By Kathy Miele
I had a big smile on my face. “I’ll raise you two red chips,” I said as I tossed my two chips on the pile. We’d already gone around a few times and the pot was looking pretty good. It was going to be the last time I’d be able to raise.
“First of all, the red chips are worth ten so you’d want to say, I’ll raise you twenty,” Steven corrected. “Second, you might want to work on your poker face.”
I stopped smiling. “Fine, I’ve raised you twenty.” I quickly looked over at the cheat sheet Steven had made me before we’d started playing. The sheet let me know which hand beat which, and I wanted to double-check exactly what kind of hand I had. After double-checking the smile was back on my face. “I can’t believe I’ve never played poker before!” I said. “This is so much fun!”
Alex looked over at me then at Steven. “Do you think she’s bluffing?” he asked.
I couldn’t help doing a mini happy dance while I sat in my seat. “You’ll have to pay to find out,” I said than looked over at Steven. “I heard someone say that once on one of the poker shows you’re always watching!”
Alex watched me a bit longer then pushed his cards face down towards the middle of the table. “I’m out,” he said.
“Oh, come on!” I cried. “Don’t do that!” I looked at Steven. “You’re going to stay in aren’t you?”
Steven studied me for a moment. “I’m not sure what to make of you.” He admitted.
“Come on…it’s only two chips!” I cried.
“You mean twenty,” Steven said.
“Fine, twenty,” I said as I looked at my hand and once again checked the cheat sheet. “This is the best hand I’ve had all night.”
“We’ve only been playing for ten minutes,” Alex said.
“Exactly! So this might be the only time I get to win the pot!” I looked at Steven to see what he was going to do.
“I’m out.” He pushed his cards into the middle of the table.
“Oh, this stinks!” I laid my cards face down and reached over to pull the chips closer to me.
“What’d you have?” Alex asked as he reached over to look at my cards.
“Hey, wait a minute!” I cried. “I thought I didn’t have to show you my cards if everybody folds?”
Alex pulled his hand away from my cards and looked at Steven. “Funny how she remembered that rule,” he remarked.
I smiled as I began stacking my winning chips into neat little piles before tossing one in the middle. “OK everybody, ante up!” I looked over at Steven. “Start dealing, my friend, because I’m feeling lucky!”
