"Impressive first round Sam," Boo whispered as she joined Sam and Lars studying the remaining players.
"Lucky," Sam said.
"I hope so," she said wearily.
"What exactly are you implying?" Lars asked.
"Pocket rockets, four of a kind, and a winning ace-little," Boo said,
"makes one wonder. Not that I think you had anything to do with it."
"Thanks," Sam said dryly.
"You suspect someone was manipulating the game?" Lars asked.
"Let's just say I've never trusted demon forms," she replied. "Not to mention they're terrible poker players."
"They are well represented," Sam said doing a quick count of devils around the dungeon and finding them in the vast majority.
"Why should they help us?" Lars asked.
Boo shrugged her shoulders. "All I know is Eligos is the most egotistical, asshole Laith I've ever come across," she said.
"He must want the grail pretty bad to risk the cheating penalties,"
Lars said.
"Hope your luck holds, Sammy. It appears the demons are on a winning streak," she said as a small, yellow devil at a nearby table pulled its last opponent's chips into its own pile. "As the first winner you'll be behind the blinds in the finals," she added.
"I supposed your TD is inoperable," Lars whispered after Boo left to join the grogoch and several demons quarreling with a morbidly obese reptilian about blinds at the next table.
"There are temporal shields surrounding the dungeon restricting translations but some features will work," Sam said. "But I can’t
influence my own timeline, Family rules," he said while running a finger over the small, coin in his pocket.
"Yeah, I've heard that," Lars said flatly.
"Notice anything about Eligos?" Sam asked ignoring his friend.
"Not much," Lars replied. "For someone from Hell, he's pretty cool.
We'd need more time to discover any subtle tells but the rest of the tables are wrapping up fast," he added as four out of five demons disappeared at a far table.
"Any ideas for the finals," Sam asked as boos from the crowd failed to dampen the winning demons' victory yowls.
"Nope," Lars said. "And oh yeah, kick ass," he quipped as a gong rang out signaling the end of the first round.
Boo caught Sam's eye and nodded.
"Time," he said to Lars while making his way to the final's table in the center of the dungeon.
Eligos, already seated, growled at the small green demon that had taken the chair opposite him causing the imp to slink into the only remaining unoccupied chair.
"Samuel," Eligos said as Sam took the seat across the table. "Trying to recover another ancient relic?" he added squinting through the haze at Lars standing behind Sam.
"I don't think I've had the displeasure," Sam quipped. He was agitated the Laith had recognized him. "A new spawn?" he asked taking a quick glance at the greenstone segments on a golden chain hanging from the demon's neck hoping the insult would rattle his opponent.
Sam had dealt with asshole Laiths; it was critical to dish out the first abuse or the demon would be incredibly annoying for hours.
"Hardly." Eligos chuckled. "I just like keep a low profile in the outer reaches preferring the—
"Ladies, gentleman, aliens and Laiths," Boo interrupted, "the final round is about to begin."
"It will just be us, Sammy," Eligos said as other demons at the table disappeared in putrid purple smoke.
Sam watched the vestiges of the haze mix with the House's own smoke then swirl around Boo's head making her nose twitch.
"All resignations defer winnings to the House," she struggled to say while wrestling with a sneeze desperately wanting out.
Boo then received a small nod from Eligos in acknowledgment as she relaxed, her inner battle with the sneeze seemingly won.
The crowd cheered and the gong sounded.
"One thousand chips. Table stakes with one buy-in, the game is Galaxy hold 'em," Boo shouted over the raucous crowd. "Dealer, please begin," she said to Donnan while placing the deal button next to Sam. She then delivered a fierce shimmy that even her taunt suspenders could not hold back. The crowd that met the unholy spectacle with deafening cheers.
"We need to make this quick," Eligos said pushing his big blind of 200 chips into the center of the table. "My gallery will need rearranging to make room for the addition and you must know how thrilling a new artifact can be," he added with a snicker.
Sam barely heard Lars mutter, "Yikes," as the dealer dealt the hole cards after waiting on Sam to count out his 100 chip small blind.
