Member-only story
The Dark Side of Pogs
Pogs brought a lot of joy but also caused a lot of pain
From the outside looking in, people see 20 to 30 kids squatting on the blacktop, yelling in excitement -and disappointment- as they play a game.
And if you don’t see this scene often, it may seem like someone started an illegal Chinese casino in the 1800s on the schoolyard.
But it’s the mid-90s. And these schoolchildren aren’t technically gambling. They’re playing Pogs.
As you scan through the crowd, you’ll notice an intense game happening in the middle of the crowd.
It’s a 1-on-1 match and each player has to put in three Pogs, and one of them has to be a shiny one. They’re also playing with no slammer and the game is for keeps.
The first player slams the stack with all of his might. More than half of the Pogs flip over.
He smirks while his opponent is on the verge of crying.
His opponent takes his turn but only flips over one of the Pogs.
As he grabs his single winning, his eyes tear up more.
A few minutes have passed. They are on the final Pog of the stack now and both players are struggling to flip it.
