“Beats,” Eli said, and threw away the winning flush.
Brodie was astounded. What kind of bluff was he playing?
When the pot was high, Eli was purposely losing every bluff he tried. Brodie was confused. What was the art of the bluff Mr. Eli had talked about-throwing away winning hands?
At 10:15, Eli called for a break.
“The old man must be gettin’ tired,” O’Dell whined in his high voice as he headed toward the bar with most of the gallery. Eli stood up and stretched and worked the kinks out of his shoulders and neck. Buck Tallman intertwined his fingers and snapped them, then shook them out.
“How do you feel?” Tallman asked.
“Just fine.”
“Maybe the cards’ll start falling a little better.”
“The cards are falling just fine,” Eli answered.
“The way I figure, you’re down about two thousand.”
“The night’s young.”
At 10:30, Tallman announced, “Let’s play cards.”
O’Dell strolled back to his seat. Eli was already seated.
“You got any objections to raising the ante to twenty bucks?” O’Dell said, looking at Tallman.
“Mr. Gorman?” he asked.
Eli shrugged and said, “Why not make it a hundred?”
There was an audible reaction from the gallery. Tallman tried to control his surprise. O’Dell snickered. “What’s the matter, Gorman, you so tired you wanna go home early?”
“Do I take that as a ‘yes’?” Tallman said.
“Hell, yeah,” O’Dell said and threw a hundred-dollar bill in the pot, which Gorman covered. Since Gorman had called for a new deck, it was O’Dell’s game.
“Mr. O’Dell, your call.”
“Draw poker.”
“The game is draw poker,” said Tallman, and dealt each man five cards down.
O’Dell picked up his hand, squeezed the five cards out. He had three eights, and a ten and six of mixed suits.
Eli watched his reaction while slowly shuffling his hand by slipping the top card under the bottom one. Then he looked. He had three kings, a five, and an ace of hearts.
“The limit is two hundred dollars,” said Tallman. “Cards?”
O’Dell bet the two hundred and Gorman called.
“The limit is six hundred. Cards, gentlemen?”
O’Dell took two cards.
So, thought Gorman, he, too, had triples or a pair and was holding an ace kicker. Gorman only took one. He held the kings and the ace, hoping O’Dell would figure him for two pair or four cards to a straight or flush.
“Goin’ for that inside straight again?” O’Dell bit. He chided, “Don’tcha ever learn?”
He looked at his two new cards. He had not helped. His best hand was triple eights.
Gorman watched him closely, looking for anything, a tic, a flinch, a hint of a smile. O’Dell licked his lips, took a sip of whiskey.
“Mr. O’Dell, the limit is six hundred,” said Tallman.
O’Dell thought: Got him. Didn’t help his two pair or fill his straight or flush.
“Bet a hundred,” said O’Dell.
“The limit is seven hundred.”
“Two hundred back at you,” said Eli.
It caught O’Dell flat-footed. He sat for a moment. Gorman figures me for the opening pair. He probably had two pair going in so he figures even if I paired my openers he’s got me beat.
“The pot is nine hundred dollars.”
Gorman had tried bluffing too many times before.
“Call,” O’Dell said.
Gorman laid his hand down and spread out three kings.
O’Dell’s eyes narrowed and his face reddened, but he said nothing. His three eights were beat. He threw in his hand.
“Three kings wins a thousand dollars,” said Tallman.
Now Eli had O’Dell’s holdings down to sixty-nine hundred; Gorman had sixty-seven hundred. A mere two hundred dollars separated them.
“I’d like a new deck,” Eli said again.
Tallman held the old deck between two hands and tore it in half, dropping the pieces in the saddlebags. He opened a new deck, mixed and shuffled them.
“The game returns to Mr. O’Dell,” he said.
With the right hand and the right timing, Eli could take O’Dell. O’Dell, playing arrogantly, had not counted his money. It lay in a loose pile by his elbow. But Eli knew. He had been counting both his money and O’Dell’s. Now Eli had to play cautiously. The stakes were getting so high, if either of them made a mistake it could cost them the game, the stakes, and the valley.
O’Dell called seven-card stud.
Tallman: “The game is seven-card stud.”
The players anted up a hundred apiece.
“The limit is two hundred. Cards to the players.”
He dealt two cards facedown to the players. O’Dell lifted the corners of his two cards. An ace of spades and a jack of hearts. Gorman peeked at his two cards, but Brodie could not see them well enough to read them.
Tallman dealt each a face card.
O’Delclass="underline" jack of spades.
Gorman: four of diamonds.
“Jack bets,” said Tallman.
O’Dell bet two hundred. Gorman called the bet.
Tallman: “The pot limit is now six hundred.”
He dealt the second cards up.
O’Delclass="underline" three of hearts. “Jack, three,” said Tallman.
Gorman: jack of clubs. Tallman: “Jack, four. Jack, four bets.”
Gorman studied the cards.
“Check,” he said.
O’Dell bet a hundred dollars. Gorman called the bet.
Tallman: “The limit is eight hundred.”
O’Delclass="underline" jack of hearts. “A pair of jacks and a club three,” Tallman said.
Gorman: three of hearts. “Heart jack, diamond four, a heart three. The pair bets.”
O’Dell’s tongue lashed at his lower lip. He started pulling hundreds from his pile.
“Eight hundred,” O’Dell snapped.
In the darkness, there was a sudden spate of whispered chatter.
“Quiet please, gentlemen,” Tallman admonished softly. “The bet is eight hundred. Pot limit is sixteen hundred dollars.”
Gorman studied his three face cards: jack, four of diamonds, three of hearts. He stared across the table at O’Dell, who was wearing what could pass for a smile.
“Call the sixteen hundred,” Gorman said.
Tallman sighed. “The limit is thirty-two hundred. Cards to the players.”
He dealt the last face card to O’Delclass="underline" an ace of spades. “A pair of jacks, three, and the ace of spades,” said Tallman.
Gorman caught a four of diamonds. “Two of diamonds, jack of hearts, three of hearts, four of diamonds. Three cards to a straight.” He looked at Gorman, who was expressionless.
“The pair still bets. The limit stands at twenty-four hundred,” Tallman said.
O’Dell said, “I’ll make it easy on you, old man.” He counted out twenty hundred-dollar bills and dropped them in the pot.
“The bet is two thousand,” Tallman said. He looked at Gorman, who was staring at O’Dell. “Two thousand buys you the last card. The pot stands at forty-four hundred. ”
Gorman hesitated. Was this a sucker bet to keep him in? Why would O’Dell make a soft bet? He studied O’Dell’s hand. A pair of jacks, an ace, and an eight. Possibilities? Three jacks or three aces. He had the cased jack of clubs and a cased ace. Either a pair of eights or a hidden pair in the hole. Unless all three of his hole cards were eights, he could not have four of a kind. Odds for a straight or flush were zero. A full house was the best hand he could have. With a pair of jacks showing, Gorman figured O’Dell had either two pair, jacks and possibly aces, or a jack high full house.
Eli would know after the last down card was dealt. If he had a full house he would check, gambling that O’Dell would bet, and O’Dell could raise him out of the game.
At this point, a full house, four of a kind, or a straight flush could beat Gorman.
Gorman called the two-thousand-dollar bet.
“The pot limit is sixty-four hundred dollars.”