Poker Night 02

 Spread Sheet 

Ryan held onto the deck of cards and shuffled them a few more times. None of the guys knew what they were expecting but it was exactly like Kyle had said. If anything that just made Dominic even angrier. Losing those two inches was a big deal to him. He wasn’t 6 foot anymore. He tried to play it off like it was a joke but there was a clear animosity he was holding right now. With each joke there was a bit of hollowness to it that everyone in the room could feel.

“So it’s just going to be poker tonight?” Ryan asked before handing out the cards.

Kyle grinned. “I think that’ll be for the best. Don’t want anything too confusing just yet.”

“We got a poker whiz over here?” Dominic crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. 

“I’ve played before. Nothing like this, of course, but my dad loved it. He played online all the time and I might have picked some things up from him,” Ryan said still shuffling the cards. “So now Lance is little blind and Dominic’s big?” He started dealing the five cards out.

“Yep,” Kyle said. “Whatcha going to bet big guy?” he turned towards Lance.

“5 pounds,” Lance held out his hand and 5 orange chips fell out. 

Dominic looked like he was struggling to decide what he wanted to bet. Besides wrestling he didn’t have much that made him stand out compared to the rest of the guys. So anything that he would have lost would have been an even bigger deal to him. His now 5’10” body made him feel so short but seeing the 180 muscular pounds on his frame made him feel at least a little bit okay. But he still was struggling over what he wanted to bet. “3 pounds,” it wasn’t too confident but still there. Three maroon chips fell out of his hand. 

“Three?” Lance protested. “I’m betting five!”

“But it’s muscle,” Kyle interjected. “It’s a little more valuable than fat. I’m assuming everyone here would agree.” The rest nodded and Lance kept his thoughts to himself. He was purposefully betting fat because he knew he needed to lose some of it. Even coach was saying he was getting too big to really be an asset. He just grunted to himself and ignored it. However as he looked at his cards he couldn’t help but feel pretty good about it. 

“Five pounds,” Craig continued the betting. He flipped his hand over and the five orange chips fell out.

“F-five pounds!?” Lance and Dominic both looked at Craig. “Where the fuck are you holding that much fat! You know you need some to live right?!”

Craig just shrugged. “I’ve got plenty to spare,” he said. No one at the table believed him about it though. Craig had had abs since he started college. The guy watched his diet religiously and tried to makes sure to get the exact macros and fat he needed each day. Most of the coaches were surprised he stuck with football when he seemed so much more interested in bodybuilding than sports. But he was a damn good QB. So they didn’t complain.

Kyle put his hand out. “One IQ point.” The blue chip landed on the table. “You’re turn to check,” he added, turning to Ryan.

“Actually… I’m going to raise. Three IQ points.” He flipped his hand over and the three chips fell onto the table. The rest of the group seemed impressed. 

Craig was the first to drop his cards. “Well I’m out. Not chancing that shit.”

Lance was about to drop his cards, but staring at Ryan’s unfeeling face he refused. “What too chicken shit to actually play the fucking game?” he taunted Craig.

“Yep,” Craig leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “With a guy like that I’m not chancing it.” 

Lance looked back Ryan. He had only taunted Craig to get a better read. But he couldn’t tell. Ryan could have easily been bluffing. He could have had nothing in his hands. Ryan was the kind of guy who didn’t show much emotion at all. Even with all the snide comment Lance had made he’d always figured there’d be some kind of anger, but no. He stared at his cards. Then at Lance.

“What? Are you afraid this little faggot’s going to show you up?” Ryan said. It was the same emotionless state but the jab did not go unnoticed. 

The rest of the group tried to contain their laughter while Lance stared down stunned. “The fuck? Fine ten more pounds.”

“No way. At least 3 of them have to be muscle. I don’t want all you’re fat,” he paused adding to the effect. “Unless you’re scared of losing it.”

Lance bit his lip. Ryan was not the type of guy he took shit from. All he needed was two cards. Two cards would give him a straight or at the very least a good chance for two pair. He flipped his hand over and nine maroon chips fell from his hand. A sense of pride, that he’d just raised again, washed over him but seeing Ryan’s uncaring face not change just made him angry. 

“I’m out,” Dominic said.

“Yeah think that’s probably for the best…” Kyle added. The three were way too interested to get in those twos way.

“Aww man… Guess I bet too high…” Ryan complained. “Alright. Three IQ points,” he raised again.

The three not playing all leaned forward. ‘What the Hell does he have?!’ they were all thinking.

“Are you joking?!” Lance glared down at the smaller man. He couldn’t believe it. Ryan was still unfazed. The only thing Lance was good at and Ryan didn’t seem like he was going down. “Three pounds and an inch,” he said as three maroon chips and a green one hit the table. 

