Since my wife and I usually keep the house at a cool 74, the poker players essentially walked into a sauna every time we played
I’m abysmal at poker. Despite having played for some time, I just can’t master my poker face. Despite my acting failures, I still host a monthly poker night at my family’s home. After years of losing disastrously to my various relatives, inspiration struck one night when it was particularly warm in our bonus room. The HVAC system had been acting up, and the room where we played was warmer than usual. Even the people with the best poker faces couldn’t contain their discomfort at the warmth of the room. It distracted them; they were so busy worrying about the sweat stains under their arms that their faces betrayed their hands. I betted accordingly, and for the first time, I was the victor of poker night! Although an HVAC technician came out the next day, diagnosing and repairing our leaky air ducts, I decided that I would be turning up the heat in the bonus room on poker nights going forward. I told my relatives that I was keeping my thermostat at a higher temperature to maintain energy efficiency, and to reduce my cooling system’s impact on my electric bill. They all seemed to understand, but their respective games were absolutely impacted by the lack of cool air in the room. Before each game, I placed my hand over the vents in the bonus room to make sure they weren’t blowing any cool air, and I double-checked the thermostat to ensure that the bonus room zone was set to 78 degrees. Since my wife and I usually keep the house at a cool 74, the poker players essentially walked into a sauna every time we played. The discomfort of the climate impacted almost everyone’s play, and as a result, I won more often. I was also more confident, knowing that I held the reins to the comfort of the rest of the group.