more. He'd grin. [Ken] Hey, come on you guys, aren't we going to play poker? No pride, you know? I was just a kid. Scrawny, you know? But I'd get blind mad. I'd jump out of the truck. Got my head busted a couple of times. The old man says, "You didn't have to hit 'em Norman, they didn't mean no harm." Meshugana. With that idiotic grin. He loved everybody. The guys can close the place up. Come on Sal,  what do you say? Well he's out of town, right? All right, well you can try. Call me back, huh? [kiss noise] [Ken] Five-card stud, gentlemen. [Norm] Yes. Well, the IBM machine acts lucky tonight, but I'm gonna take ya Ken. [Ken] You can certainly try Norman, I know that. [Bill] I think that I could have stayed home  and watched TV with my wife. [Don] Why didn't you Bill? You know, for a comic you haven't said a funny thing all evening. It's my night off. I'm in. [Norm] Raise. [Stu] Too rich for my blood. [Kelly] It's good to know where you belong, huh baby? You bet. [telephone ring] Now will you get that Stu? Sure. [telephone ring] [Stu] Hello? Hello Margaret. Yeah, just a minute. [Stu] Hey Ken, it's Margaret. [Ken] Take a message, will you? Margaret, he's busy, can I take a - okay, hang on. [Stu] She said Bob's not at either place. She wants to know what to do. [Norm] Raise. [Ken] Tell her to go to bed. Ken says not to worry, Margaret. Yeah, I know. Try to  get some rest. I know you do. Yeah, I'll try. [Kelly] Be some fancy club we got here now fellas.  I mean we's got ourselves a darkie to answer the telephone. [Kelly] Heh, heh. I'll raise two. [Norm] See your raise, and up two. Kid, don't let Kelly ride you, stick up for yourself. [Kelly] Look who's become the civil rights worker. Pssh. [Norm] What become? I kicked in plenty to their cause, long before it was popular to do it. My Lord, on behalf of all my people, white, Black, half-white and checkerboard, I want to thank you from the bottom of our Negro or colored hearts. We are mighty beholden to you sir. [tense music] [clapping] [Norm] What kind of talk is that? A lot of my people  got pushed around helping your people. [Johnny] Oh Stu's people, your people... [Don] All God's children got people. [Kelly] Oh, you mean, all God's people got children. I got three or four myself somewhere along the way. [Bill] Yeah, you Micks. [Kelly] Well I might even be the daddy of one of Bill's babies. Huh. Right Billy Boy? The one in the middle looks a lot like Uncle Kelly. [Ken] Let's play poker, what do you say? [Kelly] Now one thing I have never done is gotten together with a Black woman. I understand that is something else again. Right, Stu? I wouldn't know.  My wife's white. [Norm] It's your bet Kelly. [Kelly] I should have gone out earlier. [Johnny] Well, I am out. Look Kelly, where do you keep the super booze? [Kelly] You know where it is, underneath the counter, baby. [Kelly] You know the lush should pace himself like I do. [Norm] Yeah. [Kelly] Of course I do have a very heavy, heavy schedule to keep up. [Norm] You gonna fold or stay? [Don] Oh, I'll go one more time. [Norm] Come on Ken, we scared away all the lightweights. Put up or shut up. I'm gonna teach you a lesson Norman. Oh you're a good poker player Kenny, you don't show anything. Me, I can't hide it. All I can do is bet heavy and push out the weak ones. [Don] Well, I push easily. [Kelly] You should have - you should have stayed. You should have bluffed those two hold cards, you would have won. If that chick I've got lined up has a friend, you want to stick around after the guys leave and have a little party? No, I'll pass. Come on, it will be a ball. No thanks. [Norm] Okay Ken baby, bet or fold boychik. And that said, I think you're bluffing. See what I'm gonna do Norman, I raise you. [Norm] That's the trouble, too much thinking and  not enough feeling. Re-raise. [Ken] I don't provoke. [telephone ring] Hello, Sal? [tense music] Yeah. Yeah, he's here, just a sec. Ken, it's your  wife again, she says it's important. [Norm] Can't you see he's in the middle of  losing a big hand? What are you doing, Ken? [Kelly] Uh, it's about his kid, some demonstration. [Ken] Alright, you take the pot. [Norm] Hey, you folded and you had me beat! [Ken] Yes, Margaret? Well, who told you? Did he understand what I said to him? Well what's he trying to do to