Ben looked to the dealer who was looking at him. "Oh! It's my turn to be the Small Blind? So that's five-hundred-thousand?" The dealer nodded with a smile. Ben pushed a stack of ten fifty-thousand-dollar chips forward, and Kaan moved twenty chips next to them.

"The pot is pretty exciting already!" Ben said with a grin, and Avery rolled his eyes.

The dealer dealt them each two cards. Ben took a discrete peek at his and saw the Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Diamonds. He already had a pair and high-value ones, too. But, not likely a winning hand just yet.

He saw Kaan's impassive expression hadn't changed...