Place Your Bet On ME (Complete)

Chapter 5: Devil in Disguise

As we walked across the room everybody was staring and gossiping on us. Para kaming celebrity na couple. Pakiramdam ko ang mga babaeng nakatingin sa amin sampu ng mga bading na matatalim ang tingin ay iniisip na... "Tignan mo si ate ghorl, naka-jackpot ng gwapo!" Bigla tuloy ako nakaramdam ng pagka ilang at hiya sa katawan. Gustuhin ko man magmadali sa paglalakad ngunit 'tong si Paul ay feel na feel ang pag-rampa. Palibhasa ang tikas at ganda ng porma, halatang lahat ng suot niya ay branded at mamahalin. Hindi tulad ng sa akin recycled lang. Sadyang ganda ko na lang talaga ang aking inaasahan. Charot!

We head over to the customer service to get our name tag. It will be easier for us to recognize each other since most of the players hide their identities on the site. Each name tag has a color-coding depending on the class and rank of the player. The Red is the highest, next is blue, then green, yellow and the lowest is white. As expected, mine is white and red for Paul. Sa name tag pa lang malalaman mo na kung sino ang bigtime players at sino ang kulelat. Kahit naman walang name tag, mapapansin mo na kakaiba ang awra ng mga taong magagaling magsugal. They are more focused and serious type. They don't interact with others and only want to play the game. 

As we walked toward the casino tables, one of the players called Paul's attention. It was his friend from Tiger Room JackofHeart. He immediately greeted him and of course, politely introduced me to him. Never thought that he is the gentleman type of guy. While they were chatting with each other I slowly sneak out and walk away. I tried to look for DareDevil, but instead, I run into...

"Oh-em-gi! LOLLIPOP is that really you?" An average height man with a chubby built and a green name tag with TongITS written in it. He called upon me trying to get my attention. He was showing me his tag and said, "the name is Allan. I can't believe that we finally saw each other face to face!" A smile emanates his entire face. 

"I'm so happy to see a familiar name," I excitedly said. He had no idea how happy I am to see him that I almost wanted to hug him. Pero 'wag na lang baka ma-issue pa kami. Lalo na at madami ang mga matang nakatingin sa akin.  "Hi Allan, I'm Me'ann. I've been walking around to see some of our members. Have you seen them?" tanong ko sa kaniya. Actually, isa lang naman talaga ang hinahanap ko, pero sa dami ng tao ay para lang akong naghahanap ng karayom sa buton ng dayami.

"Come with me everybody is over there!" He pouted his lips pointing to the other side of the room where everybody is gathering. 

"What's happening over there?" I asked curiously while looking at the big crowd.

"Its a showdown!" He winked at me, grab my hands and we rushed over the huge crowd.

"Sounds interesting.. let's go!" 

Almost all of the players are watching the showdown. We can hardly see who are the players, but every time they draw a card the crowd went ballistic, screaming and start cheering.

"What is going on? Is it wrestling? A cockfight? The crowd is going insane," I inquisitively said. The anticipation and suspense are killing me, the more curious I get the more I wanted to know more of what is going on. 

"It's a duel between Yujin, I mean DareDevil and QueenBee from Rabbit room," he replied.

"It's D-dareDevil? Yujin was his real name," I stuttered. I feel my heart fluttering and beating so fast. I can't hide the smile on my face. Finally, I will get to see him in person. I will finally meet him. Then, I stopped and suddenly realized something. "Who is Queenbee?"

"A former member of Monkey Room. His EX," he casually said.

EX member or lover? I got confused. I tried to get closer to them, but the crowd is pushing me away. I really want to see them and how they play the game, but I could not get any closer. I am starting to get frustrated until... 

Allan grabbed my hand and took me alongside him. Since he is chubby and strong, he pushed everybody who is blocking our way. The struggle is real, we never gave up until we get a little closer to the players, but still not close enough.

