Sacramento's Number one Casino

[Chambers]

Contests and Games Rules and more specifically Poker

A frequent gambler he was not. However having reached the point of turning over every rock he can think of in his hunt for a lead on well anything an idea had occurred to him talking with a returning mage recently. They had talked about slot machines and manipulating them. Which in turn gave him the idea of manipulating fate. Or more specifically to go where those who could, likely would use those skills which in his mind meant a casino .

And so tonight Chambers can be found seated at the poker table, looking unusually Smartly dressed For him in a double waistcoat look about a year out of fashion but for him that was practically on point.

Attention on his cards not wanting to stand out, but alert to any thing setting off the oh so very useful tool possessed of mages, the unseen senses.

[Philip Crosen]

Philip knew he was loaded. And he knew he was Acanthus. And he wanted to try his luck with something he usually mostly did at work, just on a much smaller scale than at work. So he decided to got to the casino too, to try his hand at poker. Dressed in his black business suit, with a white--and-red checkered shirt, black pants and polished black shoes, slightly differently than usual, he went over to the casino. As usual, he had his backpack along with him, making his prim dress code look slightly out-of-place. In said backpack, he had his first-aid kit, wallet and order tool-slash-phone. He didn`t feel the need to risk anything by being searched and potentially getting problems for bringing his trusty hairspray flamethrower, or any of its` components, that time. Nevertheless, he wanted to cast Fortunes Protection on himself to protect himself from potential muggers in said establishment, before exiting his car, just to be sure. But he couldn`t get the imago to form, despite trying to form it several times in the car, before exiting it. So he figured. Screw it! Let`s just see what`s gonna happen. In for a penny. I`m living dangerously by trade anyway.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-02 09:57:19	Philip Crosen rolls 7 to Fortunes Protection (Gnosis 3+ Fate 4) (10 Again)	6, 2, 1, 3, 4, 3, 1	failure

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-02 09:57:38	Philip Crosen rolls 6 to Fortunes Protection (Gnosis 3+ Fate 4 -1 second try) (10 Again)	7, 2, 3, 3, 5, 4	failure

With that, he entered the casino, where he eventually saw Chambers, walking up to him when he did so.

[Chambers]

Just a quick reminder to one and all, to check the rules for shards, as powers are off limits bar the few exceptions that are listed in the rules

Receiving a drink he ordered from a waiter he is both surprised and not as he is joined by none other then Philip. I was looking for fate users and well I found one. A mirthful smiles plays across his face before he moves it back to something more genial and less flashy. ''Reggie good to see you. Nice Shirt.'' He nods to a the poker table. ''You a regular here by chance?'' The question more to gauge if the likelihood of finding anything else was low or none existent. If he is he would have noticed by now.

Either way. ''Fancy a hand or two?'' At least I should now if he does decide to try anything.

[Philip Crosen]

"Good to see you too. And thanks, not bad yourself. Nope, no regular. Just wanted to try my luck, as it were. Sure, deal me in. As they say."
he said, returning the smile, assuming Chambers got his jest and joining him, having a seat at the table and throwing down his chips. He had thrown down the gauntlet, and he`d have a grand old time figuring out Chambers at poker.

Noticed the mistake(s) I made above too late. Sorry about that everyone. Needless to say, this will not happen again.

[Chambers]

He gives the enchanter a wry grin. Test his luck hey. Well, let’s see if luck really does favour you. "Very good let’s see what the deck has in store shall we.’’ He will take his cards giving them the briefest of looks, because largely his eyes remain on his fellow mage, trying to read him.

Read his opponent (Philip Crosen) 1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-04 10:18:07	Chambers rolls 5 to Read his opponent (Philip Crosen) Int 3 +empathy 2 (10 Again)	7, 6, 4, 6, 9	1 success

[Philip Crosen]

The challenge had been made and accepted. Taking the cards and also briefly glancing at them, Philip put on his best deadpan, trying to prevent Chambers from reading him, while trying his hand at bluffing him in turn. He would not make it so easy for his fellow Awakened colleague. Granted, he`d started to consider him a friend, but this game was as close to war as it could get between the two of them. And so per the old adage, everything was fair here.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-04 14:57:26	Philip Crosen rolls 4 to prevent being read(Manipulation 2+ Subterfuge 2) (10 Again)	10, 9, 4, 9, 2	3 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-04 17:37:14	Philip Crosen rolls 5 to Bluffing(Manipulation 2+ Subterfuge 2 + 1(detect lies)) (10 Again)	3, 7, 6, 4, 10, 2	1 success

[Chambers]

''Ah the famous deadpan.'' He jibes having seen the enchanter use it frequently for the better part of a year. Annoyingly he is pretty good at it.

