Chapter 68: No Way Out
The dealer dealt the fourth card, a 9.
Le Chiffre seemed flustered. He looked at William, who appeared indifferent, then thought for a long moment before calling with 100,000 in chips.
Bond called without hesitation, bringing the action back to William.
William took a moment to think. *I've got three nines. If I raise now, I'll scare them off.*
"Check," William said.
"Mr. Le Chiffre, Mr. Devonshire checks. The action is on you."
Le Chiffre thought for a moment before deciding to bet. He now had two pair, nines and twos. "Bet, 200,000."
Just then, Vesper walked in, went over to Bond, and kissed him.
Everyone at the table turned to look at Vesper. William thought she was undeniably beautiful, but it was a shame she was a traitor.
William was amused by Bond's act of being captivated by Vesper. Prompted by the dealer, Bond hastily called the bet. He actually wanted to test Le Chiffre's strength but was afraid of scaring him off, so he used the distraction to pretend he wasn't thinking about the hand.
"Mr. Devonshire, it's your turn," said the dealer.
"Call." William tossed 200,000 in chips onto the table.
Seeing that all three had called, the dealer dealt the fifth and final card: a 2.
Le Chiffre immediately bet another 200,000. Bond folded without a second thought. With William acting after him, he wasn't going to risk it. He knew Le Chiffre must have hit his card on the river and cursed the man's luck internally.
William looked at Le Chiffre and smiled. "Call."
The dealer announced the showdown.
Le Chiffre turned over his pocket pair of twos. The dealer announced, "Full house, threes twos and a pair of nines. Mr. Devonshire, your hand?"
William laughed. "I guess it's my lucky day," he said, turning over his cards.
The dealer laid out William's cards—a 9 and a 2. "Using the pair of nines and the 2 from the board, Mr. Devonshire also has a full house. Three nines with a pair of twos. Mr. Devonshire wins."
The large man sitting across from William said, "Hey man, that's some serious luck. No matter what Mr. Le Chiffre was holding, he couldn't beat that hand. You are one lucky guy."
"Thank you." William snapped his fingers, signaling a waiter from the bar.
When the waiter arrived, William ordered, "A dry martini. Three parts gin, one part vodka, half a part of vermouth. Shake it with ice, and add a thin slice of lemon. Thank you."
Everyone at the table grew curious. Was that a real drink? Several of them ordered one for themselves.
Seeing that the game had lost its focus, Le Chiffre, still stinging from the loss, grew anxious. "Has everyone ordered? Can we continue?"
William smiled. "The night is just beginning and you're already anxious, Mr. Le Chiffre. This is just for entertainment. Don't take it so seriously."
A few of the other players echoed his sentiment. "That's right, it's entertainment. Have a drink and relax. You should have one too, Mr. Le Chiffre."
Le Chiffre rolled his eyes and instead took out an asthma inhaler, pressing it to his mouth.
Seeing this, the others at the table understood that Le Chiffre couldn't drink or smoke. They exchanged knowing smiles, thinking it was a pity to have so much money and be unable to enjoy life's simple pleasures.
Four hours later, the hotel manager addressed the table. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've been playing for four hours. We will now take a one-hour break before resuming."
William left the table and walked out of the poker room. He couldn't care less about Le Chiffre's fate; his only goal was to win all the money on the table. Besides, Bond was still there to keep an eye on things.
William walked into the restaurant and had a delicious meal.
An hour later, William returned to the table, and the game resumed. For the next few rounds, William played conservatively. He was waiting for the other players to wire their remaining ten-million-dollar buy-ins. If he won too much too quickly, he was afraid they would drop out before putting all their money on the line.
They played for another three hours that night. At 2:00 a.m., the game was paused, to be continued the following evening.
The next day, William slept until eleven. After getting ready, he spent the afternoon walking around the small town alone. He had dinner locally before arriving at the casino on time.
The game started promptly. William's strategy for the evening was to target whoever had the biggest stack. Once the other players had wired in their remaining ten million dollars, William began to play aggressively.
To the others, it seemed like William was possessed by a gambling god. No matter what he did, he won. Even with bad cards, he would fearlessly bluff on the river. By 10:00 p.m., only William and Le Chiffre remained at the table.
Bond had been bluffed out of his ten million by Le Chiffre earlier and left the game. He could see William's skills were far superior to his own. Now his only problem was figuring out how to report the ten-million-dollar loss to his superiors.
Church's twenty million hadn't lasted long either, and he'd left the table early to join Bond. For both of them, the mission was a success as long as Le Chiffre didn't win.
In the final hand, William's straight flush, four to eight, beat Le Chiffre's four-of-a-kind fives.
After winning, William jumped up excitedly. When all was said and done, he had won a total of 170 million US dollars from the game.
Le Chiffre stared at the table, his eyes lifeless, before turning his gaze to William, his expression filled with hatred. He had never expected William to win.
Having lost the poker game, Le Chiffre was out of options. His only remaining choice was a desperate one: kidnap William.
Le Chiffre turned to his bald subordinate. "Have you found the help I requested?"
"Yes, a mercenary team of more than 30 people is on standby not far from the hotel," the bald man replied.
"Very good. Inform them that the target is William Devinshire. I want him alive," Le Chiffre said, barely containing his rage.
"No problem. I'll inform them immediately," the subordinate said before quickly exiting the hotel.
William stood up and shook hands with the onlookers who came to congratulate him. Everyone was surprised that the newly-crowned billionaire had managed to win the high-stakes game.
After William exchanged greetings with everyone for a while, these newly-acquainted poker friends left.
Church and Bond approached, glasses of wine in hand. "Truly wonderful," Church said. "William, I had no idea your card skills were so outstanding. Is there anything you can't do?"
William took the glass from Church and shrugged. "I can't give birth to a child."
"Hahaha, you're a funny man, William," Church chuckled. "Now that the problem is solved, who gets Le Chiffre? You or me?"
"He's ours, of course," William said. "I made a promise to M. Besides, Mr. Church, you didn't really contribute to the win today."
"Well then, may the best man win. If you catch him, he's yours. If I catch him, he's mine," Church said with a helpless shrug. He knew he hadn't contributed, so he had no grounds to argue for custody.
With that, he shook hands with William and Bond, then left to make his own preparations for capturing Le Chiffre.
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