During the reception held in honour of Sir Angel Joe, Magick discovered that there were some poker chips lying around, and decided to ask whether anyone wanted to play a game of poker. It turned out that the denizens of the Wild Republic had never actually played poker before, but a few of them were interested in learning how. Reggie was pretty keen, and Rochester and Humphrey were interested too. And, of course, Sir Tristan wanted to play. Magick and Sir Tristan have been playing poker together since they were kittens at boarding school. A desire to keep the kittens of the local chapter unaware of the game for a bit longer led Lady Faraday to teach them Yahtzee instead.
So here they are, getting ready to play. They've all anted up. Reggie really wanted to be the bank, and Sir Tristan volunteered to take charge of the rule book. He also agreed to be the first dealer. Laszlo, Mahler, and Desmond aren't playing, but they wanted to watch.
They played for a very long time, so we aren't going to show pictures of the entire game. That would be excessive and often not interesting. I'll just show you the highlights, and bits from the first few hands.
Here everyone is after the first deal. Magick raised, Rochester called, Humphrey raised yet again. Rochester and Sir Tristan prudently folded, but Magick and Reggie went ahead and called.
After the turn, essentially the same thing happened: Magick raised, Reggie called, Humphrey raised again, and the others called. After the flip, Magick raised again, but this time Humphrey didn't raise further; he and Reggie just called. Then came the river, and this time Magick folded. Reggie raised, but then Humphrey raised again, and Reggie decided to fold. So Humphrey won, and he was very pleased with himself. Probably more pleased with himself than he needed to be; but hey, he was new at this.
The next game they played didn't force a showdown either. This time, Magick raised again; Reggie and Humphrey called; and this time Sir Tristan raised. Rochester promptly folded. He was starting to be a bit unhappy; he wasn't really sold on the game. Folding early isn't really all that exciting, especially when everyone else calls and continues playing.
Here's the state of the game after the turn. The four of diamonds, five of clubs, and ace of spades are all on the table.
Magick raised. He raised rather a lot, in fact; he depleted his stack of chips at a much faster pace than any of the others. Reggie folded, but the other two called. Then the flip turned up the queen of spades. Sir Tristan was pleased: he now had a pair of queens.
Sir Tristan is a very careful player: very good at assessing the game, but inclined to play conservatively. Nevertheless, he's pretty good at working out if he has a better hand than his competitors, especially when most of them don't really know what they're doing, and it was very clear to him that no one else had anything nearly as good as a pair of queens. Magick raised again, and Humphrey called, but Sir Tristan still felt confident enough that he went ahead and raised again, and then Magick folded. Humphrey folded after the river, when it was clear that Sir Tristan had a good hand.
The next game they played turned out to be very disappointing for poor Reggie. After the deal, no one had a particularly good hand; Humphrey raised a bit, but Sir Tristan and Reggie decided to fold, and the others just called. But then the deal happened, and Reggie suddenly became visibly disappointed. He's a river otter; they're not really all that good at hiding their feelings. Reggie was sort of wiggling all over the place with big sad eyes. He didn't say what the problem was, but the others could guess.
Humphrey, still feeling rather over-confident thanks to his early win, over-raised after the turn. Rochester decided to call just to keep playing, because he'd folded on every previous game and was becoming impatient. Magick called as well. They all bet five dollars on the flip. No one really had much of anything, though. Humphrey and Rochester both checked after the river; Magick raised, but only a small amount. Humphrey then decided to raise by a large amount, which caused the others to fold. He was pretty pleased with himself.
After Humphrey's win, Reggie revealed that he would have had a straight, had he stayed in the game. The others were sympathetic. Well, except for Humphrey. Here you can see Humphrey gloating over his mound of chips while Reggie regards his would-be straight mournfully.
See the way Magick is positioned, with his cards under his paw? That's his general gaming pose, apparently. He's very suave even when he's losing, which he was doing rather markedly at this point. Compare his piles of chips to Reggie's.
By the next hand, the players had very different attitudes towards the game. Humphrey was now high on two big victories and was convinced that poker is the best game ever, and that he, Humphrey, was a poker king. Reggie was feeling a bit down, although Magick and Sir Tristan both assured him that he had been correct to fold given the information he had available at the time; he wanted to keep playing, though, in case he had a good hand. Magick was losing but seemed unfazed by it; when Humphrey made a cocky remark, Magick said that everyone has off nights. Sir Tristan was doing moderately well and felt pretty good about it. But Rochester was really not having a good time. He didn't feel like he was playing a game at all, and he was ready to stop playing. The others convinced him to try just one more hand, and he gave in grudgingly.
After the next deal, Humphrey and Magick both folded. Sir Tristan raised, and the others stayed in the game, Rochester with a sort of grim look of determination: this was going to be his last hand and he was going to play it out, damnit.
The turn produced the queen of spades, the five of clubs, and the queen of diamonds, and this was good for everyone. Sir Tristan, who was to go first, had a queen in his hand. Rochester called; he didn't have anything just yet, but he had the beginnings of a possible flush. And Reggie had two pairs, so he stayed in as well, really wanting to redeem himself. The flip turned up the six of spades, and Rochester perked up a bit. He was starting to feel like he was playing after all; he even raised Sir Tristan's bet. Reggie folded at this point, but Sir Tristan called. And the river turned up the eight of spades: Rochester had his flush.
This was the game's first showdown, so the new players were particularly thrilled. After Sir Tristan's bet, Rochester went all in - and won. He had had the two and king of spades.
