Capital Casino: The Poker table

[Chambers]

Poker

Continued from New years at Capital Casino...

The hustle and bustle of the place was night and day compared to last time he had been here, the energy notably more palpable. His phone is checked for a message in case Philip was having a hard time finding him him the crowd or had been delayed by new years traffic. Nothing.

Looking up at the approach of the balding middle aged man in grey and blue. "No special occasions only for me." But usual crowd gives him an indication. "Would I be right in assuming you are a regular?" Regardless unwilling to take any one at value in here, they were after all present to play a game based largely in deception.

"I'm waiting for a friend but we were coming out to play so sure why not." A gentle smile to the stranger. "He can join us when he arrives." Whenever that happens to be. "Tips? If your looking to make money at a poker I would say don't play." A gentle jest but as the saying goes, the house always wins.

Finding an table wit ha few empty seats he takes one the gloves remain on as he places his chips in front of him and motions to be dealt in.

[Fedup]

With a comfort that belies his earlier denouncement of him as a regular, Stan takes a seat next to the witty man. He puts a few chips on the table too and looks around the table to the faces of the other players. The entry for this poker table was not high and he hopes his small number of chips in front of him would guide the others to moderate their game. He has three kids - he can't blow a fortune here.
"Best wishes everyone!" Stan says to any other player on the table, receiving short, curt replies. "What are we playing?" he says checking the hands and the rules stand to see what variation of poker it is.

I don't think it matters what we're playing? Should we assume another player on the table with us? Another 2? Stats at 2, skills at 1 for NPCs? Or we assume regulars with more dice?

[Chambers]

I'm not going to run npc's for the game that's a lot of work for a social scene. Others can join as/if they want to otherwise just roll you extended action to play through your hand. Tactics first then the hand itself.

Keeping it simple the game is the popular Texas hold'em. The mans demeanour didn't match his words that much was clear and a discern eye is cast over the balding man. "You seem rather comfortable for someone who wouldn't call himself a regular." the player he is not terrible at reading people but how that would stack up to a poker player he didn't know well time to find.

The attempt to read an opponent is contest by manipulation+ subterfuge

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-04 04:13:01	Chambers rolls 5 to Read Stand Int+empathy 5 (10 Again)	7, 4, 5, 8, 5	1 success

[Fedup]

Stan gave the witty man a wink along a conspiratory smile. "Let's say I am not a regular here. " Stan opens up as he receives his cards. "I work in a hotel, we have a casino there and I play a couple of games with my friends once per week or so. I would say I am not completely fresh, but I wouldn't call myself a regular. I am a casual player. "

M+S

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-06 23:21:08	Stan rolls 5 to Man+Sfuge (10 Again)	5, 1, 2, 6, 6	failure

. As he checks his cards and the ones on the table a tiny frown passes momentarily creases Stan's forehead before he smooths his face. The cards are not in his favor and while he doesn't make too blatant a move about it, those looking for signs could tell. He puts his chips takes a card but his previous bravado is somewhat dimmed.
The round progresses and Stan finds himself watching his fellow players. Stan liked to watch people, to try and understand them. He has picked a skill for it through his career. This serves him well as he tries to figure what his fellow players have.

Reading

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-06 23:24:57	Stan rolls 4 to Int+Emp (10 Again)	4, 7, 9, 9	2 successes

Chambers gets +2 to his roll.
Extended roll... to how many successes?

[Chambers]

Read the rules for poker. It is an extended contested action. as stated on the wiki, there is no target number we just roll our full pool of dice to represent playing through the hand and whoever has the most suxx at the end wins the hand

And so it comes out. Well what he suspects is still half the truth at best. "A few games a week and owning your own casino would make your more then a casual player by anyone's estimation." So no fooling around with this then. "Shall we then." The first few hands would be telling.

resist being read failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-07 13:10:51	Chambers rolls 4 to dont be read -- manipulation+ subterfuge (10 Again)	1, 6, 4, 4	failure

his reading of the balding man is obvious as eyes move carefully over the contestant his reactions to what he finds give his own game plan away, a slight smile here, a tap of a gloved finger there.

And so the hand gets under way and he plays it out, checking his way through and raising where feels appropriate.

