Vegas Ch. 10

The flop came Eight-Three-Four.

Arieh checked and Daniel, wanting to take the initiative, raised 100,000. Arieh did not have the best manners at the poker table and made a comment about rookie kids not knowing what they were doing. He seemed genuinely irritated, almost as if he had hit something, bottom pair perhaps, and wanted to see another card.

He eased himself up on his chair, staring Daniel down, before pushing all-in. As soon as he did, he made his way over to his cheering section along the rails, still mumbling about new kids on the block.

Daniel was stunned. This was power poker. He had 150,000 in the pot and instinctively felt that he was ahead. The more he thought about it, the surer he became. If Arieh had the better hand, why would he raise all-in? That made no sense, and smelt like him trying to push the amateur out of the hand.

For a few minutes, Daniel debated his move. The easy thing to do was to fold. And given the state of play, that was probably the most sensible thing to do. The trouble was, he felt he was ahead.

Arieh came back to the table. "C'mon, kid. Fold them and we all move on."

Daniel decided that if he were going out, it would be like a lion.

"Call," he said.

He knew he had made the correct decision when he saw Arieh throw his head back. Daniel was right, Arieh had Jack-Three for bottom pair and when he saw Daniel's hand, his dark eyes glared at him across the table, before he turned back to his supporters behind the rail.

"He called with a pair of fives. What a joke! A pair of fives! That's so sick!" he shouted.

Annie Duke let out a gasp and said, "That's either the best or the worst call I've ever seen."

The turn was a Queen, and the King on the river ended Arieh's tournament.

True to form, he left the table complaining about Daniel's bad play but at this stage, Daniel was in the zone. Arieh's behaviour might well have affected him earlier in the tournament, but definitely not now.

A few hands later, Annie Duke's hopes of being the first female winner ended. She departed in sixteenth position after a brave fight against the odds, having been card dead for most of the day. But when the amateurs from Copenhagen and then Sweden went next it appeared as if, at long last, the professional poker players would be restoring their pride with the first victory in the Main Event since Carlos Mortensen won in 2001.

Daniel was one of only three amateurs remaining and the odds against any of them winning were considerable.

*

Katherine was sprawled back onto the bed for longer than she knew, exhausted by the force of Grace's orgasm. But she was soon to learn that the attractive brunette wanted more. This was the final time Grace would be with this attractive, freckled woman and she wanted to make sure that the redhead remembered the experience. She would not go down on her, that much she had promised Lisa last night. But the blonde had shown Grace an alternative.

Katherine's towel had fallen from her naked body some time ago and Grace pushed the freckled body flat on the bed, working herself around so that she could ease her own body between the red haired woman's long, tanned legs. She manoeuvred their bodies so that her sex rested against Katherine's and began ever so gently to rotate against her. Lisa had taught her well and after only a delicious few seconds of pleasuring, she heard the redhead begin to gasp.

Smiling through her lust filled face, Grace continued to gently rotate her hips, allowing the pleasure to build. It did not take her long to position her shining clitoris so that it rubbed just the right way against Katherine's labia and the redhead woman was now breathing in soft, panting gasps. Grace had found the right movement and rhythm and as she did, she built up the speed.

Katherine let out a low, guttural groan as the sensation built inside her, her own hips beginning to fervently respond to the pace set by Grace. The two women's movements increased in intensity as they rocked their tanned hips back and forth, sticking to the rhythm they had quickly established. Grace undulated faster against the redhead, eliciting even more moans as Katherine became lost in the moment.

Grace watched the freckled face as it contorted in pleasure, her eyes tightly closed in her urgent search to find release. Her eager hands grabbed the redhead's bottom, digging her fingernails into her soft flesh as she pulled her closer in her efforts to maximise both their pleasure. She was rewarded by an increased urgency in Katherine's gyrations against her and each woman was growling now.

Unbeknownst to either, the hidden cameras installed in the room by Joshua were catching every wild movement. But even had they known, each was so close they could not have stopped. Katherine let out a long shrieking sound as her thighs began to shake, whilst Grace emitted a series of small yelps. Like two wildcats, the women fucked against one another as their climax approached and then overtook them.

