Final Table by Pati Nagle

Author:Pati Nagle [Nagle, Pati]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Wild Bill Hickok, fantasy, poker, magic, zombie
ISBN: 978-1-61138-212-9
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2016-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

~ Arnold ~

“Texas Hold’em is a variation of seven-card stud,” announced Penstemon, standing beside the dealer’s chair where sat a young lady who would have been lovely except that she was purple. Arnold kept finding his gaze drawn to her. Distracting, and not in a good way. He gave his head a small shake and returned his attention to Penstemon.

“Each player gets two cards face down in the hole, followed by a round of betting. The remaining five cards are shared, and are dealt face up three, one, and one, with a round of betting after each deal.”

Mutterings arose around the table and echoed in the large ballroom that had already been set up for the tournament. For the moment they were alone, watched by empty stands of bleachers.

Multitudinous lights and strange machines surrounded the tournament table. The five players and the dealer were seated around it, an oval covered in blue felt with the Black Queen’s logo in the middle. Around the edge of the table was a strip that glowed with white light, and padded railings in which Penstemon had said tiny cameras were placed to peek at the player’s cards as they looked at them. Some of the big machines were cameras, too, according to Penstemon.

“That makes chance a bigger factor in the game,” Arnold said. “Puts a lot of weight on those two hole cards.”

“Yes,” Penstemon said, “and there’s also the possibility of several different hands making with the same five board cards.”

“Tell you what,” said Weare in a chipper voice, peering through a pair of spectacles at the list of poker hand precedence that Penstemon had provided him, “why don’t we just play piquet instead?”

No one laughed. Runyon, who had consumed at least half a dozen drinks at lunch, leaned red-faced across the table and bellowed at Weare.

“Texas Hold’em is the best goddamn card game ever invented!”

Weare gave him a pitying look. “Yes, yes, dear boy, we all know how you feel about it.”

“Let’s go ahead and deal a few hands,” said Penstemon. “You’ll get a better feel for it by playing than by talking.”

“What’s the ante?” asked Hickok.

“No ante at first. There are always two blind bets, and they rotate with the dealer button.” Penstemon picked up a white disc marked “DEALER” and set it before Runyon. “Dealer’s left is the small blind, starting at fifty. Player to small blind’s left is the big blind, starting at a hundred. So fifty from you, Mr. Hickok, and a hundred from Mr. Weare.”

Hickok pushed a chip across the line on the felt, and Weare tossed two into the center of the table. “Behind before I begin,” Weare said, laughing.

“It all evens out,” said Penstemon. “Go ahead, Amber.”

The dealer reached for the cards that were spread face-up in an arc before her, and expertly lifted one end of the row to flip them face down. She then messed them about with her hands and gathered them up, proceeding to shuffle, cut the deck onto a blank card, and deal.

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