Cardverse: Aces High

Into the Deck

"No more bets," Baasch proclaimed. "Showdown."

Lovino tossed his cards onto the table, eager to see the result of the final match.

Too bad, Ivan. The odds are stacked up against you, this time. With a raise that high, you're gonna lose it all.

He looked at the values of Ivan's now-released cards.

What the—

Sitting in front of Ivan, plain as day, was an ace of clubs and an ace of spades. The third card was a king of clubs.

He had a pair of aces, too? But... but...

Lovino looked at his own hand frantically. There was a possibility that his third card's value was lower than a king, which would make Ivan the winner.

An ace of hearts, an ace of diamonds, and a king of hearts.

He had thought that having a pair of aces would essentially guarantee him the win. Somehow, by some miracle or strange twist of fate, Ivan's hand was nearly identical.

That raised one glaring question:

Who was the winner?

Even the dealer couldn't quite answer that.

"This is... well... I can't say I've seen it happen before," Baasch remarked as he stared at the cards on the table pensively. "All four aces, huh."

"You must be very lucky to get such a hand," Ivan said.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Lovino replied sarcastically, drawing out his vowels. " Lucky my ass."

If I really was lucky, then Ivan wouldn't have had a hand just like mine.

And then I would have just had an easy win.

But from Lovino's experiences in gambling, he was able to conclude that nothing ever came easy.

There was always loss. Lovino just liked to avoid it as much as possible.

"Alright, then... this could go one of two ways." Baasch pointed to the mountains of chips piled on top of each other in the pot. "You either both lose, which would mean all the money goes to the casino. Or," He narrowed his eyes, obviously preferring the first suggestion more. "You both win, and you split the money."

Lovino would be stupid to not choose the latter. Why would he give up his money to some random casino on the suspicious side of town? Although, his crushing pride made him reluctant to accept a tie with Ivan.

"Split," Lovino piped up. He didn't dare make eye contact with his opponent, choosing not to see that sickeningly-sweet, obviously-fake, smile more than he had to.

Baasch grumbled something under his breath and moved to count the chips and divide the total up between the two.

And unfortunately for Lovino, Ivan didn't leave it off at just that.

"You know, there's a custom at this casino that I was wondering if you knew about."

"I don't," Lovino interrupted bluntly. "Once blondie gives me the chips and we work things out about the money, I'm leaving."

"Blondie?" Baasch muttered incredulously, annoyed at the nickname.

"Yes, but I think it's very important that you hear this, Lovino Vargas ."

Lovino felt his blood run cold.

Did he just—

He knows my last name, too?