Up in Smoke Read Free Page A

scare me off. Without hesitation, I went all-in and stood up.
    He removed his earbud and looked up at me. “Really? First hand back and you’re all-in?”
    I grinned at him. I suspected that he was sweating bullets underneath that hard exterior.
    He leaned in and looked at the flop for a moment and then called my all-in. “I’m sorry to do this to you, Blaze.” He flipped a two of diamonds and a king of spades. He wasn’t bluffing. My read was wrong.
    Flipping my two aces over, we both waited for the turn and the river.
    Another queen came up on the turn, this time a diamond.
    My heart raced for what felt like a million miles per hour as Joe turned over the River card. Come on, please! An ace! Come on! Come on! I rooted myself on internally.
    Ace of clubs.
    Shooting both my hands up into the air, I felt like I was on top of the world. “Congratulations,” the kid said from across the table, smiling. “Won it on the river.”
    “Yep.” Leaning across the table, I shook his hand and sat back down. Pulling the chips over to me, I began stacking them up. I was back in business. Up to a grand already, and the night was young.
    The kid, the cowboy and I played for the next couple of hours at that table. My stack went up and down like waves in an ocean: up one hour, down the next.
    As we approached the three o’clock hour that next morning, I began to think of Susan and how she’d be getting up in a mere four hours or so. I needed to get back up to my room and get a little shut eye before she woke up. Folding my last hand and electing not to play, I said to the kid, “I’m calling it a night.”
    “It’s been a pleasure.” His eyes watched me as I loaded the poker chip holder with my winnings to leave.
    Taking my chips, I stood up and headed over to the cage to cash them in. As I waited for the cashier to tally them up, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
    “Blaze,” a familiar voice said from behind me.
    “What’s up?” I said, turning around. It was Robert.
    “You have some serious skill. You should go down to Vegas next month and play in the World Series of Poker.” He looked serious, but that didn’t stop me from laughing.
    I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m not that good, kid. I couldn’t sit with those hall of fame poker players. Plus, everyone and their cousin tries to get in on that.”
    He shook his head. “I went a few years back. It’s not like what you think. It’s more than just one main event. They have multiple tournaments scattered across a three month window.”
    The idea sounded like a farfetched fantasy, but I entertained the thought for a moment. “What’s the buy-in? You going?”
    “Not this year. Ten grand for the one I played in when I went. It’s one of the last tournaments they host every year. I believe it’s on the twenty-ninth of this month.”
    I was about to respond, but the cashier caught my attention.
    “Sir,” the cashier said.
    “Yeah?” I leaned up toward the cage.
    “How would you like your payout?”
    “Uh . . . in cash,” I replied, distracted by the thought of the kid’s proposition.
    She laughed. “I mean, what bills would you like?”
    “Hundreds is fine.” My face went flush, I could feel it.
    She counted it all out to me. All two thousand and fifty dollars of it. I was on top of the world. My eyes were wide as I scooped up the cash. “Thank you,” I said to her. Turning, I left the cage and the kid followed beside me.
    “Look at that. Two grand for the night. What’d you start with?”
    I shrugged. “Two hundred and then another five.”
    He lightly pushed my shoulder, stopping me. “See that? You turned seven hundred dollars into two grand in one night. Vegas better watch out!”
    “Yeah, but I rarely win like this. Vegas sounds like a lot of fun, but I can’t see it happening.”
    He nodded. “You broke or something?” he asked with his chin raised, almost looking a bit suspicious.
    “Excuse me?” I snapped at him.
    “Sorry.” He