Poker - Turn of a Friendly Card
Posted on Fri 16th Jun, 2023 @ 2:14am by Elizabeth Anderson M.D. & Nicha th'Elex & Lieutenant Commander Alora Baro & Lieutenant Damion Ildaran & Makila i'Hartelhai
930 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: Orchids & Jazz
Timeline: MD-10, 1915 hours
Previously, on SB-109:
The shaft of suspicion directed at her Makila couldn't help but feel, despite her shielding, and the undertone of doubt that accompanied it made her wince. Maybe I should not have come to such a gathering. It won't be fun at all if I keep getting shafts like that all night!
"I pledge you, poker is not a common game for a Romulan household."
"Well, there is that," Damion said with a good-humored nod. "Let's take our seats; it sounds like Captain Navarra and Miss Lantz want this to get started." He walked with Makila to the table Jade had indicated. He had met Baro Alora before but not the Andorian seated at the table with her. "Do you want to watch first or play?" he asked.
Alora smiled at the intelligence officer, "I'll play, I've played before, though nothing so ..." she gestured around, "organized."
"I grew up playing five-card stud," Damion said. "We didn't play for money; our chips were for things we could trade, like produce or work. I didn't learn Texas Hold'em until I got into Starfleet."
Th'Elex snickered, but not loudly enough to be heard a foot away. "Sit right down and play with the big boys," he grinned and his antenna moved back and forth, sensing them. "I'd love to win some work time from you."
"That could be fascinating," Damion said to th'Elex and pulled out a chair for Makila.
"I'd be interested in learning, if you would talk me through a hand?" She sounded uncertain about the final word as if she wasn't sure that's what it was supposed to be called.
"Gladly," Damion said. He glanced at Baro and th'Elex. "Do either of you want to deal?" The dealer traditionally didn't play the hand he dealt in Texas Hold 'em.
"I understand the game involves some chance?" Makila asked, intrigued by the idea.
"We bet with chips in this game," Damion told her, pointing to a circular rack of variously-colored small, plastic disks. "Each chip is supposed to represent a certain amount of currency. I don't know what the stakes are this evening. I'm guessing a credit a chip?" He glanced at th'Elex. If anyone knew, it would surely be he. Damion had already pegged him as the cardsharp of the table.
"The smallest, as Jade pays them out, is the blue at 1/4 credit," Nicha informed them. It would be hard to win much tonight, so he decided to play for fun, and help out the newbies. "Red ones are half credit, Green a full credit, yes, and the black switches to gold pressed latinum. It makes it easy in some ways, harder in others. The important thing is that it works. You can keep your bets low, if you choose, or you can run a lot of hope."
"Alright." Makila acknowledged verbally as she watched the chips being tossed into the center of the table at the game that was playing out across the room. "What is the purpose of the bet, what do you bet on precisely?"
"The dealer will first deal everyone two cards," Damion said. "Look at what they are, but don't let anyone else see them. Those two cards, combined with the five cards that will be laid in the middle of the table, are what you'll use to form your five-card poker hand, and that's what you'll bet on. Poker hands can include..." He paused to remember, "Two of a kind, three of a kind, full house, which is a hand containing a pair and a trio, straight flush, which is five number cards in order, all of the same suit, and a royal flush is all of the face cards, from king to jack, and then 10 and 9, all of the same suit--right, Nicha?"
"Close. Ten to Ace, all the same suit. Completely unbeatable, and the rest of us should retire at that point!" he laughed a strange little Andorian laugh. "There are four royal flushes in a deck, because there are 4 suits, but I've never heard of two players both having a royal flush at the same time, so ... I don't even know ... I guess it's barely possible, mathematically, but whether it's factually possible is another thing entirely. Does anyone want to play a strictly practice round first?"
"I'm up for it," Damion said.
Elizabeth hurried in and spotted Damion seated at a table with several others. She slid into a chair across from him. "Don't worry, I'm not playing, but I thought I'd come sit in on the game and see how this is done. A practice hand sounds lovely to watch. Learning is always fun to observe." She hoped she wouldn't be considered a nuisance, but she had too many advantages over the others to actually play. Makila, particularly, would be an education in observation.
Damion's eyes lit up with a mischievous sparkle at seeing her. "I wouldn't mind playing a round against you."
Anderson's eyes lit in secret amusement. "I'll just bet you wouldn't, Lieutenant, and we may do that sometime in the future. For now, consider my presence to be ... research of the innocent." She had discovered she had a knack for this kind of creative double-speak - saying one thing and meaning something entirely different. She enjoyed it, and Damion was a worthy opponent in such a game, no matter what happened with the poker.
"I guess that means we're playing a practice round," Nicha announced, after hearing from a two more players. "Lieutenant Ildaran, I believe the shuffle and deal passes to you."
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