Poker - The Demon's Den

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:22 pm

"And me without my cross." Rachel said musingly.

by **Constantine McGraw** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:25 pm

"That depends on which of the many myths you believe. Or perhaps which ones they believe."

by **Kevin Gravis** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:32 pm

"I think my swords of light would fare better than a cross."

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:33 pm

"On the upside, fire and wooden stakes work on anyone." Rachel said, joking a little.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:36 pm

"Well, if you really want to know, you could always just ask one of the locals why everyone seems to dislike them so much. Besides their ability to take everyone's money, that is." She glanced at Rachel. "Tell me... if you feel someone touching your mind, can you block them? Or make them regret it in some fashion that isn't a blatant overreaction?"

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:41 pm

"Yes, to both questions." Rachel replied

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:43 pm

"If I happen to be in the game longer than you, can you do the same for my head, by any chance?"

by **Constantine McGraw** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:45 pm

"I think this would be where I'm grateful for whatever it is that's clouding mine." Con mused.

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:14 pm

Rachel nodded "Yes, I can." she said to Victoria, before glancing at Con "Don't get cocky. Its more difficult, but it is possible to get inside your head. As we found out the other night." she said, smirking a little.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:10 pm

Will had busted out, losing head-to-head against one of the vampire chicks despite holding a decent hand. He walked over to where everyone else was sitting.

"These guys are pretty damn good."

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:20 pm

"Yeah, they are." Rachel agreed "I'm gonna go pee." she added, standing up as the 15 minute warning was given.

by **Kevin Gravis** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:28 pm

"And with the stunt they pulled to get in the game, my guess is they're cheating somehow."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:59 pm

"We have no evidence of that," Victoria said. "They haven't done anything so far I couldn't have accomplished were I as well known as they are and bent on the same effect. All they've done is to evidently not be popular, convince them without words to get in, and be very effective players."

by **Zero** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:05 pm

"Besides," Zero says, "Cheating well is a large part of the game."

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:15 pm

As the break time comes to a close, the vampires make their way back down and settle in. No one gets in their way as they pull up to the table, eyes unreadable behind pitch black lenses.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:16 pm

"Vic, take 'em down for me. They've got too much of my money already."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:21 pm

Victoria was still unamused by the goggles... the room wasn't that bright. But just to make a point, she made her eyes flat-black, with no pupils to read, just to amuse herself as she sat down at the table.

by **Kevin Gravis** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:24 pm

Kevin decided to play along with the eye covering, fished out his own sunglasses, and took a seat across from the stereotypical evildoers.

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:32 pm

Travis, the last of the locals to make it this far, sits gingerly next to one of the vampires. He cracks his knuckles, first by lacing his fingers, then again by letting a spark of electricity jump between them. He's difficult to read or else he wouldn't have made it this far, but the highly aware can guess he's not comfortable facing off against this particular group of competition.

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:44 pm

Once everyone has taken their seats, the game begins. The pale-skinned group seems quite at ease, making snide comments as the dealer drops a card and winds up re-shuffling the entire deck to be safe. Travis settles into the game, his poker face up and ready to go. He opens with some aggressive raising, which Jezebelle matches but the others of her kind do not.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:56 pm

Victoria made sure to change the color of her skin several times during play, with no set patern. To do that, she made sure to just pick the first color she saw when she decided to change, and picked certain trigger words that she'd use as a sign to change when she heard people say them.

Her plays were smart, and she watched the way everyone bet, treating the 'vampires' both individually and as a whole, as well as the very minute signs from behavior as indicators of how she should play.

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:05 pm

Rachel also played well, although her betting tended to be conservative.

by **Kevin Gravis** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:08 pm

After the initial rounds it was apparent Kevin was going to be the first out. This was getting too brutal for him. Thankfully he was mostly losing to his fellow students. However if things didn't get any better he would bow out.

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:13 pm

Whether it's coincidence or some sort of system, the vampires rarely bid against each other. It does happen in a few hands, just not as many as would statistically be expected. Travis is starting to fall behind in chips as well, and once Kevin is out of chips he's likely the next one down. The largest of the pale-skinned men starts taunting Kevin, trying to get a rise out of him, and if the extra little sparks flashing between Travis' fingers are any way to judge he seems to be succeeding.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:21 pm

Victoria hardly bothered with the other players now. The vampires were obviously the real competition, for everyone. The vampires were the ones she had to observe and learn. It was likely that they would win and go down all together, so she had to be ready for that. As such, she made a point to keep her eye on when they were focusing their attention on someone else, and sneak in a few rather large, unexpected wins to up her funds. It was a gambit that would soon have them onto her, but as it wasn't a bluff, or was rather the reverse of a bluff, she could afford to use the tactic and abandon it.

by **Constantine McGraw** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:42 pm

Con too was focussing on the vamps, although he happily took chips of Kev and Travis. He didn't have any fancy tricks to fall back on, well, none that would be polite at a poker table, just 8 years of experience.

