By John Hertz (reprinted from Vanamonde 1254): In college I was a very popular and much-sought-after Poker player. There’s only one way to be a v.p.a.m.s.a. Poker player. Eventually I realized I could change this by studying the odds and developing skill, but other things attracted my attention and I left off. That crowd thought Spade Mariah and Anaconda wild games. I came to L.A. in time for the great L.A. S-F Society Poker days of Double Jesus, Ha-Ha Herman, and Soft Shoe (where you could shuffle off to bluff a low – which Mike Glicksohn called “one of the finest puns of this or any year”, Van 472).
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In the same issue, changing the subject as is easy in a fanzine published every week, John gives this 5-7-5-7-7-syllable acrostic.
Mollification
Amazes those who thought they’d
Zeroed out their lives.
Even we who only watch
Doubt no more honey from weeds.
To be specific, the 5-7-5-7-7 form is known as a tanka—a Japanese-derived form, like haiku.