Chambers can't read a thing from the enchanter. But that does not mean he has a good hand.

to contest the bluff 2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-05 10:22:21	Chambers rolls 5 to contest Philips Bluff int 3 + empathy 2 (10 Again)	9, 6, 2, 3, 9	2 successes

This is opening hand if there is every a time to call him on that it's now. ''You really expect that to put me off?'' Deadpan or no it seems Chambers in to play.

As the cards go down. His hand ... is not good, almost certainly not a winner. An outside chance really but not something anyone who cared about winning would have played through.

Poker 3 suxx

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-05 10:29:43	[05] Chambers rolls 3 to Poker vs Philip Int 3 +comp 3 -2 -1 (failure to read) (10 Again)	8, 2, 3	1 success
2024-04-05 10:29:43	[04] Chambers rolls 3 to Poker vs Philip Int 3 +comp 3 -2 -1 (failure to read) (10 Again)	8, 2, 6	1 success
2024-04-05 10:29:43	[03] Chambers rolls 3 to Poker vs Philip Int 3 +comp 3 -2 -1 (failure to read) (10 Again)	2, 6, 3	failure
2024-04-05 10:29:43	[02] Chambers rolls 3 to Poker vs Philip Int 3 +comp 3 -2 -1 (failure to read) (10 Again)	2, 3, 3	failure
2024-04-05 10:29:43	[01] Chambers rolls 3 to Poker vs Philip Int 3 +comp 3 -2 -1 (failure to read) (10 Again)	2, 5, 9	1 success
2024-04-05 10:26:34	Chambers rolls 3 to Poker vs Philip Int 3 +comp 3 -2 -1 (failure to read) (10 Again)	6, 2, 2	failure

[Philip Crosen]

He smirks at Chambers, which catches him off-guard and is enough for his bluff to be seen through. "Guess we`ll see, won`t we?" he declares, back to Chambers. Two can play at this game. And there`s always next time.

His own hand is also not particularly impressive.

Poker 3 suxx

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-05 10:42:04	[06] Philip Crosen rolls 3 to Poker vs Chambers(Int 3+ Comp 3 -2 -1 (bluff fail)) (10 Again)	3, 2, 3	failure
2024-04-05 10:42:04	[05] Philip Crosen rolls 3 to Poker vs Chambers(Int 3+ Comp 3 -2 -1 (bluff fail)) (10 Again)	3, 5, 6	failure
2024-04-05 10:42:04	[04] Philip Crosen rolls 3 to Poker vs Chambers(Int 3+ Comp 3 -2 -1 (bluff fail)) (10 Again)	7, 7, 9	1 success
2024-04-05 10:42:04	[03] Philip Crosen rolls 3 to Poker vs Chambers(Int 3+ Comp 3 -2 -1 (bluff fail)) (10 Again)	10, 7, 1, 1	1 success
2024-04-05 10:42:04	[02] Philip Crosen rolls 3 to Poker vs Chambers(Int 3+ Comp 3 -2 -1 (bluff fail)) (10 Again)	10, 7, 7, 6	1 success
2024-04-05 10:42:04	[01] Philip Crosen rolls 3 to Poker vs Chambers(Int 3+ Comp 3 -2 -1 (bluff fail)) (10 Again)	1, 1, 6	failure

So how do we decide the winner on a tie?

[Chambers]

Split pot I think.

An eyebrow arches. ''It would seem we start off on an even footing.'' He nods to the dealer. ''We can not very well let that stand can we?'' Seeing as his jest had caught Philip off guard last time he is sticking with it, seeing if he can crack the façade again and find something to read.

Read Philip 2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-05 11:56:44	Chambers rolls 5 to Read his opponent (Philip Crosen) Int 3 +empathy 2 (10 Again)	10, 6, 7, 10, 2, 4, 7	2 successes

Glancing briefly at his own cards. After all knowledge is power and that includes knowing what cards I have to work with.

[Philip Crosen]

With the initial hand going split-pot, Philip has no choice (except leaving) other than trying his luck again versus Chambers. Only that time, Philip was more ready for Chambers` taunts, and he resumed his deadpan to great effect, not giving Chambers anything. In addition, he tried to bluff him again, making more of an effort this time. "So it would seem. Oh well, next time." he says, shrugging, while maintaining deadpan and taking a brief glance at his cards. He would not make it so easy for him.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-05 12:14:36	Philip Crosen rolls 4 to prevent being read(Manipulation 2+ Subterfuge 2) (10 Again)	10, 10, 4, 5, 8, 1	3 successes

5 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-05 12:15:25	Philip Crosen rolls 5 to Bluffing(Manipulation 2+ Subterfuge 2 + 1(detect lies)) (10 Again)	10, 5, 2, 9, 10, 3, 10, 10, 2	5 successes

Does this exceptional success (5 suxx) count towards anything else than significant difficulty to prevent this new bluff from being seen through?