Rapunzel and the Fitzherberts are in the middle of a their poker game. Eugene and his sister Maxie are both determined to beat their mom, their family's best player. They've each beaten her twice in the past. The only one who never did was their dad. Their dad was too much of a goofball to take the game seriously and always managed to give himself away when he attempted to bluff. That was all before he died of cancer three years ago.
Rapunzel has never been much of a poker player or a very good liar, so she finds that her pile of sweets has slowly dwindled down to a few small pieces – three pieces of saltwater taffy and two peanut butter cups. She knows that this may well be her last round. She glances at her cards and tries to hide her disappointment with her jack of clubs and five of hearts. The turn has just been revealed, and she looks again at the four cards spread on the table in front of them: a three of spades, an ace of spades, a seven of diamonds and a queen of hearts.
The only ones remaining with her in this round are Maxie and Mrs. Fitzherbert. Maxie bets one Mars bar which Mrs Fitzherbert meets with her own Snickers bar. Rapunzel decides to bluff like she's never bluffed before.
"I see your candy bars with two of my taffy," she says pushing two pieces to the center. "And I raise you one peanut butter cup."
Maxie looks at her cards again and decides to fold. Rapunzel believes that she may have just won another round, but Mrs. Fitzherbert gets that distinctive gleam in her eye and meets the peanut butter cup with another of her chocolate pieces.
The river is revealed to be an eight of clubs. Rapunzel knows there's no turning back for her. Mrs. Fitzherbert checks, and Rapunzel goes all in, moving her remaining pieces of candy to the center pile. She attempts to do so with a poker face and a slight air of confidence. Mrs. Fitzherbert looks at her cards and again and seems to be deep in thought. Rapunzel's heart pounds as she sees the matron seem to move her cards towards the dealer.
At the last moment, Mrs. Fitzherbert stops and says, "I'll call it." She places the same amount of candy as Rapunzel. They reveal their cards to show that Rapunzel had nothing while Mrs. Fitzherbert had a pair of sevens. Rapunzel groans, and Mrs. Fitzherbert laughs mildly.
"That was pretty well-played, dear," she says as Eugene pats Rapunzel on the shoulder. "You had me going there for a while. I was just about to fold too."
The next few rounds become more and more intense until Maxie is the second to be booted out. It had been quite a round between her and Eugene, with both of them betting all their candies. Eugene won with a straight versus Maxie's three of a kind.
"A gentleman should let a lady win," she crosses her arms and slumps in her chair in irritation.
"I would," Eugene says as he rakes in the candies. "But you're not a lady." He laughs as Maxie sticks her tongue out at him.
"Oh my mistake, did I say gentleman? What was I thinking? I forgot that you're a monkey."
"Stop bickering, you two," their mom intervenes before turning towards her sole opponent.
Finally it is down to Eugene and his mom. Eugene deals the cards. He inwardly groans at his pair of twos. He needs more luck than that. Mrs. Fitzherbert decides to raise the ante by adding a few pieces of Snickers which Eugene calls, as well.
He burns the first card on the deck and lays down the next three, revealing an ace of hearts, a ten of hearts, and a king of hearts. His mom bets a small pile of candies. Eugene thinks that his mom could possibly have a flush or even a royal flush while he's still stuck with his lowly pair. Even so, he's desperate to stay in the game. He calls it. After burning the top card, he reveals the fourth card – a two of hearts. His luck is beginning to change. Still, his mom bets much more than he thought she would. He decides to challenge her.
"I see your bet, and I raise you all my jelly beans."
His mother counts the equivalent value of jelly beans among her pile of candies and calls it. Finally, the flop is revealed. Eugene does all he can to keep himself from exclaiming when a two of spades comes out.
His mom seems to be pleased as well and decides to place her remaining candy in the pile. Eugene's confidence rises exponentially.
"All in," he says as he pushes his pile to the center.
They quickly count to see if they had bet an even amount. Finally, the moment of truth has come. Eugene is confident he is the winner, but there're still the almost impossible odds that his mother has a royal flush. There's no way…is there? he thinks.
"Full house," his mother beams proudly as she reveals a pair of aces.
Eugene looks at his cards and decides to milk this moment for as much as he can. He shakes his head in extreme frustration and exclaims, "I just wanted to be able to beat you one more time. Is that so hard?"
His mother moves to take the pile of sweets in front of them. "Better luck next time, son."
Eugene stops her hands from taking the goods as he stands up and throws his cards on the table, "You mean this time, mother? Ha! Four of a kind!"
Rapunzel cheers for her friend while Maxie groans that her brother has beaten their mother before she got the chance to. Mrs. Fitzherbert is too amused at her son's theatrics to be disappointed that she had actually lost and bursts out in laughter. Eugene gathers the pile to himself and throws a few pieces in the air, showering himself with small pieces of candy.
"Don't worry, mother. I'll pick it all up later. I just wanted to revel in my winnings. This is a glorious day, indeed. In fact, I'm feeling so generous that I will divide the pile into four. Bragging rights is enough for me."
His mother declines her share and tells him to split it among the teens. As Eugene, Maxie, and Rapunzel pick up the pieces of candy and divide them among the three of them, Maxie teases Eugene.
"Someone seems to be inspired tonight. Are you trying to impress anyone, Eugene?"
"You're right, Maxie," Rapunzel joins in. "He has been extra inspired recently, from tennis to poker. Are you trying to make yourself worthy of a special someone?"
"You guys are being idiots," he tells them as the two girls giggle. "After this, I'll bring you home, Rapunzel. It's getting pretty late."
"Take the scooter, so you don't have to walk," his mom tells him.
"Thank you so much for letting me join tonight," Rapunzel says sincerely. "I've actually been in need of some family time since my parents have been away on a business trip."
"No need to thank us, dear. It's always a treat to have you over. You know you're always welcome here. You should drop by more often." She gives Rapunzel a hug. Rapunzel happily receives the gesture since Mrs. Fitzherbert has always been quite motherly towards her.
"Don't make it a habit of coming to poker night, though," Mrs. Fitzherbert jokes. "Or else Eugene might start beating me more often."
"Why am I the butt of the jokes tonight?" he asks exasperatedly. "I thought this was supposed to be my night!" They all laugh as Rapunzel bids them good night, and she and Eugene walk out the door.
She sits behind Eugene on the scooter, and they make their way towards her house. She gives Eugene a hug from behind and thanks him again for tonight. She tells him that it's exactly what she needs right now. Eugene gives her arm a quick squeeze before holding on again to the scooter handles.