The four men who'd sat down at the table with LeighAnn were affable enough. Two of them were farmers who'd just sold their crops and hoped to add some to their yearly income. Glen, who was about 50 or so with sandy hair and blue eyes and Gill, who was taller than Glen but about a decade younger with brown hair and eyes.
The third man was a cowboy who wanted to make his stake. Tall with straight brownish hair and green eyes, Tim looked every bit the hard working cowboy whose most expensive possession was his horse. The other man, who called himself Jim, didn't actually say what his profession was. By his tailored clothing, his well-trimmed mustache and barbered blond hair, it was obvious he was a dude of some sort but she wasn't exactly sure what that sort was. She had an idea she'd need to keep an eye on him.
The first three games went well enough. Tim, the cowboy won the first and last hand and Glen, the older of the farmers won the second. The other farmer, Gill, wasn't much of a player but he didn't seem to care. He was alone, he'd told her and so long as he didn't lose too much of his money, he didn't mind if he didn't win so long as he could have the company.
Jim, the dude, was quiet for those three games. He made no bold moves or large bets and sat placidly by watching the other players, saying little. LeighAnn didn't believe she trusted him. Graham, the dealer she replaced, was also playing so he stopped any threats by simply cheating. LeighAnn was not playing and she wouldn't cheat if she were. But she wasn't without resources.
Dealing out yet another hand, LeighAnn watched each of the players intently for their 'tells'. Each poker player had a 'tell' she knew. Little signs that very few but the best noticed. Signs that indicated whether they had good or bad cards.
LeighAnn noticed each of her players had those tells. Tim would push his hat back a little when his cards were good. He leaned back, chewing his bottom lip when they weren't. Glen rubbed the back of his neck when his cards weren't going his way. He squinted his eyes when he was winning. Gill hadn't yet won but she could tell when he was losing by the way he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Jim, the dude, was a lot of tougher to read. He seldom moved as he played and his expression stayed neutral the entire time. But LeighAnn was an astute observer of people. She saw things he probably had no idea he was showing.
LeighAnn noticed how intently he watched the other players, realizing he was looking for their tells the same as she was. But he had tells of his own. Tells such as the way he clamped his unlit cigar tightly in his teeth and gripped his cards just a little tighter when he had good cards. He laid his cigar down and sat back some when they weren't.
When the third game was over, with a win to Gill, LeighAnn felt it was time so take some preventative action in regards to Jim. If she was right, and she was pretty sure she was, he was about to start making his move. "Gentlemen." LeighAnn smiled graciously at each of the men, her gaze finally settling on Jim the dude. "I know we've really only begun, but I need to take just a small break."
"Awe, no." Tim complained. "I ain't won nearly enough."
"I know and you'll have plenty of chances to win more but I have to uh… well, it's delicate." She smiled as she got up. "You gentlemen just sit here and I will be back in just a few minutes."
Before the men could protest any more, LeighAnn quickly got to her feet and moved away from the table heading to the back of the saloon where she'd seen Kitty disappear a moment earlier. She found her just coming out of her office. "Miss Kitty, I might need some help."
"Oh?" Kitty asked. "What's wrong? I thought you were dealing?"
"I have been." LeighAnn glanced behind her, making sure the men she'd left at the table couldn't see her. "But, unless I'm mistaken, one of the men I'm playing with is a professional gambler. Now, I don't know your rules about that sort of thing here but I have three other gentlemen at my table that I doubt could stand to lose everything they have. However, if I'm not mistaken, that's exactly what could happen."
Kitty's expression tightened. Professional players coming into the Long Branch was nothing new. In certain circles, she herself was considered to be a professional. But Kitty did her best to make sure that any pros that did come in to play, won by skill alone. "LeighAnn, do you think he's cheating?"
"No." LeighAnn shook her head. "At least not to win as of yet. We've played four games and he's lost every one of them. But I think that's because he's watching the other players and biding his time to use that against them." LeighAnn paused for a moment, wanting to be totally honest with her employer. "I could be wrong about this man, Miss Kitty. He could be just a really bad player. I told you I was a good dealer and I am but I don't have enough experience to be 100% positive that I'm right about him."
Kitty pursed her lips for a moment. "I doubt you're wrong, LeighAnn, about him or his intentions. Trouble is, we can't kick him out of here unless he actually does something wrong."
"You sound like the Marshal." LeighAnn mused, thinking of why that might be and if the rumors she'd heard about her employer and the Marshal could be true.
"I'm not nearly as tall or as intimidating." Kitty quipped. "But in here, at least, I sort of am the Marshal. As the owner of the Long Branch, I have the right to shut down any game going on in here when and if I see fit. So that's what we'll have to do."
"Oh no, Miss Kitty." LeighAnn objected. "That wouldn't solve anything. He'd just move his game to another saloon and do there what he's planning to do here."
"Well," Kitty nodded in agreement. "That's true but other than shut the game down, I'm not sure what else to do. I know those men he's playing with and I don't want to see them lose everything they've worked so hard for."
"Well, I do have an idea." LeighAnn told her. "But I'll need your help to do it.
"I'm listening." Kitty leaned in.
TBC
