Of Sinners & Saints

ABEL

"All in," Abel Seidel announced with a sigh and tut, he did this on purpose, it was a cunning ploy. This was a huge push for him. Was Abel tapping into his alter ego self the "Reeling Kid" as he had been commonly known among the poker world here in Letterdam? All his chips; black, yellow, red and blue went into the centre of the table. Abel sure showed no sign of a nervous, anxious kid. Abel just sat there and no smile or a frown, had he. He had no tells either. None, that is, until you look at his feet, they were a dead gave away. Abel had what poker players called happy feet.

He had old Cathal "Grinder" McCloskey stumped. Cathal was looking at the board keenly. It showed an ace/three/five. Still, Cathal played with his dwindling chip stack ruffling what was left as he mused. The Grinder trailed a hand through what little silver hair he had left. He was talking to himself. "You are all in? Hmm?" He rubbed his bloodshot eye with an index finger.

Cathal was stumped.

"I think you have a good high ace," the Grinder admitted.

...Wrong.

"Or maybe a strong pocket pair? Queens maybe. Em, Jacks," the Grinder figured.

...Wrong.

Around the green felt table, there were whisperings of a wheel. Inside, Abel was telling these suckers to SHUT THE FUCK UP! But Abel knew the truth. Cathal had grown attached to his trip aces, no denying that. The Grinder had fallen in love. He was head over heels. It was all in his hazel eyes. Cathal wiped a few beads of sweat from his wizened brow. With a call, he would be known as a genius or a fool. The old timer had played the game long before Abel was even in his mother's womb. Abel just had a knack for the game, he loved it.

Almost as reluctant as Abel had said, "All in," Cathal mirrored that and then slumped.

Cathal predicted, "Four/two?" He probably knew all along, but there must have been an inclination of a bluff. Abel was notorious for it this night, you see.

Abel gave no reply. The Reeling Kid preferred to let Cathal read 'em and weep.

Four/two it was, when he flipped his cards.

There was a soft guffaw around the table as the guy to Abel's left patted his back. Some were right when they whispered the wheel. The long-haired fella with multiple piercings sitting to Abel's immediate right was chuffed his guess was spot on. Those closer to Cathal were in disbelief. "Bad beat" was the word that reverberated on the other side of the green felt table. In truth, for Cathal, this was chumps change, but for Abel, it was change as well. Change for a better life.

He stood to win nearly four thousand Kroaling this night, it should help to pay back a few debts. Still the debate went on. Calling the pre-flop bet was madness but genius at the same time. Abel was congratulated, but perhaps it was a bit premature, for the Grinder had a few outs he could hit. Abel knew that all too well. In other words, Cathal might strike it lucky.

Still, Abel was the picture of calmness. Why a storm could be raging all around him and Abel would not bat an eyelash.

Phew! Abel could breathe a sigh of relief. An unthreatening eight of clubs. The prettiest card in the deck. At this very moment at least. Now to survive the river.

"Old man river has broken many a gambler."

Or so Ilya's song of old went.

Again, the dealer broke his balls, they shattered like glass. He crossed his fingers. No ace - no pairing was his mantra. Cathal looked on with anticipation as well. Jennifer be damned, the whole table wanted to see the river card. Usually, in a cash game, a sighting on the river is an extremely rare occurrence. Especially for this exorbitant sum of Kroaling. Usually, a lot of checking is involved that and minimal betting.