{"product_id":"2940014015479","title":"CARD ... TRICK","description":"The game was stud. There were seven at the table, which makes for\u003cbr\u003egood poker. Outside of Nick, who banked the game, nobody looked\u003cbr\u003efamiliar. They all had the beat look of compulsive gamblers,\u003cbr\u003efogged over by their individual attempts at a poker face. They\u003cbr\u003ewere a cagey-looking lot. Only one of them was within ten years\u003cbr\u003eof my age.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Just in case, gamblers,\" the young one said. I looked up from\u003cbr\u003estacking the chips I had just bought from Nick. The speaker was a\u003cbr\u003eskinny little guy with a sharp chin and more freckles than I'd\u003cbr\u003elike to have.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If any one of you guys has any psi powers,\" the sharp-chinned\u003cbr\u003egambler said sourly, \"you better beat it. All gamblers here will\u003cbr\u003erecoup double their losses from any snake we catch using psi\u003cbr\u003epowers to beat the odds.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe shot a hard eyed look around a room not yet dimmed by cigar\u003cbr\u003esmoke. I got the most baleful glare, I thought. He didn't need to\u003cbr\u003eworry. I'd been certified Normal by an expert that very evening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe expert was Dr. Shari King, whom I had taken to dinner before\u003cbr\u003ejoining the game at Nick's. It had gotten to be a sort of weekly\u003cbr\u003edate--although this night had given signs of being the last one.\u003cbr\u003eFor a while that spring, desoxyribonucleic acid had begun to take\u003cbr\u003esecond place in my heart. This is a pitiful admission for a\u003cbr\u003ebiochemist to make--DNA should be the cornerstone of his life.\u003cbr\u003eBut Shari was something rare--a gorgeous woman, if somewhat\u003cbr\u003edistant, who was thoroughly intelligent. She had already earned\u003cbr\u003eher doctorate, while I was still struggling with the tag ends of\u003cbr\u003emy thesis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Poker, Tex?\" Shari had asked, when the waitress was bringing\u003cbr\u003edessert. \"Is this becoming a problem? You've played every night\u003cbr\u003ethis week.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No problem, Shari,\" I said. \"I'm winning, and I see no point in\u003cbr\u003enot pocketing all that found money.\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083408589040,"sku":"2940014015479","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014015479_p0.jpg?v=1763599126","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014015479","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}