The "Friendly" Poker Game: A Study of an Ephemeral Role

Twice monthly for one year the author attended the “friendly” poker games of a group which had played twice monthly for more than ten years. Players' role expectations are discussed, as are formal and informal group-maintaining norm systems, criteria for selecting and socializing a “new man,” and the process of leaving the group. Personal interactions before, during, and after the poker game are sketched, emphasizing the social-psychological benefits. The “friendly game” is seen to present each player with an “ephemeral role” which affords satisfactions limited or impossible in the social world “outside.”