User Reviews

Al invites Steve to a poker game with him and his male buddies. Garrett Morris plays one of them and the same guys usually appear later on in other episodes. In this episode, Steve thinks he's got the game down so he joins when one of the guys has to leave to take his wife to the ballet. Then the armpit noises come and some crude jokes, anyway Steve plays the game and loses his mortgage payment in the process to Al who wants to buy an expensive fishing pole. When Steve has to explain to Marcy, he has to do it all night along. When he finally tells her, it's up to Al to help his friend out in a tight situation. What would Al do if had kept or returned the money? It's the principal of gambling. If you can't afford to lose it, you shouldn't gamble in the first place.

The writers of Married With Children reveal a winning hand with The Poker Game, possibly my favourite episode of the first season.

It begins with Peg trying to choose numbers for the lottery: "I need something closer to twenty," Peggy declares. "Yeah, so do I," replies Al in the first funny exchange of the episode. Al, however, thinks he has a better way of winning the cash he needs for his new fishing rod: a game of poker with his pals. Inviting Steve along for the evening, Al convinces his neighbour - a non-gambler - to take part in the game, and winds up winning Steve's half of that month's mortgage payment. Marcy will not be pleased.

This one features lots of snappy dialogue, with the best line coming from Al while he is serving a battle-axe at the shoe shop: "I want something that goes with this dress," the customer says. Al's reply: "A bubbling cauldron". It might not seem that funny in writing, but trust me, Ed O'Neill's delivery is priceless.

N.B. This episode is also notable for the total absence of Kelly and Bud.