007 Hold

Character: Peter

Peter leaned back in his seat, watching as the cards were dealt. He counted, only to tell when the dealer had finished. There wasn't really a point to counting cards in poker. When the dealer finished Peter sat up, gathering up his cards. He made sure his face stayed blanks as he looked them over deciding what move to make.

They went through a first round of betting and two of the other players folded. Peter swapped out one of his cards and when it came to him he raised. Another of the players folded while they went through another wave of matching and the player a few seats to Peter's right raised. Peter raised on top of that.

They had been at this for some time and another player had to drop out, not having enough credits to cover the raise. It left just Peter and one other player, sitting and looking at each other. Peter cracked a slight smirk as the other player looked uncertain. "Why not just go all in and hand your credits over to me, Geoff? You could just give it to me now and save us all some time. Besides, we're out of beer so one last hand should do us for the night."

The other man glared at him. "That crap isn't going to cut it tonight. I'm not drunk enough to be taken in by your trash talk, Peter." The man pushed all of his chips forward. "I'm all in."

Peter shrugged and pushed enough credits forward. "I call." He then tossed down his cards and smiled. "Three kings. Can you beat that?"

Geoff groaned and smacked his hands to the side of his head. "Damn, my girlfriend is going to be so pissed that I lost this much." He threw down his cards and Peter saw that he only had a pair of jacks.

Peter shook his head and gathered up his credits. "See, that's why I don't have a girlfriend. I don't want someone nagging me for when I lose."

"Yeah, sure, that's the reason you don't have a girlfriend." Peter shot a frown at Marcus. He was one of the few people who knew of Peter's personal preference which he still hadn't admitted to any of his other friends. Marcus saw the look and quickly changed the subject. "You wouldn't have to worry, anyway. When was the last time you left with less credits than you arrived with?"

Peter shrugged. "I can't remember the last time. The problem is you boys don't know the proper time to hold them and when you should fold them. You also don't know when to bluff and when to pretend you are bluffing and how to make them look the same."

"How'd you get so good at all of that? I mean a sixteen-year-old shouldn't be that good at gambling," Geoff complained.

"I've been gambling most of my life. Gotten into trouble for it a few times. Nearly gone to jail several times but charges were dropped. Why do you think I ended up in military school?" Peter pocketed the credits and stood up. "Well, we should get back to the barracks. We'll need to get some sleep before morning drills." The others groaned but got up, gathering their things before heading out the door.

They all froze outside the door and Peter cursed, shoulders slumping when he caught sight of the Sergeant. "Oh, you all better get some sleep because tomorrow I'm going to work you like a rented mule." The moved past the smirking Sergeant and back to the barracks.