Chapter 94

Playing against Luminous was easy. Because she was putting more effort into trying to flirt with me and seduce me than actually trying to play. She did her best to drag it out as long as she could, but I eventually won, and she got knocked out of the tournament. But at least I know that her motivation for getting as far as she did was to get a chance to just get with me.

Anyway, it was time for the final. The "main event" if you want to say. And to no one's surprise, Rimuru was here. It was me against him.

"Wow, Rimuru, you must be good at this game to make it this far. I'm sure you must know many strategies and fundamentals, right?" I was being obviously sarcastic and suspicious about him.

"Uh, well, yeah." He nodded a bit awkwardly.

I also nodded as I looked at him. Both of us knew who was actually doing the playing for Rimuru. Raphael. But was I deterred? No. There's only so much Raphael can do mathematically before not being able to do much. All Raphael can do is give Rimuru some percentages and recommendations. And math can only get you so far.

/\\//\\//\

As Rimuru and Artoria sat at the poker table, a large crowd surrounded them from a distance. It was the final and almost everyone wanted to see them. Although to some it felt unfair. Specifically, those who went against Rimuru. This may have been a new game to them, but even they could tell that he seemed to be playing too perfectly. 

"So, Rimuru, who did you beat to get here? I'm just curious."

"Uh, I went against Elmesia, Gazel, Elwald, Frey, and some other people, but I think those are my highlights."

"Really? You beat them? You know, those are probably the people I wanted to avoid the most, and yet, they all faced you. Luck can be mysterious sometimes."

"Um, yeah, I guess so."

"Well, should we get started?"

"Uh, yeah."

Artoria and Rimuru placed their mandatory bets to start the round and the dealer gave them their cards.

/\\//\\//\

'Raphael, do you think she knows?' Rimuru was nervous after his conversation with Artoria before the game.

[Yes, no doubt. She knows why you got so far.]

'So, can you keep helping me?'

[You still want my help even though she clearly knows you've been using me to help you?]

'Well, she can't prove I did. It's all in my head anyway. There's no physical evidence, it's her word against mine.' He had a bit of a point.

[Alright.]

Rimuru looked at the cards that were dealt and quickly tried to control himself. He got pocket aces. An ace of spades and an ace of clubs.

'Woah, I've never gotten these cards before. This has to be good right?'

[That chances of winning with pocket aces are around 85 percent. I would recommend trying to extract as much value as possible through a semi-aggressive strategy. You should raise the bet so Artoria can't see the flop cheaply, but not too much.]

'Alrighty.'

Rimuru took some chips that represented gold coins and raised the pot. Some people in the crows winced a little, particularly those who weren't used to seeing so much money being moved around so causally. Those chips represented gold coins.

Rimuru looked at Artoria to see what she would do, and her answer came fast.

"I'll call." She placed the same bet as Rimuru into the pot.

'Ok, Raphael what does that mean?'

[It means the bet you made was an acceptable price for her to see the flop.]

'Is that bad'

[No. We'll need to see the flop.]

After the initial betting round, the dealer revealed the three cards of the flop. An ace of hearts, a nine of clubs, and a queen of diamonds. Rimuru slowly got a little giddy and excited as soon as he the ace of hearts.

'That has to be good!'

[It is. You now have a three-of-a-kind with aces. You should keep trying to raise and get as much value as you can. You should make a slightly bigger bet.]

'Got it.' And so, Rimuru did exactly that. He got more chips and raised the bet higher.

Artoria, who was seeing this, already knew what was up. There was a difference between thinking and just following instructions after having someone else do the thinking for you. She saw Rimuru take a small delay before doing something. A consistent delay. You don't just take the same amount of time to think between every round. 

She looked at her cards and then at the table. She would need some help on the upcoming rounds, but it isn't impossible. She noticed how excited Rimuru got when he saw the cards, especially on the ace of hearts. To get so excited would mean Rimuru had to have at least one ace in his hand, or worse, pocket aces. Artoria wasn't going to assume the worst, but she would be cautious.

"I'll call." She made the same choice.

On the turn, the dealer revealed a ten of diamonds. Artoria showed no reaction. She wasn't staying as still as a statue, but she seemed like didn't care what was on the board. She showed no emotion or reaction when the card was revealed. 

[Be cautious. You should be wary of a straight or a flush.]

'Why?'

[There are two diamonds on the board right now. If the river reveals another diamond she could complete a flush if she also has two diamonds in her hand. The possibility of a straight is also there. With a nine and a ten on the table right now, she could also get a straight. Those could beat your three-of-a-kind.]

'So, what should I do?'

[You should make a small bet. You should assume your hand is behind, but it's still strong.]

'Hmm. Ok' Rimuru got a few chips and bet small as per Raphael's instructions. They just needed to see how Artoria bet.

