"I Lost The Business In A Poker Game"

US Airways CEO David Siegel is reportedly out, apparently having lost control of the company in a high-stakes poker game.

The game reportedly took place at Washington's Potomac Club, involving the chiefs of several different airlines. Siegel told ANN he was playing draw poker with former American Airlines CEO Don Carty, Continental chief Gordon Bethune and NWA honcho Richard Anderson.

"I had a flush," Siegel moaned, sitting on a bench near the Washington Monument.

"A FLUSH, do you understand?"

The way Siegel tells it, Bethune folded. Anderson quit the game because he had a television interview scheduled later that day in Minneapolis, where he was to make his latest contract offer to union pilots.

Only Carty remained in the game, said Siegel. "I was just sure I had him. But I was out of money. So -- " Siegel paused as his breath caught in his throat " -- so I put up the airline."

To his utter horror, Siegel says that's when Carty laid down four aces, one of the few hands that could beat a flush.

"I knew he had an ace in there somewhere," Siegel sobbed.

"I just didn't know he had so many. It's almost as if he pulled them from his sleeve."

At that, Siegel sat perfectly still.

"Wait a minute. Hold on. Remember when Carty was negotiating with labor right before he was forced out? Remember the executive pension fund? I wonder..."

With that, the down-and-out CEO stood up and wandered away, swearing he would track down Carty if it was the last thing he ever did. "The sleeves," he muttered as he walked off, "I must look up his sleeves."

FMI: www.usairways.com