Here you can see Mahler, Laszlo, and Magick admiring Rochester's winning hand.
Sir Tristan was gracious in defeat, and Rochester was (mostly) gracious in victory. He decided that poker was a good game after all, and that was the end to his thoughts of quitting the game.
So here they are, getting ready to play. They've all anted up. Reggie really wanted to be the bank, and Sir Tristan volunteered to take charge of the rule book. He also agreed to be the first dealer. Laszlo, Mahler, and Desmond aren't playing, but they wanted to watch.
They played for a very long time, so we aren't going to show pictures of the entire game. That would be excessive and often not interesting. I'll just show you the highlights, and bits from the first few hands.
Here everyone is after the first deal. Magick raised, Rochester called, Humphrey raised yet again. Rochester and Sir Tristan prudently folded, but Magick and Reggie went ahead and called.
After the turn, essentially the same thing happened: Magick raised, Reggie called, Humphrey raised again, and the others called. After the flip, Magick raised again, but this time Humphrey didn't raise further; he and Reggie just called. Then came the river, and this time Magick folded. Reggie raised, but then Humphrey raised again, and Reggie decided to fold. So Humphrey won, and he was very pleased with himself. Probably more pleased with himself than he needed to be; but hey, he was new at this.
The next game they played didn't force a showdown either. This time, Magick raised again; Reggie and Humphrey called; and this time Sir Tristan raised. Rochester promptly folded. He was starting to be a bit unhappy; he wasn't really sold on the game. Folding early isn't really all that exciting, especially when everyone else calls and continues playing.
Here's the state of the game after the turn. The four of diamonds, five of clubs, and ace of spades are all on the table.
Magick raised. He raised rather a lot, in fact; he depleted his stack of chips at a much faster pace than any of the others. Reggie folded, but the other two called. Then the flip turned up the queen of spades. Sir Tristan was pleased: he now had a pair of queens.
Sir Tristan is a very careful player: very good at assessing the game, but inclined to play conservatively. Nevertheless, he's pretty good at working out if he has a better hand than his competitors, especially when most of them don't really know what they're doing, and it was very clear to him that no one else had anything nearly as good as a pair of queens. Magick raised again, and Humphrey called, but Sir Tristan still felt confident enough that he went ahead and raised again, and then Magick folded. Humphrey folded after the river, when it was clear that Sir Tristan had a good hand.
The next game they played turned out to be very disappointing for poor Reggie. After the deal, no one had a particularly good hand; Humphrey raised a bit, but Sir Tristan and Reggie decided to fold, and the others just called. But then the deal happened, and Reggie suddenly became visibly disappointed. He's a river otter; they're not really all that good at hiding their feelings. Reggie was sort of wiggling all over the place with big sad eyes. He didn't say what the problem was, but the others could guess.
Humphrey, still feeling rather over-confident thanks to his early win, over-raised after the turn. Rochester decided to call just to keep playing, because he'd folded on every previous game and was becoming impatient. Magick called as well. They all bet five dollars on the flip. No one really had much of anything, though. Humphrey and Rochester both checked after the river; Magick raised, but only a small amount. Humphrey then decided to raise by a large amount, which caused the others to fold. He was pretty pleased with himself.
After Humphrey's win, Reggie revealed that he would have had a straight, had he stayed in the game. The others were sympathetic. Well, except for Humphrey. Here you can see Humphrey gloating over his mound of chips while Reggie regards his would-be straight mournfully.
See the way Magick is positioned, with his cards under his paw? That's his general gaming pose, apparently. He's very suave even when he's losing, which he was doing rather markedly at this point. Compare his piles of chips to Reggie's.
By the next hand, the players had very different attitudes towards the game. Humphrey was now high on two big victories and was convinced that poker is the best game ever, and that he, Humphrey, was a poker king. Reggie was feeling a bit down, although Magick and Sir Tristan both assured him that he had been correct to fold given the information he had available at the time; he wanted to keep playing, though, in case he had a good hand. Magick was losing but seemed unfazed by it; when Humphrey made a cocky remark, Magick said that everyone has off nights. Sir Tristan was doing moderately well and felt pretty good about it. But Rochester was really not having a good time. He didn't feel like he was playing a game at all, and he was ready to stop playing. The others convinced him to try just one more hand, and he gave in grudgingly.
After the next deal, Humphrey and Magick both folded. Sir Tristan raised, and the others stayed in the game, Rochester with a sort of grim look of determination: this was going to be his last hand and he was going to play it out, damnit.
The turn produced the queen of spades, the five of clubs, and the queen of diamonds, and this was good for everyone. Sir Tristan, who was to go first, had a queen in his hand. Rochester called; he didn't have anything just yet, but he had the beginnings of a possible flush. And Reggie had two pairs, so he stayed in as well, really wanting to redeem himself. The flip turned up the six of spades, and Rochester perked up a bit. He was starting to feel like he was playing after all; he even raised Sir Tristan's bet. Reggie folded at this point, but Sir Tristan called. And the river turned up the eight of spades: Rochester had his flush.
This was the game's first showdown, so the new players were particularly thrilled. After Sir Tristan's bet, Rochester went all in - and won. He had had the two and king of spades.
Here you can see Mahler, Laszlo, and Magick admiring Rochester's winning hand.
Sir Tristan was gracious in defeat, and Rochester was (mostly) gracious in victory. He decided that poker was a good game after all, and that was the end to his thoughts of quitting the game.
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