Quaranteam Ch. 16-19

"And this is Jake Jacobson, from the Jacobson clan that owns the AllStore chain." One of Andy's friends growing up had a phrase that Andy had never shaken loose - 'Never trust anyone named Jake.' Jacobson was dressed in a full suit and tie, but the suit was imported silk and probably cost more than Andy had made all of last year. Jet black hair with a pencil thin mustache, the man felt more reptilian than human, with beady eyes and a perpetual sneer on his face. The AllStore chain was notorious for underpaying its workers, avoiding unionization, denying health benefits to its employees and putting them through nearly unbearable working conditions. When one of their clerks had been trampled to death during a Black Friday sale a few years ago, AllStore had gone to court to avoid paying out a settlement, saying the employee had endangered himself by stopping to help pull up a customer who had fallen, saving her life at the cost of his own. Andy wanted to take him for all he was worth.

"Gentlemen, this is Andrew Rook, one of the newest additions to New Eden. He's a writer of some silly little fantasy series," Covington finished.

"I write the Druid Gunslinger books under the name Blake Conrad," Andy said, as the men started to gather up their things. "They've done fairly well, and Working Title Productions has the option to make them into films."

"I've got some stake in Working Title," Watkins said, an easy going smile on his face. "Maybe I can help give them a push through development hell. Who's your contact point over there?"

"Now now, gentlemen," Covington said, "there will be plenty of time for chit chat over the poker table. Let's head next door to the card room while I remind you all of how this works, mostly so our newcomer doesn't feel left out."

As they stepped into the room next door, a lavishly decorated card room awaited them, with a bar off to one side. A poker table sat in the middle of the room, six spaces around it, with a topless Hispanic woman sitting behind it, holding a deck of cards in her hands.

"Who's this?" Andy asked.

"This is our dealer, Veronica," Covington said. "So none of us have to sully our hands constantly shuffling and dealing cards."

Andy shook his head. "Absolutely not. We all take turns dealing individually or I'm out."

"Out, my dear boy? Why would you do something so foolish?"

Andy smirked, having considered this possibility before hand. Covington had caught other people cheating, but apparently no one had ever accused *him* of cheating, despite him often finishing in first or second. "You know who has their own dealers? Casinos. You know why? Because the house never loses. You might trust her, but that's certainly no reason for the rest of us to do so." The woman had a Shufflemaster next to her, and Andy pointed to it. "That handles all the hard work of shuffling. Dealing cards is easy, and we all take a turn at it. Every five hands, we rotate and someone else takes the dealer's chair. That way we know that nobody's cheating."

Covington started to fret, but Vikovic chimed in before the man could get a sentence out. "Da. Dealer is one of your girls, and you always seem to catch good break when you need it. I agree with new fish. We will all deal this night, see if your luck changes." Vikovic didn't seem like someone Covington would want to argue with.

Andrew didn't know for a fact that the Veronica had cheated for Covington before, but it didn't hurt to throw people a little off their game right at the start, and Covington's winning record had people a little suspicious of him, so the man was going to do everything he could to ablate the doubt.

"Fine," Covington sighed. "I suppose we can all take turns dealing then. Veronica, would you mind simply tending the bar for the evening?"

"Yes Master," she said, slowly moving to get up from the poker table.

"All right gentlemen. Each of you has one hundred thousand in chips in front of you. Whites are worth a hundred, blues are worth five hundred, reds are worth a thousand and greens are worth ten thousand each. The game is No Limit Texas Hold'em."

"Hopefully you know this game, yes?" Vikovic asked Andrew as they all moved to take a seat at the table, Covington opting to start in the dealer's position first.

"I've played it a few times, don't you worry," Andy told him.

Covington continued with the rules. "The position you go out in determines in what order you get to pick from the pool, unless you choose to rebuy in, which you can do once. If you're eliminated and don't rebuy in, you are guaranteed to take home at least one woman."

"Free word of advice, new fish," Jacobson said. "Don't rebuy in. Learn to lose gracefully."

Andy smirked at the man. "Hopefully you can take your own advice."

"Spunky," Jacobson teased, an oily smile on his face. "I like it when they fight back."

