Thursday, September 27, 2007

Chapter 24

Once at the table Kevin called the waiter over and ordered a bottle of champagne boisterously announcing they were going to toast Rick’s final table finish. Rick was looking pleased at the attention but said, “I’m flattered but you finished at the final table as well Kevin.”

“So I did!” Kevin replied with a smile. “So we will toast both Rick and me then!”

He said it in a mockingly pompous way that caused Tricia to giggle. When she did Kevin smiled even more broadly.

Jaime looked at Tricia and rolled his eyes. “Don’t encourage him!”

“Don’t be a party pooper!” Kevin retorted then looked at the waiter who had come up with the bottle on champagne on ice and four glasses. “Thank you. I’ll take care of it from here. Hang on a moment though.”

Kevin reached into his pocket extracted a bill from his wallet. As he handed it to the waiter Tricia saw that it was a fifty. Kevin peered at the waiter’s name tag. “Chris we will be here for a while. While I’m very easy to get along with my companions can sometimes be disagreeable.” As he said that Kevin looked pointedly at Jaime who shook his head and chuckled. “That is to show you that your work will not be in vain tonight. I’ll try to keep them under control for you but that small token of their appreciation should temper the blow should I fail.”

Jaime was close to laughing out loud and both Rick and Tricia were alternating between being amused and confused.

Chris, the waiter, however kept a perfectly straight face and just said, “Thank you sir. I hope you can control them but if not this will help buoy my spirits through the ordeal. I will be at your service.”

Kevin lost it then and began laughing. “Thank you Chris. Give us a few minutes and we’ll be ready to order.”

Popping the champagne open Kevin deftly filled all four glasses and passed them around. They toasted Rick and then Tricia insisted they toast Kevin as well.

That done the conversation turned to the last few hands Rick had played at the final table. Tricia was enthralled by the way Kevin and to only a slightly lesser extent Jaime helped Rick analyze them. When they did have suggestions Tricia thought they handled it well in a manner that Rick accepted easily. They listened to his thoughts on the hands and either agreed or disagreed in the same encouraging manner.

Jaime then asked Kevin about his last hand. Kevin shrugged and then the conversation was off doing roughly with Kevin’s hands what they had done for Rick’s. They did all this while ordering and then eating a big dinner that Tricia had not really needed but hand eaten too much of anyway.

Kevin looked over at Tricia as they sat well after the table had been cleared of the dinner dishes. “Tell me about the best hand you think you played this week Tricia.”

Tricia was startled to be drawn into the conversation that way. She’d been participating some but had mostly been content to just listen to Jaime, Kevin and Rick. “What?”

“I thought the question was easy enough,” Kevin said, smiling. “I’d like to hear about the best hand you think you played this week. I’m talking tournament hands.”

“Oh,” Tricia said, getting over being on the spot but still reluctant to be the focus of attention among three players she considered better than herself. “I’d just as soon listen to you all discuss yours. You haven’t talked about any of Jaime’s.”

“You don’t get off the hook so easily,” Kevin said. “I want to hear your opinion of the hand you felt was the best one you played.”

Tricia saw she wasn’tgoing to get out of it and was thinking hard, trying to recall which one she thought was best.

“It’s hard to say what was best,” Tricia said. “Do you mean best in terms of I won the most on it or best in the sense of the best poker play or what?”

Kevin chuckled. “Just answer the question. It’s not a trick question really but I want to see what you think is the best hand you played.”

“Kevin,” Jaime started to say.

But then Kevin held his hand up. “Hush Mr. Devlin, Ms. Bateman has the floor at the moment. She is a good enough player to be able to answer the question and played enough hands this week to have one that must stand out.”

That had given Tricia time enough to come up with an answer but she gave Jaime a grateful smile. “Well I guess the one I personally feel as best was in the last tournament I played. Nothing much had been going anywhere, the blinds were $100 and $200 and I had a little less than an average stack. I got the king and nine of spades in the big blind. There were several limpers, that table was unusually passive, and it just checked to me. Since nothing much had been happening for me I just checked too.”

Tricia went on to explain how she’d hit a very strong hand and had suck two players into a very nice little trap that had won her not only a big pot but enough respect from the other players at her table so that when she played a hand they were very careful with her.

