Chapter 122 A Game with the Captain (2/2)

Jeremiah took the third with a joker.

While he was very good at hiding it, the slight tick of his jaw allowed Jeremiah to see that he'd made a move Rassa hadn't expected. If the first two rounds were any indication of Jeremiah's play style, Rassa would have assumed that Jeremiah liked to save his high value cards until towards the end of the game, the stance that most experienced players took. But now...

Jeremiah waited in anticipation to see how Rassa would proceed.

But contrary to Jeremiah's expectation, Rassa seemed to do nothing for the next four rounds. By that stage, Rassa was left with the most cards out of anyone on the table. 10 cards, whereas the average of the rest of the table was 6. Tank, who'd won the previous round but now seemed to sweat with his lack of high value cards, placed down 3 fours.

It was now that Rassa made his move. He slapped down a joker on top of the fours.

Everyone looked at him with a frown. Was he that desperate? Slapping down the highest value card when the round had barely begun. But his face remained stoic. He tossed the cards onto the dead pile then brought out his next hand, five sixs.

Everyone paused. In an instant, Rassa only have four cards left, and had played five of a kind, something that none of them currently possessed. Unless someone chose to play a joker, of which there were three left in play, Rassa would win this round immediately.

After a moment of hesitation, Yates played a joker and began another round with a pair of eights.

Jeremiah played a pair of queens, Tank passed. Rassa played a joker.

This was ruthless! How many jokers did he have? There was only one left in play. Jeremiah didn't have. By Tank's expression, he didn't have it. That left Hadolf, who had already given a joker to Rassa at the beginning, and Yates, who had just played a joker himself.

The ruthlessness didn't stop there, Rassa played a pair of twos, leaving him with a single card. Jeremiah knew immediately that that card must have been the final joker.

The table paused before all passed.

Rassa started the next play...with a single five.

Yates sighed.

Jeremiah, who'd initially been stunned as he had expected a joker, looked at the tiny flicker of a self-satisfied smirk on Rassa's face. The smirk of someone who'd gambled and won. Of someone who knew he'd be able to do it again. Jeremiah's expression relaxed to a smile.

”Well played,” Jeremiah praised, going out with a pair of aces in the following round, the third to finish after Yates played his joker then started the round Jeremiah won with a pair of sevens, ”You banked on Yates wanting to use the joker as a final trump card and the rest of us assumed you had the final joker after your previous ruthless displays”.

Rassa said gave nothing away at the praise, replying simply, ”The Captain is too kind”.

Jeremiah stood, placing a hand on Rassa's shoulder, ”It was a good game”.

Jeremiah's words appeared as praise to the less versed, but to Rassa, Midas and some of the more experienced crew it spoke volumes. Rassa had done well in a game, but when it came to gambling with more life-altering values, did he still dare?

Rassa said nothing in reply.