Target America

33

After three and a half hours of Texas Hold’em on the floor of the Luxor casino, there were only three of the original ten players left at the table: Conman Tuckerman, Muhammad Faisal, and Big Ray, a professional gambler out of San Antonio, Texas. Big Ray wore a black cowboy hat, dark sunglasses, and gaudy, diamond-studded gold rings on the thumb and middle finger of each hand. The dealer had just flipped open the turn card, and Tuckerman could see from the way that Ray now seemed to ignore his hole cards that he’d be gone before the flip of the river — the river card being the last of five community cards to be flipped open before the end of the hand.

Faceup in the center of the table were the three flop cards: the queen of diamonds, the queen of spades, and the four of hearts. The turn card, also faceup, was the king of spades.

Faisal eyed his hole cards for a moment and then laid them flat, suppressing a smile as he made a ten-thousand-dollar bet.

Tuckerman immediately raised it to twenty, letting out an obnoxious snigger toward Big Ray sitting to his left.

“Think you’re pretty fuckin’ funny, don’t ya?” This was the first Big Ray had spoken the entire game, and Tuckerman knew he was finally finished.

Tuckerman turned over both of his hole cards for Big Ray to see: the two of clubs and the queen of hearts. Combined with the two flop-card queens, this gave him a very strong three of a kind.

He sat grinning ear to ear, looking right at Big Ray. “We call those three natural queens where I come from.” Then he laughed out loud, and Big Ray tossed his cards into the muck, shoving back from the table and swearing a blue streak as he stormed off through the crowd surrounding the table.

Tuckerman, to his great satisfaction, watched him go and then glanced across the table at Faisal. “How about you, Muhammad? Whatcha got over there, buddy?”

Faisal smiled. Tuckerman had been cleaning his clock all night, and to lose this hand would put him out of the game, but he flipped over his own hole cards to expose the king of hearts and the king of diamonds. Combined with the turn card king, these cards gave him an even stronger three of a kind than Tuckerman’s.

“Would you like to surrender now?” Faisal asked good-naturedly, coolly enjoying the thrill of victory.

Tuckerman was hard pressed to hide his sudden unease. He was up against the clock, and if he didn’t force Faisal from the game very soon, he was going to blow the mission’s timetable. Big Ray had given him fits all night, stretching the game out longer than he had planned for, so he didn’t have time for Faisal to die a slow death. He needed to finish him.

He sucked his teeth. “Why don’t we just see where the river takes us, huh?”

“Why not?” Faisal replied, his eyes glowing in triumph.

The dealer burned the top card by placing it facedown in the center of the table and flipped open the river card… the two of spades.

A collective gasp swept through the crowd.

“Fuck!” Faisal hissed acidly, tossing his cards into the muck at the center of the table.

Tuckerman pumped his fists and cheered, “Full house, bay-bee!”

Faisal sat back from the table with a bemused smirk as the jabbering crowd began to disperse. “How many times did you bluff tonight?” he demanded to know. “I know you bluffed at least twice, you son of a bitch. No one is that lucky — no one!”

Tuckerman laughed. “I’ve got a shamrock tattooed to my ass, partner.”

“This was supposed to be my night!” Faisal protested. “The night to break my losing streak, and I would have done it, if not for you. You owe me a drink — no, make it two!”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, fine,” Tuckerman said, stacking his chips. “But up in your suite, huh? I’m tired of sitting down here with the common people.”

Faisal wavered a moment, glancing briefly at Ma’mun, his bodyguard, standing near the wall.

“Oh, come on,” Tuckerman said, pretending not to even notice Ma’mun. “Don’t tell me you don’t have a suite here in the hotel, you rich bastard. Hell, if I had your money, I could probably afford to burn mine.”

Faisal was easily flattered when it came to his money, and he couldn’t help liking Tuckerman, admiring the way he had succeeded in getting inside of Big Ray’s head early in the game. Big Ray was normally a monster at the table, and Faisal had lost to him many times, but tonight Ray had made two critical miscalculations in a row, and those errors were entirely because of Tuckerman’s constant niggling.

Fuck it, he thought and grinned. “Yeah, okay. But tomorrow night you’re giving me a chance to win some of my money back!”

Tuckerman sighed as they stood up from the table. “I can’t promise I’ll be available tomorrow night.” He knew Faisal was on the hook now and wanted to keep him there. “But if I am, I don’t plan to lose. That’s entirely against my creed.”

“Of course, you’ll be available.” Faisal put a hand on Tuckerman’s shoulder. “Don’t talk nonsense. I can see you’re not a man to walk away from a challenge. Hey, where are you from, my friend?”

“Right here in Vegas,” Tuckerman said proudly. “Born and bred.”

“Well, that explains it!” Faisal said. “And what do you do — when you’re not cheating at poker, I mean?”

Tuckerman chortled, keenly aware that Faisal’s bodyguard did not approve of this budding new friendship. “I lead a high-wire act with Cirque du Soleil over at the Bellagio. You should come see us.”

Faisal laughed and clapped him on the back, saying to Ma’mun, “Call up to the suite and make sure there are enough girls.”

Ma’mun began to protest.

“Just do it, Ma’mun. I’m not in the mood to argue this evening. I’ve decided I’m going to get this man drunk, get him properly laid”—he stabbed his finger into Tuckerman’s chest—“and then tomorrow night I’m going to take all of his fucking money!”

They both broke up laughing, and to look at them, one would have thought they’d been friends for years.

“Like I said,” Tuckerman warned him, enjoying being back on the con, “I may have another obligation tomorrow night.”

“Your obligation is to me tomorrow night,” Faisal insisted, some of the spoiled child in him showing through. “And I won’t take no for an answer, my friend.”

“Well, okay.” Tuckerman chuckled. “Since you insist.”