me? Is this gratitude? He oughta let up on that kid. [Kelly] Ken, hurry it up will ya, I'm expecting a call. He's doing it just to hurt me. Now you listen to me, Margaret, he knows precisely where I stand and from now on he is on his own. [tense music] [Don] Why don't you go lay down for a while Johnny. [Johnny] No, no, it's too early. I'd just have to wake up and start all over again. [Ken] Don, what's wrong with you young  people, all of you? Right now my son is at a protest meeting against the draft and they are deliberately trying to provoke a confrontation with the police. A protest! But what reason? [Don] He thinks he has a reason. [Ken] He thinks! He doesn't know what he thinks any more. He feels he has a reason. [Johnny] Well, I feel something right now. I feel sick. [Stu] I'm gonna see if he's alright. [Ken] Now, you take Stu. He is the only young man that I know who knows where he is going and he is colored! Do you know what that means? Do you? [Ken] No. No, I don't and - and then that's what scares me. Just didn't make any sense. [Kelly] Hey, it's 12:15. Come on you guys. I'm down $52, let's play poker. [Ken] All right. Deal me in. You know, I think my son could really communicate with you [tense music] [Norm] Raise. [jazzy music] [Ken] Oh boy. [Don] Norm, what happens to you inside when you win? What makes it all so important to you? [Norm] That's a dumb question. It's important because that's what it's about. [Don] Suppose you lost this hand or some big business deal. Would you be a different person? Yeah, I'd be a loser. [Kelly] 130, big winner. What's he telling you funny man, how much he gave to the UJA last year? [Norm] Deal, ladies man. [Stu] Now come on fellas let's play cards. [Ken] You know Stu, I think I'd better go down there. [Johnny] Why don't you? Why? [Kelly] The name of the game gentlemen is five-card showdown. [Norm] Kelly, I hate showdown. [Ken] Why Norm? Because you can't bluff? [Kelly] $5 for the pot, $10 for the highest spade, excuse the expression Stu. Oh come on Kelly! You can't offend me racially. Why don't you just stop the stale jokes? [Kelly] At last we speak up! You know, underneath all your people are militants. [Don] His people, your people.  What happened to all God's people? [Kelly] You haven't said anything funny all night! And you have never said anything colored. [Stu] Well I say things "blight" - that's a cross between black and white. [Norm] Black, white, come on and deal. I'm interested in your green. [Ken] I accept Stu as the equal of anybody here. [Johnny] Yes. But does Stu accept us? Did anybody ever ask him? Don I know you look through rose-colored glasses  but everything you're looking at is really gray. It is, it's just gray. That's why I look through these glasses. [Don] How about no glasses at all? Why not just look at life straight ahead? Oh no, I like it this way. Do you really? [Kelly] Last card, gentlemen. Hold onto your hats. [Norm] Showdown. You sit like a jerk waiting. There's no betting. There's no kick in winning this. [Kelly] Anybody beat his high spade and pair of queens? What am I doing playing poker with a bunch of bums for when I coud get some real action on the phone. [Norm] Come on, come on, deal. Deal. [Bill] We got all night, Norm. Why should I rush to the disaster? Why don't you just take a positive attitude, eh? Why don't you let your son take his positive attitude? Why don't you mind your own business? Go ahead and deal. My son's a fool. You can ask anybody. [Don] Is he Stu? [Stu] No. He's no fool. He's doing something he believes in, he's not a fool. [Ken] Oh come on Stu. You and I never acted this way in college. [Stu] Well things have changed! We were in school, we never asked questions. I stopped asking questions when I was three years old. If you don't make waves, no one will ask whether you're white or Black. If you're quiet enough, they'll trust you. [Ken] Well I trust you. [Stu] Do you Ken? [Ken] Yeah! [Stu] I hope so, 'cause I'm just so tired of being, just being... [Don] A test case. [Stu] That's it! A test case. You know the anthropologists say that in a few years it - there won't be any more Black and white. Or red or yellow. That the whole human race will just breed out brown. Well I'm there now. And the human race isn't ready for me. [Ken] I think that's