8 Sentence Sunday on Dieselpunks #21

Rand Hart’s been in Europe all winter and, perhaps due to a touch of homesickness, he’s looking forward to spending some time at home with his money. We continue Hart’s adventure in today’s snippet:

Yes, Hart thought, sometimes he was lucky. This past winter, for example, his time on the Riviera had been profitable. He’d been lucky more often than not. Chemin de fer and backgammon. Those had been his main sources of income. He never played roulette. Luck wasn’t a lady often enough for Hart’s liking. Now he was looking forward to going home for awhile. Then he’d fly down to Rio de Janeiro and catch a flight on the Graf Zeppelin for Europe.

To be continued!

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8 Sentence Sunday on Dieselpunks #18

Last week, we left Rand Hart in the midst of the final hand of a poker game on the Hindenburg. This week we pick up where we left off. Herr von Osler does not have enough chips to match what Hart has put into the pot and has offered to write a check. Hart replies to the German industrialist.

     “That gold ring on your finger. I’ll settle for that.”

     The German was conflicted. He looked at Hart, looked at the cards in his hand, shrugged, pushed his chips into the center of the table, and took the ring off his finger. He looked at it for a moment, then placed it amongst the chips.

     Herr von Osler flipped his cards over. “Four eights, mein Herr.”

     Hart turned his cards over and said, “Four Jacks.”

To be continued!

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Eight Sentence Sunday on Dieselpunks #17

I am presenting a new character and a new story. A dieselpunk adventure set in 1938. The character’s name is Rand Hart. He’s a professional gambler who spends most of his time on board the great zeppelins, crossing the North and South Atlantic, on the great Pan Am clipper seaplanes, flying from North to South America, and in Europe. His games are poker, Chemin de fer Baccarat, and backgammon.

Today’s snippet takes up where last Sunday’s left off where we left Rand Hart going through the probability tables in his head.

He looked at the German, in his black suit, his blond crewcut, gold ring on his finger, and the stack of chips in front of him. Hart looked at his own chips.

“I think it’s time, Mr von Osler, we see who’s bluffing.” Hart pushed all of his chip into the pile in the middle of the table. “That’s thirty-five thousand dollars. And I call.”

The German counted his chips. “It seems, Herr Hart, I’m short two thousand. Perhaps I might write a check?”

To be continued!

If you write or read Dieselpunk, join in the fun: 8 Sentence Sunday on Dieselpunks.

[Originally published 26 April 2015 on www.cwhawes.com.]