Playing the Cards, Playing the Man…And the Broad

Chapter Five (Re-Posted) Chapter Six Coming Soon!

I know I’ve got the nuts. I’ve got Aces in the hole…if they can just hold up. But most times in this game it doesn’t matter what you hold, it’s what you do with what you’re dealt. I’ve been playing at this table for several hours – playing the same guys for several hours can be much like knowing someone for several months. You watch the way they act, the way they react. You get a feeling or determination on what their goals are and how and why they tend to get distracted from those goals. You see what they are like when they are confident, when they are scared, strong and weak. You try to learn what it looks like, how it feels when they are lying. And while you wait to catch a hand or make a move, you watch…you watch them wait.

If you play long enough or often enough with a guy, you can get to know aspects of him similar to how you know somebody from your own family, (you know a lot about how they act but still may not understand why). I don’t play with family. When you pass the pot around and play mind games, it only leads to trouble.

Some guys play their cards. This isn’t a game of cards – it’s a game of life, of communication. But I look to sit with those who know the difference. I can build my stacks playing both kinds of man, the one who plays his cards and the one who plays me. I can also lose it all. It’s easier to lose to a guy that knows the real game…

I’ve been playing with this guy on and off for a few months now. He’s a good guy…’been around the block a few times. He’s fought his battles, won some, lost others, and gained a lot of honor. He doesn’t have to play anymore. I think he plays now, just because it’s what you do…if it’s in your blood. You play, but your goals, your motivations change.

We’ve thrown the chips around between us a few times. He plays a real good game. I have a lot of respect for him, at and away from the table. And I try not to get involved in too many pots with him out of that respect. In an alley, in a bind, we’d be there for one another…I’d still take his money on a bluff, but I might take a good stiff hit for him and I know he’d do the same.

Lately, he’s become involved with this broad. I was real glad to hear him talk about the gal. He’s been alone a long time. I was glad….then I saw her. She’s beautiful…..and….we have a history between us. Emma….the war, we lost each other. Why? I was running the racket for a dangerous bunch. She was street smart and gorgeous and could always hold her own, but with the sweet soul she has and as young as she was then, she couldn’t trust I’d stick around, and, of course, I didn’t. So, we lost each other.

I don’t think he has a clue about us. I think we both want to keep it that way, but, perhaps, for different reasons…me, out of respect for him and fear of the knowledge that I never got over how this woman reads me. It’s powerful. We’ll leave it at that. Her? Security. And there’s an awful lot to be said about knowing your stacks are high and your deck is full of Paint; the faces, King Queen and Jack. Who can blame her? I wasn’t a sure thing back then.

Recently, he’s started bringing Emma to the club. And now she’s playing at my table, strategically. And she’s really sticking it to me. For the life of me, I can’t read that woman, never have been able to. Have never been able to decide whether it’s me or her that I can’t bring myself to trust. Emma plays a good game, that’s part of the problem. She’s shrewd; she draws in everyone around her and especially at a table in with her charms. She gorgeous – just a beautiful woman. Damn, I’ve never been able to steer clear around her. And forget about me playing a good game myself. I should be calling all bets off at this point and walk away…but I can’t leave, I just can’t fold this hand.

Aces. I told you I had the nuts. I’m holding pocket Aces. The Ace of Clubs and the Ace of Hearts. Knowledge and Love. My old addictions. And I’m not raising. I want to keep her in the hand, within reach. I'm not letting her in on what I have because I can focus on what she has going on in that pretty little head of hers. What does she want from me? Why is she back here after all these years? Coincidence? Luck of the Draw for me or am I about to really crap out? It's so foolish for me not to raise here and just get her out of the hand, out of my head. Hell, get myself out of this game, off this table and move on. I don't need this trouble in my life after all this time. But I’m not going to fold them either. I’m going to play them my own way, straight forward, no apologies -- the stakes are just too high now – and see where this new game, this new dance takes me.
(c)2008jsblankenship