Sam peeked at his hole cards while ignoring the devil. They were the deuce of diamonds, three of spades and eight of hearts. "Check," he said confidently adding another 100 chips to the pile to match Eligos' big blind.
Eligos glanced at Sam then raised 100 chips.
"Call," Sam said quickly before Eligos could push his raise into the center of the table.
"Pot's right," Donnan said as he dealt the flop: the four of spades, jack of hearts, and deuce of clubs.
"Check," Eligos said after glancing at his hole cards again.
"Check," Sam said with a pair of deuces, hoping to keep the demon in the hand until the river.
"The turn," the dealer announced as he paired the deuce of clubs with the two of hearts.
"Check," Eligos said and received jeers from the crowd, which he ignored.
Sam quickly raised the demon another 200 chips, confident in his little three-of-a-kind.
"Fold," Eligos said with disgust.
Sam raked in his winnings to cheers from Lars and the crowd.
Donnan placed the deal button next to Eligos then shuffled.
The demon stacked his 200 chip small blind before pushing it towards the center of the table to add to Sam's 300 chips before Donnan dealt the next hand's hole cards.
Sam lifted the corners of the three cards to see the ten of diamonds, seven of hearts and four of clubs. He was thinking the last round's hands might just have been too good to be true when Eligos checked and added 100 chips to match Sam's big blind.
"Check," Sam said hoping for a miracle.
Donnan dealt the flop: four of spades, king of hearts, six of clubs.
Sam considered the terrible odds of hitting a straight. "Check," he said calmly.
"Raise two hundred," Eligos said adding the stack to his small blind.
"Fold," Sam said to a startled crowd as the demon confidently gathered in his winnings.
Donnan placed the deal button beside Sam and then dealt the next hole cards after waiting briefly for the players to place their blinds in the center of the table.
Sam stared at the back of his cards. Eligos and he were even, each holding 1000 chips. He lifted the corners of his hole cards to show the
three of clubs as well as the nine and three of diamonds. A little pair and two suited, another weak hand.
"All in," Sam said, pushing stacks of chips to equal Eligos' 400 chip big blind as well as his last hundred chips in a bold pre-flop bluff.
The demon snuck a glance at his cards again. "Fold," he said tossing the cards face down next to the pot.
The crowd applauded as the deal button went back to Eligos.
Sam was up 800 chips. He took a slow but deliberate breath as he pushed over half his chips into the center of the table for the next hand's 500 chip big blind. He reckoned one of them had to break the check-fold strategy this hand.
Donnan dealt the next hand's hole cards as the silent crowd watched.
Sam gently pulled the corners of his cards up: the tens of clubs, spades and diamonds. Shit, he thought, knowing he would have to discard one of the tens before the river.
"Check," Eligos said nonchalantly adding 100 chips to the pot to cover Sam's big blind.
"Check," Sam said coolly while counting his opponents remaining chips.
"Pot's right," Donnan announced before dealing the flop: the eight of diamonds with the eight and jack of hearts.
"Check," Sam said.
"Check," Eligos said.
Eligos' control surprised Sam. He guessed it was probably why the demon was a high-level form.
"The turn," Donnan said, dealing another card into the common: the four of hearts.
As far as Sam could tell, Eligos had still not looked at his hole cards.
"Check," Sam announced receiving moans from the crowd.
"Check," Eligos said while casually inspecting a long, black fingernail and ignoring jeers from the majority of the crowd.
"Gentlemen," Donnan said, "the discard."
Sam discarded the ten of diamonds as Eligos finally peaked quickly at his hole cards. Choosing the bottom card, he pushed it face down next to the pot.
The crowd applauded expecting the end hand.
"Pot's right," Donnan announced. "The river," he added as he dealt the last card face up adding it to the rest of the common.
It took effort for Sam to remain emotionless as he saw the grogoch place the ten of hearts next to the turn.
"One hundred," Sam said pushing a stack equal to Eligos' remaining chips into the center of the table.
"Call," Eligos said adding his last chips to the pile.
"Showdown," Donnan said with a subtle nod to Sam.
"Tens full of eights," Sam announced turning his cards over to a jubilant crowd.