“Okay,” Ryan smiled. “How many do you need?” Lance was taken aback. He didn’t even realize they hadn’t gotten their cards yet. 

“Two,” Lance said realizing he only almost had a straight. And he needed those two to actually finish it. He looked down at the cards and sighed internally. ‘Shit! I got them!’ he’d gotten the 3 and 6 giving him the straight. It was a low one but still at least something that would justify his betting habit. 

“And I don’t need any,” Ryan set the deck on the table.

“What?!” Craig leaned on the table nearly knocking it over. 

Ryan just gave a smile. “I don’t need any. I’m good with what I’ve got. So, how much you wanna bet?”

“Check.” Lance said it without thinking. He just wanted this hand to be over. A straight was good enough. But if he actually had something to begin with, that was no good.

“You’re going to let me control the betting? That doesn’t seem too smart. But I’ll try to make this quick,” Ryan flipped his hand over and raised it to a tower of blue chips. “20 IQ points.” There was still no fear in his voice. No shaking or discomfort.

“Fuck.” Lance said. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not. Check, raise or fold?”

Lance was starting to get nervous. He could still be bluffing. A guy like that you really couldn’t tell. Someone like Ryan had obviously learned to conceal his emotions better than what Lance was able to read. He wanted to bet. He felt confident in his hand but now he didn’t know what he’d even be willing to wager. “Uhh… Let me think…”

“How about I tell you what I want,” Ryan said. “It’ll probably be easier that way.” Lance just nodded his head. “I want a quarter of your desire to be bigger, just a little bit of your athletic skills, and then fifteen pounds of muscle.”

Lance’s jaw dropped. “You want my what?”

“Desires. Those are also attributes to a person. I want some of those,” Ryan said.

The rest looked at Kyle for an answer. “He’s right,” Kyle smiled. “I didn’t think anyone would catch on. Let alone on the second hand. But that’s entirely possible. Bet any attribute about you’re self you’d like to.”

“What? Are you too chicken shit to play?” Ryan prodded.

Lance bit his lip and flipped his hand. Two separate stacks of black chips and the fifteen maroon ones but also another ten orange ones. On the two black stacks there were words coinciding with what they would be used for. “Raise. I want another two of your IQ points.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ryan smiled as two more chips popped out of his hand. “We good?” Lance nodded. “Cool. Can you beat a flush? Ace high by the way,” Ryan flipped his cards showing the five diamonds.

“Are you shitting me!” Craig threw his cards to the table. He could already feel the weight leaving his body. “Holy…” he leaned against the table as the weight fell off his body. How much had he bet? He couldn’t even remember. He felt so weak compared to just a few seconds ago. “Fuck…” he groaned.

Looking at the table he could see the chips that he’d bet. He hadn’t even realized what he was betting; 27 pounds of muscle, 15 pounds of fat, an inch and then some of his athletic ability and desire to be big. Part of him thought the only reason he wasn’t angrier at the amount that he lost was because he also lost some of that desire. He could feel himself not wanting to be the biggest guy out on the field. Sure he’d still be one of the biggest but that was good enough. His 6’5” 251 pound body would have to suffice. If anything that was closer to the average anyways. He’d just have to make sure next couple rounds he bet fat instead of muscle. Even though he weighed less, his belly seemed to be a lot bigger. However his XXXL shirt had quite a bit more room than he was used to. His arms weren’t bursting at the sleeves and his chest wasn’t pushing it forward. Only his belly fat still pushed at his clothing but even that had quite a bit of room to move in. 

The rest of the group stared at Ryan. He’d just won huge and all of them wanted to see what he was going to do with it. However he didn’t grab all the chips. If anything he was being oddly conservative about the whole thing. Out of the 30 desire to be bigger chips he only took 10, and the muscle he only took 10 of those as well. The only stack he took all of was the athletic ability and the single IQ point that Kyle had bet. His body grew but not by a whole lot. He just looked more athletic. His arms were denser but they were still very lithe. “What?” he looked at the group.

“Don’t you want to add all those chips?” Dominic asked.

“Nah. I’m saving them for someone else,” Ryan said.

“What!” Dominic and Lance said in unison. Again they turned to Kyle for the rules.

He just shrugged. “I never said you had to spend them on yourself. When you spend on other people though they might not know that anything’s changed though. So you have to be careful… Some people are more perceptive than others. But if it’s not a lot then it won’t really matter either.”

“So who are you going to spend you’re chips on?” Craig asked.

Ryan just sat back and smiled. “You’ll have to tell me yours first.” He cocked an eyebrow. Dominic and Lance stared blankly ahead. There was obviously something going on that they didn’t understand.

‘What have we gotten into?!’ the asked themselves.

“You’re deal,” Ryan smiled as he handed the deck to Lance.