I was at the final table at the Mirage's Sunday afternoon No Limit Hold'em Tournament with the green eyed, redheaded lady I met at the registration desk. She was on a rush and busted two of the young Internet gunslingers early on. That left seven of us going for the five money slots.
The blinds were eating into my stack and I knew I had to make something happen and I figured it would probably be with the redheaded lady. Fortunately, I picked-up her second tell that prevented her from busting me out.
I had pocket Jacks in the middle position and raised the bet to $1,500. The redhead called and the rest of the table folded. "The adversaries once again," she said to me across the table.
I smiled and nodded in agreement.
The flop was A-J-4. It gave me a set of Jacks but when I looked up from the table, I noticed that the redhead's second tell had popped-up and I checked. There was no doubt in my mind that she made a set of Aces. Her face is expressionless but I knew she is thinking about the previous hand I called her down on, and she wanted to trap me. "Check," she said. Trap sprung.
"Good," I said to myself, "I got a free turn card."
It was a 7s - no help.
"Check," I said. Disappointment flashed across her face and she asked, "How much do you have?"
I give her a count.
"All in," she said.
If I was going to laydown the hand, I thought I might as well have some fun along the way. So I began to slow-play. I stacked and restacked my chips a few times and did a pretty fair acting job of agonizing over making a decision to call.
Finally, I flipped my cards over and said, "It's yours. I know you have my set beat."
My unexpected move startled her and she looked as disappointed as a cat watching a mouse escaping from a carefully planned trap. "Good lay-down." she said, showing her set of aces.
Twenty minutes later we were down to six players and I was on the bubble with a short stack. I went all-in with pocket queens and was called down by the big blind with an A-K. I was a winner until I was sucked out on the river by the Ace. It wasn't a bad beat, just bad luck.
With me busted out, the tournament director called a break to collect the IDs of the players who were now in the money and to take care of the necessary paperwork back in his office. While this was happening, the redhead cornered me.
"How did you read me on those two hands?" she asked. "Did you pick up some tells?"
I looked into her green eyes. They weren't pleading, just filled with curiosity. "What's in it for me if I, pardon the pun, if I 'tell' you?" I said.
She moved into my space. "I'll owe you. Big time. Look, I know I can win this thing, but if someone else is smart enough to pick up my tells I'll be at a disadvantage."
I thought for a moment and decided it couldn't hurt if she really did windup owing me - big time.
"All right," I said. And explained how she gave her bluff away by toying with her broach.
She nodded. "How about that lay-down of yours? That was positively spooky laying down a set of 10s."
I smiled and leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Oh my God!" she said.
"I've got to fix that right away. Try stalling the game until get back. Tell them I had to go to the ladies room - real bad." With that, she practically flew out of the poker room.
After a long 10 minutes and some annoying looks from the tournament director and grumbling from the other players, the redhead slid into her assigned seat and gave me a quick wink and the game was on.
Forty-five minutes later it was over. I watched as she took down the final pot with a nut flush without a tell in sight.
With first place money safely tucked into her purse she asked me, "Drink?"
"At the bar?" I said.
Putting her arm through mine, "No. My place."
Her place turned out to be a two-bedroom apartment on the 26th floor in one of the new condos that were mushrooming up and down the strip.
"Impressive view," I said, looking out of the floor to ceiling windows in the living room.
"Yes," she said. "But distracting at times like this."
Moving to a bank of wall switches she pressed one and heavy drapes slowly closed over the view.
I smiled. "What next? Music?"
"Why not?" she said, pressing another switch.
Moments later a Miles Davis' rendition of 'So What?' floated into the room.
"Why are you shaking your head?" she asked.
"This place. It's not you. It's more of a bachelor's pad."
"It was a bachelor's pad, or so my ex thought before I caught him here with one of his dancers. Now it's mine - among other things. Lots of other things. But that's a different story. Right now it's just you and me."
She moved closer to me and I could feel the warmth of her body and smelled the unmistakable scent of a woman. A very desirable woman.
"Now," she said. "It's time to show you how I fixed that second 'tell' of mine." She slowly removed her blouse revealing a bra that wasn't there at the beginning of the tournament.
"Thank God the hotel boutique was still open," she said. Reaching behind her, she unfastened the bra and let it drop to the floor.
Taking my hands, she placed them on her breasts. They were firm and real and I felt her nipples grow hard between my fingers.
"Yes, she said, moving her hands to my belt buckle, "You discovered my two tells. And I only bet my top pair when I'm sure I have the nuts."