They began to shudder against one another, Grace's body vibrating on the bed and Katherine's head bobbing uncontrollably as their simultaneous orgasms racked through them, release flooding their bodies.

Joshua was closely studying the two women on his monitor in the office and had been masturbating himself for the last ten minutes as he watched Grace take control. As they came, so did he, and he gave himself a good few minutes to recover and clean himself before he made the call.

Katherine jumped when Grace's cell phone rang. She heard her answer and exchange a few brief words before feeling the kiss on her neck. She turned to embrace Grace but found that the brunette had jumped up and was slipping on her dress. Grace smiled into Katherine's eyes before checking herself in the mirror.

"Katherine, I've got to go. I'm sorry, but I've got to go..."

The red haired woman's mouth fell open in surprise and what genuinely looked like despair. Grace felt a moment of concern and turned back. Leaning down, she slid her soft lips against Katherine's, her soft tongue sliding into her pretty mouth as her insistent kiss pressed the freckled head back into the soft pillow.

Gently licking her way to Katherine's ear, she whispered, "But don't lock the door. The night isn't over yet."

As Grace left, she smiled ruefully to herself. It was such a shame that she would not see the girl again.

Meanwhile, Katherine had begun to feel alive again at Grace's words and as the door closed, she lay back and began to masturbate herself until she came for a second time. She closed her eyes and fell asleep hoping that Grace would return soon. She knew she needed even more relief than her own hand could provide.

*

Phil Laak had been the next to leave the championship, making it a good tournament for him and his actress girlfriend, Jennifer Tilly, who had also lasted into the top thirty. He had called an all-in after the flop with top pair, against a flush draw, and sure enough, the amateur from California hit his flush on the river. He was soon followed by Joe Awada, a victim of runners which cracked his pocket Aces.

That left two tables of six, with the three amateurs joined by Gavin Smith, Minh Nguyen, Dan Harrington, David Sklansky, Sam Farha, Allen Cunningham, Marcel Luske, Hoyt Corkins and Huck Seed. Remarkably, there were two previous champions still in the field. Harrington had won the 1995 Main Event whilst Seed was the rather anonymous champion the following year.

It appeared that everyone was playing much tighter than usual as they attempted to get down to the nine players who would form the final table, although Gavin Smith at one table and Sammy Farha at the other were taking advantage of the conservative play and slowly advancing their chip stacks by doing so.

Eventually, at around two thirty in the morning, the amateur from West Virginia was the next to go, overplaying his pocket Jacks when Sammy Farha hit a set on the flop. Huck Seed went half an hour later, having been gradually ground down and pushing his remaining chips in with an Ace-King that failed to improve.

With ten players remaining, they all sat down at the same table, just this one table, with the sole requirement being to play on until one more player went bust, allowing them to break for the night.

That resulted in even more cautious play, with no one wanting to be the last player out before the Final Table. For everyone it was a big deal to make it to the Final Table, but in particular for the professionals in view of the prestige that went with it. Reputations were built on outlasting the thousands of starters and reaching the Final Table and everyone was playing accordingly, even Farha and Smith it seemed.

The only occasional change to this sequence was when a short stack moved all-in and ended up taking the pot with that move, or infrequently they would be called by a big stack with their hand holding up. Every time this happened Daniel's shoulders sagged. He was so close, unbelievably enough, to reaching his impossible dream and all it needed was for one of the small stacks to misstep.

But although time was advancing, and people were getting tired, they were no nearer their destination. Players were flagging, unusual calls were being made, cards were played that normally would not be and vice-versa. Daniel's only consolation was that whilst he was unable to make any kind of advance, he was finding it relatively easy to stay out of trouble and maintain his chip stack.

That suited him in the circumstances. That was until he peeked at his hole cards. He saw the Ace-King of clubs.

He raised 80,000. Marcel Luske called, as did the Californian amateur who having just lost two successive pots was now the small stack. Daniel glanced at his watch, saw it was twenty past four and wondered if this was the hand that would decide the Final Table. He picked up his crystal as they awaited the flop, his thumb rubbing along the side in what was now a familiar action.

