The Championship Trophy
The No Ante Cup
The big one. Win the game, get the engraving, hold the trophy — and the title — for one full year.
About the Group
Since 1985
Some friendships are maintained over dinner. Ours is settled over cards.
It started in Palo Alto in 1985 — a borrowed table, a case of beer, and an argument about whether aces could be wild that has technically never been resolved. What began as a card game became the fixed point of the calendar: once a year, from wherever life has scattered us, the group comes back to the table.
About forty games in, it has outlasted companies founded and sold, knees replaced, and more bad beats than anyone agrees on. The stakes have never really been the money. They're the engravings — three trophies that carry more weight than any of us will admit out loud.