Gorman.
“Ante up,” said the dealer. O’Dell threw a ten-dollar bill in the center of the table and Gorman covered it.
“The game is five-card stud,” Tallman said. He shuffled and arched the cards together several times. He lay the deck in front of O’Dell, who cut them.
Tallman dealt the first card to Gorman. Both got one card down and one up. Eli lifted the corner of his hole card, let it snap back. A six of hearts.
Gorman drew a four of clubs. O’Dell, a seven of diamonds.
“Seven bets. The limit is twenty.”
O’Dell bet twenty dollars. Gorman called.
Sixty dollars in the pot.
Second up card: O’Dell, a queen of diamonds, Gorman, a nine of hearts.
Tallman: “Queen bets. The limit is sixty.”
O’Dell bet the limit again. Once again Gorman called.
A hundred and eighty dollars in the pot.
Third card: O’Dell, a seven of clubs. Gorman, a two of spades.
O’Dell had the lead with a pair of sevens. Gorman had a nine high. One card to go.
Gorman’s expression never changed as he stared over his glasses with his heavy-lidded eyes, glanced back at his card and stared back at O’Dell.
At this point, O’Dell’s open hand was a winner. The only way Gorman could win was if he paired his nine on the last card and O’Dell didn’t help his sevens. O’Dell sneaked a peek at his hole card. Gorman just stared at him, studying his expression, his eyes, any tics he might discern. O’Dell’s hole card could triple his sevens or pair either of his other three cards for two pair. The odds were strongly in O’Dell’s favor.
Tallman: “The limit is one-eighty.”
O’Dell shot the wad. Gorman folded and O’Dell pulled the bills and piled them loosely beside his left elbow. Gorman had lost ninety dollars on the first hand.
The game went on. Hennessey moved quietly, like a ghost, filling drinks.
The winning hands went back and forth. Brodie kept the opera glasses on Eli’s hand and watched with surprise when Eli folded a winning hand of five-card stud, folded again when his down card gave him a straight to O’Dell’s three of a kind. In one seven-card game, Eli had a well-hidden flush, O’Dell obviously had three of a kind. Eli called O’Dell with a large bet, then folded the winning hand.
Cigars and cigarettes glowed in the dark. Smoke curled upward, lured by the heat of the chandelier. The game went on. In a five-card draw hand, Eli drew one card to a four-card heart flush and caught the fifth heart. O’Dell drew two cards. He bet two hundred dollars and Eli called him. O’Dell had three kings.
“Beats,” Eli said, and threw away the winning flush.
Brodie was astounded. What kind of bluff was he playing?
When the pot was high, Eli was purposely losing every bluff he tried. Brodie was confused. What was the art of the bluff Mr. Eli had talked about-throwing away winning hands?
At 10:15, Eli called for a break.
“The old man must be gettin’ tired,” O’Dell whined in his high voice as he headed toward the bar with most of the gallery. Eli stood up and stretched and worked the kinks out of his shoulders and neck. Buck Tallman intertwined his fingers and snapped them, then shook them out.
“How do you feel?” Tallman asked.
“Just fine.”
“Maybe the cards’ll start falling a little better.”
“The cards are falling just fine,” Eli answered.
“The way I figure, you’re down about two thousand.”
“The night’s young.”
At 10:30, Tallman announced, “Let’s play cards.”
O’Dell strolled back to his seat. Eli was already seated.
“You got any objections to raising the ante to twenty bucks?” O’Dell said, looking at Tallman.
“Mr. Gorman?” he asked.
Eli shrugged and said, “Why not make it a hundred?”
There was an audible reaction from the gallery. Tallman tried to control his surprise. O’Dell snickered. “What’s the matter, Gorman, you so tired you wanna go home early?”
“Do I take that as a ‘yes’?” Tallman said.
“Hell, yeah,” O’Dell said and threw a hundred-dollar bill in the pot, which Gorman covered. Since Gorman had called for a new deck, it was O’Dell’s game.
“Mr. O’Dell, your call.”
“Draw poker.”
“The game is draw poker,” said Tallman, and dealt each man five cards down.
O’Dell picked up his hand, squeezed the five cards out. He had three eights, and a ten and six of mixed suits.
Eli watched his reaction while slowly shuffling his hand by slipping the top card under the bottom one. Then he looked. He had three kings, a five, and an ace of hearts.
“The limit is two hundred dollars,” said Tallman. “Cards?”
O’Dell bet the two hundred and Gorman called.
“The limit is six hundred. Cards, gentlemen?”
O’Dell took two cards.
So, thought Gorman, he, too, had triples or a pair and was holding an ace kicker. Gorman only took one. He held the kings and the ace, hoping O’Dell would figure him for two pair or four cards to a straight or flush.
“Goin’ for that inside straight again?” O’Dell bit. He chided, “Don’tcha ever learn?”
He looked at his two new cards. He had not helped. His best hand was triple eights.
Gorman watched him closely, looking for anything, a tic, a flinch, a hint of a smile. O’Dell licked his lips, took a sip of whiskey.
“Mr. O’Dell, the limit is six hundred,” said Tallman.
O’Dell thought: Got him. Didn’t help his two pair or fill his straight or flush.
“Bet a hundred,” said O’Dell.
“The limit is seven hundred.”
“Two hundred back at you,” said Eli.
It caught O’Dell flat-footed. He sat for a moment. Gorman figures me for the opening pair. He probably had two pair going in so he figures even if I paired my openers he’s got me beat.
“The pot is nine hundred dollars.”
Gorman had tried bluffing too many times before.
“Call,” O’Dell said.
Gorman laid his hand down and spread out three kings.
O’Dell’s eyes narrowed and his face reddened, but he said nothing. His three eights were beat. He threw in his hand.
“Three kings wins a thousand dollars,” said Tallman.
Now Eli had O’Dell’s holdings down to sixty-nine hundred; Gorman had sixty-seven hundred. A mere two hundred dollars separated them.
“I’d like a new deck,” Eli said again.
Tallman held the old deck between two hands and tore it in half, dropping the pieces in the saddlebags. He opened a new deck, mixed and shuffled them.
“The game returns to Mr. O’Dell,” he said.
With the right hand and the right timing, Eli could take O’Dell. O’Dell, playing arrogantly, had not counted his money. It lay in a loose pile by his elbow. But Eli knew. He had been counting both his money and O’Dell’s. Now Eli had to play cautiously. The stakes were getting so high, if either of them made a mistake it could cost them the game, the stakes, and the valley.
