𝚂𝙴𝙸𝚉𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙰𝚈 - 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚜

𝙿𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚛

Word Count: 1037

"Go get the poker chips, Race." Jack chided, but Racetrack wasn't having it. "I told you I ain't got no chips!" He scowled.

"We's all know you got dem chips." Specs stated.

"Alright, fine. I'll go get the chips, but I want to play with real money next time, not some chipped blackjack tokens."

"Go get the chips, Higgins." Buttons griped, "Or I'll go get 'em for you. I know where you hide them."

"Okay, I'm going." Race stalked out of the room to go retrieve the poker chips from a hole in his mattress.

He returned with a tattered box of coloured chips and set them on the small table sullenly.

Jack went to get his deck of cards and five of the boys sat down to play Blackjack.

"Who's the dealer?" Crutchie asked, pulling a chair up to the table and setting his crutch on the floor.

"I'll deal, they're my cards." Jack answered, shuffling the deck. Race gave each boy one black chip, two red chips, five blue chips, and five white chips.

"Okay, put out your bet." Jack instructed.

"What's a bet?" Les asked.

"You put out a number of chips before you get your cards so you don't cheat." Jack explained. "At the end of the game, the one who has the most valuable chips win, the white chips are worth five points, the blue chips are worth ten, the red chips are worth twenty and the black are worth fifty. The winner will get one whole dollar."

"Who's dollar is it?" Specs asked nervously. Everyone knew he kept a dollar coin hidden away somewhere, but they knew he'd never spend it. It was his mother's prized possession, and she'd given it to him when she died.

"Race, you won jackpot at the Sheepshead races yesterday, right?" Jack asked. Race did not like where this was going.
"Um... no! Yes! Maybe? What's the right answer?"

"The right answer is 'Yes, Jack, I did, and I would be more than happy to volunteer my dollar to this fun little game of poker'" Jack smirked, holding out his hand. Race reluctantly dropped four quarters into Jack's palm, looking as if it physically pained him.

"Thanks Race. Maybe if you win, you won't lose your dollar." Crutchie consoled. Race still looked extremely sullen and hostile. "Let's just get this over with."

"Put in your anti." Jack said. "What's an anti?" Buttons asked, raising his hand. "It's the money you bet before I deal the cards, so you can't play without giving up some money if you lose." Jack explained. "The anti is the cheapest chip, the white one."

So, everyone put out an anti and Jack dealt the cards and everyone began shuffling around their hand, trying to order the cards. Race, who was used to playing poker, was watching everyone carefully. He saw the small smile on Specs' face when he shuffled two cards towards a third, and immediately knew Specs had three of a kind. Race himself had a pair of queens and a pair of aces, but three of a kind still beats two pairs.

"Okay, now's the second round. You can replace up to three cards." Jack said.

"I'll take two new cards," Race smiled cheerfully, sliding over a seven and a three. He was hoping for a queen an ace, or maybe two aces. He knew neither was likely. Jack gave him two replacement cards, and Race crosses his fingers, adding them to his hand. It was a nine and a jack. He sighed.

Buttons took only one card, and Race saw the briefly delighted look. He knew Buttons had gotten good cards.

Specs was scribbling away on a small piece of paper, calculating the odds of getting the cards he wanted. Specs took three cards.

"I'll add two red chips." Buttons said, holding back a smile. Race had a feeling Buttons was going to won.

Race folded. He knew Crutchie was a living lie detector and would therefore call his bluff if he upped the anti farther. "I fold." Race grumbled.

"First to fold!" Jack smiled. "That's not good, Racer."

"Shut up!" Race scowled. "I'm the only one who actually knows how to play!"

"I fold too." Specs said, yawning. "I only got a pair of twos."

"Okay. The game's down to Buttons and Crutchie." Race tried to read what Crutchie had for cards, but the cheerful kid had a great poker face. He wasn't giving away anything.

Race could tell easily that Buttons has three of a kind and a pair as well. He whispered to Crutchie that he should fold, he didn't want the poor kid to lose all his chips in the first round. Crutchie shook his head, sandy blond hair flopping. Race tried to peek at the kid's hand, but he covered his cards and stuck out his tongue.

"Great. Show your hands, winner gets all the center chips." Jack said.

Like Race predicted, Buttons set down a pair of sevens and three tens. Buttons was very confident he would win.

But then Crutchie set down a straight. A four, five, six, seven, and eight. Buttons' face fell. Jack pushed all the chips towards Crutchie, and the huge smile on Crutchie's face washed away any resentful feelings the rest of the boys felt when he won. Jack gave Crutchie Race's dollar, and helped sort the coloured chips back into the box. The rest of the boys dispersed, giving Racetrack contemptuous looks. Crutchie walked up to Race. Race was expecting at least one cheerful half-gloating remark, but Crutchie just handed the dollar back to Race. "We should've all contributed to the dollar prize. You took a risk putting your money in at the Sheepshead. You won, it's your money. I don't really need the dollar."

Race was so unbelievably grateful that Crutchie won that it almost hurt. He knew Crutchie did need the dollar, but he knew that Crutchie knew Race needed it more. Race knew for a fact that Buttons would've gloated so much, but Crutchie was special, and Race was happy.  He had his dollar, and didn't feel too bad about losing. At least that's what he kept telling himself.