When she was done Kevin nodded. “Excellent. That’s the kind of thing I hoped to hear from you. I’d say you played it about perfectly. Wouldn’t you gentlemen?”

Rick and Jaime both nodded assent.

“You’ve got good instincts Tricia and I particularly like the way you told us about the hand. You included everything that mattered and didn’t put in things that didn’t matter. You’d be amazed at how many players, when they go to analyze a hand, don’t even know which factors are important.”

“Thank you,” Tricia said, feeling herself blushing faintly at the praise.

“Now Jaime why don’t you tell us about the one you feel you played the worst and why.” Kevin asked quietly.

Jaime didn’t even hesitate but started right in with a very honest appraisal of a hand that Tricia had to admit from his description, he’d played badly.

Kevin looked at Rick and Tricia and said, “We do this a lot, as much as we can. It will help you if you can find somebody to do this with from time to time. Now Rick what would you have done with that hand?”

Rick looked very hesitant, glancing at Jaime and then at Tricia and finally back at Kevin as if he was afraid to offer an opinion.

“Come on Mr. Fannin. You’re a good player and that was by the man’s own admission a horribly played hand. I’m assuming you think you could have done better? I’m sure Jaime himself will admit almost any rookie could do better.”

Tricia looked at Kevin in shock at that but a glance at Jaime who was grinning told her that she didn’t need to be worrying.

“Ms. Bateman,” Kevin said seeing the look she gave him. “I am not attacking the man. I am just stating a fact. Why don’t you tell me what you’d have done differently.”

Jaime was looking at her encouragingly so Tricia spoke up and gave her opinion. Once she started Kevin was able to draw out Rick’s opinion as well. Then Kevin told them about the hand he felt he’d played the worst and they went over that one.

Tricia was surprised when Chris came over and said to Kevin. “Mr. James? I’m sorry sir but we’re closing. We’ve actually been closed but I saw no reason to disturb you all until I had to clean up this last table.”

Tricia looked around and sure enough they were the only people other than Chris and one other employee left in the room.

Kevin stood up. “I’m sorry Chris. I hope we haven’t made you late.” He took another bill out of his wallet and handed it to Chris who looked at it in surprise.

“Sir you took care of the tip very well when you paid your tab a while back. This isn’t necessary.”

Kevin clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Well I say it is. Split it with the other poor soul over there who I also made stay late.”

“Thank you sir but we’re really not late.”

Kevin looked at his watch. “Looks late to me and you don’t want to argue with a customer do you?”

Chris chuckled and said, “no sir.”

Kevin ushered Rick, Jaime and Tricia out into the empty parking lot.

“God I had no idea it had gotten that late,” Tricia said. “Kevin what do I owe you for my part of dinner?”

Kevin just looked at her and shook his head. “Your presence is all the payment I need beautiful lady. Without you I’d have had nothing but these two ugly mugs to look at all night.”

Tricia giggled and realized how tired she must be to giggle that easily. “Well thank you. I’m glad you invited me. I had a ball. I never had a chance to have a conversation like that about poker. I think I learned a lot.”

“I hope it won’t be our last,” Kevin told her. “I think you added a lot to it, what do you guys think?”

Both Jaime and Rick quickly agreed with him.

“You’re playing the tournament tomorrow right?” Kevin asked Tricia.

She shook her head. “I didn’t get a chance to play any satellites and I don’t want to buy in. The next one I’m playing is the ladies event the day after tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you meet me for breakfast tomorrow around ten at the café in the casino. Can you do that?” Kevin asked.

“Well I suppose I can,” Tricia said, wondering what he wanted. Was he making a play for her? She’d half expected him to whisk her into his car the way he had on the way to the restaurant.

“Good. Now Jaime would you mind taking Tricia back to her hotel? I need to talk with Rick some more. Is that ok with you Rick? I’ve got a proposal to make you.”

Tricia felt instant disappointment knowing that she and Rick were not going to continue the other night on this evening. She was happy for him though because she suspected Kevin might be going to make him some kind of sponsorship offer. The she smiled when she realized that her mind had been totally on poker and she’d not even thought about what she was going to do, or not do, later in the evening.

Rick looked at Tricia a bit apologetically and shrugged, “It’s ok with me Kevin, certainly.”