The dealer tapped the green baize as he turned over King-King-Queen.

Daniel's heart missed a beat. Unless someone was slow playing pocket Queens he was ahead by a distance. The thought went through his head that his first objective was not to be knocked out and the second was to take another player out. He almost checked, but instead raised another 80,000. Luske and the Californian would expect him to follow up on his pre flop raise, whether he hit or not.

Luske thought for some time, singing to himself as he did so, then threw in his hand. Damn, thought Daniel, believing that he was not going to get any action. Perhaps he should have checked after all?

He glanced at the Californian, who was staring intently at him. For some reason Daniel did not look away. This time he stared back, as if it was a battle of wills. Then the Californian stood up and smoothed down his crumpled light blue Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt.

"Okay," he said in a matter of fact tone, as if asking for a beer. He pushed his remaining chips into the middle. "I'm all-in."

A buzz ran around the table and all nine pairs of eyes were on Daniel. Again, the thought of facing a pair of Queens went through his mind, but he had only one move.

"Call," he responded, turning over his cards.

The noise around the table grew louder when the other players saw his hand and the Californian stood tall, his eyes closed in disgust. He took a huge gulp and wearily reached down, picking up his cards and flicking them over. Ace-Queen. He was virtually dead and only runners could help. Queens would win the hand for him and Jack-Ten would split the pot.

The noise around the table was huge, everyone realising they were on the verge of reaching the Final Table. The Two of diamonds on the turn confirmed that fact. Daniel walked around, putting one hand on the Californian's broad shoulder and shaking his hand with the other.

"I'm sorry," was all he could think of to say.

The Californian just nodded, accepting handshakes and commiserations from the other players in a zombie like state before sadly walking away from the action, looking back over his slumped shoulder as he did.

In the meantime the other players were slapping each other on the back, shaking each other's hands and congratulating themselves on their achievement. Daniel modestly accepted the congratulations being showered on him and felt a curious mixture of elation and anticlimax. Even in his moment of triumph, he was feeling sorry for the Californian.

The final act of the evening was to bag his chips and register them with the tournament organisers. There were two million, one hundred and twenty three thousand of them. Not only had he made it to the final table but that last hand had taken him into a sizeable chip lead. He kept shaking his head to himself through the entire process. This was unbelievable, quite unbelievable.

It was quarter past five when he took a taxi back to the Treasure Island. As he sat silently on the short journey, exhausted, ignoring the attempts at conversation from the cab driver, he told himself that this could not be happening to him and that he was living a dream. A glorious dream in which, even if he was quickly knocked out tomorrow, just about everything about this trip to Vegas had gone right.

He was about to find out that was not quite the case.

*

It was late evening when Katherine was roused from her sleep by a knock on the door. She jumped up. It must be Grace, she excitedly thought. Picking up the towel from where it had lain on the floor for several hours, she wrapped it around her and opened the door. But it was Mario, not Grace. His eyes seemed to smile at her as he walked past her, carrying a small package in his hairy hand.

"Hello Katherine," he said, his eyes checking her out hungrily.

Katherine suddenly felt conscious of her state of undress. Mario had never looked at her in that way before. There seemed to be an arrogance about him together with, well, almost lust in his eyes.

"Joshua has sent me to give you this package, as a gift for your good performances whilst working for him," he said, his words sounding almost scripted.

He walked to the table and set the package down. Katherine stared at him and then at the package. It was a simple cardboard box with a piece of ribbon fastened across the middle.

"What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her weary left eye.

"Midnight," he calmly responded.

Midnight, she thought? How long had she been asleep?

Mario simply stood there and his narrow eyes indicated the box. Katherine knew she should dress but he seemed to want her to open the gift. Holding the knot at the front of the towel with one hand, she walked across to the table and unfastened the bright, red ribbon. She opened the lid and found that inside was a bag full of white powder. Her heart raced as she realized what it was.

