Dead Man's Hand

by Steven Meehan

  For a second I thought I had rattled him as I thought perhaps confusion crossed his brow. But as quickly as the expression had appeared it was gone. Why had my compliment gotten a reaction, when my attempt to poke the proverbial bear went unnoticed? I guess the man had expected anything but a sincere compliment. After another moment Tyson nodded in acknowledgement before placing his neat little stack of chips into the pot. Immediately Kelly picked up one of her own chips as she considered her own decision.

  I couldn’t help but wonder why the blinds themselves had yet to knock someone out; they were large enough, fifty and twenty-five thousand respectively. But as I had told Allison, everyone was getting a turn courting luck at this table. Thus the money simply kept getting passed around, which didn’t seem to be happening at any of the other tables. They were eliminating players, but for some reason this one seemed unable to do so. Taking another look around, I counted only three remaining tables.

  When a table lost too many players to continue, it was removed and the players were lead to other tables. The magic number for this consolidation seemed to be five. Once a table dropped to five or fewer the remaining players were asked to pick up their chips and follow their guides to their new table. But for some reason there had been no additions to our table. I couldn’t think of a single reason why we were being ignored.

  As I was thinking about this Kelly tossed her blind into the pot. She had presumably been annoyed by Tyson’s remark and decided to throw her chips right at his carefully crafted stack. She must have thought that would at least annoy him, since she was sporting a smirk on her face. Tyson completely ignored the little tantrum. It had been a very childish thing to do, but that was Kelly’s style. She was as bombastic as anyone I had ever met. You could either ignore her or give as good as she dished out. I had been returning her behavior in kind but Tyson’s approach seemed to work better, as much as I hated to admit it. The man was like a piece of stone, just sitting there waiting for his hand.

  As the cards began their journey across the table, my attention was drawn towards the newest dealer. Our first dealer had left shortly before I eliminated William and then we once again received a new dealer just a couple hands ago. It seemed that Dempsey liked to keep his players strung out while his dealers remained fresh. After almost five hours I was really wishing for a break, the adrenaline I was making would only do so much for me before it would be wise for me to stop taking it.

  The thought of asking about a break had been awfully tempting right up until the moment when some other poor fool asked the question. After I saw what had happened to him, I was thankful I had kept my mouth shut and very happy I had learned how to produce certain chemicals, like caffeine and adrenaline. That newbie had indeed been given a break, only it was a more permanent one. He had been escorted up into the stadium and his chips were promptly distributed around his table. Looking up into the stadium anyone could tell who it had been, since he was sitting all alone, hate filling his eyes.

  The only benefit to the situation that I could think of was that with the majority of the players drawing towards a state of exhaustion or overstimulation, mistakes would be more easily made, either bad betting or obvious cheating. Combine that with fresh dealers and the game would soon be approaching its conclusion. Unfortunately, I was beginning to join the ranks of the over stimulated. With the use of my ready supply of stimulants, my attention span was decreasing to a state of near nonexistence. Which was why the dealer ended up having to prompt me that the bet was to me.

  With my attention back where it belonged, I bent down so that I could closely examine my cards. And as I lifted up the corners I caught sight of the king of spades and the ace of hearts. A good place to start and it looked like no one had raised the blind so I collected my bet. To my surprise both Allison and Jonathan decided to see the flop, but both seemed to be slightly apprehensive that Tyson would raise the cost. Fortunately he decided to just pay the difference and left any sort of raise to Kelly. She simply checked and the round of betting closed.

  With everyone at the table set for the flop, I gave a quick glance around the room and caught sight of a few displaced players heading our way. I silently cursed fate for not displacing them a good five minutes earlier. We were finally going to get some new blood, hopefully that would break up this five way stalemate we had going. With a closer look at the upcoming arrivals I noticed that one of them was Bella and she was watching me very intently. She looked genuinely excited and for a brief moment I wondered if it was because of me or just that she would have the chance to study her new opponents objectively.

  I returned my attention to the game just in time to see the flop. And what a beautiful sight it was, with the ace of spades alongside the eight and six of hearts. Not only had I picked up another ace I had a flush draw as well, now I just needed to study everyone else. I quickly shifted my gaze to the players and saw Tyson reach towards his pile and begin making a side stack. When he had a small pile of chips he showed them to the dealer, who announced “The opening bet is one hundred thousand.”

  “Well the flop doesn’t help me any.” Kelly announced as she promptly folded her hand, which shifted Tyson’s focus to me.

  Tyson’s decision really didn’t take all that long; he must have gotten something good on the flop. Or for all I knew he was bluffing, who could tell with body control like his? Maybe Tyson had the flush draw as well. Not for the first time I found myself wishing Tyson had some kind of tell, but once again I dismissed this useless thought as it was doing me no good. I thought about Tyson’s style of play for a bit, had he tried to bully people out? He might have, that was the problem, I just didn’t know.

  I must have been sitting there thinking longer than I realized because the next thing I knew I heard Allison say, “Those cards aren’t going to change while you sit there staring at them.

