House Operator

Rafferty is a hard-bitten gambler who trusts poker more than luck, but one disastrous loss to a wealthy rival has left him owing 30,000 credits by the next day. Desperate to save himself, he heads to the glittering Ganymede Casino, expecting to find one game he can beat and a chance to turn his fortunes around. When the house offers him a private match against one of its employees, he accepts without hesitation, certain no casino shill can outplay him. His opponent, Mr. Steel, is calm, unreadable, and unsettlingly precise. Rafferty's bluffs and aggressive bets seem to work at first, yet Steel's strange timing and impossible reads make the game feel wrong from the start. As the stakes rise, Steel reveals a shocking four queens and begins draining Rafferty's chips with relentless control. What starts as a desperate poker match becomes a tense battle of wits, ending in a twist that exposes the casino's ultimate edge and gives House Operator its sharp, unforgettable meaning. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.