Mario had been feeding her this since she had commenced her promotional work, but had not provided any since he had taken her to see Grace at the Club yesterday. She felt a surge rush through her veins as the pleasant memories of the drug's effects coursed through her brain. She also knew that she would be seeing Grace again, soon. Perhaps they could both imbibe?

Her skin felt flush and she realised that just seeing the tightly packed powder and thinking about Grace was enough to make her feel aroused again. Mario broke her train of thought as he stepped back from the table and stood there, his eyes trained on her face. It was apparent that he wanted her to do something but in her confused state, Katherine was not sure exactly what that was.

"Please accept this as an expression of Joshua's appreciation," he calmly stated.

Although he smiled at her, she realised that his eyes continued to wander up and down her body. She must get dressed, she thought again, before returning her bewildered gaze to the white bag. The realization of being here alone with him, dressed like this, and with the expectation of Grace suddenly returning, all flashed through her mind. She picked up the box and closed its lid, looking up at him.

"This is very generous," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Mario did not move, his eyes now locked on hers.

"Joshua would like you to sample his gift before I leave," he slowly drawled.

Katherine looked back at the box, her hand brushing across its surface. She felt torn inside, unsure of what exactly to do next. It was clear that Mario was not going to leave until she sampled the present, but she wanted to wait for Grace. As she hesitated she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Mario was shifting his weight, apparently growing impatient with her.

Against her better judgment, she opened the lid of the box again and took out the surprisingly heavy bag. Perhaps a quick line of the coke, she thought? Then Mario would leave and she could prepare herself for Grace's return.

Mario moved a step closer and took the bag from her hand, gently easing two lines of the drug onto the table. Returning the bag to the box, he pinched one nostril and lowered the other to the table, inhaling the line in a few seconds. He looked up at her, then at the powder, and then back at her. His black eyes narrowed further and he stared coldly at her as he waited for her to do as he bid.

She felt confused, not recognising the man who had taken care of her so well over the previous few days. Nevertheless she lowered her face down to the table and sniffed up the line, feeling the coarse powder go up her nose and down her throat as that same burning she was beginning to know so well hit her again.

"And the rest," she heard him say.

Looking back down, Katherine saw that there was still some excess powder on the table. Hunched over the table, she lowered her face again to inhale the residue, the dizzying effects of the high suddenly hitting her. As she sniffed in the rest, she thought she heard Mario move behind her followed by a noise that sounded like a belt being unbuckled.

Almost instantly, as the last of the powder disappeared up her nose, she felt rough hands yank the towel away from her body and felt a hard, naked penis pressing against her buttocks. She tried to swing her head around to look at Mario but everything seemed to be happening so fast.

He grinned at the camera that was had hidden in the room as he eased his hard penis against her buttocks and spread her strong, shapely legs wider with his foot. Despite the situation, the powder, her sex with Grace, and the anticipation of more to come, had all served to heighten her arousal.

Even in the state she was in she knew that this was wrong, but she could not help herself push back against his hard body.

"You want me to fuck you?" he asked.

Katherine hesitated. She certainly did, and yet she did not want to confess to that fact. As she began to shake her head, she felt Mario slowly slide his long, thin shaft along her heated furrow. She groaned aloud. God, that felt so good.

Mario smiled to himself. Joshua had promised this exquisitely delicious creature to him and this was his reward. But he did not want to just take her. He wanted to hear her ask him. He wanted her to want this.

"Well?" he asked again.

As he spoke, he ran his shaft against her soft vulva again, gently rubbing as he felt her involuntarily widen her stance. She nodded, but that was not enough for him.

"Tell me," he instructed. "Tell Mario."

She groaned again as she felt the bulbous head of his penis at her entrance, ready to slide inside. God, she wanted him inside her.

"Yes," she gasped.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, Mario. Fuck me. Please...."

At her words, he again rubbed himself along her wet opening, eliciting a groan. She felt him place his grasping hands on her hips, holding her there against the table, her full breasts pressing hard into the wood. She should have felt repelled... but instead she felt herself incredibly turned on as her deep rooted fantasy of being taken by a relative stranger was coming true.