This is one of the best new commune threads I've seen in some time.

The game thing is interesting because there is such a wide base. I would never play poker with a friend who doesn't know, and doesn't care because it would be boring, and they wouldn't play for enough $$ to mater (i.e. I walk away up $25, big woop). So yeah, diversify into something with more luck maybe? I started playing Settlers with my GF using 2 player rules adjustments. I won like the first 12 games and she was mad (probably more competitive than me), but learned and adjusted. Now if I lose it's because the strategy she chose paid off, so what is there to be mad about?

Untouched in the discussion so far is team sports. Kind of like a luck based game the outcome is not completely under your control, you only have the knowledge that you maximized your positive effect on the game and minimized the negative. Winning/losing is second to this (in my mind).

All that being said, games that are all luck (e.g. Sorry) are boring to me because it's basically a social filler.

Side note, last time I visited my mom a family friend brought over some domino style game I had never heard of (for 10 and up!). To allow max people to play we teamed up, I was with my gf. We were analyzing the board and the rules and ran over the table. The family friends were like "we usually play for fun and don't think about it so much", we were like "whatchagonnado".

P.S. Good luck with the love life JKDS. Sorry people are stupid (referring to the general public, not your bf)