Johnny sat down in the 8 seat. The guy who had been talking to Ed was in the 6 seat. "My names' Bill" he said and stuck his hand out. "John, nice to meet you." They shook hands. The other two men sat down in the 2 and 4 seats. None of them were Bozeman regulars Johnny took note. He bought in for a hundred. The others bought in, then Ed, dealing, high carded for the button and got the cards in the air. Johnny had a lot of work to do. He had to try and beat the game and make sure everything was on the up and up too. Were the cards marked? Did Ed ever show a mechanics grip. Was he second or base dealing? Were they playing location or top hand? Were there any physical signals? Any code language in the table talk?
After several hands Johnny had figured out that the 4 seat, who was in the big blind when Johnny was on the button, was weak tight. When Johnny open raised on the button the guy was throwing away a third of his hands preflop. And of the hands he did play, he was throwing half of them away on the flop. He was a check/call, check/fold player. The guy just had no playback in him at all. Johnny took advantage of the situation. He started raising with practically any two when he figured to be heads up with the 4 seat. He was giving himself three ways to win. He could steal the blinds, flop the best hand, or bet the guy out of the pot. He was causing the guy to rebuy and he ran his stack up to $300 within an hour. He was beating the game which was a clear indication that the game was on the up and up so far. And he hadn't seen any shenanigans like marked cards, second or base dealing, location, signals, or top hand. But he did see some occasional worried looks from Ed.
"Hey" Bill in the 6 seat said. "Why don't we bump it up to $10-$20? Anybody object?" No one objected. "Why don't we throw the bug in the deck too" the two seat said.
"What's the bug?" Johnny asked trying to act like he didn't know.
"The Joker" Bill said. "Only counts for Aces, straights and flushes."
"A Joker in holdem? Sounds like fun" Johnny said, although he really wasn't crazy about the idea. Whoever was lucky enough to catch the Joker the most would beat the game. But he didn't figure to be in the game much longer. Everyone agreed.
Ed reached for a card packet, pulled a Joker out, and washed it into the deck. They redrew for the button and the game was on. Johnny figured to make one last move then get out of the game. Under the gun, Johnny placed his middle finger on one of the cards and his index finger on the other card. He was trying to get a feel for the warmth of the cards. Cards that are in use, especially after an hour, warm up from the heat of the players hands and friction. Especially with a fast dealer like Ed. Johnny faked looking at his hand and folded. "Gotta go to the boys room" he said. "Back in a flash."
to be continued....
