Watching You Watch Me

When Jack reached the poker table, a game was already going on. While there were a total of eight seats, only four of them were filled with people. Regardless, the game appeared to be quite intense, with everyone maintaining a very serious expression.

Poker was a game where people were dealt two cards each, while five cards would slowly be revealed. The person with the best kind of match, determined by poker hand rankings, would win, and betting would happen between rounds.

There was a bald man with sunglasses that had his cards down on the table and two hands clasped together covering his mouth. His two cards were placed face down in front of him.

Next to him was a young adult. He had one hand outstretched onto the table, tapping it every now and then. There was a disinterested expression on his face, but his eyes were moving around, observing everyone.

Opposite to him was a woman with a tan that looked quite confident in herself. Though she was quite roughed up, with torn clothes and smudged dirt on her skin, it oddly looked fitting for her.

Lastly, was someone that looked a little out of place. It was a girl that was older than Jack, but still fairly young. She had long white hair and an unmoving smile, almost like she was actually a doll.

In the game they were playing, there were a total of ten 2's, and eight 3's placed down as bets.

Two people already folded, giving up on trying to win.

In the middle, there were four cards. A king, queen, 8, and a 6. Then, a card magically was dealt out from the deck, landing on the table.

It revealed a queen.

The bald man with sunglasses promptly put down a pair of 4's as his bet. On the other hand, the woman let out a sigh and folded.

"Of course it was a damn queen."

The bald man proceeded to collect all of the bets with a small smirk on his face.

Jack thought things were interesting, watching along with wide and curious eyes. The smiling girl called out to him soon after.

"Hey, if you want to play then get on the chair and put a three on the armrest."

Jack blinked a few times, looking at the girl, and then at the seat. The seats that the other four were sitting on were facing the table, but every other seat faced outwards. Following the girl's advice, he hopped onto the nice red velvet seat and looked at the armrest, which had a small indent within.

After placing his card in, the chair turned around and he was now a part of the game.

"Ooh, thanks!"

The smiling girl giggled.

"No problem."

All of the cards were brought back into the deck as it was automatically shuffled. A few gazes were shot over to Jack, but they were soon cast away soon after. The man with sunglasses put down a 2, while the young man put down two 2's.

After that, the cards were dealt out.

Jack looked at what his cards were. Ace of Clubs and 5 of Spades.

It was an ok hand, as an Ace was a good high card. A straight was generally considered high in the hands, and if the cards in the middle contained a 2, 3, and 4, then he would get that. However, he also knew that the chances of that happening were quite low, so he didn't really think about it.

The tanned woman let out a sigh before folding her cards. As for the smiling woman, she put down a pair of twos. After that, came Jack's turn.

He thought for a little while before also setting down a pair of twos.

The man with sunglasses added three 2's, making his total bet a full set of them. In response, the young man narrowed his eyes before he put down a pair of 2's to match his. Soon after, both the smiling girl and Jack also matched the bet, bringing them to the flop stage.

Three cards were set down, a 6 of diamonds, Ace of hearts, and a 10 of clubs.

The smiling girl knocked on the table, which was checking. In other words, she decided not to bet, sending it to Jack's turn. From the looks of things, his hand was pretty good, considering that he had a pair with the Ace. However, he didn't put any bet down, checking as well.

When it came to the bald man with sunglasses, he put down two 3's. This prompted the young man to frown and fold soon after. The smiling woman also folded, leaving just Jack.

"I call!"

He put down two 3's as well, after which another card came from the top of the deck, revealing an 8 of diamonds. Jack checked once more before the bald man put down another 3, and Jack followed suit.

Then, the last card came down. It was an 8 of spades.

This made the total set of five cards 6 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 8 of spades, 10 of clubs, and an Ace of Hearts. With Jack's Ace of clubs and five of clubs, he had a pair and one that was high.

It was something worth betting on, but if the bald man had an 8, then things would be all over for him. Jack only thought about it for a little while before putting down a 3.

And then a full set of 4's.

The bald man's eyes widened slightly, as he deliberated over his decision. He clenched his fist tightly for a minute before tossing his cards aside.

