POKER

Kaminari glumly set his cards down. "I fold."

Yaoyorozu pushed a pile of yen forward. "Call."

"Call." Todoroki sipped his boba tea.

Izuku held up his cards. "My hand has an optimal chance for victory. Call."

Iida laid down the flop. As bidding ran around the table, Izuku said, "My combination of cards has a 98.472 percent chance of winning this hand. I shall raise a subtle amount to lure everyone else into raising. Ten thousand."

A round of 'folds' went round the table. Izuku showed his cards, revealing a full house, and collected a meager pile of money.

"Are you going to do that for every hand?" Todoroki asked.

"Do what?"

Kaminari nudged Todoroki and whispered, "Dude, let him do it. More money for the rest of us."

"But I'm trying to lose money."

Yaoyorozu dealt the next set of cards. When everyone called, she turned over a Jack, Queen, and Eight of Spades.

"I raise twenty-thousand," Yaoyorozu said, checking her pair of Queens.

Kaminari, grinning at his Seven and Nine of Spades, said, "Call!"

Shoto called, as did Iida. Izuku glanced around the table. "My hand has a statistically poor chance, but I will bluff high to encourage everyone to fold. One million yen."

Everyone called. Kaminari was drooling over the pile of money building at the center of the table. Momo turned over the river, revealing the Ten of Spades. Kaminari barely held back his cheer, while Yaoyorozu frowned at the cards. Both players checked, and with the action back on Izuku, he said, "My hand has not improved. Further bluffing required to retain chip advantage. Two million yen."

Everyone called, and Yaoyorozu drew the river. Queen of Diamonds. Yaoyorozu smirked and said, "Another million."

Kaminari got off the phone with a moneylender. Seconds later, a shark arrived and handed him a briefcase. "Two million!"

Izuku wrote a check. "Previous bluff did not work. Initiating maximum bluff. All in."

Iida and Todoroki both folded. Yaoyorozu had her butler bring a set of diamonds, and Kaminari put his PS5 into the pot.

"Quad Queens," Yaoyorozu said primly.

Kaminari whistled. "Nice hand. However, you cannot withstand the power of the Straight Flush!"

As Kaminari reached for the money, Izuku grabbed his wrist. "Not so fast. You haven't seen my cards yet."

"Come on, you said you were bluffing."

"I was bluffing. Bluffing, by definition, is to try to deceive someone as to one's abilities or intentions." Izuku showed his Ace and King of Spades. "Royal flush."

Kaminari gaped in shock. "Were you playing us this whole time?"

"Yes. We were playing poker, remember?"

Izuku grabbed the money and PS5. "I believe I am supposed to say winner winner, chicken dinner." His mouth opened wide, and the entire pot went down his throat. With a smoky belch, Izuku said, "That did not taste like chicken."

As Kaminari wept for his PS5, an Italian plumber collected his liver for interest on his loan.

492

Me: *sees a Halloween writing challenge with three days left on the prompt*

Me: challenge accepted.

Eh, I've done crazier. Try writing a poem touching on four different themes in an hour.