"First place takes five women from the pool, second take three, third takes two, fourth and fifth each take one," Covington said, dumping the deck into the Shufflemaster, pushing the button to let the machine randomize the cards. "If you choose to rebuy in, you will be restaked an additional 50k in chips, but lose *that*, and you take home nothing. Any picks you would have had will go the first place winner. So if you go out in third and want to rebuy in, you'll get an additional 50k to play with, but you are giving up both of your picks to first place if you lose. Selection is obviously done in terms of priority, so the first place winner selects all of his women first, and so forth down along the line."

"Most of us know not to rebuy in, young man," Vikovic told him, "but there are those among us who simply cannot resist one last taste at the apple."

"I'll have you know, I've come back from my restake games over half the time," Jacobson couldn't resist tossing in.

"What do you guys normally do for a payout when everyone's only got one woman to stake with?" Andy asked.

"Everyone gets one, but obviously first place normally gets first pick of six primo broads," Haunton said. "But there's always at least one person who rebuys in, so I don't think we've ever had first place go home with less than two. Tonight's a big ass pot, though, so everyone's got their game faces on."

"And nobody's ever gone home with a woman they've regretted taking?"

The five men all laughed, and Covington shot him a condescending smile. "If we do, we certainly don't let them talk any more once we get them home. I keep telling you, Andrew, you really must come around to our way of thinking."

"And I keep telling you, Arthur, that'll happen when hell freezes over."

"Alright already!" Haunton growled. "Enough with the jibber jabber! Shuffle up and deal!"

The game had begun.

Chapter 19

The decision was made that whoever was dealing would sit out for those five hands and simply focus on the dealing. They also drew cards for seating order, lowest card dealing first, highest card starting with the big blind and the second highest being the small blind. Andy drew low card, which didn't bother him at all. It would be a chance to watch the others without having to divide his attention between his cards and his opponents.

"So I can't help but notice that you said even the last place person takes home a woman," Andy said as he took his seat in the dealer's chair, "but your count doesn't have someone for sixth place. So which is it?"

While he started to deal cards out to the players, Covington sighed, nodding. "I know, Andrew, I know. There is, in fact, a thirteenth girl in the pool, but I don't think anyone would want to take her over the other lovely women we have presented." He grabbed his phone from his pocket, tapping it to load up a picture. "She arrived on my doorstep last week, but when I told her what was expected of being part of my house, she refused. So I locked her up and she's been stewing, but even in her sexual frenzy, she's still refusing me, so I will give her as a prize to the person who comes in last."

"Any woman in the pool should be in the pool, if you ask me," Andy said, dealing the last card.

The man passed his phone over to Andy, a photograph of her on the screen. "If you insist, Andrew, then I suppose that will be fine. She is an athlete of some kind, and was supposed to be going to the Olympic Games, so she is quite fit, but she is extremely willful and stubborn, so she may be more trouble than she's worth."

Once the cards were out, Andrew picked up the man's phone and looked down at the picture, recognizing her immediately. "Yeah, that's Piper Brown," Andy said. "She's a member of the woman's volleyball team. Hell, I think she won a gold medal in the last Olympics." He passed the phone over to Watkins, who looked and then passed the phone down the line, so everyone could get a look at her. A muscular, toned brunette with a stern look in the photograph, it was a marked change of how she often seemed in interviews, where she seemed warm and inviting. She looked like she wanted to beat the shit out of whoever was taking the picture, and the room she was in seemed spartan at best, barely more than a closet. "She definitely goes into the pool if you don't want her."

"Agreed," Watkins said. "I'd likely take her over several of the other women on offer."

"Even with her being a pain in the ass?" Covington asked.

"Not all of us have such draconian house rules as you, Artie."

Covington shrugged, then glanced at his hole cards. "Then into the pool she goes, I suppose. Check."

The thing about televised poker is that many viewers don't realize is that the show is almost always a collection of highlights over a longer event, and that about sixty percent of poker hands have little-to-no action, other than the two players who have blinds in the pool debating which of them has the less crappy hand.

Over the first five hands, only about a few thousand in chips changed hands, and Andy's first read felt like it was going to stand. Covington and Watkins were good card players, Vikovic played loose, Jacobson played tight and Haunton was an "any two'll do" kind of player, who was going to throw money into the pot on pretty much any hand with his tells written large across his face.

