Gary had ten days left on his abruptly taken vacation. Since he had applied with little or no notice, he didn’t have the authority to extend it beyond the few weeks he was given. He had spent most of the time with Lizzy, much to the surprise of her friends back in the city. Despite his deadline to return to base, he was decided to help her out with one more task, one that he was positive she needed his help with. As Lizzy was reading the last few chapters of the book he assigned her, he came up to her holding a deck of cards in his hand. “Do you know anything about poker?”
“Only that nothing beats four of a kind.” Lizzy replied.
Gary took a deep breath. “This is going to take a little work.” he put the deck down on the small table between their chairs. “I know the list says enter tournament, not win it... but I think if you’re going to do this, Hayden would want you to give your best effort.”
“So what do you suggest I do?” Lizzy asked.
“You need to learn how to play the game, and how to play the players.” Gary said as started to shuffle the deck. “These days the most popular tournament is Texas Hold’em. It’s a simple game but one that requires great skill and luck. So we should get started because the tournament I’m going to enter you into starts in less than a week.”
“That’s not much time.” Lizzy answered but she was aware there was no choice. She watched with interest as Gary served up some mock hands and taught her how he would handle each hand as it came down. She learned which hands were worth keeping and what ones she should never bluff with unless she has the chips to back that bluff. He explained two ways when teaching her, how most pros deal with the hands as they come down and how he would handle them. She could tell there was a difference between the two philosophies. Gary didn’t like to toss away cards that had the same suit until he at least got to see the next three cards. He loved going after a flush, but would only take the chance if the pot wasn’t too high early on. Flushes and straights to him were the easier wins to get than just sitting back and waiting for pocket aces, but when those came along you were not to complain and go with the flow. It was a lot to take in, but she did her best to learn and work with it. They spent the next few days at the camp doing nothing but play poker, one hand after another. She soon began to win hands on her own without having to ask Gary for advice, which was a big step for her, but there was something else she was doing Gary had to nip in the bud.
“Stop doing that.” he sharply snapped.
“Stop doing what?” Lizzy asked.
“You’re playing with your hair. Stop it.” Gary said without looking up. “Every time you’ve got something good, you play with your hair. It’s your tell.”
“If you’re so sure about that, why don’t you fold?” she asked.
Gary smiled and then quietly folded. “That’s a good ploy, fake your tell, which give the other players the impression you have something. I wouldn’t use it too often but it can help you with must win situations.”
After a few days, they finally packed up the trailer and went home. Back to the city they had deserted for the last few weeks that happened to be the location for the next task. There was going to be a decent sized poker tournament the following week, so it gave Lizzy and Gary one more week to practice before going in to complete another task. Like Jared had told her earlier that year, she didn’t have to win as the task only required her to participate in one. She still planned to do her best, and at least make an effort for Hayden. One thing she didn’t want to do was enter this thing alone. Back at her apartment, as she practiced with Gary like they had for hours before that she finally asked him what had been on her mind for the last few days. “If I pay your fee, can you enter the tournament with me?”
“Excuse me?” Gary asked as he was distracted by his cards.
“I just think I’d do better if I knew you were there somewhere in the building playing your own game.” Lizzy said as she looked at her own cards.
Gary smiled. “I am flattered you want me there, but I think I can scrape up my own...”
“That’s not necessary. We are here for Hayden, and you’ve been helping me a great deal. Just promise if you win, you’ll donate half to a charity of my choice.” She hoped that would be enough to make him want to play.
Before Gary could respond, there was a loud knocking at the door. Lizzy walked over to the door and peeked through to see that it was David Sheppard and he didn’t look to happy. “Lizzy, are you there?”
“Is everything all right?” Lizzy asked him.
“I heard you were back in town and I wanted to catch up and see what you had been up to.” He called back. He seemed genuinely concerned so she opened the door.
He only had to take a few steps in to see who was there. He took one look at Gary and then looked back at Lizzy before back at Gary again. “What are you doing here?”
“Is that any of your business?” Gary said, almost provoking the cop.
“He’s here to help.” Lizzy said as she stepped between them again for the second time. “He helped me complete two tasks that no one else could have. We’re working on number twenty-three.”
“The poker tournament?” David asked.
“That’s right.” Gary said, folding his arms to look tough. “You play, pig?”
David knew he was trying to provoke him but knew there was a better way to get back at the marine. “Can you deal me in?”
“That would be my pleasure.” Gary said as they all walked back to the dining room table. They split the chips three ways and started over again. Gary dealt the first hand, and seemed cold as ice as he scanned the table and then his own cards. “You first.” He said as he motioned to Lizzy.
“All in.” Lizzy said as she pushed all her chips in.
The two men laughed.
“Are you serious?” Gary asked.
“I have to agree, that can’t be right.” David said as he looked at his own cards.
“Well you don’t have to play if you don’t have the balls.” Lizzy responded.
David looked back at her and then laughed, “I’m out.”
Gary also tossed in his cards. “Me too.”
Lizzy turned over her cards to reveal that she had nothing more than a two of hearts with the four of clubs. “Thanks for the early win. Now I have momentum on my side.”
The two men seemed to finally lighten up as they laughed again and anted in for the next hand. “I wouldn’t recommend doing that at the tournament.” Gary said.
“I agree.” David concurred.
“Why not?” Lizzy asked, especially since it was good enough to fool them.
“Because at the tournament, you might be at the table with someone crazy enough to call you just to see what you got.” Gary answered.
“We’ll see about that.” Lizzy said with a grin as she restacked her new chips.
