‘The Casino Barrière Cassis is the best casino near Marseille.’ Slim McCoy said.
‘The best food, you mean,’ joked Dimitar.
‘Naturally!’
The four of them made their way to the cash tables, where Sam had a word with the cardroom manager. Before playing, they dined. They ate extraordinarily well. Tender seared salmon over vegetables, a vanilla-lemon syllabub that was to die for, and the finest wine any of them had ever tasted.
‘I still can’t believe he’s dead.’ Dimitar said, saying what they were all thinking. ‘Yesterday, he could have killed me. Now we’re free.’
Looking up at his companions, he raised his glass.
‘Thank you for this meal.’ Dimitar stated sincerely, addressing Slim McCoy. ‘And for pulling me out of that pool.’
‘You promised me a heads-up game of poker. I’m all about the value.’
‘Just because you beat me on the cruise ship…’
‘Twice!’ laughed McCoy.
‘All right, twice. Third time is the charm, is that what they say, Sam?’
Sam Houston put down his drink on the silk tablecloth.
‘Elena is the charm, and you finally have her back.’
Elena blushed, then kissed Dimitar on the lips. She gazed at him adoringly.
‘I thought I had lost you forever,’ she lamented.
‘Never. I was never going to stop looking for you.’
‘I know. France is great and this food is lovely… but can we go home after this?’
‘First class train tickets are booked for you both.’ McCoy announced. ‘Paid for with my own money. I already told Dimitar I donate all my winnings, so his stake money won’t be affected.’
They all laughed, but the serious business of the poker game hadn’t escaped Dimitar, and he was fully focused by the time they arrived in the cardroom. They had bought a table just for the two of them to play heads-up poker at private stakes. The thousands of lights outside the casino cast the cardroom in a balmy amber hue. This time, there was a dealer, Elena was safe and Dimitar was under no threat at all.
But now there was €2 million on the line.
‘I think you’re crazy playing for it all. Slim’s good… but I believe in you.’ Sam said. He and Elena sat at a nearby table. They would play without breaks, and this time, it was for everything: Dimitar’s €2 million and an equal amount put up by Slim McCoy.
‘Where will you go after this, Sam?’ asked Elena. ‘You saved Dimitar’s life.’
‘I’ll be at the tables somewhere. Never anywhere for too long. I can’t promise I’ll help your boyfriend any more with strategy – I don’t think he needs it anymore.’
The heads-up game lasted four hours and twenty-three minutes. They’d agreed on fast blinds, and Dimitar had been the better player by the time the final hand played out.
‘What are we, even in chips?’ Asked McCoy, raising with the ace-king of hearts. Dimitar called in position with the seven and eight of the same suit.
‘I think you have a few more than me. But this could be a big one.’ Said Dimitar.
The flop came with two hearts, the nine and the ten. An innocuous three of clubs completed the board. McCoy bet again, this time a lot bigger. Dimitar called.
The turn was the four of spades. An open-ended straight flush draw, thought Dimitar, this could be my chance. The chance to fulfill the pipe dream he’d been having all this time.
McCoy bet, and Dimitar called. Almost 70% of the chips in play were in the middle.
The river was the six of hearts. The devil’s card. Inside, Dimitar smiled, but outwardly, he showed nothing. He checked again to Slim.
‘I think I finally have you. I’m all-in.’ Slim grinned, pushing his remaining chips forward.
‘The nut flush?’ Dimitar asked. The sparkle in Slim’s eyes gave him away. It was perfect. Dimitar had finally outplayed him.
‘I call.’
Slim McCoy turned over his ace-king of hearts for the nut flush. Dimitar looked down at his cards, the seven-eight of hearts looking back at him for the straight flush. All $4 million was his.
But that was never the plan.
Dimitar thought for the tiniest moment about turning over the cards and taking the money. But it was stained, every note of it, with the blood of those that Peter Serf had killed. The battles Dimitar had faced around Europe had been won to take on a monster. Now that the treasure was in front of him, Dimitar needed to do what he’d prepared to do since he first started throwing cards across a hotel desk at a notepad.
Dimitar took a deep breath, and his heart filled with the thought of all the children whose lives would improve when McCoy gave the charity $4 million.
He held the two cards that completed his straight flush between his index and middle fingers on his right hand and threw them perfectly into the muck.
The dealer gathered in the cards and Dimitar looked across to his opponent.
‘You got me.’
Slim McCoy Will Return in…
Dead Ringer.
Chapter 14.2 Dead Ringer – Coming Soon…
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.
