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Dimes Up
Posted By: Blindside<twirlsoft@hotmail.com>
Date: 25 April 2003, 4:34 PM


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The Pelican SC 1 lifted off from base camp, and headed towards the target area. Privates Alex Denson and John Tarron smiled at each other. They knew what was coming. It was time for the usual game. Time to relax before a mission.
"Dimes up fellas." Alex reached into his pocket for a dime and placed it in the center of the flip-down table of the Pelican. Tarron did the same, followed by Sergeant David Lee and Private Robert O'Leary. It was the usual four guys. Others kneeled and sat around the table to watch them. Lee got the cards and shuffled, feeling the cards as they slid through his palms. A couple more shuffles and some fancy bridges to show-off, and the soldiers were ready.
Lee slung two cards facedown to every player at the table. "Alright, O'Leary. You're to my left you start the bet." O'Leary looked at his cards, then at the pot, consisting of forty cents at the time. He glanced to everyone around him, and stated a single word: "Check."
Denson was the next player around the table clockwise, so it was his bet. He glanced at the pair of black aces he held in his hand and stated simply, "I'm going to bet a dime blind." His head turned to look at Tarron, the last guy before the dealer. Now each player had to put at least a dime in, or fold. Tarron placed a dime in.
"I call your dime."
Lee placed a dime in, said nothing, and looked back to O'Leary, who was placing a dime in as soon as Lee's hit the table. Lee smirked and flipped three cards face up in the middle of the table, next to the pot. The one-eyed jack looked up at them, next to the six of clubs and two of hearts. Lee looked to O'Leary.
"Check."
Denson checked also.
Tarron put a quarter in. He had three of a kind right now. The making of a full house. All he needed was a pair on the table, and he'd be set with a full house.
Everyone placed a quarter into the middle of the table. There were no raises this round. Lee glanced to make sure everyone was ready; they were all staring intently at the table's center, waiting for the turn card to fall. Lee took the top card off of the blue deck of cards, and flipped it. Ace of diamonds. Denson tried to hold it in, the fact he had a three of a kind. Three aces. I need a pair, he thought. He placed a hand over his mouth, which to a professional would be a telltale sign. O'Leary placed his cards on the table facedown, wrapped his hands around his head and said that he folded. Denson put a quarter in.
Tarron placed a quarter in, followed by a dime, "I'll see your 25 cents, and raise you a dime." He was banking on that full house.
Lee placed his own cards down in the same manner O'Leary did, and folded. Denson put a dime in to meet Tarron. That ended the round of betting, and Lee reached for the deck to put the fifth card down. He flipped it over. Six of hearts. There was a pair of sixes on the table. Denson and Tarron both smiled broadly. Denson put in a dollar bill. He had aces over sixes. A pretty tough full house to beat. Tarron played it off a little, thumbed his chin, and put in a dollar. He reached and put fifty more cents in. Denson called the fifty cents.
Lee's eyes returned to normal after the big betting round. "Alright, let's see what you guys got. Denson, it's your lay." Denson smirked and laid down his pair of aces. "I got a full house. Aces over sixes." Tarron's face fell. He looked at Denson.
"All I got is two pair." Denson reached for the pot, and Tarron laid his hand.
"Two pair of sixes. Four of a kind." O'Leary and Lee nearly fell over laughing. Tarron collected his money as the PA system crackled to life, carrying the voice of the pilot.
"We're approaching the LZ. It's gonna be hot. Get set to come out swinging."
The Marines inside the Pelican scrambled, putting their gear on, and loading their weaponry. They were ready. Stress-free, due to the game. Even those that didn't play watched, so they too were relaxed.
" Touchdown! Hit it, Marines!"
Lee was the last to leave, being a senior soldier. "Go! Go! Go!"
The Marines exited the ship, and touched down on the beach, ready for their mission of finding the Silent Cartographer.





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