It was 1:30 in the morning and Jimmy still wouldn't give up on his losing streak. Since Jimmy was the leader of the Mafia, we had to listen to him and respect him and his wishes. And Jimmy's wishes were to keep gambling. Jimmy was always a gambler and an even bigger gambler than anyone else in the room. He thinks he will make money out of tonight, but there's just one problem with that. I have a gift, or a talent I should say. I could count cards with excellent precision. With that said, I guess we're going to be here all night.
"Come on boss, your call, either put in fifty or you fold," Adam exclaimed.
Jimmy lifted his eyes from his cards in hand to the cards on the table. He was hesitant from putting in the chips. It was just him and me away from winning the four thousand dollar pot.
On the table was a five of hearts, a five of clovers, a jack of hearts, an ace of spades and a king of spades. In my hand I had a nine of diamonds and a queen of diamonds. If I counted my cards correctly then he should have a nine of spades and a four of hearts. Which means that I would win with a pair, just like him, but with a queen as a kicker. There's no way he's winning this. But just in case, I still have my trump card.
Every poker game I always snatch an ace from the deck, after they count the cards of course.
Jimmy cleared his throat, still looking up and down contemplating if he should throw in the fifty or to just fold. In the end he cleared his throat once more, swallowed the dry spit sitting in his mouth and folded.
"Ah, not a lucky hand I guess, but surely the next one will."
Ya right, he's been saying that all night. Jimmy hasn't gotten jack squat since the very beginning.
I started to drag the chips to my side of the table and counted the earnings. I stacked them up nice and evenly from tens, fifty's, and hundreds. I looked at Jimmy then back at my chips. He could see that I was taunting him. He gave me a gleam of death from his eyes and smiled. Jimmy was always the intense one when it came down to cash, but tonight it's me.
I have a total of four and a half thousand dollars worth of chips on me and I ain't losing any of it. The only person with the second highest is Jimmy (surprisingly) with a whopping three and a half thousand. Everyone else are just below two thousand.
The next cards came out and I counted once more. The hands were truffling out to everyone. Since Jimmy was the dealer this turn, the first card went to Bobby, then Adam, then Hunter, then Samuel, then me, then Colin, then Jimmy, who's at the very end of the long, circular table. Once everyone got their two cards it was show time.
Everyone looked at their cards trying their best to hold their poker face, all except for Jimmy. Jimmy leaned back in his chair kicking his feet onto the table. He relaxed himself and grinned peacefully with his head tilted towards the sky and his eyes glued to his cards. Are his cards that good? That shouldn't be possible.
If my memory and skills with counting cards are correct then Bobby has a king of spades and a three of diamonds. Adam has a six of clovers and a ten of diamonds. Hunter has a nine of spades and a seven of clubs. Samuel would have a five of spades and a three of spades. Me with a queen of clubs and a six of diamonds. Colin with a queen of diamonds and four of diamonds. Then lastly Jimmy with a nine of clovers and four of hearts.
Everyone put in their starting chips and the first three cards came out. The first being a ten of hearts, the second a ten of spades and the third a three of hearts. So far I have a pair on the table like everyone else, but there is a chance I could still win. If I put some cash into the pot then I could at least get Colin, Jimmy and Hunter to fold since they don't have anything. Bobby checks but Adam throws in a fifty. Hunter folds, figures, he's always tight on money and doesn't take unnecessary risks. Samuel puts in the fifty but I raise by two hundred. Colin folds but Jimmy puts in the money. Is he still seriously trying to bluff? So far Hunter and Colin are out.
The next card comes out and it's a king of clubs. Jimmy keeps smiling from ear to ear. Bobby puts in another fifty. Adam and Samuel both comply. I raise by another two hundred. I could see that Bobby and Samuel are trying to hide their fear of losing, all while Jimmy is still relaxed, feet kicked up and still grinning. Everyone puts in the chips except for Samuel.
The last card comes out and it's a jack of hearts. Bobby and Adam hesitate, thinking if they want to check or put in chips. They both end up checking. Now it's me that's left. Looking through this I see that all I need is the ace up my sleeve to get a straight.
I go all in, Jimmy is still smiling when he sees this. He goes all in also. Bobby folds with a look of defeat. Adam looks at his cards and then at the table. He looks some more and decides to fold, His face expressionless.
"Show your cards, Carson, Jimmy," Hunter said eyeing our expressions. I look at Jimmy real close, he's had the same ear to ear smile with a relaxed face since the very beginning. I grab my cards and purposely drop one of them, making it look as if it was accidental. I go to pick it up making sure that no one can see the angles of me switching the cards. I swapped my nine of diamonds for my ace of clovers. I pop back up and eye Jimmy. Jimmy looks up from his cards and stands, staring directly into my soul. And as if we could read each others thoughts, we both slammed out our cards onto the table in unisync.
"I don't believe it! I lost," exclaimed...