Phil's Game (III)
---
James Jones, the marked man, was still in his seat staring out the window when Phil walked back into the room and over to the wet bar.
"Hey James. Come over for a sec, will ya?" Phil said casually.
James was a little taken aback. This was the most polite and genial Phil had been to him... ever.
It looked like having some skill at poker went a long way towards gaining respect from someone like Phil, James thought. That and having the courage to bet at Phil's usual stakes probably meant that Phil could now call upon another regular player, which raised his value in Phil's eyes.
"Sure. Be right there." James got up from his seat and turned towards the wet bar.
---
Just out of his vision, Ms. Chung got up from her chaise and walked towards the corner of the courtyard.
---
"What's up Phil?" James asked as he leaned slightly against the bar.
"Couple of things. First, have a drink. Second, just for formality, sign against this IOU. I'll loan you twenty-K, and you can quit the game at any time if you can pay back thirty-five K. You keep the rest. If the game ends before you hit thirty-five K, but you have over twenty-K, you only need to pay back the twenty. I'll let the shoes slide then." Phil said in staccato.
"OK. What if I lose?" James couldn't help but ask.
"I'll still let the shoes slide, and we'll figure the rest out later." Phil responded vaguely.
James shrugged. The first part was what he had verbally agreed to earlier, and the second part was better than he had expected. James didn't really think he would lose anyway.
"OK. Where do I sign?" James asked again.
"Right here. Now, what do you want to drink?" Phil filled in James' name and a couple of numbers into a form he had taken from a stack of papers.
"I've never had alcohol before." James responded after he had signed.
"Here, have a beer then. Maybe after you drink the rest of us will have a chance to do better against you." Phil took out a bottle of beer, popped the cap off, and passed it over to James.
James took a small testing sip. It was cold, bubbly, and slightly bitter, but strangely refreshing. He decided that he liked it.
"Thanks Phil."
James carried the beer back to his seat. The other players had started settling in as well, and it looked like the break was going to be done soon.
Phil walked back to the bar fridge and took out a deck of cards. Then he put his hand in his pocket and took out four flags before tossing the flags to James casually.
James panicked a little as he tried to catch the chips. Each chip was worth five thousand dollars! If one of them slipped through his grasp and disappeared, it would be a disaster.
As James bent over and picked up his chips, his gaze was drawn to a long pair of legs walking in through the courtyard door. His heart skipped a beat.
Those shapely legs were walking in his direction. His heart skipped another beat.
They stopped right in front of him. Close enough to touch. His heart started pounding furiously.
He lifted his head slowly. From those lascivious legs, his gazed moved towards and paused slightly at a tiny black triangle separating the legs from the loveliest hips he had ever seen.
A little further up the body curved inwards towards a flat tummy with just a hint of abs. Moving up again, he saw the body curve outwards to accommodate two apple-sized bumps barely held in place by another skimpy piece of black cloth.
His gaze lingered there for a little bit.
Finally, almost in disbelief, he lifted his head all the way to look a smirking Ms Chung in the eyes.
"Like what you see James?" A soft purr emanated from two sensuous lips.
James was speechless. As his gaze had traced its way upwards, so had the blood in his body made their fiery rush downwards. His higher order mental functions were officially on hiatus.
Ms Chung ran a finger down the side of James' arm. Each movement sent shivers up his spine and made his pants feel even tighter.
"I hear you're a good poker player James. Keep this up and maybe you'll be one of my favorite students."
Then, Ms Chung turned around before slowly sauntering off back to the pool, sashaying a little with each step.
Despite having been caught staring, James didn't care. He continued staring, eyes fixed just below waist height as Ms Chung walked out.
---
Meanwhile, Phil had tossed the deck to the dealer and said, "Be careful, it's cold."
The other players looked at each other and nodded. It wasn't their first time at the rodeo.
The dealer opened the deck and held it strangely in his left hand. The deck was held from above, with a thumb and three fingers on either side. The forefinger was curled and pressed into the top of the deck.
Seeing James' continued distraction, the dealer sent out the player's hole cards.
---
James turned back to the table and looked down at the button. The game had started while he was otherwise occupied, and it looked like a couple of the other players were laughing at his predicament.
He looked around the table, mentally encouraging his blood to return to his other head as he took stock of the situation.
As he had previously noted, he was on the button. Seats Five and Six were the small and big blind respectively. He had about $1400 in small chips and four flags for a total stack of $21400.
Seats One and Two had already folded, and Phil had put out a raise of $200.
James covered his cards loosely with one hand, and gently picked up the corners of the cards with the other.
King... and King! On the first hand of the largest game he had ever heard of, he had woken up with the cowboys.
"Raise to $600." James announced as he sent almost half of the small chips he had towards the middle. Inwardly, James was still shaking a little. The double shot of adrenaline he had just encountered was enough to make his hands and voice tremble.
The small and big blinds got out of the way quickly. It was turning into another battle between James and Phil.
"I call," Phil said smoothly, tossing the required chips into the middle of the table. In sharp contrast to James, Phil looked comfortable and casual.
[ Pot: $1275 ]
James was a little concerned. Despite how nice Phil had been to him in the last thirty minutes, he didn't fully believe that leopards could change their spots.
Can I use Peek? James mentally asked his system. How this hand went would be the most important turning point of his life so far. If the hand went well, he would be set for life. He didn't even want to imagine the possibilities if the hand went badly.
[ Active Skill Activated - Peek. 1 charge remaining. 1 charged used. 0 charges remaining. ]
[ Scanning cards. ]
[ Ace of Spades, Ace of Clubs. ]
[ You should have used this skill earlier when we were both admiring that goddess... ]
James frowned a little, completely ignoring his system's comment.
Despite how strong his hand was, he had run into Phil's Aces. Luckily for him, he still had his trump card and managed to determine that he was behind. Now, he would re-evaluate his hand on the flop and fold if he was still behind. He could not afford to lose thousands of dollars in a single hand, much less the very first hand.
The dealer burned the top card, and dealt out three cards face down onto the table before flipping them over and spreading them out.
James leaned forward once more. It was a King in the window!
No matter how strong the Aces were pre-flop, everything could change on the flop. With the third King, James now had a set, and had turned from an 81-19 underdog into a 91-9 favorite!
The dealer spread out the cards slowly.
The second card was a blank four.
The third card was another picture card. It was the fourth King in the deck!
James had lucked into an incredibly strong hand. He now had a four of kind!
[ Board: Kc 4h Ks, Pot $1275. Probability of winning the hand: 99.9% ]
[ Perk Activated - Active Participation - System thinks that the second King on the board should help you be able to extract maximum value from pocket Aces. With two Kings on the board, it is less likely for you to have a King in your hand, much less two. With two Aces in the opponent's hand, it is also less likely for you to have a hand like Ace-King. Opponent is likely to put you on a lower pocket pair like Queens or Jacks and believe that his hand is good. Bet aggressively for value. ]
Phil checked.
James thought quickly and put out the rest of his small chips.
"$800".
Phil looked at James curiously.
"Raise to $2400," Phil said.
It was an interestingly sized and potentially polarizing raise.
With the $800 from James already in the pot, this meant that James would need to call $1600 into a pot of $4475. That wasn't very much, and seemed to suggest that Phil had a made hand and was raising for value. Perhaps a hand like two fours, Ace-King, King-Queen, or even King-Jack would play that way.
Of course the consideration was moot. James had Quads! The nuts! The absolute best hand possible on that board.
"Raise to $5000." James came back after a short pause.
"All In."