Very well

By the time Roslyn arrived at the table Daniel had already made a handsome profit. She tried to convert the chips piled by his side into cash but wasn’t quite sure of the conversion. Nevertheless he had earned enough to match some of the higher bids of his opponents. The man in green seemed to be the biggest loser during the spell of time Roslyn was watching. Each time she thought he was knocked out, he would call over one of the staff, and another pile of multicolored chips would appear by his side. He was as stoic in defeat as in victory, no matter the outcome he remained expressionless, the large sums of money moving back and forth across the table meaning nothing to him. Within an hour Daniel must have accumulated more than a thousand from his opponents, and Roslyn was fluttering with excitement. Occasionally he would hand Rosalyn a few chips to convert into cash so she could buy some drinks for herself and the table, and by the time she would come back he had replenished the lost amount with interest. Daniel had not been exaggerating when he claimed their honeymoon might be bought from this table. After some minor losses Daniel claimed victory in a surprisingly tense clash with the Man in Green. Daniel’s straight flush overcame the Man in Green’s full house, and doubled his already substantial winnings. Despite such a cataclysmic loss, the Man in Green merely shrugged and ordered up another round of chips.

Afterwards Daniel turned to Roslyn and whispered, “I think our honeymoon is paid for, shall I cash out?” Roslyn was so drunk on the excitement of victory she could barely understand the question.

“Are you kidding? We could cover the whole wedding in a few more rounds”

Daniel looked uneasy for a moment, but shrugged and turned back to the table. As the game grew longer, and each player cheerfully leached more and more money from the Man in Green, a few onlookers had started to appear. Several desperately tried to pull up a seat and make their money for the day, but the dealer sternly warded off any new players. None of the existing players were keen to share their winnings and so none of the small crowd could graduate from onlooker. In one round, after the animated reaction to Daniel’s cards undermined his bluff the dealer shooed them away. A few regrouped but learned to be more silent.

Roslyn also became more animated as the game grew on. Daniel had played mostly in silence, but Roslyn had begun to nudge him, and even make quiet comments from time to time directing Daniel to bid or fold. She grew increasingly restless as Daniel’s successes started to plateau. A few more rounds and their honeymoon plans had shifted from outlandish to merely extravagant. She was on the verge of giving in to Daniel’s earlier suggestion to cash out when a small miracle appeared in Daniel’s hand. Three aces had been dealt exclusively to his hand, with the final one sitting on the table. Meanwhile none of the cards in the middle made much of anything, a two of spades, and 9 of clubs. Daniel had grown used to making big moves in the knowledge the Man in Green would match him without hesitation, and this was no exception. Before the first card was revealed he had already pushed in half his chips. This was an almost sure fire win, and he’d wrangle as much money as he could. Roslyn tried to remain expressionless but she was near erupting with excitement. Daniel could almost earn her entire year’s salary (as pitiful as it was) in a single hand. Without hesitation, the Man in Green once again matched Daniel’s bet. Another card rolled out, a seven of hearts. The Man in Green might be able to swing together a straight perhaps, but there was no chance of anything else. Daniel pushed in the other half of his earnings. The Man in Green followed suit. The older woman and mustached gentlemen had long since folded. Roslyn nearly squealed. The bluff, if it ever had been one was over. The final card was flipped. A jack of hearts, the same suit as the Ace already on the table.

Daniel revealed the three aces already in his hand.

“Read em and weep,” he almost shouted. A few of the remaining onlookers gasped. The Man in Green, wordlessly laid out his cards.

A King of Hearts

A Queen of Hearts

A Ten of Hearts.

A royal flush.

Daniel stopped gathering his cards and shook his head. Roslyn sunk back on her stool. The rest of the Casino continued to buzz with life but around the table all was wrapped in a stunned silence. Peacefully, and without reaction the Man in Green gathered the winnings. His lack of emotion until now had been a novelty, but suddenly it was grating. Roslyn glared at him, and his eyes remained steely, refusing to look away.

The hours of victory had wiped Roslyn of any expectation or even understanding of loss. She could not process her emotion.

“It’s not over, we can take it back,” she tried whispering to Daniel but she could not suppress her voice. The others around the table could hear.

“It’s over Roslyn,” she could sense a darkening of his mood. While Roslyn denied the loss, he was already in grim acceptance. “Look, It was only fifty dollars.” Daniel tried to smile but could only manage a grimace.

“We can get out another fifty,” she pleaded to Daniel, all pretense of whispering evaporated.

“We’re not going back to fifties honey,” the old mustachioed man cut in.

“He’s right Roslyn, it’s over,” Daniel continued. "Look around." Across the table huge piles of chips lined each players portion of the table. No one had bet under 500 even as a starting bid in at least the past half an hour. There would be no chance to build up slowly from a mere fifty dollars on this table. She wanted to beg Daniel to take out more, if they could just bid she knew they could win it all back. The Man in Green had freakish spell of luck, but he was a tap, all you had to do was bid on a good hand and the money would flow. But she did not have the savings to buy back in. Daniel’s salary was solid but even he spent money as quick as he earned it. There was no way back into the game. The Man in Green continued to watch them through their conversation. Eyes intense but giving away nothing. The dealer, aware of the magnitude of the loss had given them a rare moment to compose themselves, but that moment was quickly passing. She began making sharp eye contact and dissatisfied grumbles. “Make space for new players.” She finally declared. The hungry eyes of the onlookers lurched into action as they scrambled to take Daniel’s place.