Lawless & Sinful Another World

Several games had already played out in front of us, yet the undisputed top of the table was still that same man holding more than ten silver coins.

The other players had varying amounts and seemed to be cautiously probing each other. On the other hand, whenever the top man raised, everyone else became noticeably passive.

One man grew tired of the stalemate and stood up from his seat.

This is my chance. I sat down in the newly vacated spot.

“Oh, we’ve got ourselves a pretty young lad here.”

The top man spoke to me. Ideally, I shouldn’t react or give away any information, but this was entertainment at a drinking table. Ruining the mood wouldn’t be smart either, so I gave a casual reply.

“Please go easy on me.”

As I spoke, I placed all my current possessions—eight copper coins—onto the table.

“Hey now, you’re really joining with just that?”

The man sitting to my right looked at my copper coins and teased me.

“Yeah, unfortunately this is all I have.” “You’d better not leave without winning even a single hand!”

The man cackled as he pulled the cards dealt by the dealer closer to himself.

Just as the man next to me said, poker here required paying a minimum ante-like fee to participate. You didn’t have to pay if you sat out, but because forced participation rounds came around periodically, you still had to pay the fee even if your hand was bad.

“Call!”

The man on the far left put out two copper coins and joined. The second man also declared “Call.”

Then the turn came to me. I slowly looked at my dealt cards.

Hiding them carefully with my hands so no one could see, I opened them: a pair of Tens. I never expected to get such a strong starting hand on my very first try. I nearly let my joy show on my face, but I held it back and calmly declared,

“All in.”

All in — betting every last coin I had.

I pushed all my money forward with both hands.

“Hey hey, did you really get that good a hand?”

Once again, the man to my right tried talking to me, but this time I ignored him completely. Just as I was studying their tells, these guys were probably trying to read mine. The fact that they kept talking to the newcomer was proof of that.

It was now my neighbor’s turn. He didn’t have much information on me yet. Moreover, he had four silver coins and over ten copper coins — more than five times my bet. He was probably weighing whether to risk an amount equal to one silver coin when not a single community card had been revealed yet. But I was certain he would call.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll play along.”

As expected, the man next to me put out eight copper coins and joined the pot.

(Nice!)

The top man also called without even a change in expression.

The turn went back to the first man who had called. He folded, tossing his cards to the dealer. However, the next man called as well and put out eight copper coins like the rest.

Even before any community cards were revealed, there were already 34 copper coins in the pot — equivalent to three silver coins.

The dealer would now reveal three cards, and after several more actions, the full five. Since I was already all-in, I had no further actions to take.

I could only watch how the battle unfolded.

The first three community cards revealed were: Three of Hearts, Seven of Clubs, and King of Spades. It was a slightly unfavorable situation for me. If any of the other three players held even one King, I was already behind.

My neighbor thought for a moment before pushing forward one silver coin.

“Raise.”

Seeing this, the top man instantly folded and handed his cards to the dealer.

The turn passed to the man on my left. Like the man on my right, he thought carefully. To continue, he would need to call the silver coin raise, but he only had two silver coins and two copper coins left — the second smallest stack after mine. Unless he had a King or a hand strong enough to beat a pair of Kings, he couldn’t continue.

“Fold.”

In the end, the man on the left also folded. The hand was now between me and the man on my right.

“Too bad, kid. I’ve got a pair of Kings.”

The man happily revealed his hand.

His cards were the King of Hearts and Queen of Spades — a legitimately strong hand.

“The game isn’t decided yet.”

I revealed my own hand as well.

“Yeah, that’s definitely a hand worth going all-in on.”

The man looked at my pair of Tens with sympathy, but his face still showed plenty of confidence.

At the moment, my chances of winning were extremely low. Even if one of the next cards matched a suit, I couldn’t make a flush. And since he already had a higher pair, I would need another Ten to beat him.

Both the man on my right and the surrounding spectators focused their eyes on the dealer’s fourth card.

The fourth card revealed was…

“Goddammit!” “Yes!”

The fourth card was the Ten of Clubs. Combined with my Ten of Hearts and Ten of Spades, I now had three Tens.

Now the man on my right was the one cornered. He would need a King on the river, or his loss was certain.

With the exact opposite feeling from earlier, we all stared at the fifth card. It was the Two of Diamonds.

Three Tens — my victory.

“Shit!”

The man received one silver coin from the dealer, while I took all the remaining copper coins.

In one move, my funds had jumped from eight copper coins to thirty-four.

In less than five minutes, I had earned more than three times what several hours of labor would have brought me.