Given the competition, he had no qualms about playing dirty*, something he wouldn't do in a friendly game. As far as this was concerned, this wasn't friendly at all.

*((Underhand tactics, not actual cheating))

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:45 pm

Rachel was also focusing on beating the vamps, although she was also paying attention in case they tried to pull any mind tricks.

by **Zero** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:46 pm

Zero seemed to be using the attention the vampires were drawing to his advantage, quietly playing a solid but average game and scoring only small and barely noticeable wins.

by **Stan Bowen** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:50 pm

Stan continued playing strong, Smiling at Victoria's and Constantine's plays against the pale group.

When he lost, he got out early. And when he won, he always seemed to draw someone into wagering more chips then they should.

All in all, his experience was clearly showing.

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:51 pm

Victoria and Stan find it very difficult to pull a fast one over on the vamp crew. When either manages to get a big score, it's usually at the expense of Travis or one of the other students. Indeed, it's not long before Travis is cleaned out. Anger is visible on his face as he stands, cursing, and another sharp spark dances between his fingers. Demon is quick to close the gap and place a hand on Travis' shoulder, "No violence. Especially not tonight." Travis bites back a response, but out of respect or friendship or both manages to hold onto his temper. Tittering laughs and jeering comments come from the pale-skinned crew, and Travis roughly shoulders his way free and stalks up to the bar.

The dealer is visibly uncomfortable after that exchange but he continues with the next round.

by **Zero** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:53 pm

Zero spares a glance at the jeering "vampires", "A bunch of unsightly beasts at a card table...."

Zero smirks, "I'm reminded of a painting."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:17 pm

Victoria smirked, but didn't add a comment. She was slowly compiling her list of their tells. Her strategy was to just play her cards, keep her bets all the same size to keep from giving any indications away, and to know when to fold or stay in. Taking down five people at once wasn't an easy task, but it was possible.

by **Stan Bowen** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:26 pm

Stan looked over at the pale crew, giving a friendly smile.

"Not bad, kids. Quite a good streak you've got going."

He played the vampires slightly intrusively, focusing on whichever one seemed to be the least capable.

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:58 pm

"Thanks, old man," the leader drawls, "It must be our lucky night."

As each hand progresses, it seems like it doesn't matter what strategies the University crew uses, it's almost as though the vampires know exactly what's being dealt. Knowing their tells helps cut losses but whenever one of the students has a good hand and bids it up, the pale-skinned card sharks either don't rise to the bait or manage to pull off a hand that is just slightly better. Victoria manages to clear Zero out, and Stan bests Constantine. In a flurry of bids, the vampire with the smallest stack of chips loses out to Rachel, the first major blow taken by the group.

All the while, Demon watches the game silently.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:08 pm

Victoria gave up on using a strategy. She watched their tells, and she didn't give anything away or try to bait them. Instead, she made sure to try to take hands that were meant for others, and preserving her pile of chips.

She had every intention of being the last one standing against the vampires, even if she did lose everything in the end (which she didn't intend to do).

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:17 pm

Rachel continued to hold her own, but her chips were diminishing slowly but surely. The best she could do was try to feed them to one of the other students. Quietly, she also reached out to see if the vampires were messing with the dealer.

by **Stan Bowen** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:24 pm

Stan chuckled at the old man comment, and started slowly turning his focus to the next weakest member of the vampire crew.

With one gone, it should be easier to knock another off- he drew on all of his 25 years of experience to make sure it happened before the chalks reorganized.

by **Narrator** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:38 pm

Without delving into surface thoughts, Rachel can't tell if there is any undue influence on the dealer by any of the other parties. Should her power touch on the dealer at all, Demon shifts his gaze to look directly at Rachel with a shake of his head.

The defeated vampire retires to the bar for a moment to get a drink, then wanders back to the table. He seems casual about the defeat, not happy but hardly crying into his wine.

The remaining pale-skinned players are comfortably set up with chips and seem in good spirits. Another few hands and Rachel is out of luck, her dwindling stock of chips not enough to keep up with the increasingly large bids.

by **Rachel O'Brien** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:48 pm

Rachel got a drink and settled in behind Victoria, watching the play closely.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:31 am

Victoria was of two minds. On one hand, her supply of chips was very impressive.

On the other, there were still four of them. it was going to be hard with all of them focusing on making her lose her chips, but she was going to try.

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