Poker has taken off in the UK as a pastime in the last couple of years, and it seems all our friends have Texas Hold'em Poker sets. We regularly play when we're at our friend's houses, or when we have friends here for dinner. We all normally stop over at each others houses when we have dinner parties, so we can all drink and not worry about driving.
There's a group of eight of us who play about once a month, John and Jenny, Carl and Dawn, Steve and Kate, and me and Anna. The girls were all quite enthusiastic players, and occasionally one of them would win, but usually the men would win out. As the poker nights can be quite late affairs it's not unusual for those that fall by the wayside to drift off to bed while the last three or four slug it out until the early hours.
At first we just played for chips, but as time went by we all got a little more confident or adventurous, and we started playing for a few quid. The idea being that we all put an agreed amount into the pot at the beginning of the night in exchange for the chips, and the winner takes the whole pot.
It worked well, it added a little edge to the games, but wasn't overly expensive.
But slowly the size of the stake got a little higher, and higher. So what started at a couple of pounds per person, became five, then ten, etc. etc. Last night, at Johns it hit an all time high - £100 per person and with eight of us sitting down, that was a tidy little sum to the winner at the end of the night. The £100 had bought each of us 5,000 chips.
The game was no different to every other night we played. About an hour went past before the first casualty. Kate had evidently got a something good in the hole, as she started to bet heavy after the flop, and while most of us folded, Carl and Jenny matched her chip for chip. When the river card went down she went all in and Carl and Jenny both called her. Kate held a pair of tens that sat nicely with the ten and pair of kings on the street. Jenny turned over her two hearts that completed her flush, so she was out. Then Carl turned over his two cards. A king and a nine, giving him a better full house than Kate. So we lost two ladies in one go.
The game continued for a while with each of us making small gains and small wins, but slowly my pile of chips was getting smaller and smaller. In the end I went all in looking for a diamond in the river, only for a spade to drop and bust my flush. So I was down and out. I decided to sit and watch the game for a while, and at around 11.30pm Dawn went down for the final time as well. She went through to the lounge to join the other ladies leaving Anna at the table with Carl, John and Steve.
She was going well as well. Just a little ahead of the boys.
The game played on, with no really good hands coming out and no heavy betting, but Anna was slowly getting further ahead of the lads by taking less risks.
It was around 1am that the first good hands hit the table. All four of them had bet 500 on the deal. The flop drew another 500 each. Carl opened with another 500 on the turn, John and Steve both folded, and Anna called. The river card drew a 1000 from Carl, and Anna called again. They both had a full house, but Carl's three kings beat Anna's three queens.
The next hand opened the same way, with heavy betting on the deal and flop. This time John opened on the turn, Steve folded, Anna called, and Carl folded. The river drew a 1,000 bet from John and Anna called, turning up a full house of Aces and Kings. John just smiled and turned over four two's.
Anna had dropped 5,000 in two hands, and her pile of chips was now smaller than John and Carls.
The next hand opened a little more sedately, with each player in for just 500 when the river card was turned. Steve opened with another 100, and Anna raised him 100. Carl called, and John raised another 100. This carried on for three rounds of betting, before they all called, and Steve picked up the pot. Three reasonably big pots in a row, and Anna had lost each of them.
The game slowed a little, there were no good hands coming again, but the boys were eating into Anna's chips round by round. Her pile was down to about 2,000 when the next big hands hit.
Carl opened with 500, Steve folded, and John and Anna called. After the flop Carl went another 500, and John and Anna called. The next car drew 500 from Carl again, Steve folded and Anna called. The river card was turned, and Carl bet 2,000. Anna had around 500 left. She looked crestfallen. She evidently had a good hand and wanted to bet more.
"Can I buy some more chips?" she asked the lads.
Steve and John looked at Carl, who said "I'll give you 3,000 in exchange for your blouse".
"You've got to be joking" she replied.
"I never joke about poker" he replied " and lets face it, we've all been down the beach together, we've seen you in a bikini, so you shouldn't be embarrassed."
"Yeah, but we were all together then, this time it's just me and you guys" she replied
"Well" he said "it's your call. I'll give you 3,000, you give me your blouse, and we play, or your out the game."
She thought about it for a while, and then slowly unbuttoned her blouse, slipped it off and handed it to Carl. You could feel the tension in the air. It was true we had all been down the beach together, but this was somehow far more sexual -- partly because her nipples were rock hard, and clearly visible through the skimpy lace cup of her bra.
Carl gave her the 3,000 and she called him.
They both had full houses, but Carl's queens beat her jacks, and he scooped up the pot.
The game continued, with some small pots going this way and that way -- Anna sitting there with the four guys, with just her little lacy bra covering her beautiful breasts. I swear they were throwing hands away from time to time to build her confidence and keep her in the game.
Anyway six or seven hands passed, when Anna opened with 300. This Carl immediately folded, but Steve and John called her. The next three cards were turned, and Anna bet another 300. Steve followed and so did John. The next card drew 300 from Anna, and Steve raised her 1,000, John followed. She was short of chips again.
"Will you let me have some more chips?" she asked Carl
He looked at her cards, and offered her 5,000 in exchange for her skirt. Reminding her that it would still only be like sitting in her bikini.
