Hustling (OPEN!)

[Racetrack]

((When was the last time I made an open thread? Have I EVER made an open thread? Race needs to meet new people.))

Racetrack was playing poker in the Turtle Dove, a relatively-tame-yet-still-dicey casino in the Irving Hall area. There weren't many regulars here tonight, which meant that most of the crowd had no idea he was a legend, so he'd made some good money off them already. Unfortunately, they were starting to catch on, giving him shifty looks and folding before the pot was even worth winning. Race decided it was time to fall back on a reliable old trick he hadn't used in quite some time--hustling the crowd. But for that, he needed a partner. He looked around hopefully for a familiar face.

[raven]

Raven rolled her eyes as obnoxiously as she could. It didn't shock her at all that Racetrack suddenly found himself in a bind.

She hurriedly made her way over to him.

[Racetrack]

Race noticed her and quickly held up a finger behind his back in a do not approach signal. "I'm skipping out on this hand," he told the dealer. "Gonna get a drink." He got up and made his way over to Raven, made sure no one at his table was watching, then grinned in absolute delight. "Rae! Great to see you! Wanna help me hustle?"

[raven]

"Why do you think I was headed over there? You keep conning these idiots and someones gonna cut you." Raven said with a grin. "I'm in."

[Racetrack]

"I'm not conning! I'm just winning," Race said patiently. "Now I'm gonna be conning." He looked around warily again and lowered his voice. "So, you know the drill...I'll play another hand or two, then you come ask if you can join in. You're just a beautiful girl who wandered in here to get outta the heat, and you've never played poker before in your life, but surely the nice boys at my table will be willing to teach you." He smirked.

"I'll raise a fuss about it, but they'll shout me down and let you play. You gotta lose at first, and when you start winning, act like it's all sheer luck and you just can't believe it. I'll get mad, and they'll have something to laugh about, even while they're losing money. Just don't forget to signal me what cards you've got...and I'll try really hard not to get the ace and deuce signals mixed up again, 'cause we both remember how that ended last time." He winced. "And...fifty-fifty split at the end?"

[raven]

Raven smirked, "Deal," she took his hand and shook it. "Then after its all over I gotta talk to you, okay?" She asked.

[Racetrack]

"Sure," Race said, totally curious now. She seemed happy, so he figured it wasn't something horribly upsetting, like the last couple times they'd talked. "We can splurge our winnings and get dinner." He flashed her a grateful smile, headed back to the table, and got himself dealt back in. He made sure to win the next two hands even more spectacularly than usual, raising the pot until every one of his opponents genuinely wanted to kill him. Then, while the dealer shuffled, he just sat there all poker-faced and waited for Raven to make her entrance.

[raven]

Raven sauntered over to the table fanning herself. "Boy is it hot out there!" She exclaimed and then giggled. "Oh this looks like so much fun," she peered over Race's shoulder, smiling brightly. "Do you mind if I join in?" She batted her long black lashes at the boys.

[Racetrack]

Race yanked his cards away and glared at her. "Get lost, kid! Serious players only."

Of course, this caused an immediate outcry among the other boys. "Don't speak that way to a lady!" "Always room for one more, doll!" "Shut up and let her play!"

The dealer himself smiled and stood up to pull out a chair, picturing all the money he was about to make off this clueless dame. "Don't listen to that shrimp, m'lady. Please have a seat, we'll help you learn the game." Race looked utterly outraged. The rest of the table smirked triumphantly at him.

[raven]

"Aww you boys are so sweet!" She said before taking the offered seat. "What gentlemen, cept him of course." Raven obviously meant Racetrack. "So now...I honestly have no idea what I'm doing." She said as she was dealt a hand.

[Racetrack]

"Well, see, everyone gets five cards," some massive guy with a thick brogue eagerly explained. "All the cards have ranks, starting with two through ten--a two's called a deuce, the lowest card there is--then the jacks, then queens, then kings, then aces. And they all have a suit, too--either hearts, diamonds, spades, or clubs.

"So you look at your hand to see what you've got. If none of your cards match at all, only the highest card in your hand matters--you say you've got a queen high, or an ace high, or whatever. Two cards of the same rank is a pair. You might have a pair of deuces, threes, jacks, aces, whatever. Three cards of the same rank, that's three of a kind. Five cards that go in order, like two-three-four-five-six, that's a straight. Five in the same suit, like five diamonds or clubs, that's a flush. Three of a kind plus two of another kind, like three kings and two tens--that's a full house. Four of the same rank is four of a kind, o'course. Five cards in order and from the same suit, like two-three-four-five-six when they're all hearts, that's a straight flush. And if they're ten-jack-queen-king-ace and all of the same suit, that's a royal flush. No way to beat that.

"Well, so, you look at your hand and then you bet some money. If it's good, you bet a lot--if it's bad, you can bet a little or fold and drop outta the hand, or you can bluff and bet a lot anyway, and hope everyone else folds, so you'll win all the dough and they'll never know what a lousy hand you have. Anyway, everyone else goes around calling the bet or folding--or they can raise the bet, and then everyone else has to match the raise, or else they gotta fold. After two rounds of betting, everyone who's left in the game shows their hand, and the highest hand wins all the dough."

Race, who was quite sincerely half-asleep by now, rolled his eyes and scowled at Raven. "Can we play the damn hand already?"

((Good grief, poker sounds insanely complicated when you write it out.))

[raven]

"Well thank you, that was delightfully informative." Raven said batting her lashes at him, turning toward the boy with the brogue. "Tell me sir, is that small little man always so rude?" She asked and tried not to laugh as she glanced at Race.

[Racetrack]

The Irish boy glared at Race. "Don't worry, miss, we'll keep an eye on that one. He's been cheating all night, he has."

Not till now, Race thought, just managing to hold back a smirk. "Who you callin' little?" he demanded instead, glancing at Raven so he could catch the signals for her cards. Years ago, they'd made up a whole complicated system of coughs, key words, and subtle hand gestures.

[raven]

Raven swirled her hand in the air, studying her cards.

"You of course...you so tiny." She squeezed her two fingers together, eyes twinkling with mischief. GOD she forgot how much she loved doing this. So she'd just told him she had a ten and two. She tapped her finger to her lip twice, that was a four. She really did have shit cards.

((LMFAO))

[Racetrack]

Race snorted with laughter, though he managed to disguise it as a snort of contempt. This was good; she wouldn't have any trouble losing this round. He decided to throw it, too, though he could've bluffed his way to victory with an ace high, because there really was a delicate balance between winning everyone's money and not getting punched in the face. He placed a modest bet each round, and luckily, no one raised the pot outrageously high. "Whatcha got, dollface?" he demanded mockingly, turning to Rae and looking quite confident.