  I almost choked with the knot that ran up my throat, but I kept things smooth as far as I could tell and when I knew my voice wouldn’t crack I replied with a tone that oozed ease. “I know that, besides that’s not what I’m trying to do. Though, that certainly would be a cool trick.” The last words seemed to come out of their own volition and I cursed the mental smile it provoked. If they knew that I actually could do something like that then I would be in some serious trouble. Would I ever learn to control my tongue? I started to idly pick up a small pile of chips at my left hand and drop them in place. I had been crafting that particular tell for a while now, I was hoping it would work. I kept repeating those motions as I continued where I had left off, “I’m not hoping for a change Alison. I was just trying to decide how much I wanted to put in.”

  “And…” Jonathan prompted.

  I kept my breathing calm and deliberate, I couldn’t afford to send signals, good or bad. I had a feeling that this would be another good hand, but I have been wrong before, fortunately not yet today. “I think I’m just going to match Tyson’s price to see the turn.” I supplied as I proffered the required payment to the pot. I was working overtime to hide the concern from my face, Tyson was making me doubt my gut. In an attempt to displace my worry I looked at Allison, “You’re up Ally.”

  As she wrinkled her nose Allison was tapping the backs of her cards, and I could tell that she was pretending to be deep in thought. She eventually broke that concentration and addressed the table as a whole. “Well I have to agree with Kelly. That flop wasn’t… all I hoped it would be. But I think my hand is worth pursuing.” Fingering her pile she lifted the required amount and promptly paid to see the next card. “I guess I’ll see the turn as well.”

  “Unlike the two of you I’m not willing to stick with this garbage.” Jonathan quipped as he slid his pair of cards back to the dealer.

  “Three down and two to go.” Allison said through a wicked little grin. “I do hope you’ll provide us with an interesting card, my good sir.”

  And as if on cue the dealer burned the top card and produced another ace, the ace of spades. Which gave m
e trip aces with a king high, and with what was available, that was a very good hand to hold. I flicked my eyes over at Allison and noticed the slight gleam in her eye that she couldn’t completely cover. So far today I had learned a lot of things, but one of them had been that she was a stellar player. She wasn’t as skilled as Tyson in regard to hiding her reactions, but then, I seriously doubted any such person existed. But what she excelled at was working out the odds and knowing what the best available hands were. So, for her to be so excited, that meant she had to have the last ace, the ace of clubs. But what was her other card? That was the only mystery currently hiding behind her mannerisms.

  I turned from studying her to the cards and once again ran through what was possible at this stage of the hand. There was no chance of someone having a royal flush, though I would love to see that hand once in my life. A straight flush or even a straight were almost just as improbable to find right now. With the ace under my hand there was no way anyone could come up with four of a kind, thankfully. Unfortunately both a full house and a flush were still very much in play and either would best my trips.

  That river card was still a cause for concern, though not from Allison. She was riding the same hand I was, trip aces, at least I was pretty sure of it. She couldn’t get a flush, not with the club I was betting she held. And she wasn’t reacting like she had a pair to compliment her trip aces. She had trip aces with a high kicker, possibly even a king in her pocket. Either way, her betting would confirm her hand.

  However, Tyson was the first to make a claim, and he made quite the bet with another hundred thousand. He was being aggressive, but my first instincts had played exceptionally well for me today so I raised him, bringing the new price tag for the river up to one hundred and fifty thousand. Let us all see just how in love you are with that hand, Tyson. Everyone turned to look at Allison, who, without hesitation, reached for her own chips and calmly made her choice clear. “Well, I think I’m just going to have to raise you both let’s say, double. Three hundred thousand dollars to stay in and see the river.”

  As Tyson sat there thinking over the bet she flashed us both a smile that seemed to offer greater rewards if we just submitted to her perfection. But Tyson wasn’t finished, he eventually decided not to submit and re-raised her another fifty thousand, as he slid his two hundred and fifty thousand into the pot. This left me owing an even two hundred thousand, not to mention being stuck in a very awkward position. Could Tyson have something of value? My gut still said no, but those lifeless eyes gave me pause. I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and ran through everything once again and when I opened my eyes I knew I had Tyson beat for this round. But I was uncertain about Allison. She was betting like she had the best possible hand, but that didn’t seem possible.

  Despite her betting big, I was fairly sure she didn’t have the full house so I called, presented the pot with what I owed, and waited for her to do the same. For a second it seemed like she was going to raise again, but after a moment she thought better of it and just supplied the pot with the fifty grand she owed. With the betting closed for the moment, the dealer burnt the top card and revealed the jack of diamonds.

  As I ran my right hand through my hair I began going through what possible hands could be made now. The fact that the card was a diamond denied the possibility of a flush of any kind. Since the card was a jack, it was impossible for there to be any kind of a straight. No one could have a four of a kind, not with what was in play. Could Tyson have a full house? It was possible for him to have it, the aces could be his pair. Was this the hand where my instincts fail me? No, they were right. They had to be right. And if my gut was right, that meant there was only one real possibility for Tyson, he had trips of some kind. Looking down at the small stack in front of Tyson I quickly counted. With the confidence in my instincts, I was very hopeful that I wasn’t wrong as I once again raised the pot. “Well I think I’ll go in for another two hundred thousand.”