Eligos growled as he flipped over the queen and seven of hearts making a losing all pink flush with the common as the crown went wild.
He was over a hundred chips light and thus out of the tournament.
"I will buy in again," he said quickly.
"You have not received management pre-approval of another buyin," Boo said.
"That might be okay," Sam said cautiously looking into Eligos'
bloodshot eyes.
"Are you joking again?" Lars whispered to Sam's back.
"What was your initial buy in?" Sam said, nodding to the madam and then glancing back at Lars who looked stressed.
"A station," Eligos said, "in the middle reaches of the Norma Arm.
Just your kind of neighborhood Sammy."
Fuck, Sam thought. It turned out to be a good he had asked, as the demon had not used the remaining segments hanging around his neck as his buy-in.
"When is it?" Sam asked determined not to let the demon swindle him.
"Late twenty-fifth century," the demon replied dryly.
Sam took a deep breath. "And your new buy-in?"
"Something, I believe you've been searching for- the missing Great Phosphophyllite."
"Not good enough," Sam said calmly knowing millions of lives would depend on the treatments linked to the massive mineral specimen.
He shoved out of his head any speculation about how Eligos came to know Family mission details.
Boo shook her head at Eligos as faint wisps of smoke emanated from the ends of his short horns.
"I'll play for that pendant," Sam said while casually looking at the Timestone's segments hanging from Eligos neck.
"You have an excellent eye for relics," Eligos said as the demon stroked the greenstone with a long fingernail while the last two of his minions stood stanchly behind him.
"Sam's buy-in has been authenticated by management," Boo added with a quick wink at Sam. "What is it?" she asked.
Eligos took a deep breath. "The last of the infinite stones. Guardian of the Vesica Piscis. The rarest of rare. The Timestone."
"It looks incomplete," Boo said nonchalantly.
"One segment was lost billions of years ago," he said deadpan.
"Two thousand chips," Boo announced to the crowd that went wild with the decision.
"Fine," the demon said as he handed the greenstone segments to the madam.
Boo smiled setting a tray of chips in front of Eligos and then placed the deal button in front of Sam. The crowd to hit a new frenzy as Eligos pushed a 600 chip big blind into the center of the table.
Donnan dealt the hole cards without emotion.
Sam pulled the corners of his cards up to reveal a troubling deuce and eight of clubs as well as the King of diamonds.
Sam cursed under his breath. He preferred Texas hold 'em where you had time to weight up your opponent, the blinds escalated slowly and a good bluff could often win. Galaxy was too brutal.
"Check," Sam said matching the big blind with another 100 chips.
He had to give Eligos credit as the demon subtly shook his head, refusing to raise. Sam figured Eligos' coolness came from ego or, more likely, a forthcoming cheat.
"Pot's right," Donnan said then methodically dealt the flop: queen of spades and diamonds followed by the jack of clubs.
"Four hundred," Eligos said calmly.
Sam sat in silence, already knowing he would fold.
"Irish coffee, please," he said to Boo.
Several minutes later, a nervous dryad delivered his request. He took a sip then a quick glance at Eligos, who seemed nonplussed.
"Fold," Sam declared to a well-coordinated moan from the crowd.
As Donnan shuffled, Sam looked back at Lars who gave him a quick thumb up and nod.
As Eligos now had the deal button, Sam pushed his big blind of 700
chips to form the beginning of the next hand's pot before Donnan dealt the hand's hole cards. Sam groaned inwardly as the grogoch dealt had him another weak hole: the six and seven of clubs and jack of spades.
"Check," Eligos said pushing 100 chips forward to cover Sam's big blind.
Sam decided the in-suit six and seven probably warranted seeing the flop. "Check," he said.
"Pot's right," Donnan said before he dealt the flop: the queen of hearts, nine of spades, and five of diamonds.
"Fifty," Sam said hoping the small bet with a straight working would keep his opponent in the game.
"Call," Eligos said quickly adding the necessary chips to the pot.
Sam took another sip of the steaming Irish coffee to stifle an inner chill and then took several subtle but deep breaths. He knew the statistics for each possible hand to several decimal places, but over the years he knew luck was something that just happened, like eddies in a building probability curve.
