Alan Peppard

The Dallas Cowboys' 1990s "Triplets" were reunited last Thursday over steaks and poker at Del Frisco's steakhouse in North Dallas. The occasion was an event called "Prime Steaks and High Stakes," donated as an auction item at last year's Cattle Baron's Ball by Del Frisco's boss Dee Lincoln.

Ed Ewing, who lost his daughter to cancer, made a $120,000 donation to the American Cancer Society at the Cattle Baron's auction to dine with former Cowboys Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Daryl "Moose" Johnston.

After dinner, when the group sat down for a game of no-limit, Texas hold 'em poker, former wide receiver Michael Irvin walked in, making the Troy-Emmitt-Michael triplet reunion complete.

Dee and her chef, David Holben, laid out a four-course dinner of cold-water Australian lobster tails, prime steaks and high-dollar wine.

Also joining the "Prime Steaks and High Stakes" evening was Cowboys VP Stephen Jones, a.k.a. Jerry Jones' No. 1 son.

Any player or agent preparing to negotiate a contract with Stephen should be advised: As the clock ticked toward midnight, the two remaining poker players were Emmitt Smith and Stephen.

As we know, Emmitt hates to lose. Not only is he the NFL's all-time rushing leader, three-time Super Bowl winner and a Super Bowl MVP, but he also took the trophy on the third season of Dancing With the Stars .

But Thursday night, when the last cards were dealt and the final pot was won, it was Stephen Jones who walked away the winner.

For those who've been impressed by the great leaps forward the Dallas Museum of Art has made in the last decade, Saturday night's Art Ball at the DMA felt like a bittersweet rendition of "Hello, I Must Be Going."

Joining the gala's mother-daughter co-chairs, Peggy and Jacquelin Sewell, to greet the black-tie crowd was the DMA's outgoing director Dr. Jack Lane.

Last year, Jack announced he would be leaving the DMA. He will depart at the end of May and be replaced by the museum's deputy director, Bonnie Pittman.

Among the nearly 800 people at the Art Ball were some with ties to the Dallas Museum of Art dating back decades.

Mary Noel Lamont attended with her husband, Bill. During the height of McCarthyism, Mary Noel's parents, Lupe and John D. Murchison, co-founded the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, a cutting-edge home for contemporary art in what was then a culturally tepid town.

In 1963, the DMCA merged with the Dallas Museum of Art, providing the core of the DMA's contemporary collection.

Other Art Ball guests included DMA benefactors Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, oil woman and hotelier Caroline Rose Hunt, former DMA board president Deedie Rose and Sotheby's chairman Warren Weitman.