In the area around Schönbuch, south of Stuttgart, a Sunday visit to church in the 1960s went without saying for young and old. That’s where Horst was to be found every Sunday listening to the sermon of the village vicar. After the ceremony, Horst and his school friends quickly dedicated themselves to more earthly pleasures. The outer wall of the church was the playing field of the little gang who regularly gathered there to play ‘pitching pennies’. The game is well known everywhere with different names in different regions.  The point of the game is to throw a coin towards a wall, so that it lands as close to the wall as possible. Horst proved to be a skilful player and often wended his way home with a grin on his face and a bounty of 15 pfennigs in his pocket.

Last but not least the remarkable thing about ‘pitching pennies’ is the combination of luck and skill that also characterize poker. At that time came to know the happiness involved when you defeat someone and win money from him or her, a feeling that everyone who is infected with the game virus will be able to understand. Naturally, at that time it wasn’t the amount of money won, which was just peanuts,  but victory itself that was the decisive factor.