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The Tell

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for MLMM Monday Wordle;
Di’s prompt words are shown below.

tome, words, come, think, read, change,
because, tired, process, original, safe, gamble

Image by Me & ChatGPT

Noreen had spent six months studying the tome …. two hundred pages on poker odds, betting, and bluffing, the margins crowded with her notes. She could recite whole chapters, and tonight, at the final round of the championship games, she had followed its process to the letter.

Now it was down to her and Stanley, a silver-haired regular who hadn’t said ten words all night.

The pot was enormous. Stanley pushed his chips forward.

“All in,” he said.

Noreen looked at her cards: a pair of nines. The book was clear about situations like this: the safe play was to fold.

She was tired. Her eyes burned, and her back ached from five hours in the same chair. Her mind wanted to shut off and let the rules decide.

But something made her stop and think. She had read the book but tonight she’d also read Stanley. Every time he straightened his glasses, he was bluffing. And every time he held a strong hand, he leaned back in his chair and sat perfectly still.

He had just touched his glasses.

Noreen felt something change inside her. The book taught her how to play the cards; it couldn’t teach her how to play the person across the table. She’d come prepared and decided to follow her gut.

“Call,” she said.

It was a gamble, maybe the biggest of her life, and she made it because she trusted what she saw.

Stanley turned over a pair of sevens.

As the dealer slid the chips toward Noreen, he gave a small nod.

“That was original,” he said. “Bold move.”

NAR©2026
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This is “Poker” by Electric Light Orchestra

MLMM Monday Wordle #496

Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.

27 thoughts on “The Tell”

  6. No good me playing poker, you could read me like a book my dear friend … and yes, I’m tired again tonight … I’m just back from rehearsals at the local radio station … another first for “Ivor the old poet”, I’ll be reciting my words, live, on radio next week … It was definitely fascinating tonight, inside the workings of the radio station for a trial run …

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    1. Oh, that is so exciting, my dear friend! I hope you will play the audio for us when it’s done. I had an opportunity to read my story on the death of John Lennon live on the BBC a few years ago; what a thrill that was! I wish you great success next week and can’t wait to hear all about it! 🥰

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          1. We used to play Two Card Stud, where each player only gets two cards and you have to bet on that, but there was no such thing as a straight or a flush.  This guy I know had a two and a three which is the worst hand that you could possibly get and he stayed in and won the pot.

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              1. I hung out with gamblers, and we played darts and pool for money. Two Card Stud is a fast-moving game, but we also played with three cards sometimes.  We would play Liars Poker when we didn’t have any cards, and we would use the serial numbers on dollar bills to make up our hands.

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                  1. I am so sorry, Nancy as I said Two Card Stud and the game is actually called Two Card Gut.  Every player gets delt two cards, and then according to the way the cards were dealt, each player must declare if they are in or out.  Players that drop out cannot win the pot, but do not lose any extra money.  If you stay in and you win, you take the pot, but if you stay in and you lose, you must match the pot or pay an amount equal to the ante for every other player.

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