The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

Dealt a Hand of Lies

"Here's the rules, gentlemen. You all know the drill." Seven cards each. First to cash in takes out the sum of their cards' worth. For instance, if the last card you threw in was the ten of spades, then you take out ten dollars' worth of chips. Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks are worth double what you throw on last. So, for another instance, you slap down a ten of hearts. If, prior to that turn, you had placed down a King of Hearts, then you would withdraw twenty dollars of chips. Every turn you must put back in half of your total earnings. Like it was said: the rules are simple. Stacking cards is allowed. Playing an eight then jumping the next guy's turn with an eight of your own is legal. Action continues in clockwise order regardless of stacking.

Think of this like Crazy Eights, but there's a few more rules and a sprinkling of dough on the platter. It's a personal favorite around the Big House, Mammon's latest and greatest investment of the former Ruler of Greed's property. Sure, not all of it could go to the people. Just some of it, the bits and pieces that nobody cared about or everybody cared about. But the Big House stays right where it is, always: under Mammon's grease-coated, jester-loving thumb. Mammon waited, then, biding his time until the last ticking of a clock with his hand, the very thing he had used to swipe the largest stash of money and cash out from beneath Beelzebub's boots.

Mammon swept across his office floor, chuckling to himself with devious intention while fiddling with a stack of coins in his right hand, recalling the very night it had all gone down. The weather was clear, although things would be dark and stormy by the turn of the night. Tables loaded, bases set in place, and revolvers prepared for anyone with the balls to look Death in its mysteriously alluring face. It was, perhaps, the biggest showdown in all of Greed. The stage was alive with props, colors and lights, and the largest, fastest learning businessman in all of Hell, by the proper name of Mammon, had arrived to claim what he, through the twisted gold lenses upon his face, deemed was his due from the start.

Mammon was not a strong Demon, nor was he a particularly likable one at that. And he had most certainly not been on Lucifer's list of Speaking-To's for Rulers of Hell. But tonight, after months of self-taught practice and lessons on flare and show business, Mammon was determined to prove once and for all that he was the greediest, the most cunning and the most deserving Demon in all of Greed to take the throne and prove he was worthy of being the best at what he excelled in. Mammon arrived at the Big House at four until ten, exiting a cab with a smile on his tie and a wide grin to boast.

The entrance into the Big House, with strobe lights cutting the night sky and its gorgeous golden windows sparkling in the crown of emerald majesty of Greed, glistened with gold and bright lights as Mammon left the curb, striding up the ramp into the Casino entrance. The moment his feet hit the floor, everything went curtains for the casino tables. Mammon had cornered every single market stall, drink, delicacy and game the Big House could possibly offer. However, after his fiftieth bash with the craps tables, scoring a high rolling three hundred and eight thousand dollars, a cloud of vile nocturne smoke billowed into the room.

Mammon did not take his eyes from the table when so many others surrounding the table moved away from the board, eyes glazed in terror upon the entrance of a cold, scaly hand on Mammon's shoulder. Only then did the lower Demon turn with a smile, matching that of the Lord of Greed above him. Everything about the Lord of Greed was exactly what Mammon had expected; there was no doubting who he had gained the audience of now, with those frills, the luxurious suit and tie, and of course, the ferocious, painfully red glasses seated on his face.

History doesn't provide anything more to describe the rest of the night. We understand that, at some point in the night, someone became very upset, flipping a table and shrieking in a violent, bloody language no one had ever heard in centuries. And then, in a fit of rage and shock to all, Mammon was thrust out of the tallest tower in the Big House, where he splashed into the pool on the terrace and was reported to have swam away, screaming and shouting in a fit of rage. Nothing was ever said of that event, until the day Mammon started appearing more and more often in Greed, lighting up the night sky with his empire of wireless funding and monetary prowess...and Beelzebub disappeared, little more than a twinkling star in the void.

Mammon recalled that night now, and how he had come so far since then. His mechanical know-how and marketing genius had reshaped the concept of Greed forever, and nothing could ever dream of rivaling his potential. 'Vanity and jealousy are a steep order, but if you've got a ladder,' Mammon told himself, sealing the blinds on his blackened windows, 'then there's no wall you can't mount and break from within.' So there's the story. Now then...looks like it's your turn to deal in. Your buddy's got five cards until the pot, you have three. Make your move.