"I raise." Artoria's response was instant. Artoria got a large stack of chips, much bigger than Rimuru, and shoved them to the middle of the table. This was unexpected for Rimuru. So far, Artoria had only been calling his bets and being cautious. This aggressive style was something to be wary of, but he couldn't do anything now. It was time for the river card.

The dealer, with finesse, put the last card down. An ace of diamonds. 

Rimuru was practically trying to hold back the joy and utter excitement welling up in him. But he couldn't. His fingers twitched in excitement and he was trying to hold back the biggest smile he could.

'Raphael! We won! I have four aces! Nothing can beat this!'

[I highly recommend to curb your excitement. Yes, you may have a four-of-a-kind, but it's not unbeatable. You can lose to a straight flush or a royal flush. And in this scenario, the only thing that can beat you is a royal flush.]

'And what are the chances of getting a royal flush?'

[0.0032%]

'Yeah, right, like that'll ever happen! I'm going to go all in!'

[Don't do that. There's already a lot of chips in the pot, you've extracted a lot of value already.]

'I'm doing it either way!'

[Keep in mind how aggressive she was on the turn. The ten of diamonds is critical to her hand. She most likely has diamonds in her hand. Don't go all in.]

'I don't know.'

[Don't do it.]

"All in!" Rimuru excitedly yelled out loud for the entire casino to hear as he moved all his chips into the pot. As soon as he said that, there were mutters and whispers in the crowd. Some were surprised and others were excited. Either way, they wanted to see the drama. 

But he failed to notice one thing. Artoria. He failed to notice how she looked as the ace of diamonds was revealed. She was as still as a statue, not moving the slightest bit. Not a single eye twitch, an eyelash, even her hair stood still, refusing to move with any kind of breeze. Her eyes looked way too serious, almost dull. She was trying too hard to have a poker face. Artoria gave a tell, but Rimuru's excitement got the best of him.

All eyes were on Artoria.

Rimuru finally looked up at her and noticed how she looked. It was almost scary, but he had quad aces, he was going to win.

[This isn't good.]

'What?' Rimuru questioned Raphael, but he was still riding the high of getting four aces. She would fold and he would win this first game big.

Artoria, for the first time this game, finally spoke. "All eyes on me. It seems my main thing was to be major paid." Artoria said with a devilish smirk.

"What are you saying? I've won, Artoria. Just look!" Rimuru threw his cards toward the middle of the table revealing his pocket aces. The crowd that was spectating got even louder. Some were convinced that Rimuru won.

"Are you really that confident? You know I haven't even said what I wanted to do, right? I've never said if I would fold or call. I can still make that choice."

"Oh." Rimuru just realized that he got carried away. "Well, just go ahead and fol-" He was interrupted by her words.

"I call." Her words were a slice through the wind that shut up everyone in the casino. The crowd that was muttering and talking was silenced by Artoria's decision. 

"Huh?" Rimuru's excitement was instantly wiped away like a candle in the wind. Now? Now, he felt unease, something foreboding. Perhaps, he should've listened to Raphael. He should've quit while he was ahead.

The dealer, hearing Arotria's decision, shouted, "Showdown!" 

Artoria, with a flick of her wrist, threw her cards as they spun around before landing precisely on the table in a perfect and straight position.

Complete silence., utter shock is what everyone in the casino was feeling. You could hear the noise from the celebration and festival happening outside the casino. You could maybe even hear the smallest fly buzzing around.

[I tried to tell you, Rimuru.]

Rimuru didn't even pay attention to Raphael. He was completely stunned. He couldn't even believe what he was seeing. This had to be the unluckiest moment in his life.

Her cards? A king of diamonds and a jack of diamonds. In combination with the queen of diamonds, the ten of diamonds, and the ace of diamonds, it gave her a, "Royal flush! The winner is Lady Pendragon!" The dealer said out loud.

"Talk about a bad beat, Rimuru. Just don't go and pull out a revolver on me for your loss. This isn't the Wild West." Artoria got up, ignoring Rimuru, who was still too stunned to speak. He was still processing what just happened. 

Artoria picked up a handful of chips, each representing a gold coin, and gave them to the dealer. "A tip for you."

"Much appreciated." The dealer simply nodded and accepted the chips from Artoria.

/\\//\\//\

(3o minutes later)

After the tournament was concluded, everyone went back to playing various games in the casino, but everyone still talked about the game between Artoria and Rimuru. It caused a big influx of people playing poker, which needless to say, made the casino a lot of money.

What was Riimuru doing? Well, he sat down a the bar. He wasn't drinking or anything, he just sat there, still pondering and processing what happened.

[If you're wondering, the chances of what just happened is about-]

'I don't wanna know, Raphael.'

[It makes sense.]

.

.

.

"I'm never playing poker again."