10 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-07 13:14:38	[06] Chambers rolls 6 to Poker Int+composure-2+2 (10 Again)	2, 6, 8, 2, 10, 1, 5	2 successes
2025-01-07 13:14:38	[05] Chambers rolls 6 to Poker Int+composure-2+2 (10 Again)	7, 2, 8, 7, 7, 6	1 success
2025-01-07 13:14:38	[04] Chambers rolls 6 to Poker Int+composure-2+2 (10 Again)	2, 2, 8, 10, 4, 2, 1	2 successes
2025-01-07 13:14:38	[03] Chambers rolls 6 to Poker Int+composure-2+2 (10 Again)	6, 9, 9, 9, 6, 1	3 successes
2025-01-07 13:14:38	[02] Chambers rolls 6 to Poker Int+composure-2+2 (10 Again)	3, 6, 5, 1, 4, 3	failure
2025-01-07 13:14:38	[01] Chambers rolls 6 to Poker Int+composure-2+2 (10 Again)	9, 9, 3, 6, 3, 5	2 successes

A reasonable bit of play to start the night nothing a pro wouldn't laugh off but certainty not blundering around like a total novice.

[Fedup]

"Own a casino?!" Stan laughs incredulously. "Friend, I am working as Front office assistant manager in the AC hotel." Stan decided he liked the witty young man. He seemed to play his cards close to chest, literally and figuratively, but he was showing good intuition in the banter and the game. Such people make good customers.
And as one could expect,

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-08 09:15:19	[05] Stan rolls 5 to Int+Com-2+2 (10 Again)	2, 4, 7, 9, 8	2 successes
2025-01-08 09:15:19	[04] Stan rolls 5 to Int+Com-2+2 (10 Again)	6, 4, 2, 6, 9	1 success
2025-01-08 09:15:19	[03] Stan rolls 5 to Int+Com-2+2 (10 Again)	2, 3, 1, 5, 9	1 success
2025-01-08 09:15:19	[02] Stan rolls 5 to Int+Com-2+2 (10 Again)	9, 2, 8, 4, 2	2 successes
2025-01-08 09:15:19	[01] Stan rolls 5 to Int+Com-2+2 (10 Again)	2, 7, 4, 4, 1	failure

[Fedup]

Apologies, apparently, half my post was lost! In short, Stan took the defeat in good humor, said Chambers is better than his friends and asked for another round.

[Chambers]

Remember the rules for not double posting. We lose stuff it happens. It's annoying but we just have to move along with it.

Well that was surprising. Philip beat plays like that consistently. The happy go lucky fella seemed to slide around his own words with a amiable enough nature but it begged the question was this a hook to unseen thrashing soon to come. Does he plan to hoodwink me by conceding an early hand? Well he had chips he could afford to lose thanks to that win and a paranoid curoristy about the nature of the other player. "The AC is it. A nice hotel from I hear." Pricey to match though. No wonder he has some money he doesn't mind losing. "Another hand?" The question in itself a ruse ready to gauge the others reaction the contest had already begun anew.

[Fedup]

"Certainly, my friend." Stan said with a smile. He was there to play cards and socialize, after all, not to win money. "I would love to earn back a bit of what I have shared." He had decided he likes the witty fellow. The man was certainly better than his friends... well, perhaps not better than Andrew, but still. "You should meet my friend Andrew." Stan said with a smirk. "We invite him to our games because he is very funny, but we play small stakes with him as he often cleans us out. Great fellow."
Now that he knows the witty fellow is much better than he pretended to be, Stan tries to read the man.

Reading 3S

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-09 03:55:08	Stan rolls 4 to Int + Emp (10 Again)	9, 2, 10, 4, 9	3 successes

[Chambers]

resist being read failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-09 17:03:02	Chambers rolls 4 to resist being read manipulation + subterfuge (10 Again)	6, 1, 4, 2	failure

while the grey suited Moros might know how to play his chips he lacks something in his ability to not give hints away, he is not screaming from the roof tops but to a decent poker player he might as well be as he changes his seating, adjusts his shoulders pays attention to things less subtlety then he would like to think he is doing.

"Another hand it is." But if it would be winning money back now that was another matter of course. "You can't do to badly for yourself if you can afford to risk poker games even low stakes ones a few times a week." Even bleeding twenty here, and fifty there it added up fast.

Read Stan 2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-01-09 17:04:42	Chambers rolls 5 to read Stan 5 (10 Again)	10, 9, 7, 2, 5, 4	2 successes

eyes take in the other calculatingly, maybe wondering exactly where the ruse began and the carefree attitude ended.