The Thoughtful Detective

Chapter 11 - Pocket Aces

Colton's POV

'Pocket Aces' (AKA 'Pocket Rockets') is the best possible starting hand of all 169 hands in Texas Hold'em. The odds of being dealt a pair of aces is 1/221, and the statistical odds of winning at showdown is 85%.

If I hadn't been a mindreader, I would've been ecstatic to be holding these cards. Unfortunately, being able to hear people's thoughts eliminated the challenges of the game. My powers took away the psychological aspect of poker, which made the game lifeless. Hence, I didn't have any reason to be excited about pocket aces.

But here I was, sitting at Lopez's poker table once again, for the third time this month. I wasn't in the best of moods, but I was trying my hardest to be sociable.

It didn't help that Eva and I had gotten into an argument on our way to Lopez's. The moment I had gotten home from the baby store, she had stomped up to my car and demanded to see the super special, exclusive sauce that I had apparently driven across town for.

I honestly have no idea why I had even attempted to lie. Eva knew me too well.

Therefore, I told her the truth. I opened my trunk and showed her the baby items. I explained that the witness protection subsistence payments weren't sufficient for Gia to raise her child. As expected, Eva gave me an unsolicited lecture about boundaries and expectations. "You can't do this, Colton. You should know better. You're forming an unhealthy obsession," she had expressed. Blah, blah, blah...

On some level, I knew that she was right. I wasn't planning on supporting Gia forever, but I figured a few extra payments here and there would be helpful. One can argue that I didn't have the healthiest coping strategies, but I just needed to right my wrongs. I wished Eva could understand that.

"Fold," said Lopez. He placed his cards face-down on the table and pushed them to a corner. MacClery did the same.

Wallace peeked at his own cards again and dipped his carrot into a small bowl of ranch dressing.

"Call," I said. I threw in two of my chips. Eva followed suit.

Wallace chuckled and bit into his carrot, crunching loudly. This was a telltale sign that his cards were rubbish.

Lopez turned over the flop: Five of Spades, Ace of Clubs, and Ace of Diamonds

Boom. That's four aces for me. I've already won. The only two hands that could beat my four-of-a-kind was a royal flush or a straight flush, which was already unattainable based on the flop.

Wallace checked, and I did the same.

It was Eva's turn. She gave me a smirk, as she splayed her hands on top of four blue chips and pushed them into the pile. "Twenty," she said with assurance.

Wallace raised his hands to express defeat. "I'm folding. I'll let these two battle it out." He threw his cards face-down on the table and took a swig of his beer.

I raised an eyebrow at Eva and returned her smirk. Eva liked a good challenge. "Okay, Vasquez. I see your twenty, and I'll raise you another twenty." I stacked eight blue chips on top of each other and pushed them into the pile.

Eva eyed me suspiciously from across the table. "Re-raise you another fifty," she said, as she munched on a Dorito chip casually.

"Ooohh," the other players exclaimed in unison.

"Any takers on a side bet?" asked MacClery. "I'm betting on Eva. Colton's bluffing."

"I don't know, man. Colton's hard to read. He's all over the map sometimes," said Weitzman.