By Just a Hair

Soon enough, all the cards were dealt. This time, Samantha had the small blind, forced to put in a chip, while Leo had the big blind, forced to put in two.

Nina shook her head and promptly folded, not even willing to take the chance. She had a 10 of spades along with a 4 of spades.

Ava looked at the measly five chips she had remaining before clicking her tongue. She had a King of clubs and a 3 of clubs. It wasn't a terrible hand by any means, but a sense of anxiety had somewhat overcome her. After deliberating for quite a while, she took a look at Maverick, still covering his face as blood leaked past his hands.

"...Fold."

Victor hardly hesitated before folding, seemingly going along with Ava's decision. He had a Jack of spades and a 4 of hearts.

Max nervously put down 2 chips, though he didn't hesitate. He had an Ace of clubs and 2 of clubs. Although he didn't really understand too much, he felt like this was quite the good hand.

Emily similarly set down 2 chips, though she was sneaking glances at Jack every so often with mixed emotions. Jack didn't seem to be paying that much attention though, instead having fun being carried around by Seedy. She had an Ace of spades and a 7 of spades

When it came to Maverick's turn, he simply shook his head and slid his cards towards Brian, indicating that he folded. In his case, he hadn't even looked at his cards, taking a well-needed break. They were a 10 of clubs and a 6 of spades.

Samantha called by putting down one extra chip to bring her total bet to two. She had a Queen of hearts and a 3 of spades. Her expression showed she wasn't all that pleased, though only half of it was from being big blind first followed by small blind.

The other half was from how close she was to the somewhat bloody scene considering she was sitting next to Maverick.

And the last person in the round was Leo, who had a 3 of diamonds and a 5 of diamonds. He checked, which was simply passing since he already had the matching bet of two chips.

With half of the people folding, it moved to the next round, The Flop. Brian dealt out three cards at the center of the table, showing a 9 of clubs, an 8 of hearts, and a 2 of hearts. Max nervously called out.

"Um, is it my turn?"

Brian gave a gentle nod in his direction.

"Yes. Go ahead and take your turn."

Max hesitated for a brief moment. Since he had a 2 in his hand, that meant he had a pair. However, the 2 was considered the smallest pair there was, making it just barely better than the high card.

In the end, he lightly pushed forth one chip as though he were afraid of dirtying it. And so, with his bet, it went to Emily's turn. She furrowed her brows slightly. In her current situation, it was a bit risky to take a bet, especially when the Flop had already happened and she only had a high card.

At this point, Seedy paused his shenanigans to hold Jack upside down next to Emily.

With a grin, he whispered into her ear.

"The next card will be an Ace."

Seedy then quickly pulled him away in one smooth motion, like it was part of the playing around from earlier. To anybody not paying close attention, they wouldn't have suspected anything. And even if they did, it was unlikely they would do anything given what just happened to Maverick.

Emily blinked rapidly in response to that whisper. All things considered, she contained her reaction very well. Her eyes briefly darted to Jack once more, who began playing around with Seedy as though nothing just happened. It almost made her doubt that the interaction just happened.

After thinking for a while, she decided not to take any drastic action and called, also putting down one chip.

Samantha frowned fairly hard. She had already committed two chips, which wasn't that small of an amount considering the starting amount is only 10. However, she only had a high card with her Queen of hearts. There was still a chance she could get a flush since two cards from the Flop were also hearts, though it was precarious, with only a 1 in 16 chance that it would happen.

Still, that was enough for her to put in one chip.

As for Leo, he promptly folded without hesitation. There was technically a chance for him to get a straight with his 3 and 5, but those were even lower than the odds for a flush. He would need specifically a 4, and then either an Ace or a 6.

Victor couldn't help but take a jab at him.

"Not feeling like everything will work out? 

Leo shrugged his shoulders, his smile showing he took no offense.

"Haha, it's not like things will always go well. My lucky raccoon was telling me that my time was not now."

With three people remaining, it went to the Turn. Brian dealt out an Ace of diamonds.

Emily felt her heart leap a little seeing that. More than just the fact it was a good card for her, it matched up with what Jack had told her. However, there was someone even more excited than her.

"I-I bet three chips!"

Max slid three more chips forward. Not only did he have the Ace pair, but he also had the two as well, giving him that confidence. 

Emily narrowed her eyes slightly before glancing at Jack. However, he wasn't paying attention in the slightest, instead pretending he was flying in the air like Superman with the help of Seedy. After all, he already knew what was going to happen, so there wasn't much suspense on his part.

This fact wasn't lost on her. Since he knew what her cards were, then he must've known the others as well. And at least in her eyes, Jack seemed to be far above her level, so knowing what all of the cards would be should be natural. Following that logic, he wouldn't give a suggestion to her to continue betting if it weren't for the fact she would be the winner in the end.

After her long deliberation, she decided not to call, but rather bet even further, putting down seven chips and bringing the total bet up to 9 chips.

Samantha folded in a heartbeat, knowing that she no longer had any business continuing further into this.

As for Max, he seemed quite surprised by the large bet. However, he was quite confident in his own hand, so he matched it, putting further 4 more chips to call.

And then came the River, where a 7 of diamonds was revealed to be the last card.

Emily felt like everything had clicked together.

Max checked.

As for Emily, she wondered if she should go even further and put another chip down to get the last one that Max was holding onto. However, after some deliberation, she figured a single chip didn't matter much. And although it didn't matter much, she wouldn't be considered the one who finished Max off, even if she did serious damage.

And so, she checked as well.

Both of their hands automatically revealed themselves, turning face up. The ace in both of their hands showed why each of them was so confident. At first, Max was still feeling quite excited, thinking there was no way he lost even if she had an Ace given his double pair. However, when he took a second look he fell into despair.

Both of them had a two-pair with an Ace. However, he had a 2, while she had a 7.

While he was frozen in shock, all the chips automatically slid over to Emily, giving her 26 chips.

And Max was left with only one single chip.

In one fell swoop, now Emily had the most chips. Albeit, Leo was behind by only two at 24 chips.

Nina mumbled to herself after witnessing all the chips go to Emily.

"And so there is now a clear advantage among some..."

She pulled out a full set of twos from her playing deck and moved to set them down. Before they even touched the table, they suddenly turned into chips. She got 8 of them, giving her 16 total.

In the meantime, Max was whimpering and sniffling. He swallowed and sucked in his lips while trying to fight back tears. Yet, they ended up coming out in the end.

Brian still had the same smile he always had and looked at Max.

"Thankfully, neither of you pushed it further. Else if you were to have no chips, then you would've lost right then and there and be forced to pay a punishment. Before that happens, you may want to turn some of your cards into chips."

Max blinked a few times, letting the tears fall. His eyes were already bloodshot.

"...Ok."