By the time they had entered the middle stages of the game, the point tally had increased substantially. From plus five to plus eight, then plus eight to plus eleven.
For the first time since the game had started, Balot acted as if she were emulating the lady, piling up her chips in a huge, haphazard stack and shoving them onto the board all at once.
The lady noticed and looked at her. So did the dealer. Balot was riding the crest of the wave. The small cards had drawn the wave out, and now the surfing conditions were ideal for the player.
The cards were dealt. Balot received a 9—and another 9. Her attention immediately turned to the upcard: 7. It was a close call, but she had to go for it.
The lady hit on fifteen and bust. The Doctor had thirteen and also hit, and also bust.
Balot touched the cards with her hands for the first time since she sat had down at the table.
She used her index fingers on either hand to draw the two cards apart, left and right. Then she placed another pile of chips, equal to her original pile, next to one of the cards. She wasn’t so much concerned about what individual cards would come next as what the
The dealer drew her new cards. A jack for the card on her right.
Then, in perfect timing with her breathing, an ace for her left hand. Now she had a total of nineteen for her right hand, twenty for her left. Everyone at the table now expected Balot to win.
Balot watched carefully as the dealer turned his hidden card over. She felt the wave ebbing and flowing. Her head grew hazy, her muscles rigid.
The dealer revealed an 8. Total fifteen. This too was part of the overall pattern—and, as the dealer was now obliged to draw another card, the wave wasn’t over yet.
Balot closed her eyes.
She wondered whether she should ask Oeufcoque for advice, but that thought was abruptly checked. The answer had been revealed to her as she opened her eyes.
The dealer had drawn a 6. Total twenty-one—Balot’s hands had both snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Her chips disappeared, her cards disappeared. But Balot wasn’t even watching anymore. It wasn’t as if she had anything to learn from this hand. Yet all had become clear.
And it wasn’t possible to ignore the miniatures, to skip over the hands as if they somehow obliterated the hands that came before them. They were all interconnected.
The losses—and the winnings—would always remain, after all…
The dealer said something to Balot. Consoling her, perhaps. Then he carried on dealing the cards.
The point tally moved from plus six to plus ten, up to plus fourteen, then back down to plus twelve.
Then Balot felt it again. Like a shadow in the distance, she could just sense its contours taking shape.
Balot checked what the maximum amount was she was allowed to bet, according to Oeufcoque’s bankroll management system. Then she bet the maximum amount. The basic unit was three hundred dollars, so the upper limit was ten times that, three thousand dollars. She piled a number of chips together so that she held this total in her hand, then laid it on the table.
The lady flinched visibly. The dealer, by contrast, showed no outward sign of interest—as was only appropriate for a dealer of his rank and training.
The Doctor whistled appreciatively, and Balot awaited her next hand from behind her three thousand dollar fortress.
The lady and the Doctor were each dealt a 10. The point tally moved from plus twelve to plus ten.
Balot was dealt a 5. This added two points to the tally, bringing it back up to plus twelve.
The point tally continued to rise as she waited for her second card.
Balot’s second card was finally dealt: another 5.
The point tally stood at plus seventeen, and the dealer’s upcard was a 2.
The lady hit, drew an 8, bust.
The Doctor hit. He had a sixteen, drew a 2, and chose to stay.
The point tally was now plus nineteen—the highest it had been since Balot had started counting the cards. Balot’s cards were 5 and 5, a total of ten.
The dealer turned to Balot. Balot called.
The dealer’s eyes narrowed. The lady was stunned. Balot was in fact playing by the book—it was the only sensible move, given her hand and that of the dealer’s. Still, the amount at stake was far above her previous hands… Balot struggled for a moment and had to force herself to physically pile the chips up.
