High Card

The young man looked at Jack and spoke blankly.

"Hey, kid. If you want to play, then you have to put down two 2's because you're big blind this turn. If you don't want to, you could also just stand up."

Jack nodded a few times.

"Ok! Thank you!"

He excitedly set down a pair of 2's, and the smiling girl also put one down. From there, Jack got his new cards.

7 of diamonds and 10 of diamonds. In poker, one of the higher ranking hands was when someone had five of the same suit, or a flush. As such, getting the same suit had the potential to be a good thing. However, the chances of that happening were just slightly above ten percent. As such, Jack didn't feel too good about his hand.

Everyone except for the young man and smiling woman put down the minimum bet. From there, a Queen of spades, a Queen of diamonds, and a 7 of hearts came down. It wasn't the worst hand.

However, the bald man had made a big bet of four 3's, prompting everyone else to fold.

Several hands continued on with this similar pattern. He was able to win a few of them, however, it was hard to get people to bet anything big, and he also ended up losing some bets as well. In the end, Jack lost an overall of five of his twos over the course of the games, unable to realistically make any big moves.

He really wanted to get some big wins in but felt too uncomfortable whenever the smiling girl was involved.

He once had a pretty good hand with an Ace pair and 2 kicker, or the second card in his hand, but ended up backing out when he saw her placing down a bet. In the end, she won pretty big against the two men, revealing her hand of Ace and 6 kicker.

Jack scratched the side of his head, trying to think of a way to beat her, as he was fairly certain his bluffs wouldn't work on her. However, she did eventually fold at the start, while the others stayed in which made him feel like there was a good opportunity.

Unfortunately, his two cards were a 6 of hearts and a 5 of clubs.

Still, he was willing to work with it. Everyone put down the standard bets, making the total eight 2's. To start, three cards were revealed.

8 of hearts, 10 of spades, Queen of hearts.

There was already potential for a straight, and a decent chance for a flush as well. Though Jack himself had quite literally nothing other than the 6 and 5, meaning his hand was a six high.

Still, he put down a pair of 2's and 3's after seeing that. The others thought for a little while, but ended up matching the bet. That brought the next card.

Queen of clubs.

In other words, if someone had a queen, that would be a triple. Jack purposely let out a gasp and put down another two 3's, along with a 4. In the end, the bald man clicked his tongue and folded.

However, both the tanned woman and young man stayed in, matching his bet.

When the final card came down, it was a Jack of hearts.

The final five cards contained an 8 of hearts, 10 of spades, Queen of hearts, Queen of clubs, and Jack of hearts.

This meant if someone had a 9, it would be a straight. If they had two hearts, it would be a flush. Not to mention if they had a queen, it would be a triple too. With so many high-ranking hands possible, Jack having a high six made him look rather strange.

The confident woman's eyebrow twitched when she saw the cards.

Immediately, she placed down a bet of three 4's. Then it came to Jack's turn. While the eyes were on him, he looked between the five cards on the table and the cards in his hand.

Then, with a bright smile, he laughed and matched the bet, but also put down two fives and a six. He would've put down more, but that was all he had. The young man after him hesitated.

He looked at his two cards.

They were a Jack of spades and a 10 of diamonds. With the five cards in the middle, it would give him a double pair. But while that was a good combo, there were far too many possible ones that beat him. The price itself wasn't too big of a deal to him, but it wasn't insignificant either.

In the end, he cursed under his breath before folding.

From there, the tanned woman pressed her lips together into a thin line. She had enough cards to match the bet, but her confidence was faltering. She had two nines, which was why she stayed for so long. In the end, she even ended up getting a straight because of that last Jack, prompting her to increase her bet.

However, she also knew there was a very real chance for a flush, which would beat her hand. At this point, everything came down to her decision. If she chose to call, the cards would be revealed and then the winner would be picked.

On the other hand, if she folded, then nothing would be revealed and everything would go to Jack.

The tanned woman looked at Jack before shooting him a smirk.

"So you got a flush, huh?"