After the fifth hand, Andy moved from the dealer's seat to his own chair and Covington moved to sit down at the dealer's seat. His first hand out, Andy drew Jack Ten suited in hearts, so he decided to stick around in the hand, since he was already the big blind. "Raise, one thousand."

It was a bet designed to scare off anyone who didn't have a decent hand, but to Andy's amusement, all four other players decided they wanted to see a flop, so everyone called him. He was a little surprised to see Jacobson staying in, but he suspected the table might just be collectively testing the new guy.

With the pot right, Covington deal out the three cards of the flop, nine of spades, seven of hearts and the queen of hearts. That gave Andy both an open ended straight draw and a flush draw, although he didn't have either the king or ace of hearts, so that made him a little nervous, but he decided he wanted to take the measure of his opponents, so he pushed another two thousand into the pot. Haunton and Jacobson both stayed in, but Watkins and Vikovic both folded, leaving three people in the game.

The next card, the turn, did absolutely nothing to the board, a 2 of clubs. Technically, Andy was holding nothing, but he felt like his odds were decent to make something out of it at the river, and he wanted to come out guns blazing. So he decided to trap, and checked. Jacobson also checked, but Haunton thought he smelled weakness, so he added another thousand to the pot, a string bet designed to just pull a little more money out of what he thought was opponents in a weak position. Andy suspected the man was holding top pair, or maybe three queens if he was lucky, but he thought that Haunton would've thrown a lot more into the pot if he'd flopped trips, so Andy called, and Jacobson decided to fold, leaving just the two of them in the pot.

The final card, the river, flopped and Andy felt the smile he was stifling behind his eyes. The King of Diamonds. He'd made his straight, and there wasn't a flush on the board. The worst he could do was split the pot. And Andy knew exactly what Haunton was going to do, so Andy simply checked.

Haunton figured he had Andy on the ropes, so he pushed five thousand into the pot, and Andy smirked a little bit, and raised another five thousand in return. Haunton flinched visibly, but at this point, decided he was pot committed and clearly wanted to know whether or not Andy was bluffing, so after a minute or so of deliberation, he called.

"Straight, king high," Andy said, flipping over the cards.

Haunton flipped over the cards, even though he didn't have to, revealing that he'd stayed in with two pair, queens and kings. "Damn, you got me, new fish."

The stack of chips was pushed over in Andy's direction, and Andy nodded. He'd just taken nearly twenty percent of Haunton's stack on the first hand. It might have been too strong an opening, but sometimes you just had to play the cards as they laid.

For the next hour or so, players took turns mostly slowly redistributing the chips, although towards the end of the hour, Haunton made a very bad odds call, and went all in on two pair against Covington, who had limped into the pot and flopped trip deuces. Because Haunton had figured his two pair was rock solid, he groaned when Covington turned up his cards and took Haunton out of the game.

Without so much as missed a beat, Haunton immediately said "Rebuy."

A note was made and another stack of chips was brought forth and put in front of him. "Last place tonight's like not even playing at all, so might as well give it another go. Besides, I want to at least finish third one of these nights." He was next in line for small blind, so counted out the amount needed.

"I wouldn't bank on that, the way you're playing," Andy said to him. "You need to learn how to evaluate your hand better, and stop making such loose wagers."

"Shh," Covington said to him. "Nobody likes being told how to play better, Andrew."

"Speak for yourself, Artie," Watkins said. "The minute you stop moving forward, you might as well be dead. Any tips for me, Andy?" he asked with a glimmer in his eye.

"Yeah," Andy said, counting out his big blind. "Quit playing with your food so much. It's unbecoming. You had the mayor dead to rights two hands ago and everyone at the table knew it, and you still spent at least a minute's worth of all our time making a show out of it before you called him"

Watkins, who was taking a turn at dealer, chuckled. "I see your point, although I do need to take my fun here and there when I can."

"Fun has no place is business or poker," Vikovic said, glancing at his hole cards before matching the big blind. "I'm in."