Despite the early aggression between the two men, David and Gary seemed to cool down with each hand dealt. They didn’t talk much, but kept to themselves and their cards which was good for Lizzy cause this was as close to a real practice as she was going to get before the tournament started. She really needed it because whatever nerves she had before the poker tournament tripled when she walked into the center where the event was being held. To Lizzy it was a shocking site. So many tables set up and ready to deal, each holding ten players, which made for over two hundred players. Gary had held true to his promise and was participating as well, but was sitting at another table. David agreed to go with her and watch her table for some positive encouragement. He wasn’t allowed to be right beside the table for obvious reasons but she could see him in the gallery near her table, and David waved when he saw her looking over. Lizzy was very nervous about playing, especially with so many people at the table, but she ordered a small drink to settle her nerves.
The dealer explained the rules just for the sake of the rules and for everyone watching and then dealt the first hand. The first few players tossed away their cards, obvi
ously unsatisfied with the cards both the dealer and lady luck had dealt them. There were two players that didn’t feel like folding. One was a geeky looking fellow with sunglasses on so no one could see his eyes and where they were looking. “Raise two hundred.” He said as he tossed the chips into the center.
The other fellow who didn’t want to toss in looked like a biker with a huge ZZ Top like beard, and a bandana covering up his bald cranium. “Raise five hundred.” He barked without hesitation as he tossed more chips in.
Lizzy looked at them both for a moment before making her move. “All in.” she slid all of her chips into the middle of the table. In order for anyone to call her, they would have to risk losing everything since everyone starts the tournament with the same amount. Not only were there a lot of shocked faces at the table, but none were as shocked as the look Lizzy could see on David’s face from the gallery, as this was specifically what he and Gary told her not to do when they were practicing. She looked down at the geek in the sunglasses and he was having nothing to do with her, tossing in his cards immediately apparently willing to eat his small bet.
The biker however was pondering his next move. It wasn’t like he was the kind of guy to crazily just call to see what she had. He seemed to have something to go with, but was it strong enough to call Lizzy? A moment later everyone got their answer. “I call.” The big man said as he tossed in all his chips. After he did that he turned over his cards, which is what you do when all possible money is in the pot. He had an Ace and a King, off hand. It was a good hand to start with and Lizzy could see David with his hands in his head.
Lizzy wasn’t as concerned as David was. Even if she lost on her first hand, she still completed the task because she participated in the tournament, even if she lost so fast. However, Lizzy was confident her day wasn’t over just yet. She turned over her cards to reveal to everyone watching what was worth betting it all on. She had two aces, and was in full control of the hand. Gary had took her aside and told her if she was ever lucky enough to get what was called trip aces, that being two aces right off the bat, that was the right time to bet it all. The odds that someone could have the same hand were slim, so if she happened to be lucky enough to get it, that was the time to really gamble. When the rest of the cards were dealt, another ace happened to pop up so while the biker had a pair of nines and a pair of sixes it was not enough to beat the three of a kind that Lizzy possessed. The big man had made a colossal error in judgement on what he thought was a good hand and was now eliminated on the first hand. People were clapping as Lizzy collected the entire pot, which doubled her chip total and gave her an early lead.
Yet when the real games started, that lead slowly faded away. She made some rookie mistakes and the others pounced on it. When it was all said and done it was the geek who folded out of the first hand that eventually took all the chips and the table to move on in the tournament. He was an amazing player and as a result Lizzy was the seventh person to get eliminated from the table, which meant she was the fourth place finisher at table twenty-five. With her lack of experience, Lizzy was sure she was going to go first so she was really proud of the place where she finished. She was sure Hayden would have been proud of her too, especially for that gutsy first hand.
“Excuse me Miss,” Someone called, “Can I guy you a drink?”
Lizzy turned to see who was talking and it was the big biker that she had eliminated in the first hand. She couldn’t tell what kind of mood he was since his beard camouflaged his expressions very well, which would help at the tables she assumed. He was offering to buy her a drink so she took it as what she hoped was a friendly gesture.
“Of course.” She replied.
“All right.” The big man turned to the bartender and ordered her the same drink she had at that table, which she was impressed by since it was a while since she ordered it. “I have to tell you that game was the most surprising exit I’ve had from a tournament in years.”
“You play a lot?” Lizzy asked.
“A lot?” the big man said with a bellowing laugh, “Every week I’m at a different major tournament! I’m a professional. This is the first time in three years I didn’t make it past the first table. I think it’s the first time ever I was eliminated on the first hand.”
“Wow, I’m sorry.” Lizzy said as she started to apologize.
“Ahhh, don’t worry about it.” He said with a huff, “I’ll make it all back next week in Cleveland. I learned a very valuable lesson here and it will help me a better player in future tournaments. I just want to know one thing.”
“What is that?”
“What is the name of the angel looking over your shoulder that made you lucky enough to get trip aces on the very first hand?”
Lizzy paused for a moment. “Hayden.”
“Well, little lady, the next time you speak with this Hayden I hope you send him my way to spread a little of that luck. All right?” he seemed to be a good sport as he raised his glass to toast to her lucky angel.
“I’ll do that.” Lizzy said as she tapped his glass to toast to Hayden. It was several minutes later when David arrived to speak to her about what happened. It took a lot longer for Gary to join them as he did a little better as his table than Lizzy did. He won that table and two others to make it really far in the tournament. The Sergeant ended up winning enough money to break even for everyone. Not spectacular, but no money was lost from an entire evening of poker, which to Lizzy seemed very fitting. Hayden was always one who believed in leaving while you were ahead and not sticking around to lose again. Gary was very impressed with how Lizzy had done, and she was pretty sure that Hayden would have been as well, lasting at her table with a bunch of pros as long as she did. There was no doubt in her mind that the item on the list had been satisfied and she decided to celebrate by taking both men out for an early breakfast at her favourite place. The games were over for the night, but the celebration had just begun.