The Desert Has No King Book

"Good evening and welcome to ESPN's coverage of the 1st World Championship of Assumption Poker Tournament at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. I'm your host Mike Honcho and with me is three time poker champion Billy "Busted Flush" Stark. Billy, you can certainly feel the excitement and tension in this room tonight."

"Mike, you got that right. We all used to think that poker tournaments for money were a big deal, but ever since the recent revelations that magic is real and that much of that power can be harnassed by the use of plain old playing cards, the entire gaming world has been turned upside down."

"Tonight, we've got the ultimate in magic poker challenges, a game of high stakes Assumption where the winner will not only be able to claim the very bodies and souls of the other players to become virtually immortal, he will also become the new magical King of Las Vegas while the ladies will be competing to become the Queen. This opportunity only comes around about every twenty years. And if the game didn't have enough drama, Billy, I understand that several of the players have some history and bad blood between them."

"Bad blood and spilled blood in some cases, Mike. First, let's check out Georges Leon, the current king. Georges overthrew the last king of Vegas, legendary gangster Bugsy Siegel, and then extended his own life by essentially killing one of his own sons. Georges has launched the current Assumption craze by using the card game to get people to unwittingly sign over their bodies for his future use."

"Certainly a player to be respected and feared, Billy. But tonight he'll be facing another son of his, Scott Crane."

"That's right, Mike. Georges actually attempted to take Scott's life force when he was just a kid, but the boy was saved by his mother even though he lost an eye in the process. And since he's one of the mystical Jacks who can assume the kingship, you know what that makes him? A one-eyed Jack."

"Can Scott hope to contend against his father, Billy?"

"Well, Scott was a professional poker player, and he's a blood heir to the throne. However, the recent unexpected death of his wife, and subsequent alcoholism has left him vulnerable to his father and other threats from Dionysus. And those aren't even his biggest problems, Mike. You see, Scott has actually already lost his claim on his body in a game of Assumption he played twenty years ago with his father when neither knew who the other one was."

"That certainly makes it long odds against Scott Crane. But what about his foster father, Ozzie Crane?"

"Now, Ozzie is one crafty old card player, and he knows all the ins and outs of the magic business. But he's stayed away from the magic end of thing for years so we're not sure what he'll bring to the table."

"Adding to the family drama, we've also got Diana, a daughter of the goddess Isis that Ozzie saved and raised. This young woman will be playing to save the lives of her own sons and take on the role of Queen."

"Exactly, Mike. We've also got several other wild cards in the mix like Arky Mavranos, a friend of Scott's who is dying of cancer and came along to try and tap into some Vegas magic and find a cure."

"You've got to respect a man who rejects traditional medicine and pins all his hopes on finding a miracle in a casino, Billy."

"There's also a variety of other Jacks who want to take the throne and see Scott and Diana as the leading candidates to take out. It has been one wild week here in Vegas with gun fights, magic, kidnapping, murder and beheadings. And that's before the card game has even started!"

"These players certainly better hope that it's true that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas or the survivors will be looking at some long jail time, Billy."

"Whatever happens, you can be sure that it should be a thrilling game, Mike. I just hope we all live to see who wins."

"We'll be back in a moment to kick off this game of Assumption right after a word from our sponsor, Budweiser."