Covington and Jacobson stayed in, and Haunton, sensing an opportunity, raised on small blind, the value of the pot, a move Andy didn't think the mayor was capable of. All the players were sitting on decent hands, but at least half of them were hoping to go fishing, wanting to see a flop for a chance to pick up a decent sized pot. Now that the pot had grown, however, it was time to see who was going to stick around when the price went up.

Andy glanced at his hole cards for the first time. When he was the big blind, he never bothered looking at his cards until the action came to him, mostly so that there was no possible way to give anything away to his opponents. He peeked at the two cards and found pocket cowboys waiting for him, two kings. So Andy matched the bet and said "Call."

Vikovic matched the bet, to no one's surprise, as did Covington, but Jacobson folded, clearly having a questionable hand that only got more questionable with this much money in the pot. Andy put him on a low set of suited connectors, maybe a 7-8 or so. Watkins, as the dealer, was out of the hand. One of the other reasons Andy had suggested that they each take turns as dealer was that it would cut into bad streaks, giving players who were on tilt a moment to deescalate their frustrations and get their head back in the game.

The flop hit, and Andy was a little annoyed by it. Three of hearts, eight of diamonds, jack of spades. The fact that it was a rainbow flop meant that anyone hoping to get a flush was seeing their odds rapidly dwindling, needing the next two cards to be of the same suit (and to be holding two of that suit) to hit. It also wasn't great for a straight, although Andy could see Haunton or Vikovic staying in with a nine-ten suited, which would leave them sitting on an open ended straight draw. There was also the chance that one of the other men was sitting on fishhooks (a pair of jacks) and had just flopped a set, but neither Vikovic or Haunton seemed visibly excited enough to have done that. Covington was still a pain in the ass to read.

Haunton decided to play it cool. "Check."

Andy saw no reason to turn up the heat, so he followed. "Check."

"Raise 2k," Vikovic said.

"Call," said Covington.

"Call," said Haunton.

"Call," said Andy. It was a value bet, adding to the pot, but certainly not causing him to get scared, as Andy felt like he was still sitting on top hand.

All of the chips were pushed into the center, and then Watkins flipped over the turn card. "King of Hearts."

Andy did his best to keep his expression as neutral as possible, although on the inside, he was doing cartwheels. He'd just hit a set, and now he felt like he was definitely the best hand on the board. He wasn't first to act, though.

"Check," Haunton said.

"Check," Andy repeated. He could've bet here, but the best thing to do was to let someone else make the first stab at the pot. He suspected either Vikovic or Covington would try and push a large bet in, fronting as if they were sitting on a pair of kings, or maybe a king and a jack. Best to let them make the first move and then come in to take it from them.

"Raise 20k," Vikovic said. There it was. Someone clearly trying to buy the pot, hoping he could bluff strength into players who were displaying weakness.

"Fold," Covington said, tossing his cards to the dealer.

That brought the action to Haunton, who had literally just rebought his way into the game a few minutes ago. The mayor thought for a long moment before he pushed the entire stack forward. "All in."

Andy sighed for a moment, and looked again at the board, making sure he had a solid read on it. If he called Haunton and lost, the mayor would more than double up if just one player called him and lost. Vikovic had made a big push, but Andy was almost certain he couldn't *wait* to fold, just to get away from this disaster of a hand before it got worse for him. Which meant Andy would be taking in about 80k if he took down the hand.

The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that Haunton had being playing cool when he'd flopped trip jacks, and in doing so, had bought Andy enough daylight to see the king to make his own set for next to nothing.

It felt like a long wait, but eventually Andy spoke. "Call."

"Too rich for me," Vikovic said, mucking his cards even as Andy was speaking. "I fold."

"Shouldn't have tried to buy the pot," the mayor said, laughing as he turned over his cards. It wasn't a pair of jacks, but a jack and a king, giving him two pair. "Two pair. Nervous yet, new fish?"

Andy smirked. "A little, but not that much," he said, flipping over his pair of kings.

Haunton immediately got up from the table, tossing his hands into the air. "C'mon, you gotta be kidding me! Come on, jack! Come on, jack!"

"Odds aren't good for you, Mr. Mayor," Covington said.

"Enough discussion!" Vikovic said. "Give us a river."