At the poker table, the only image of yourself that should concern you is the one in the minds of your opponents.
Marco grimaced, then flipped over his hand and showed [A♥ K♥], for A high. Joey won the hand with his pair of 8s: [8♦ 8♥]. "...Good call," Marco managed through clenched jaw.
"Hmm...baby, did you lose?" Marco's woman verified as she ever so slightly shifted away from him.
This made Marco's forehead tense even more. "Don't worry, he just got lucky. He's going to learn his lesson soon."
Joey's eyes flicked as he saw this exchange.
The game resumed but now the tables were turned. Marco was no longer the heavyweight in this fight. Joey now had more chips, but Marco still had 2000. Both players agreed to raise the blinds from 2-5 to 10-20.
Marco came out firing as if he had something to prove. He raised pot after pot and kept barrelling bets at every opportunity. Unfortunately for him, bullying is only effective on those weaker than you. Joey immediately adjusted, plainly checking and calling most of the time to allow Marco to 'blow off steam.' The result was tragic for one of them.
Joey picked off Marco's bluffs ceaselessly. As Marco's chip stack waned, his woman exposed more and more displeasure, and Marco became less and less calm. Like a desperate captain watching his beloved ship submerge into the bottomless depths of the sea, he held firm to the helm in a desperate struggle to correct course. While the only smart move remaining was to jump into the nearest life raft, some captains can't help but go down with their ship.
With Marco's composure gone, his emotions came to life and revealed themselves through mind and body, like trapped lab animals desperately escaping confinement. What followed was a mighty stampede. Soon after, with gasping mouth and wide bloodshot eyes, Marco gazed out at the flattened city ruins that were once his mighty stacks of chip skyscrapers, no longer soaring pridefully into the heavens. Brought down to earth.
"...This...how..." he whispered.
*Yawn* "Is that it? This is boring, I really shouldn't have come here with you," Marco's woman said as she got up and walked out.
"...Wait!" Marco snapped out of his trance and started to chase, but she had already left. He looked back at Joey and bared his teeth. "Hey punk! You think that's the end of it?!? If I wasn't distracted, you wouldn't have stood a chance!"
At this comment, Joey looked up. He leaned back in his chair, put his arms behind his head, and watched Marco as if casually observing an ant from a great height. Marco's fangs could no longer pierce his skin. "Who told you to be distracted? Worrying about how you look to a woman...Snort. You think this is a team sport? There are no ifs in poker...only a winner and a loser...and why is it the loser always has something to say?" Joey looked at Marco like he was looking at an idiot.
"What did you say?!?" Marco clenched his fists, a vein throbbed on his head.
"Marco, game's over. If you ain't gonna settle it at the table, then time to go. Wanna play again? Come back next week." With frosty voice, Angelo narrowed his eyes and glared at Marco.
Marco stared at Joey for a long time, then finally stormed out.
"Kid, you're doing well, good for you, but do you really have to antagonize every player?" Angelo asked.
"Then how am I supposed to get my face slap in?"
Angelo squinted and cocked his head.
Cough cough. Joey wore his most sincere smile. "I mean...these lost lambs need guidance. The weight of their worldly possessions has become a terrible burden for them. I'll bear this cross and become a firm shoulder for them to lean on, carrying them with one arm, while the other relieves their pockets of their difficulties." Joey's eyes shone with purity.
Angelo turned around, crossed his arms, looked up, and closed his eyes as if thinking 'Brb, no pics, so gonna use my imagination.' After several long moments, he released a deep sigh and muttered, "Worst. Fucking. Dealer. Ever..." before returning to his office.
Eventually, Joey managed to rack up all his chips and cash them out. Anwar ran over to Joey at this moment. "Bro that was insane! You got him good though. He called you a fish but he didn't know he was playing with a shark!"
"What's a Shark?"
"A very skilled player...you know I've never seen Marco tilt that bad!"
"Tilt?"
"Like a pinball machine. Out of order, no longer playing well for whatever reason."
"So good players are sharks...and he was on tilt..."
"Yea you really owned him every river!"
Sigh..."River?"
At this moment, a smoke bomb went off in the center of the two. When the smoke dissipated, Amy stood to their side in horse stance, making chakra hand signals.
"Have you no shame?!? Genres are separate for a reason!" Joey couldn't take it anymore.