"The turn," Donnan announced as he dealt the eight of clubs.
Sam had pulled an inside straight. "Two hundred," he announced.
Eligos sighed then folded.
The crowd cheered Sam over growls from Eligos' minions as Donnan slid the deal button back in front of Sam.
Sam pushed his 700 chip small blind into the center of the table as Eligos added matching stacks and then added another 100 chips for the big blind unceremoniously into the pot.
Sam squared his down cards into a neat stack then slightly spread the edges as he turned up their corners revealing the ten of spades and clubs as well as the jack of hearts.
More tens, Sam thought as he formulated a bet. What were the odds?
"Two hundred," he said to cautious applause from a minority of spectators as he pushed the bet as well as 100 more chips to cover the big blind into the pot.
Eligos stared at his hole cards. "Call," he said pushing chips into the pot while the minions behind him subtly shifted their weight from hoof to hoof.
"Pot's right," Donnan said before dealing the flop: the ace and queen of hearts and the three of clubs.
"The queen of blood and her bullet, not to mention Cerberus," Eligos said arrogantly as he counted out another two hundred chips then pushed them into the pot. "How fitting," he added coyly.
"Two hundred to you, mister…ah," Donnan said grasping for a surname, "Sam."
"Call," Sam said quickly picking up two stacks of 100 chips each and placing them gently next to the growing pile in the center of the table.
"Pot's right," Donnan repeated before dealing the turn: the ten of hearts.
Sam stifled a smile knowing he had the inside jack to the heart straight flush working in the common as well as a strong three of a kind.
"Two hundred-fifty," Eligos said adding a forced smile for Sam.
Sam studied his opponent from beneath the pirates cap and chuckled seeing the minion on Eligos left had sweat dripping off his nose.
Sam reasoned that if Eligos was being honest, he thought he had a good likelihood of a winning hand. If not, he was still confident a cheat would succeed. Sam figured the minion on Eligos' left was not so sure.
"Call!" Sam shouted resulting in a deafening roar from the crowd as he pushed his bet forward.
"Last side bets before the river, please," Boo announced to the crowd before nodding to Donnan.
"The pot's right," the grogoch said, "please discard."
Eligos selected his top card and gently pushed it towards the pot.
Sam picked out the jack of hearts from his hole cards and flicked it face down next Eligos' discard provoking an evil smirk from the demon.
Donnan said, "Gentleman, the river," and then laid the king of diamonds next to the ten of hearts.
"The man with the axe. How apt Sam," Eligos said gleefully.
Sam knew if Eligos had a flush, he had lost the most priceless of family heirlooms. Because the chances of going forward and overcoming a nearly three to one chip count were dismal. However, Eligos could be bluffing, unaware Sam discarded the key jack.
"All in," Eligos said with a toothy smile to Sam while shoving his last 400 chips into the pot.
"Call," Sam said and matched the demons bet before a hushed crowd.
"Showdown Gentlemen," Donnan said stoically then giving Sam a subtle nod to show his hand.
"Three tens, ace, king," Sam said turning his hole cards over.
"Nice hand, Sammy," Eligos said turning over the jack and king of hearts. "But not nice enough, I'm afraid. Straight flush," he added smugly for the crazed spectators while pulling in the large pot.
Sam fought to suppress his rage as goose bumps rose on his forearms. He reached for the jack of hearts he had just discarded but Donnan grabbed his wrist firmly.
"Not proper, Mister Sam," he said.
"It's my card. What if it's another jack of hearts," Sam said looking up at Boo.
She nodded and the grogoch slowly let go of Sam's arm.
Sam flipped over the card; it was the jack of diamonds.
"Sammy," Eligos said, "Never took you for a sore loser."
"We'll see," Sam said as he activated the coin in his pocket.
The device being tiny did not have much range, less than a minute into the past. The one-use-only device would be perfect to catch this card cheat.
T-minus Twenty-six Seconds
Sam whispered in Boo's ear while studying the cards already on the table.
Eligos said, "All in," with the same forced smile while pushing 400
chips into the pot.
"Call!" Sam shouted again to the crowd that roared as before.
