Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Light shone down on the table, and the dealer, a woman by the name of Eve, took her place. Around them, various onlookers rooting for their favorites stood behind the barrier. They were a good distance away. Vienna was used to the quiet of her room when she gambled, not a huge room with people seated at tables below them, stretching far out into the room as if they were a spectacle to behold. Maybe they were.
She cleared her mind as the cards were dealt. The first thing she did was watch the dealer as she flicked the cards to each person at the table. That well inside her opened, the warmth pouring out, encompassing everything and everyone at the table, including the cards so she was able to see the smallest detail.
Vienna knew what the cards she’d been dealt were without looking, but she glanced at them anyway to ensure she appeared to be just like everyone else. She also knew what everyone else had just by moving her gaze to each of their cards. Leo made his opening bet, which was considerable. He had a pair of twos.
She knew Art, Benny and Park would stay in for certain. Art had a pair of aces, the best possible starting hand in Hold’em. Park had the king and queen of diamonds. Benny had a pair of eights, a hand players liked to see the flop with.
The blinds started at 1,000/2,000. Art raised to 5,000 with his aces. As expected, Park called. Benny was in the big blind of 2,000, so he called the additional 3,000. All the others folded. She folded. So did James. Benny hesitated. He had a pair of eights. He stayed. Theodore folded. Art stayed and raised. There was a low murmur from the crowd at the audacity. Park wavered but remained. Leo folded.
The dealer turned over the eight of diamonds. The ace of spades. The three of diamonds. She could see Park’s sudden excitement. His hand cupped his chips. His face took on a glow. Benny shifted in his chair. Art didn’t so much as look up. She knew Park was going for that next diamond and he wasn’t going to get it. Benny thought he had the best hand with his triple eights. He was certain he’d get an eight. He should have known better. Art had the best possible hand at the moment with his three aces and a hammerlock on the hand.
Benny checked to the initial raiser, Art, who made a small bet enticing players to stay in. Park couldn’t help himself. He was a gambler at heart, and there was no way he was going to fold his flush draw with the turn and river cards both to come.
Benny, who was certain he had the best hand, pounced, pushing half his chips in. “If you’re drawing, you’re going to have to pay,” he declared in a loud, triumphant voice
Art, slow, methodical, calculated as always, thought it through. He knew he was calling but he wanted to entice Park into the pot as well. Without a word, Art slid half of his chips into the middle, signaling a call to the dealer. The action was now on Park.
Park couldn’t help himself. “Two cards, all the money? How can I say no?” Park quickly called. With no more action and all the money in the middle, the dealer turned over the two of hearts. No help. The final card was an inconsequential seven of spades.
Art won the entire pot and seemingly never even got excited. But Vienna could see the smallest wrinkle of a smile on the corner of his mouth. It was the most emotion she had seen from him in all the hours she’d spent studying him.
She found it kind of sad to watch the desperation in Benny, the way he played. He tried to be gracious when he lost hand after hand, making incredibly bad decisions.
The hours went by and gave her an insight into each player’s personality as they played out their cards. It was her bad luck that Benny went out of the game, losing his last hand to her. He put on a fake smile and shook her hand, but she could see it in his eyes that he was upset. He was the first to go and got a round of applause, but that didn’t take the sting away.
Vienna was challenged by Charles continually. Nearly every hand she stayed in, he pushed the betting, only dropping out when it was clear someone else was going to challenge her. She was careful not to buy into his deliberately misogynistic personality by appearing to look at him directly when he was aggressive. She played her cards just as she would any hand where she was confident of a win. He was trying to force her into making a mistake. Unfortunately for Charles, the more someone became antagonistic toward her, or outwardly belligerent, the calmer and more settled she became.