Page 37 of Letting it Ride

Miss Anderson,

Hope your vacation is going well. Can I meet with you after school next week? I got a really bad grade in English class, and I don’t know what to do about it.

Joanna

“Can I get you a drink?” Harper says to Cam, ignoring me. She’s in a little black dress, and even I can admit she’s stunning. I can see why Cam is interested in her, even though it still pisses me off.

He’s been on his best behavior since our fight. So have I, to be honest. We have to spend several hours together here in the casino tonight, and this would bereallyawkward if we weren’t speaking to one another. But we’ve made amends for now.

Not only did he apologize, but he also offered to pay for us to go on one of the excursions they peddle to tourists visiting the island.

There are a ton of options—snorkeling, glass-bottom boat tours, ziplining—and I feel like I could spend a week there without ever doing the same thing more than once. By the time we had to show uptonight in the casino for our poker gig, it was between snorkeling and an ATV tour.

Either one sounds amazing to me. I might be leaningslightlytoward the ATVs, because there are no sharks on land, but I’ll let Cam make the final call since he’s paying for it.

Despite Harper’s obvious flirting, Cam seems a little more immune to her charms this evening compared to earlier today. She’s standing—posing, almost—with her hip jutted out, one hand placed just below her narrow waist while she waits for him to answer.

Cam, for his part, has only glanced at her, keeping his attention squarely on the cards. He’s easygoing, but he takes his responsibilities seriously.

“I’ll just have a soda, thanks. We’re going to take a break in a bit and maybe then we can talk.” Cam peers at the cards as I deal out a new round. He lays his hole cards—the two in his hand that are unique to him alone—out on the table, face-up, so the other players can see what he’s working with.

Normally, he’d keep them a secret, of course, but his goal in playing tonight is to teach the other guests how to play poker like a professional.

Harper walks off toward the bar, and Cam looks around thetable.

“Now, I have a four of spades and a king of clubs. The king is a high card, so I’ll consider that, but they’re not matched in suit and not close enough to be part of a straight. Typically, with a hand like this, I’ll match the blind but not raise big in the first round,” he explains.

The players look between Cam and his cards and the cards in their own hands, all tossing chips into the center.

Cam continues to direct the game. Really, he could do both our jobs by himself.

“Now, Addie is going to deal the flop. That’s the first three community cards. Remember, you can use zero, one, or two cards from your hand in combination with any of the community cards to make your strongest five-card hand.”

I lay three cards out on the table as Cam narrates.

“So, we’re seeing a queen of spades, two of diamonds, and two of hearts. This isn’t giving me much to work with. When you combine these three with my cards, the best I have now is a pair of twos—but so does everyone else at this table. Typically, I’d fold here, but for the sake of our lesson, I’ll stay in.”

He pushes a chip in front of him. Unlike at the other two tables tonight, this is just a lesson, so therewas no buy-in, and the chips aren’t actually worth anything.

The other players follow his lead, and I lay down the turn card.

“A two of spades. Now, this is interesting, because it increases the chances that someone has a full house, which is a great hand. Someone may have four of a kind, even.”

They don’t. No one has a good hand. I’m no professional, but even I can tell that all of the players are just staying in because it’s free. Not a single one would have called the bet after the flop if their chips were worth anything.

Harper reappears after a few moments holding two drinks in her hands just as I turn over the river—the last community card—to reveal a two of clubs. What are the odds of that?

Cam raises his eyebrows in surprise, focused on the game and completely ignoring Harper, which makes me the tiniest bit happy. “Wow, four of a kind. Super rare to have this kind of a deal, you guys. Can anyone tell me how we’ll sort out the winner? And what hand you should use?”

The players lay out their hands, any illusion that we’re actually betting on this vanished. After eachhand, we pass out the chips again to make it yet another even playing field, so it’s not like it matters.

The man to my left scratches his beer belly as he looks at the cards in front of him and back to the community cards before he smooths his comb-over. “I have a full house with three of the twos and my pair of fours. Is that good?”

Cam nods toward the poster showing the rankings of poker hands. “It is good, but that wouldn’t be the best hand you can make. What do you think, Susan?” He looks at the next player. I don’t know how he remembers all their names.

From the interactions I’ve seen between the players, I think Susan is married to comb-over guy. She’s also way out of his league, if I’m being honest.

Susan taps a finger on her jaw. “Well, I’d say four of a kind. And my highest card otherwise is the queen right there.”

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