The casino employees seem to have a key to the engine room in their possession,
but they're bored and say they'll only give it to you if you play them for it.
What game does your kalon suggest, and how do they win?
Game played - Poker
Kalon used -
Wylan Chip value reference -
HereHigh card - pair - two pairs - 3 of a kind - straight (numbers) - flush (suit)
full house (3 of a kind + a pair) - 4 of a kind - straight flush - the royal flush
“I have to play you for it?” I repeated.
“That’s right.” Confirmed Spider, “You can choose the game.”
“Chess?” I suggested immediately. Spider raised his brows at me in disbelief and laughed when he realized I was being serious.
“Chess?? Come on, this is a casino! Try something a little less classy.” He said.
I thought for a minute. Because he ran the casino, he was sure to know all the games offered by heart, but I had to choose something they had there. I didn’t like leaving my chances to luck but I would need to in order to beat his general knowledge. That being said, I wasn’t an idiot either and might have been able to out-smart him, or at least trick him into thinking I believed that. I had also spent the past few months working with a band of pirates and card games were a favorite pastime. But if I wanted to win those keys, the acting would have to start now, though asking for chess was a wonderful start. If I was lucky, he’d see me as some upper-class kid who would be too genuine to play a game like this.
“Poker.” I said, emphasizing my expression of certainty but bunching my shoulders and clenching my jaw to make it look like I was worried. Spider’s eyes flicked to these details.
“Sure thing, let me get a deck and some chips. And relax, kid.” He stood from his chair and walked off. A wonderful start. When he returned, he gave each of us our poker chips and started shuffling the deck.
“How about this? If you can get me to fold, I’ll just give you the keys, but if you fold, you have to wait until tomorrow to try again. If you win, the keys are yours but if you lose, you don’t get a second chance. Let’s start with the small blind, just $1 worth.” He said, still shuffling. I feigned ignorance and looked through my chips for a second before uncertainly putting out one of the white ones, starting to hold a weak poker face to show I was preparing for the game to start. It looked like it was taking a lot of willpower for Spider not to roll his eyes at my act, but it did seem like he was buying it. He tossed in a white chip and dealt out two cards each. We both looked at our hands. I had a 5 and a jack, both of clubs.
“I don’t suppose you’ll be folding?” Asked spider.
“No.” Was all I said in response, focusing more on doing a poor impression of a poker face.
“Then there’s the big blind.” I mumbled, more to myself than anything, and put out two reds, $10 worth.
“Well, that’s pretty small for a “big blind”.” Spider joked as he donned an expressionless look.
He then burned three cards, putting them face down, not to be used, and set up the three face-up cards as the flop.
There was a 3 of clubs, a jack of hearts, and a queen of clubs.
I already had a pair of jacks but I let my lips tighten as if in worry. I wasn’t going to bother to act confidence enough to make Spider fold. I was a good actor but I think he’d be able to see straight through that. Assuming I would have good, I’d try to drop some subtle clues to make him more confident. But if things weren’t going my way, I would have to judge when to give up and try again.
Spider put in a bet of $25 worth, a single green chip. I hesitated a moment before raising it to $30 worth by adding a red chip. Spider did not react except for meeting the raised bet. Spider then put down the turn, the 4th face-up card in the center of the table. It was an 8 of diamonds. This time, I let my expression stay relatively neutral. I put down a bet of $50, two green chips. Spider complied. He then broke the silence.
“I haven’t seen you down here before.”
“No, I’m not really a casino person,” I admitted in a softer tone. “It’s a sure-fire way to lose the contents of your paycheck.” Which was true enough. Sometimes I’d visit one just to watch others play.
Spider put down the river, the fifth and final face-up card. It was a 4 of clubs. That meant I had a flush, 5 cards of the same suit (clubs in this case), but I forced my shoulders to droop ever so slightly before tensing up then returning to my original posture. Spider bet $200 worth, two black chips. I looked at it for a minute, my expression unchanging, before raising it to $300 worth. Spider had clearly seen my hesitation, so he raised it to $800 worth using a purple chip. This time I did not hesitate. I furrowed my brows and pushed all of my chips into the existing pile, going all in. Spider broke character, smiling in a mix of confidence and amusement, then followed suit.
Then for the showdown.
Spider put his two cards on the table first. A king of spades and an 8 of hearts. He matched it with the 8 of diamonds, the jack, and the queen. The last two didn’t matter.
“A pair and a high card.” Said Spider, leaning back in his chair. I had been looking at his actions with a downright scared face. I then changed my focus to look spider right in the eyes and let my expression melt into one of disinterested confidence and loosened up my shoulders, sitting more comfortably. I put down my cards while maintaining eye contact, then crossed my arms.
“A queen-high flush.”
Spider sat up a bit then and looked genuinely confused for a second before laughing.
“Aren’t you an excellent actor!” He praised.
“And a lucky player.” I added, my tone back to normal. Spider shook his head, still smiling.
“Well, as promised.” He tossed me the keys to the engine room. I thanked him and began to leave, pleased with my hand and my performance.
“You should come down here and play sometime,” Spider called after me. “I’d love to see everyone’s reactions to your little show.” I stopped and looked back at him.
“The casino will be open tomorrow, right?”