Even though we are still far from the table, I can now see Yujin. Since he was sitting, I cannot see how tall he is, but I can guess he is very tall, he has fair skin or maybe it was just the lights that were focused on him. He has this messy black hair, slightly slanted dark eyes, and a slender physique. He looks charming even though he is not as good looking as Paul. It's not fair how can make this much of an impact on me? I was trying to make him fall for me, but instead, I was falling even more for him.

"He looked so young? How old is he?" I asked Allan. Siya naman ang pinaka-chismoso sa aming dalawa kaya sigurado ako na mas maraming siyang alam na information sa mga manlalaro.

"He's the youngest player in this room. He's only nineteen and he started playing when he was only sixteen."

"Teka, akala ko ba bawal ang minor? Bakit nakapasok siya dito?" nagtataka kong tanong kay Allan. Hindi ko akalain na mas matanda pala ako sa kaniya. Ang layo ng agwat namin sa isa't isa, sa tingin ko studyante pa lang siya hanggang ngayon samantalang ako ay nagtatrabaho na.

"Through our sponsors, matagal na issue iyan before. Pero dahil malakas ang connections nila kaya pinayagan siya na maglaro as long as may parental consent siya," he explained. 

Kung sabagay lahat naman nasosolusyonan kapag may pera ka. Kahit bawal at illegal nagiging legal. 

"Pero ang bata pa niya para magsugal dapat nasa school pa siya at nag aaral."

"Iyan nga ang dahilan kung bakit siya naglalaro. Bukod sa hilig niya ang magsugal, ginagamit niya ang mga napanalunan niya para pambayad ng school expenses niya. Balita ko sa mga taong malapit sa kaniya na ayaw niya daw umasa sa mga magulang niya kaya nagpupursigi siyang maglaro. Para may sarili siyang panggastos."

Bigla akong nakaramdam ng pag-aalala at pagka-awa. Sa murang edad ay namulat na kaagad siya sa ganitong klaseng buhay. "Twenty four na ako samantalang siya ay nineteen. Apat na taon ang agwat namin sa isat-isa." Isang malaking buntong-hininga ang pinakawalan ko.

"Gaga, anong apat? Lima ang agwat niyo!" nakangising sinabi ni Allan. Nag aasar siyang talaga.

"Alam ko no! Sinusubukan ko lang kung magaling ka sa math! Sayang naman ang green tag mo kung tatanga-tanga ka!" Nagtawanan na lang kaming dalawa.

"Bet mo siya?" tukso ni Allan.

"Slight lang?" pabebe kong sagot. 

He has a straight face, the entire time, not a single reaction, he did not even flinch. This may be that's what they called the "Poker face." He looks very focused and serious in the game and he never folds, he always calls on every draw of the cards. He is scary but at the same time impressive.

"Look at him, he intimidates his opponent by his facial expression. If the player tries to call, he glare at them as if he was telling them that he will kill them with his deadly stare," Allan explained.

"Really?" I can't believe that's even possible. I thought he was just joking, but he was serious the whole time. 

 " Yeah, just like that. And for some reason,  they got scared and fold their cards. Aside from that, he is a strategist. He's very smart and cautious in every move he made," he said. 

Kaya pala palagi niya akong pinagagalitan at sinesermunan kapag pabigla-bigla ako sa desisyon ko. Ayaw niya ako mapahamak at tinuturuan lang niya ako na gamitin ang aking utak. Ang totoo ayaw ko talaga masyadong gamitin ang utak ko, para kung sakaling naisip kong ibenta mas mataas ang magiging market value dahil slightly used kumpara sa iba na gamit na gamit na at laspag pa. Charot!

"I see, now I get it!" After fifteen years I finally understand the purpose of having a poker face. Charot! "They can't tell whether Yujin's card is good or not because he is not making any facial reaction. There's no way in reading what's on his mind! Amazing!" 

"Ngayon mo lang na-gets? Kung kailan matatapos ang laro?" napapailing niyang sinabi.