"I fold."

Now that he was the only one left, he got all of the bets that were placed.

Jack put on a bright smile.

"Wow! This is so much fun. Ah, if anyone is curious, these were my cards! Hehe, I did have a pretty good hand, I don't blame you guys for folding."

He revealed his hand. The tanned woman and young man didn't have much of a reaction, however, the bald man flared up in anger. Although he didn't say anything, his emotions were clear from how he clenched his teeth and how he was breathing.

As for the smiling girl, she raised an eyebrow before taking a second look at Jack.

However, while all of them were looking at him, Jack was also looking back, watching closely with wide eyes. While he couldn't exactly be called a master of poker, he was definitely not a beginner.

While he only played with his father, what his father would do was pretend to be playing as seven people at once. Each time the turn would change, his demeanor would also change along with his general actions.

As such, even though Jack had only ever played poker with one other person, it was essentially playing with countless different people. Learning to understand people from their body language was already something practically instinctual to him.

The reason he showed off his cards in the first place was to try and get as much information about their personalities as possible.

In the last moments of the last match, Jack was actually bluffing that he had an 8 while banking on the fact his opponent didn't have one himself. And it was one that the bald man had believed. However, he tried his best to make people think he was just randomly doing that rather than with any sort of intention.

Jack was working off the idea that the more predictable people thought you were, the more predictable they became. Once that illusion is shattered though, things will suddenly become really complicated and harder to predict.

However, he noticed that he was completely seen through by the smiling girl. It made him quite upset, but his happy expression remained the same. Though soon after, the young man had set down a 2, while the confident woman put down a pair of 2's. The cards were dealt out promptly after.

Jack got a King of diamonds along with a 7 of hearts. Since King was quite high, that made it a usable hand. In the end, everybody paid the minimum bet which revealed the first three cards.

8 of spades, 2 of diamonds, Jack of hearts.

All of a sudden, Jack's hand didn't look too good anymore. Everybody checked, until it reached the tanned woman, who put down a 2. The smiling girl matched that bet. Seeing her in the bet made Jack not want to participate even more, so he just folded there.

The two other men followed suit, also folding, leaving just two people left.

Another card came from the top, revealing a Queen of diamonds.

The smiling girl put down a 3 as her bet. The tanned woman's expression twitched slightly. After thinking for thirty seconds, she ended up folding as well. Seeing this, the smiling girl let out a small laugh.

"You're giving up just like that?"

The tanned woman clicked her tongue.

"No point fighting a losing battle."

After that, she put down a 2, while the smiling girl put down a pair of them, after which the cards were dealt. Jack got a 2 of hearts and a 6 of diamonds, which was almost the worst hand he could've possibly gotten.

When his turn came around, he simply folded, and the bald man along with the young man followed suit. As for the tanned woman, she put down a pair of 2's confidently, making her total a triple 2.

The smiling woman folded right after, giving up her pair of 2's.

To this, the tanned woman smiled.

"You're going down without even a fight?"

The smiling woman let out a small laugh.

"Didn't you say not to fight a losing battle? Unlike you, I actually did that."

In response to this, the tanned woman narrowed her eyes, but didn't do anything else. Once that conflict was over, the young man looked at Jack and spoke bluntly.

"Hey kid, if you want to play, then you'll have to put down a pair of 2's like everyone else has been doing. If you don't want to, then you can stand up instead."

Jack nodded happily.

"Ok!"

Although there were many exciting combinations for hands in poker, such as the royal flush, or the four-of-a-kind, those things almost never happened. In reality, most of the hands that won would just be a high pair.

The kinds of hands that people bet big on were when they had two pairs.

That was just kind of how the game went most of the time.

However, the fun of poker didn't come from unbelievably unlucky scenarios happening one after another. Instead, it was to make people believe you had certain hands and to also find out what hand someone else truly had.

Although the rounds had just barely started, Jack found himself having quite a lot of fun, and was very excited for the future ones.

After all, while his father could imitate different people well, he couldn't pretend to be multiple people at the same time. Trying to observe the personalities of four people at the same time was a very fresh experience for him that made him unable to stop smiling.