the most sensible attitude you can take. [Stu] Then I would rather be foolish. I'd rather be like your son! I'd rather have something to smile about like your father! Losers. [tense music] [phone dial] Hey Ellie. Hi, it's your lover man. You're putting me on. Kelly. Hey, how about getting into a cab and coming over here, huh? Oh come on Ellie, it's just a couple of guys  playing poker, huh. Look, I can get rid of 'em. Ellie, you got to try. Ellie, I don't want to spend tonight alone, huh. [saxophone music] [phone hanging up] [Kelly] All right, deal. I'm the biggest loser,  I got the biggest expenses. [Bill] You got the date, huh? [Kelly snaps] Why couldn't I be a simple animal like Kelly? Or a simple animal like me. Or a simple animal like Norm. Don, what kind of simple animal are you? Let's find out. [tense music] [Don] Well gentlemen, that makes me even for the evening. [Norm] Play all night just to break even? Big deal. [Don] I enjoyed meeting all you guys. Now, we gonna become a joke in one of your routines? You want to be a joke? [Bill] What difference does it make what I want? [Kelly] Hey, how about canceling the five dollar limit, eh? [Norm] Good, good. [telephone rings] [Kelly] That's my date. [Ken] I don't understand you Stu, you've changed. [Stu] No, you understand me. I am just like you. Right? Pleasant and phony. I guess underneath it all, we're all phonies. Yeah, Margaret. Ken, it's for you again, your wife. Don't you call me a phony. Do you wanna hear my civil rights record? I've been hiring you boys for years. But if you were, Norman, it's because us "boys" work cheaper. When did he call? Is it serious? Did he see a doctor? No, Margaret, I will not call a lawyer. And as far as I'm concerned, he can spend the night in jail. It'll do him good! [Bill] We're all for civil rights. I got my lumps in those marches. [Kelly] You like to get lumps, that is your  problem. You didn't do it for any nigger. [Norm] You gonna take that from him? Hey, did you hear what he called you? [Ken] What's the matter with you? Have you all gone crazy? You wouldn't be here if we weren't. Keep out of this, drunk. Yes, you're bloody right I am, and that's how I keep out of it. [Ken] You know violence is not gonna solve anything. Then what are you rapping your kid for? He's against violence! Against violence? He had his head smashed in by the police  and he's in a jail for assault! [Norm] Come on, let's get back to the game. [Johnny] No. Nope, not I. I'm getting sick and tired of watching Bill steal from the bank. What'd you say Johnny? Uh, come on, come on. He's just drunk. [Norm] No, no. Johnny's right. He bought 10 bucks worth of chips from the bank and he's been losing consistently. You've been stealing chips from the bank. You back 'em with cash right now. [Bill] You know I'm good for it, Kelly. [Norm] You know better than that. Back 'em with cash now! [Bill] You know, you're the worst kind of drunk. You don't pass out quickly [Don] All right, wait a second, that's no way to settle anything now. [Bill] What business is it of yours? [Don] I think it's everybody's business. [Bill] Yeah, who invited you in here? You come in here digging at us, ripping us apart. [Ken] We've never had anything like this happen at our poker parties. [Stu] Yeah I remember, that was your thing in that coffee house. That is what you used to do. Talk in circles. Make people uptight with each other. Is that your thing, man? Making people mad at themselves? [Norm] I thought you invited a better class of people, Kelly. [Kelly] I didn't invite him, man. [Bill] You're making the problems. [Norm] Why don't you get out of here, huh? Go on, get out, you lousy troublemaking punk with that silly grin. Go on, get out! [Stu] Why don't you leave people alone! Hey, why don't you leave me alone! [blows] [Johnny] NO, DON'T! [Johnny] Well if you wanted to harm him, you  did. But he didn't do any harm. All he did was hold up a mirror. And you didn't like what you saw. Come on, Don. [Don breathing and groaning] [Johnny] Don, they really didn't know what they were doing. [Johnny] Forgive us. [drum beat] [door shutting] [lyrical music] [Narrator] "Insight" is a production of the Paulist Fathers, a group of Catholic priests who serve their God by serving those outside their church. [lyrical music]