MONDO EXTRAS

John gets the eight of spades and the six of diamonds. Someone in the crowd tells him to fold, and he does. Wait, can they see the cards? How do they keep the audience from spoiling the game? It's all a mystery to me. And is that it? He folds immediately, and the game's over? Couldn't you just keep doing that until you got a hand you liked? Man, I'll stick with Scrabble, thanks. ["I think you have to ante before the cards are dealt to you, don't you? So you lose whatever the ante is? I don't know either; my game is blackjack." -- Wing Chun] On his next hand, John gets the four and five of spades. The toothpick he's chomping on is dwarfed by the unlit cigar Richard's chomping. John calls. Richard has the Ace of clubs and the Ace of hearts. Richard raises to four grand. John calls. Richard: "Whaddaya have?" John: "Not much." Richard laughs. The flop: King of clubs, five and six of diamonds. John consults with one of the poker flunkies hanging around and calls. He's all in. The pot is quickly at $24,800. Phil says that unless John gets very lucky, they're going to have a winner. Pollak: "There are a lot of cards to come. All right, just two, but still, anything could happen." Cram it, Kev. The turn is the Ace of spades. Even I know that it's in the bag for Richard. John's already clapping for Richard, and the river card is the five of clubs. John can't believe it; Richard agrees that it's unbelievable. Phil says that the three fives aren't good enough, and Richard's won with a full house. Richard and John hug, and everyone emerges from the Losers' Lounge to congratulate them. When Allison hugs Richard, he points to her and tells the camera, "She did it! She won." Aw. Pollak tells Richard that he gets to go to the final round (airing January 13, 2004), and Richard says, "I don't want to play again -- I'm very happy." Pollak reminds Richard that his charity could win $100,000 instead of just $5,000. Richard's down with that, and thanks everyone present for helping the homeless. Pollak presents him with a special silver chip, which he informs us "for now" isn't available in any store. What? Who cares? Yeah, is there a mailing list where I can sign up to be informed when that's available to us commoners? Richard accepts it and holds his hands up, as Pollak asks for applause and the closing music plays. Richard seems to try to put it in his eye behind his sunglasses, sort of like a monocle. Well done, Colonel Klink!