"Call," Eligos said pushing the last of his chips into the pot.
"Last side bets before the river, please," Boo said to the crowd before nodding to Donnan.
"The Pot's right," the grogoch said, "please discard."
Sam watched as Eligos selected his top card and then placed it next to the pot.
Sam picked out the jack of hearts from his hole cards and succeeded to flick it as before next to the large pile of chips.
He activated his TD to slow time to a point he would have several seconds to carry out his plan before anyone would notice. Tye was the Family expert in temporal dilation illusions with TDs, but Sam was no novice. He then flipped over his discard to show the jack of hearts to the overhead security system, then replaced it face down. He resumed his previous position accurately and then reactivated his TD to rejoin the current timestream.
Donnan said. "Gentleman the river," he added as he laid the king of diamonds next to the ten of hearts.
"The man with the axe. How apt Sam," Eligos said just as gleefully as before.
"Showdown gentlemen," Donnan said stoically then gave Sam a subtle nod to show his hand.
"Three tens, ace, king," Sam said turning his hole cards over.
"Nice hand, Sammy," Eligos said turning over the jack and king of hearts to the crazed crowd. "But not nice enough, I'm afraid. Straight flush," he added smugly while pulling in the large pot.
Sam again suppressed a shudder driven by goose bumps on his forearms a symptom of the coins previous activation.
"The winner," Boo announced looking at the demon.
"I request a security check," Sam injected. "It's my right as stated in the rules," he added sternly while looking back at Lars who just shrugged his shoulders.
"Good luck," Lars whispered dejectedly as a small 3D view of the table and players appeared over the pot.
"I protest," Eligos said frantically.
"To what exactly?" Boo asked.
"How should I know? He probably switched the cards," Eligos said.
"Traveler tricks. I bet he has a TD on him!"
"I bet if we replay the card auto-tracking, super-slow motion security monitors we'd see some very interesting vid," she said looking into his red eyes.
Eligos gulped as the crowd watched the replay of Sam showing his discarded jack of hearts to the overhead recording devices.
"You're banned from the House!" Boo shouted to Eligos above the now raucous crowd.
Eligos started to say something but choked in a stream of boiling purple vapor emanating from his stubby horns that quickly enveloped him. The retched vapor vanished along with Eligos and his minions. Only fine violet wisps swirled around Boo's head causing the leprechaun to let loose the colossal sneeze she had held during the tournament.
The crowd cheered wildly as Boo climbed onto the table and raised Sam's right arm. "The winner!" she yelled.
"Well played," Lars said as he joined Sam at the table while fanning away the last stinky mist the House's stench-control measures had not suppressed.
"Just dumb luck, I’d say," Sam said with a wink to Boo as she handed him the Timestone segments.
"Invisible card changin' manipulations, who'd believe," she said agilely adjusting her suspenders. "Nasty touch using your card to cheat with and I think we can ignore your breach of house rules this time," she added climbing down onto a chair to kiss Sam on the cheek. "And we owe you a great deal. The tournament earned the House a record profit."
"How'd you ever guess?" Lars asked.
"Later," Sam replied securing the Timestone segments within his pack and then pulling Boo close. "Who'd recall a high-level, demon-from Laith?" he whispered into her ear.
With Laith numbers increasing exponentially, the small percentage of demon forms that lived their common nightmares were getting plentiful but organization had always been problematic for Laiths. The excellent coordination of his demon opponents was obvious to Sam and now he was sure that more control existed above even the more hardcore, high-level demons.
"Think the devils finally got themselves an el jefe?" she whispered back. "I'll see what I can find out. You just find your Sara," she added hopping down from the chair before Donnan dragged her away to the staff party that had instantaneously combusted within seconds after Eligos disappeared. Obviously, the House's take from the tournament pleased its management as rows of bottles containing the best Irish whiskeys now lined the top of the dungeon's bar.
"We've got to go," Sam said as Lars handed him his segment of the Timestone.
As Sam positioned it into gap between the other two joined segments, it clicked into place dissolving any hint of the three separate pieces. "Drac and Miri have modeled the coordinates to TarTarus but first we better get your other TD," he said.