“And  don’t mind taking her back,” Jaime said. “You know if you would buy a real car or stop insisting on driving to these things instead of flying then we could have all fit in your car.”

“Mind your own business Mr.Devlin,” Kevin said with a smile.

Tricia thoughtthis must be some long running thing between them and had to smile at the interplay.

Alone in the car with Tricia on the way back to her hotel Jaime said, “I hope you will forgive Kevin. I have a feeling you had plans for this evening and I’m sure this wasn’t any part of it.”

Tricia looked over at Jaime in shock, wondering if he had guessed what she really had planned. His face looked impassive. “I had a great time. I ate too much. I’d already HAD dinner and didn’t need another one. The conversation was fantastic though. I loved it all.”

Jaime smiled, watching the road. “Kevin is a good teacher and mentor. I’m always glad when he has time for me like this. He could have taken any of a number of other people with him instead.”

“No doubt,” Tricia said. “I was wondering about that. I mean surely you’re not the only other player he’s helping along.”

“Hardly,” Jaime said. “He does seem to be focusing on me this tournament. I thought it was because it was my first with full sponsorship. You never know with Kevin though. He does things for his own reasons in his own time.”

“Is he going to offer Rick a deal like yours?”

Jaime shook his head, “I doubt it. Not that quick. He will start out with some kind of temporary deal. My guess is he’s going to set up some kind of one time deal for the main event.”

“What do you think he wants to talk to me about at breakfast?”

“I’m not sure,” Jaime admitted. “Don’t take this wrong but he doesn’t usually go for older women or I’d think that might be it. He does like you I can tell but he also respects your play. He would not have included you tonight if he didn’t think you were a player believe me. This is not something he would bring one of his women friends to.”

“He has a lot of woman friends?”

Jaime chuckled. “He’s a friendly guy. He makes friends easily. Some of them are women. Some think he is cute. Some even apparently think he’s really cute. I doubt he lacks for companionship when he wants it.”

“He is cute.” Tricia said seeing if she could get a rise out of Jaime. She could detect nothing from his face as he drove.

“Well maybe you’re not too old for him. You can give it a shot.”

“You wouldn’t be jealous?”

“I don’t have a right to be jealous,” Jaime said flatly. “You gave me my chance. I turned you down and said I wanted to be just friends. I still feel that is something I have to do so I don’t feel I have the right to be jealous.”

“Bullshit Jaime,” Tricia said feeling a flash of anger. “Jealousy is an emotion. You have the right to be jealous as much as I do. I was jealous when I found out you’d been with two people after me. I don’t really blame you but I was still jealous. If you don’t want to talk about it that’s ok but don’t try to sound all long suffering.”

Jaime shrugged. “I want you to do what you want to do without my opinions interfering. I plan to go on being your friend no matter what. Yeah I know women like Kevin and he likes women when he’s not focused on poker. You could do worse. For that matter you could do worse than Rick Fannin I suppose.”

“You suppose?”

Jaime shrugged again. “I honestly don’t know much about him. I can’t really say. I am not blind. To me it looks like there was something going on. It’s none of my business of course. And unless you really want to I don’t think I really want to talk about it.”

“Fair enough,” Tricia said. “I’m sorry Jaime. You aren’t mad at me are you?”

Jaime shook his head. “Of course not. I was happy to get to spend the evening with you. You held your own very well. I hope you’re going to be able to come to another of the circuit events soon.”

“Matt seemed agreeable when I talked to him last but I don’t have any idea when the next one will be that I can get to. I still have Matty to think about also.”

Jaime nodded. “Well here we are. Do you want me to walk you inside?”

Tricia shook her head, “You don’t need to and if you did I might try to drag you up to my room again and friends should not do that to friends.”

“Maybe not but it’s nice to know they think about it.” Jaime said with a smile.

“I’ve thought about it ever since the first time,” Tricia said softly. “Can a friend kiss her friend good night?”

“If the friend is a good looking woman then certainly.”

“Oh well then I’ll just shake your hand,” Tricia teased.

Jaime chuckled and Tricia leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for everything, especially for being my friend. I think we’re going to make this work.”

“I think so too. Sleep well.”

“You know I think I will. I think I will sleep very well.”

Tricia got out of the car and went into her hotel feeling extraordinarily content and ready for a good nights sleep.

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