As she wrinkled her nose Allison was tapping the backs of her cards, and I could tell that she was pretending to be deep in thought. She eventually broke that concentration and addressed the table as a whole. “Well I have to agree with Kelly. That flop wasn’t… all I hoped it would be. But I think my hand is worth pursuing.” Fingering her pile she lifted the required amount and promptly paid to see the next card. “I guess I’ll see the turn as well.”
“Unlike the two of you I’m not willing to stick with this garbage.” Jonathan quipped as he slid his pair of cards back to the dealer.
“Three down and two to go.” Allison said through a wicked little grin. “I do hope you’ll provide us with an interesting card, my good sir.”
And as if on cue the dealer burned the top card and produced another ace, the ace of spades. Which gave me trip aces with a king high, and with what was available, that was a very good hand to hold. I flicked my eyes over at Allison and noticed the slight gleam in her eye that she couldn’t completely cover. So far today I had learned a lot of things, but one of them had been that she was a stellar player. She wasn’t as skilled as Tyson in regard to hiding her reactions, but then, I seriously doubted any such person existed. But what she excelled at was working out the odds and knowing what the best available hands were. So, for her to be so excited, that meant she had to have the last ace, the ace of clubs. But what was her other card? That was the only mystery currently hiding behind her mannerisms.
I turned from studying her to the cards and once again ran through what was possible at this stage of the hand. There was no chance of someone having a royal flush, though I would love to see that hand once in my life. A straight flush or even a straight were almost just as improbable to find right now. With the ace under my hand there was no way anyone could come up with four of a kind, thankfully. Unfortunately both a full house and a flush were still very much in play and either would best my trips.
That river card was still a cause for concern, though not from Allison. She was riding the same hand I was, trip aces, at least I was pretty sure of it. She couldn’t get a flush, not with the club I was betting she held. And she wasn’t reacting like she had a pair to compliment her trip aces. She had trip aces with a high kicker, possibly even a king in her pocket. Either way, her betting would confirm her hand.
However, Tyson was the first to make a claim, and he made quite the bet with another hundred thousand. He was being aggressive, but my first instincts had played exceptionally well for me today so I raised him, bringing the new price tag for the river up to one hundred and fifty thousand. Let us all see just how in love you are with that hand, Tyson. Everyone turned to look at Allison, who, without hesitation, reached for her own chips and calmly made her choice clear. “Well, I think I’m just going to have to raise you both let’s say, double. Three hundred thousand dollars to stay in and see the river.”
As Tyson sat there thinking over the bet she flashed us both a smile that seemed to offer greater rewards if we just submitted to her perfection. But Tyson wasn’t finished, he eventually decided not to submit and re-raised her another fifty thousand, as he slid his two hundred and fifty thousand into the pot. This left me owing an even two hundred thousand, not to mention being stuck in a very awkward position. Could Tyson have something of value? My gut still said no, but those lifeless eyes gave me pause. I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and ran through everything once again and when I opened my eyes I knew I had Tyson beat for this round. But I was uncertain about Allison. She was betting like she had the best possible hand, but that didn’t seem possible.
Despite her betting big, I was fairly sure she didn’t have the full house so I called, presented the pot with what I owed, and waited for her to do the same. For a second it seemed like she was going to raise again, but after a moment she thought better of it and just supplied the pot with the fifty grand she owed. With the betting closed for the moment, the dealer burnt the top card and revealed the jack of diamonds.
As I ran my right hand through my hair I began going through what possible hands could be made now. The fact that the card was a diamond denied the possibility of a flush of any kind. Since the card was a jack, it was impossible for there to be any kind of a straight. No one could have a four of a kind, not with what was in play. Could Tyson have a full house? It was possible for him to have it, the aces could be his pair. Was this the hand where my instincts fail me? No, they were right. They had to be right. And if my gut was right, that meant there was only one real possibility for Tyson, he had trips of some kind. Looking down at the small stack in front of Tyson I quickly counted. With the confidence in my instincts, I was very hopeful that I wasn’t wrong as I once again raised the pot. “Well I think I’ll go in for another two hundred thousand.”
Allison, while not visibly staggered, wasn’t as completely sure of herself as a few moments before. She carefully counted her chips before looking back up and settling her gaze upon me. “Well if either of you fine gentlemen want to see my pair, you’ll have to match what I have left and that comes out to be two hundred and twelve thousand.”
I looked over at Tyson and waited for his move, and was shocked when he hesitated. The stone-faced and decisive Tyson hesitated. I could see that there was a part of him that wanted to call, thinking that Allison was bluffing, but there was a larger side that wanted to protect his slightly dwindling stack. Eventually, he tossed his cards to the dealer. With Tyson out I quickly counted up the twelve thousand more that I needed and said, “Allison I’m not going to back down now. I call you.” I silently hoped that I had been absolutely correct in my read.