The dealer put out the flop. An eight of clubs, six of diamonds, and five of hearts. Okay, nobody should be looking for a flush, but there was the possibility some lucky guy had a pair in his hand higher than her eights. On the positive side, if a seven popped up, she had a straight. Well, this is why they called it gambling.
Sam was the first to act so she decided to bet three-thousand, wanting to flush out the people who weren’t up to snuff. Hopefully, this would eliminate anyone with just high cards.
Come on Mr. Antsy, what are you going to do?
She knew he was a bluffer, but since he wasn’t the one who had bet to begin with, she had a feeling he didn’t have a good hand in the first place and was depending on the flop to make his hand. She knew how he felt. But the high card on the flop was an eight, and she had that. She waited for his turn and watched as he played with his chips.
“Mr. Madison,” the dealer prompted the man before Mr. Antsy.
The man raised; he put out eight-thousand chips. Everyone, including Mr. Antsy, folded.
Dang.
If he had an eight and a high card she was screwed. She’d only be down six-thousand if she folded, but she’d rake in everyone else’s chips plus his eight-thousand if she won.
What the heck?
“Call,” she put out her chips.
The turn was a king of diamonds.
From beneath her eyelashes, she looked at Mr. Antsy—oh yeah, his name was Mr. Meade, she needed to remember that. Whatever his name was, he was still playing with his chips. Sam decided to check, and Mr. Madison put out another eight-thousand in chips.
Don’t let them see you sweat is what Granddad always said.
Mr. Meady Antsy-Man smiled at her. Why? Because he thought this would be the beginning of the end for Sam if she called the eight-thousand in chips?
Double dang.
Sam knew what she was going to do.
The dealer looked at her with a blank expression. She gave him a big smile.
“All-in.” She put in all of her chips.
It’s how Granddad would have played it.
“Call.” Mr. Madison pushed his chips in.
She and Mr. Madison revealed their cards. He had a king and a five. Two pair. She had a pair of eights.
She took a shallow breath and kept her poker face. One more card to come.
The dealer put out the river. An eight of diamonds. Three of a kind for Sam.
Phil gave out a shout from next to the dealer. “Great job! You beat him!”
Sam was careful not to smile too big, nobody liked a winner who rubbed it in. She and Mr. Madison nodded at one another, and she took a small sip of her club soda. She watched as Mr. Madison picked up his drink and got up gracefully from his chair and went to stand behind it. That left five of them playing.
The next hand was easy. She folded her two of diamonds and eight of clubs, she watched as Mr. Antsy bet big and lured one of the other players to go all-in. Sam didn’t think it was a good move for that player, and in the end, she was proved right. That player, the one with the red hair, ended up losing the hand, and he too had to go stand behind his chair. That left them with four players remaining.
The next six hands weren’t very interesting. Everybody traded the blinds, and nobody did any real raising, so everybody’s chip stacks stayed relatively the same. But for the next hand she figured she needed to step it up and go for a bluff.
It was time.
Then an angel from on high must have smiled down on her, because she was finally dealt an ace of hearts and a three of clubs. She raised by seven-thousand. She wanted a low enough raise that wouldn’t scare either Phil or the Bud Light guy, but she wasn’t worried about Mr. Antsy, he’d call no matter what.
Phil and Bud Light both called, then Mr. Antsy raised eighteen-thousand chips. He was evil. Sam folded because she had nothing and could well afford to lose eight-thousand chips. Phil couldn’t, but he must have decided it was time to take a stand because he went all-in.
Well dang.
It was getting even hotter in here. Then she watched as Bud Light did the same thing. Of course, Mr. Antsy called instantly. Sam knew it was bad news for both players.
She’d really been hoping that Phil would get to stay in the tournament ’til the end. She took a deep breath.
Cut it out, he could still win the hand. Don’t be a Negative Nelly!
Bud Light showed his hand first; he had two sevens. Phil smiled and put down his hand, two nines. He looked at Mr. Antsy with a smirk. Mr. Antsy kept his face bland as he turned over a pair of queens.
Wow, who would have guessed three pocket pairs? If an ace showed up, then she would have won the hand, but it didn’t matter, since she folded. All she could do was sit and watch. The dealer put out the flop.
Bam!
First card out was an ace of spades. Sam bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Figured. The other two cards were a four of clubs and a six of diamonds. Nothing that would help anyone. The turn was the eight of hearts and the river was the eight of clubs.
The hands stood, Mr. Antsy won with his pair of queens.
Oh well.
Phil and Bud Light stood