Jack jumped a little in his seat before turning to look at her strangely.

"E-Eh? Why do you say that? It's not like you can see my cards!"

The tanned woman narrowed her eyes before sighing.

"Lucky bastard... of course it had to be hearts. I fold."

With that, she tossed the cards away, after which all the bets went to Jack. He put on a smile and had no intention of showing his cards. Though, while he was putting away the cards he won-

"Jack! What are you doing there?"

Jessica called out to him with concern. She finished washing up, as was Mia. The two of them were currently looking at him with partial shock and surprise. Jessica furrowed her brows, fairly certain that Jack would just gamble his cards away.

"Get down here already! Didn't we agree that you could only play after getting more cards?"

Jack pouted.

"But didn't we get cards from those people? There were so many cards!"

Mia rolled her eyes.

"That's not nearly enough to be gambling away. What happens if you lose it all? Come on, let's go get some more cards so that you can play without worrying about losing it."

Jack puffed up his cheeks. He didn't really want to go, especially since he hadn't won against the smiling girl yet. However, he also was feeling a bit attached, so he was afraid of making them mad.

"Ok..."

He tried to hop out of the seat, but it magnetically put him back in. Seeing this, the smiling girl gave some advice.

"There's a button on the other armrest. Just push it and you'll leave."

Jack turned his head, and sure enough, it was there. He pushed the button, which gave strong resistance. Then, his chair spun around, after which he hopped off to go towards the others.

From there, the three went over to the shop and away from the poker table. As for the people still sitting there, they hadn't yet started another game. The tanned woman smiled bitterly before scoffing.

"Looks like dumb luck still wins games..."

The bald man with sunglasses let out a laugh.

"Sure, but skill will win out in the end. If he dares come back, then he's losing every damn card he puts down."

The bald man proceeded to put down two 2's.

"Anyway, let's get the next game going already."

Everyone started to stare at the smiling girl, since the deck would only shuffle and deal if she put a 2 down. Without feeling pressured, that girl spoke up.

"Before that, why don't we look at what cards he had?"

The young man clicked his tongue.

"It's just a pair of hearts, ain't it? Or maybe a queen mixed in there."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"No harm in just taking a look before the deck shuffles, right?"

The rest of them were a little confused, but as the bald man was the closest he decided to reach over and flip the cards.

Revealing a 6 of hearts and 5 of clubs.

"What? That's impossible!"

The bald man immediately freaked out.

"How would he dare to bet that much on a hand? He didn't even have a single pair!"

The young man's eyes had widened all the way.

"Wait... what? But how does that make any sense? Is that kid stupid?"

Though the most distraught of them all was the tanned woman, who had bet the most on that hand. She slammed the table, causing the cards to shake.

"Bullshit! He was willing to bet that high even when there were so many damn high potential poker hands? Even if you're bluffing, what if someone else had a damn flush? They would match it every chance they got and he would lose everything!"

The smiling girl narrowed her eyes slightly.

"...It's just as I thought."

The tanned woman grit her teeth and glared at her.

"Huh? So you're telling me you already saw all of that coming?"

She gave a small nod.

"That boy was observing all of you at the same time. He already had a good guess about all of your hands on the first flop, that much I could tell."

The smiling girl slowly pointed towards the center, where the five cards were.

"The reason why he put down the first bet was to make people think he did have a match of some kind. The second bet was to pretend that he had a triple queen. And keep in mind if he did, then he wouldn't have a flush. As for the third bet, he not only one-upped your bet but did it very quickly."

She began giggling, only continuing after calming down a bit later.

"He understood that if he wanted to make a decision, he had to make it instantly so that others wouldn't catch on that his hand wasn't actually good. On top of that, doing it fast would make people more likely to forget about previous details."

Everyone else's eyes widened considerably, going through shock and a myriad of mixed emotions.

On the other hand, the smiling girl put one hand on her cheek and looked in his direction.

"I must say, that boy... is quite interesting. I can only wonder how he became a person like that at such a young age."