After a normal blind bet, I chose to look at my cards.
This was the playing style I had cultivated over the past half hour.
However, at this moment, whether it was a blind bet or looking at cards, no one paid much attention anymore.
Because the overall situation was clearly decided, Shui Cenyin was leading by an insurmountable margin in points.
Even I, in second place, was less than twenty thousand points behind her, and that was the result of playing it safe.
If I had played aggressively earlier, Shui Cenyin could have probably just folded every hand and dragged the game to an end.
Whether Shui Cenyin played or not was irrelevant; I was actually focused on Thick Eyebrows and the middle-aged man.
These two contestants, who were not cheaters, perfectly embodied the psychology of gamblers.
"To gamble is not to lose!"
I don't know if it was a last desperate gamble, but in the last half hour, Thick Eyebrows and the middle-aged man had been blindly betting frantically.
I was looking at my cards in advance precisely to catch them.
In this hand, I had a mixed straight of QKA.
Considering the marked cards on the outer tables, no one had a flush.
This meant I was guaranteed to win this round.
"Two hundred!"
After confirming this crucial piece of information, I decisively called the bet.
The subsequent scene unfolded much as I had anticipated in my mind.
Shui Cenyin and the tattooed woman, after feigning a few more blind bets, both chose to look at their cards and fold.
Only Thick Eyebrows and the middle-aged man, without even lifting their eyes, continued to blind bet and raise.
According to the previous competition rules, if a single player's call exceeded ten thousand, the scoring referee would stop the game, and the dealer would intervene to settle the bets.
So, in this round, Thick Eyebrows and the middle-aged man jointly contributed ten thousand points, plus the blinds and the bets from Shui Cenyin and the tattooed woman, which added up to about a thousand points.
This was the total score for the round.
The three players who hadn't folded settled their bets directly.
Undoubtedly, my QKA straight won.
With just one hand, I had narrowed the gap between myself and Shui Cenyin to less than ten thousand points.
However, only about ten minutes remained in the match.
From now on, I had to continue to extract points from Thick Eyebrows and the middle-aged man as much as possible.
As the dealer shuffled the cards, Shui Cenyin said with a chuckle.
"It's not easy! You finally played a big hand!"
"But is it too late to start chasing points now?"
Seeing her disdainful smile, she clearly intended to win against me.
I knew what she was thinking: she would play along until the end, throwing away a few hundred points per hand. In ten minutes, there would be at most three hands.
From now on, if I didn't get a guaranteed winning hand, even if I played openly with Thick Eyebrows and the others, if I got caught in one hand, I would lose the hope of catching up.
Upon hearing this, I didn't argue. Instead, I turned my gaze to the dealer's shuffling hands, silently praying that he would deal a good hand.
Not just for me, but also for Thick Eyebrows and the others.
I don't know if my prayer worked, or if luck truly has a way of turning around.
When the dealer finished dealing everyone's cards, I was surprised to find... that all three of Thick Eyebrows' cards had special marks for big cards.
Judging by the position of the marks on the back of the cards, he had a straight flush in this hand, also known as a "Shun Jin" in "Zha Jin Hua."
Incredible! Remarkable!
Looking at the other players' cards, there were only three special marks for big cards in total.
Finally, looking back at myself, apart from a small dot representing an Ace, the other two cards had no marks.
This meant I had a mixed hand starting with an Ace.
There was no doubt that Thick Eyebrows had the best hand this round, but...
Cheaters always believe their own cards are the best!
So, this round, I decided to go all out and make a final desperate counterattack!
For ordinary cheaters, it is difficult to switch two cards simultaneously.
Especially in such a formal competition, even if you can hide two cards in your sleeves, your palm can only hold one to swap at a time.
Because there are cameras capturing footage and plainclothes officers patrolling, if the thickness of two cards held against your palm is discovered, all your efforts will be in vain.
But I am different!
Both my left and right hands are my dominant hands, and I can perform the action of switching two cards simultaneously.
So, in this round, I blind-bet for another round.
The purpose was to prepare for the upcoming card switching.
Switching cards with both hands simultaneously is something I am doing for the first time in such a formal competition.
To say I wasn't nervous would be a lie.
Because this is also the first time I've used the technique of switching cards with both hands at the same time.
Like the "Sparkling Prairie Fire" from before, this technique of switching cards with both hands simultaneously has a very pleasant name: "Twin Flowers."
It signifies: "Hands blooming with flowers!"
When I looked at my cards, the moment I picked up the three cards, I deliberately overlapped my left hand over my right.
And at that very instant when both hands overlapped...
My middle and ring fingers on both hands moved simultaneously. From the moment of the switch to hiding the two miscellaneous cards in the sleeves of my left and right hands, it took less than a second.
From an outsider's perspective, it looked like I was shielding my cards with both hands, and my fingers moved slightly while shuffling them.
This action of looking at cards is very normal.
Because many people, the moment they get a big card, will subconsciously and involuntarily show some subtle expressions and reactions.
Fortunately, the entire card-switching process went smoothly. Otherwise, even if others didn't notice anything amiss, Shui Cenyin would definitely have sensed something was wrong.
Since I won the previous hand, I was in the last position this round.
After I looked at my cards and called my bet, Shui Cenyin folded without a word.
However, her subordinate, the tattooed woman, did not fold with her this time.
Instead, after some hesitation, she called a bet of two hundred.
It was clear that the tattooed woman's cards were quite good, not a type that was worthless to discard.
However, her three cards had no marks for big cards or special cards on their backs. She couldn't even pass Thick Eyebrows' scrutiny, let alone mine.
After the tattooed woman called her bet, Thick Eyebrows and the middle-aged man continued to keep their heads down and blind-bet, following their previous playing style.
Thus, after about seven or eight rounds,
The middle-aged man couldn't hold on and looked at his cards first. After a few seconds of hesitation, he finally chose to fold.
Next, it was Thick Eyebrows' turn.
Perhaps feeling that he had lost his comrade in arms and fighting alone was a bit tedious, Thick Eyebrows also chose to look at his cards.
The moment he saw his cards, I clearly noticed that Thick Eyebrows' eyebrows twitched uncontrollably.
Then, his entire face froze.
After an unknown amount of time...
"Damn it! The dead card is face up! Whether I live or die depends on this hand!"
Thick Eyebrows, who had not uttered a single curse word from beginning to end, suddenly swore excitedly and then began to call his bet.