 |
| "The Poker Game" | |
|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman |
| Written by | Dan Gregor & Doug Mand |
| Original air date | October 14, 2013 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"The Poker Game" is the fifth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother , and the 189th episode overall.
On Friday at 6:00 PM, 48 hours before the wedding, Barney, Ted, Robin, Lily, James, Marshpillow, Tim Gunn, Ranjit, and Billy Zabka continue to play poker. All but Barney, Robin, James, Billy Zabka, and Ranjit fold before long. During the later stages of the game, Robin dares James to wager his own wedding ring over his frequent jabs against getting married. Robin wins the ring, but James later brings in his mother Loretta into the mix to try forcing her to give it back. As a result, Barney is caught between siding with his mother and brother or Robin (who defeats Loretta in a round of strip poker and gets her special blouse). Lily counsels him that in a marriage, the husband always stands by the wife. This prompts Barney to declare that he's severing his ties to James and Loretta after realizing that they're both selfish, but claims Robin ordered it so.
Lily is visibly displeased at Ted's plans to give Barney and Robin three wedding gifts. Future Ted says her anger stemmed from Ted's apparent failure to give them a wedding gift six years before; Marshall repeatedly signaled Ted about it ever since (even as he was about to marry Stella). When Ted is questioned about the present, he insists that he sent them a coffeemaker as his gift but also dropped his own hints for Marshall to acknowledge it. Lily discovers that Ted never got a thank-you note because Stuart passed it off as his present; he claims the item further strengthened his marriage to Claudia. Ted reconciles with Marshall by placing an order with their old Chicago pizza haunt Gazzola's and having a delivery man send it to Marshall as he and Daphne pass through Chicago. Future Ted then reveals he received a thank-you note from Marshall four months later.
Loretta lets Robin keep the blouse, but warns that she's not yet finished with her.
The A.V. Club 's Donna Bowman graded the episode a B+, stating that weddings will always have something that offends some of your loved ones. She hinted however, that the ending may set the stage for a bigger showdown between Robin and Loretta later in the season. [1]
Bill Kuchman of Popculturology praised the episode for its flashbacks to the show's past, calling the Katie Holmes as the Slutty Pumpkin cameo a "nice callback to HIMYM's history." [2]
Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode a 7.3/10 rating saying it "made good use of flashbacks, but nevertheless felt a bit stagnant." [3]
"The Final Page" is an hour-long episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. It aired in two half-hour episodes on December 17, 2012.
"Gary Blauman" is the 21st episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 205th episode overall.
"The Bro Mitzvah" is the 22nd episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 182nd episode overall.
"Romeward Bound" is the 21st episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 181st episode overall.
"Something New" is the 24th and final episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 184th episode overall. This was the episode that finally introduced the titular character of the Mother, played by Cristin Milioti.
"The Locket" is the first episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 185th episode overall.
"The Broken Code" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 188th episode overall.
"Last Time in New York" is the third episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 187th episode overall.
"The Lighthouse" is the eighth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 192nd episode overall.
"Mom and Dad" is the tenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 194th episode overall.
"Platonish" is the ninth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 193rd episode overall.
"Bedtime Stories" is the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 195th episode overall.
"The Rehearsal Dinner" is the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 196th episode overall.
"Unpause" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 199th episode overall. This is also the episode where Ted's future children's names are finally revealed; the daughter's name is Penny and the son is Luke.
"Slapsgiving 3:Slappointment in Slapmarra" is the fourteenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 198th episode overall. The episode's name is a reference to "The Appointment in Samarra", a fable by W. Somerset Maugham based on an ancient Mesopotamian story about the inevitability of death.
"Rally" is the eighteenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 202nd episode overall.
"Sunrise" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 201st episode overall.
"Vesuvius" is the nineteenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 203rd episode overall. The episode features Ted in 2024, telling the Mother about the day of Robin and Barney's wedding. The final scene prompted some to think that the Mother was dead; this was proven correct in the series finale, "Last Forever".
"Daisy" is the twentieth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 204th episode overall. It was written by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, directed by Pamela Fryman, and aired on March 10, 2014.
