Nothing on the telly, so ....
My formative years were fairly dull in sexual terms. There were a few typical childhood games - 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours' etc, but nothing more. My home was not the sort where we wandered about naked in the house - not that there was any big deal over it - just that no-one did it!
I suppose then that my interest in playing strip poker is nothing more than a slight twist on most people's fantasies of being naked with a group of people - a fantasy some fulfil and others shy away from as soon as the opportunity arises (or maybe it's the arising that puts some guys off!).
I had played a couple of one on one strip card games with girls, but they were more an aid to seduction than anything. Looking back, it would probably have been just as easy to get them naked with flowers and romantic fumblings - they were willing enough - but I guess the sense of fun in the game inspired me. Most of these games got to the point of us both being naked and just moved directly into sex - a means to an end.
So by the age of 21, I was a fairly open minded student, but with no great record of public exposure. Until that one night in March.
We were all students, and so had no money. We had bought several bottles of very cheap wine, enjoyed a meal and were relaxing with soft rock music in the background, joss sticks smouldering and low lighting sitting in a bedsit which had never been designed for four adults to sit in close proximity.
With me was a girl with whom I had always got on well. We enjoyed each others company and often got together for sex on a fairly casual basis. It was understood that this was not a permanent relationship - we just liked each others company and felt good together. In time, we would find people for more permanent attachments - but this was the 1980s - and we were young. The other couple had been partners for some time. Both were very easy going and though they were close, there was always the feeling that one day, one of them would have to stop being an old hippy and grow up. In fact, she eventually joined the police force - it split them forever.
We sat around chatting, joking, brushing against each other in the confined space and getting slightly high on the wine and the atmosphere. Steph (my companion) had been idly flicking and shuffling the pack of cards I kept on my bedside table - she was one of those irritating people who seems able to manipulate cards as thought they are glued to her hands. As conversation waned, the rest of us became mesmerised by her dexterity. Chris was the first to comment - 'You've done that before - pass them here.'
Steph handed them over, and Chris began to let cards stream across the gap between his hands, shuffled them seamlessly, split the pack and picked two aces off the top. It was impressive - and very cool. Belinda looked up. 'He sits doing that for hours. It's all he can do. If he could do anything else we wouldn't always be so bloody short of money.'
'Not fair', said Chris - 'I'm a bloody great card player. Anyone fancy a few hands? Got some matches over there - I'll prove it.'
My silence throughout this may be noticeable. I have no pretensions of being a great card player, but I will go along with the group. So long as I wasn't going to lose the money which I didn't have - that was fine.
So cards were dealt. Chris gradually proved his point - he was winning easily, and soon had quite a collection of matches in front of him. The girls decided coffee was needed, and while Steph went to the kitchen, Belinda visited the bathroom. Chris looked across at me. 'Well - what do you reckon? We know we can beat them - d'you reckon they might want to play for clothes after losing all the matches?.' My stomach did a small somersault. Both girls were attractive and vivacious - it would be good to see them naked - but there was always the risk of losing. But if I lost - so what - I am told that I have nothing to ashamed of in that department, and Steph had seen it all before anyway. I smiled and Chris got up and left the room. Clearly he needed to agree this with Belinda first - then she would sort it out with Steph. A few minutes later, they all returned with big grins, making it clear that it was 'Game On.'
'Ok - simple rules - we start again with the matches. If anyone wants to withdraw, that's fine - but they have to leave the room till the others finish the game. Once you run out of matches, it's 5 matches for one item of clothing. Shoes and socks count as one item.' Steph seemed to know the script!
'And when someone's naked?' I asked with trepidation.
'Forfeits of course - or they can go withdraw and go downstairs'
I was relieved we could leave at any point. I felt that the girls would probably be willing to go to their underwear, but no further - both were quite shy by nature - Chris and I would probably go naked, but nothing else - and strategic hand placement would cover us up anyway!
The matches were distributed and the cards dealt. We carried on drinking and over the next half hour or so, my pile of matches began to disappear - as did Steph's and Belinda's. Chris was good. We kept drinking and laughing - who would be first to lose something, was it fair that the girls had so much more of interest than the lads? In fairness, they had a good point. Steph had ample breasts, with large, well defined, dark nipples which became prominently erect as she got excited or cold (at that time, I had a quick look - maybe she was cold - but I thought not!). Belinda's breasts were small, but I guessed they were well formed. I had never seen them before.