  Allison, while not visibly staggered, wasn’t as completely sure of herself as a few moments before. She carefully counted her chips before looking back up and settling her gaze upon me. “Well if either of you fine gentlemen want to see my pair, you’ll have to match what I have left and that comes out to be two hundred and twelve thousand.”

  I looked over at Tyson and waited for his move, and was shocked when he hesitated. The stone-faced and decisive Tyson hesitated. I could see that there was a part of him that wanted to call, thinking that Allison was bluffing, but there was a larger side that wanted to protect his slightly dwindling stack. Eventually, he tossed his cards to the dealer. With Tyson out I quickly counted up the twelve thousand more that I needed and said, “Allison I’m not going to back down now. I call you.” I silently hoped that I had been absolutely correct in my read.

  With that wicked smile across her lips Allison turned over her cards as she described them to everyone, “Trip aces courting a single lady.”

  I had been right, trips with a high kicker. Too bad for her that she had missed picking up an accompanying pair. “That’s too bad Allison,” I began as I flipped my ace over to the world. I then took hold of my king and quickly turned it over as I spoke, “Because my trip aces were accompanied by a king.” When I removed my hand everyone could see my unsuited cards.”

  Her smile fell for a moment, but her eyes darkened just a hair with frustration and anger. “Of course you would have the king.” She shook her head briefly before standing up to greet her chaperones. “Oh well, the best man won. Well played Marcus, well played.”

  Looking her straight in the eyes I tried to appease her, “I am sorry you have to leave on that kind of hand.”

  Placing her hands back on the table she leaned over as far as she could all the while staring at me the way a starving eagle would look upon a field mouse. She took a calming breath before speaking, “No Marcus, you’re not sorry. You won, and that means you’re still in the tournament. You may be sorry that you won by the narrowest of margins but in the end losing is losing. It doesn’t matter how close you are.” Her look softened if only just slightly before she added, “But I do appreciate the attempt. Unfortunately, I should have followed Tyson’s lead, oh well.”

  “Not that I did it soon enough.” Tyson offered as he looked down upon his stacks of chips, now simply just a shadow of their once former glory. Not that he was in any danger of being eliminated. He still had more than what he had started the game with.

  Leveling a stare at him that could have melted stone Allison retorted, “Sorry if I don’t weep for your loss Tyson, seeing as how you’re still well established in the tournament I don’t think I’ll lose any sleep.” As the two goons began to reach for her she whirled her arms just enough to keep them from grabbing her. “I know you two are there and you can simply wait for another minute. I have no intention to distract anyone. I will make my goodbyes and then I will accompany you to my new seat.”

  She leaned over and gave Jonathan a quick hug, while she simply waved in Kelly’s general direction. She then rounded the table towards me and leaned over my shoulder to whisper, “You better not lose my money.” She gave a slight chuckle before adding, “I’m looking forward to getting it back.”

  Even though her face was out of my sight, I could hear the ever so subtle threat mixed with a promise of pleasure if I cooperated. So I just smiled and said, “I’ll do my best.”

  “That’ll do, Marcus.” And with that she turned and escorted her two goons to the audience above.

  As I collected my chips Bella came and sat down next to me and asked, “And just who was that, Marcus? I thought I was the only woman in your life today.”

  Forcing a smile onto my face, I looked over to her—she had chosen the vacant seat on my right—and told her the truth. “Her name is Allison, and unfortunately for her, she was just eliminated. And between you and me, she didn’t take it all that well. Has anyone ever told her that this is just a game?”

  “Marcus I did see the hand. B
esides how well would you have reacted if your situations had been reversed?”

  “I wouldn’t have made a veiled threat.” I replied with a shrug, “Not that I wouldn’t mind returning her entrance fee to her.” I tried to force some indifference into my voice but I was unable to keep the smile off of my face.

  Seeing the smile creeping onto my face, she started to laugh as she leaned in to ask, “So you’re going to give in to her threat?”

  Keeping my voice at a whisper I replied, “Don’t you remember what I told you about women and their money?”

  Bella’s face took on a hurt expression, she needed practice if she ever hoped for that look to fool anyone other than family. “Why are you treating her so nicely, I thought we were going to be friends?”

  Based on our limited time together I had gotten the feeling that she would have a hard time play acting like she was jealous. But here she was giving me a hard time over some other woman I had just knocked out. Was she trying to disrupt my game? She does have at least a good idea of how I feel about her, was she going to try and use that to rock my game? Go figure, I survive the tournament thus far only to go down in flames because I liked her. “We are friends Bella. Have I taken any of your money yet?”

  With an ear to ear smile she concurred in a silky voice that let me know she was only teasing. “No, not yet. But you haven’t exactly had the opportunity.”

  I leaned in as close to her as I could and with a mask of mock horror I needlessly defended my honor. “Bella, you should know you’re the only one for me.” We shared a moment of private laughter while we waited for the dealer to get us underway. “Well aside from meeting you prior to the final table it is good to finally get some new blood over here.”