"Sorry naman, first time ko makapanood ng actual na laban," paliwang ko sa kaniya.

I watched their game carefully, trying to observe every move he made. I thought watching poker games were boring and dull, but this game is truly exciting and full of suspense not to mention the crowd cheering on them.

" Well, you see people with high IQ (Intelligent Quotient) usually have low EQ (Emotional Quotient) I'm not surprised if he shows no emotions or whatsoever. He was always like that even if he's not playing"

"Is that so? Are you trying to say that since I have a high EQ that my IQ is low? Damn you TongITS!" I hit him so hard that it creates tidal waves amongst his cellulite fats. 

"Hoy, 'bat nagagalit ka? Ikaw kaya may sabi niyan!" natatawa niyang sinabi.

The look in daredevil's eyes was so scary. It seems like he really enjoyed crushing his opponent's confidence and morale. He doesn't care how much money he is winning. The feeling of victory is all that matters to him. The looks on his opponent's defeat, the failure, and the misery are what's giving him so much pleasure. It inspires him to thrive hard. s*****a lang!

Since we arrived late,  the game between Yujin and the QueenBee is almost over. The last card draw has been given to the player.  Each player has its own camera pointing at their card that is for the audience to see what is going on in the game. From the monitor screen that we can easily tell who has the advantage of winning in the game. 

Even if daredevil's card was not as good as Queenbee, he did not flinch nor show concern. He did not fold, he even smiled and bet some more. That's what they called the bluff.  Queenbee, on the other hand, doesn't have enough chips to bargain with, and it's her last straw. She has no choice but to fold. In the end, Queenbee lost all of her chips and lost the game. 

Daredevil was about to stand and walk away from the table when another player challenged him. He returns to his seat and starts playing again. He just couldn't resist the game. He just keeps on playing every time a player came and challenges him. Good thing he won every battle. It's a non-stop game. Everybody wants to get a chance to play with him and beat him. Hindi ko naman sila masisisi, sikat si Yujin kahit sa ibang room. Kaya lang kami nagiging kulelat sa ibang room ay dahil mahihina ang members namin. Pero kung one on one lang ang pagbabasihan siya na 'ata ang isa sa pinakamagaling na manlalaro sa buong CASINO ROYALE.

 It's getting late and some players got tired of watching and left the game, others went to the buffet and grab something to eat, but daredevil, he never gets tired. The more he plays, the more he gets excited. 

At last, we were able to get close to the table since a lot of players left to eat, and others move on to the other table. We are so close that we are watching at the back of the players.

 I was watching daredevil the whole time hoping he will notice me. Until he turned his eyes to the players who are watching and saw me. For the very first time, our eyes meet. He looks at me as if he recognized who I am. Hindi na ako nagtataka gamit ko ang totoong mukha ko sa dipay picture ko sa profile ko and at the same time I was wearing my name tag

I smiled at him. He never shows any reaction. Napansin ko lang na kung kanina ay masyadong mapusok, seryoso at nakakatakot ang kaniyang itsura, bigla itong umamo at wala akong kahit konting takot nadarama mula sa kaniya. 

We stared at each other for a few seconds. I wanted to look at the other way, but my eyes are locked on to him. I can't get my eyes off him like I've been mesmerized by his charm. Parang may magnet sa aking katawan at nahihirapan akong ibaling ito sa iba. 

 One player named DECKER from Rat Room call him out, "Dude, your spacing out! Are you still with us? Fold or call"

 Daredevil snaps out of our staring game and realized that he still playing. "Fold!" He accidentally declares a fold, but what he actually wants to do was to call. His face turns to red out of disappointment. 

Decker laughs out so loud because he knew that DareDevil had a good card and missed out on the opportunity. "You are so distracted, you just fold on a good card, what a shame!"

He may be distracted at one point in time, but immediately got his mojo back and turn his opponent into dust... Surely he is a DEVIL IN DISGUISE.