The Cincinnati Kid Page #5

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Ten to the jacks.

Possible straight.

Pair of sevens.

Check those sevens.

Likewise.

I'II...

...bet the size of the pot.

Nine hundred and...

Nine hundred and eighty.

Call the 980.

Doc...

I'll play.

Trey to the jacks.

Busted.

No straight, no flush.

Nine to the sevens.

Jacks bet.

Check.

Pair of sevens says...

Pair of sevens says 1500 bucks.

I'll call your 1500 and raise you...

...2500.

Twenty-five to you, Pig.

I haven't got it.

How much have you got?

Eleven hundred.

All right. Then we'll make it 1100.

Five...

...10, 14.

Eleven hundred to you, Pig.

No. I won't call.

Take it easy, Pig.

Deal me out.

You let him fake you out.

Thanks, Lancey.

Thanks a lot.

Not very lucky, is he?

He never has been.

Look, I...

...know it's a little early.

What do you say we take a break?

Yeah, let's go a little while.

Thank you kindly, Melba.

Thank you, dear.

You know, Melba, it always distresses me,

a man like Shooter here...

...reaching his middle years

and still having no assurance...

...of next week's income.

- I know what you mean, Mr. Slade.

- Don't you find that kind of disturbing?

Excuse me.

- Say, Hoban...

- And Spider Man died kind of slow.

First they took a kidney,

then a gallbladder...

...and then they took his

whole damn stomach.

You remember Spider Man, don't you?

- Who?

- Spider Man. He was about your age.

- Yes, yes.

- Lady Fingers.

- Will you please help me with the food?

- He died kind of slow.

Yeah, man, why don't you

come on up to Memphis.

- Things are hot up there.

- Wait. I'll go with you.

Solid.

- Good crowd.

- Yeah.

You know, Kid...

...you're the best stud-poker player

I've seen in 35 years of action.

Thank you, Lancey.

You know, that was a sweet thing

you did to the Pig with those jacks.

You saw that coming, did you?

Yeah, I saw it coming.

Before I raised?

I saw it coming, Lancey.

You ever play down Miami?

- Not yet.

- Beautiful town.

Lot of loose money around.

You ought to come down sometime.

- I might do that.

- Gotta have good nerves, though.

You lose the feel of the cards

when you have so much action...

...day in and day out.

Unless your nerves can hold.

How are yours, Kid?

They've been worse.

I'm not keeping you from anyone, am I?

No.

- Girl, maybe?

- No. No.

Well, don't you have a girl?

Yeah, well, she's out of town right now.

No unpleasantness, I hope.

Well...

...women are a universal problem

in our business.

Of course, it's purely an academic

question with me now...

...but in looking back, I think it's best

not to look for a fixed thing.

Just tie into something nice

when you're away from the action...

...and let it wear itself out.

- Boys? How about some food?

- Right with you, Shooter.

Well, I'm glad we had this little chat.

I know we can be friends.

Regardless of what happens.

Yeah, that's right, Lancey.

Regardless.

Well, cheers.

It's a whole new deal. Good hands

all around. Prosperity for everybody.

You haven't lost your touch,

Lady Fingers.

You hear Whistlin' Sam's gone, Lancey?

No, I haven't heard.

Yeah. I had to go down

to the morgue to identify him.

- He's a little younger than you, isn't he?

- Just deal, Lady Fingers.

A deuce to the man.

King, jack...

Trey. Busted.

Deuce.

Ace-queen bets...

What's in the pot? Four-twenty.

It's yours, Shooter.

Hoban?

You mind shutting those drapes?

There, that makes me

about even, gentlemen.

In a game like this,

that's a smart place to quit.

If it's all right with all of you,

I'll just do the dealing.

Ace-king bets.

Doc...

...you're high. Ace-king bets.

One moment, please.

Nine hundred and thirty.

You and that damn book.

What are you writing

in that book, Sokal?

Nine-thirty to you, Lancey.

What have you got?

It doesn't matter.

If you can call, you can beat.

Ace, king, seven.

Ace, king, 10.

How about that mess.

I had them both beat

with a pair of fives.

What do you keep betting out for?

The bet was correct.

He should not have called.

He shouldn't have, eh?

Better write yourself a new book, daddy.

Gentlemen...

...I'm wasted.

I'll settle for the 1700

that I've already lost.

Later.

Gentlemen, I, too, will withdraw.

Well...

...just the two of us, Kid.

Deal them up, Shooter.

Cost you a grand.

Well...

Compulsory call, Kid.

Two pair, jacks up.

Kings up.

Last card.

Nine to the kings.

Ace. Pair of aces bets.

Bet the pot, 2700.

- Two thousand.

- Call.

Last card.

Three sevens. Two pair, 10s and sixes.

- Three sevens bets.

- Two thousand more.

Take it, Lancey.

I can't beat three sevens.

I'd like to take a break now and sleep.

It's not my place, because

I'm winners, but I'm saying it.

Sure, sure. We'll start again at 5.

All right?

Right.

How's it going, Lancey?

Lady, that young man

is a stud-poker-playing son of a...

He's getting to you, huh, Lancey?

No, not yet, he isn't.

- I folded winners in that last hand.

- That's a hell of a thing to do.

I got so lucky getting that fifth card,

I got embarrassed.

You crazy?

That's no way to play poker.

I thought it was time to ask,

what are you trying to pull?

- Nothing. What are you talking about?

- You, Shooter, man.

You been dealing me cards for an hour.

Like hell l...!

No, Kid... No, listen. Listen, Kid.

Kid.

Even if I was, nobody could spot it.

You know that.

I'm too good a mechanic.

Kid...

...you gotta understand.

This wasn't my idea.

Look, Slade's got the squeeze on me.

Think I wanna deal phony?

Think it don't mean something to me?

- With my reputation?

- Get this straight.

No fix. You deal it clean, or I'll blow it.

- But Slade won't buy that.

- Slade ain't gonna know.

I'm gonna win this game, Shooter.

And I'm gonna win it my way.

And you ride along with it,

or you're out.

You're finished.

Okay, Kid.

I wanna leave a call for 4 p.m. Sharp.

Yeah.

This is Lancey Howard.

Could you call me

in a couple of hours, please?

Thank you.

No, Lady, he hasn't gotten

through to me yet.

But he damn well might.

Good afternoon, sir. It's 4:00.

It's only 25 to 4.

You can stay right where you are.

Melba...

I came to wake you up.

You are awake, aren't you?

Yeah, I'm awake.

Well?

You're quite a girl, Melba.

Still worried about Shooter?

You wanna get that, honey?

I ordered some coffee.

Christian.

They took a break in the game

to get some sleep...

...and Shooter sent me to wake him up.

Well, I guess I'd better

get back downstairs.

See you later.

You sure got a great sense

of timing, Christian.

- Anything happen?

- No, Kid paired kings. Won 100.

Eight.

Five. Queen bet.

What have you got?

Three nines.

Eight will bet 200.

No stay.

New deck, please.

Two hundred.

- And up five.

- Fold.

Jack.

Eights bet 2000.

I'm not that curious.

- Gents, I'm declaring a break.

- I don't want a break.

Go on. Deal the cards.

Same deck is good enough.

No, I'll take a new deck.

All right, all right. Give him a new deck.

Deal them.

You want them, deal them yourselves.

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