Chapter 1

To say that this was an ordinary poker game would be to say that the Mona Lisa was a painting. It was an extraordinary poker game, with stakes so high mere mortals would have difficulty comprehending.

There were just three players left from the original ten. Eight of them had put up $100,000 to play. $200,000 would go to the winner. $400,000 would be donated to charity. $100,000 would cover the expenses of bringing in the 8 players from around the country, and the world, for a week’s stay. The final $100,000 would go to the girl seated at a table with the game’s judges.

For the two local players, neither of whom had to put up any cash, it was a matter of pride and lust. Both had a grudging respect for the other. Both wanted to win badly. And both wanted a heads-up match.

“Call.”

The junior senator from Pennsylvania looked confident. He had a horrible poker face but played so erratically that no one had been able to read him. He now smiled as he liked his chances of eliminating Sheriff Don once and for all, who had just called his all-in wager.

There were four cards on the table from the flop: A six of diamonds, a queen of hearts, a king of spades, and a queen of diamonds.

Senator Fun, who came from nowhere to unseat an incumbent after said incumbent backed out of the primary one week before the vote due to alleged sexual indiscretions, flipped over his two cards.

A collective gasp arose from the small but attentive audience, as the two other queens in the deck were revealed. The senator was sitting pretty with four-of-a-kind, a very powerful hand.

Sheriff Don had a most impassive face. He turned over his cards, revealing a king of clubs and a king of hearts for three-of-a-kind, a much lower hand than the smiling senator. Most people quickly thought that the Sheriff figured his three kings would rule, and the best the Senator would have would be three queens. Such is the uncertainty of Texas Hold’em.

The dealer, a gorgeous redhead, counted the chips and got the bets arranged appropriately. As she did so, many male eyes were glued to her. Jayne, a slightly upper-middle-class English bird, was dealing naked. The reason given was so that there would be no possible way for the dealer to pass cards on to one of the players. That was the official reason. Everyone knew the real reason ... Jayne was a beautiful woman and an exhibitionist and despite the high stakes of the game, it was a fun atmosphere.

Well, maybe not fun for all. Sheriff Don knew he was one card away from elimination. He looked over at Jack Tales and saw that the Doc had a smirk on his face, glad he wasn’t in the Sheriff’s shoes. He wanted to be “in” something, as he looked over to the Judge’s table at the girl seated there, but it had nothing to do with shoes.

The three men had some history. Two years ago, before he became Senator, W.S. Fun was an embassy employee, working for Miss Ellie, who was the Manager of Operations. There was an incident involving him and one of the ladies, Kimi, centered around some computer hacking on Fun’s part, and some accidental yet illegal activity conducted by Kimi.