The failure of the bespectacled man served as a warning.
The young woman, the mature lady, and the portly dealer were all in cahoots.
Earlier, the young woman had been covertly covering for the dealer.
This indicated that these three, like rats in the same nest, had a clear objective and strategy: to staunchly protect the young woman's top ranking.
It would be difficult to drag her down…
Even if she lost a big hand, she could later rely on the dealer and the mature lady's cooperation to covertly win ten smaller hands and claw back the disadvantage.
Therefore, facing all three alone was completely unrealistic. The best approach was to break them down one by one!
Currently, the mature lady's ranking was at the bottom, so her personal contribution was not significant; she was merely a prop to assist the other two in their act.
Eliminating her would only make the young woman more vigilant and cause her to play more conservatively.
Leaving her would be more effective.
As for the young woman, that wouldn't work either.
She had too many chips and points. Targeting her directly could very well lead to my own utter ruin.
Because she could use her chips and points to openly outlast me.
Therefore, the only viable option was to find an opportunity to strike at the dealer.
Not only that, but I also needed to leverage the community cards dealt and the other contestants at the table to my advantage to increase my chances.
...
After the commotion with the bespectacled man, the dealer signaled for the game to continue.
A new round began.
The dealer's initial three community cards were promising: the Five of Clubs, the Queen of Hearts, and the Queen of Clubs.
The trend of this round was similar to the one where the bespectacled man had lost his heavy bet, another showdown between a flush and three of a kind.
The moment the community cards were dealt, I immediately saw a barely perceptible flicker of joy cross the young woman's eyes.
Simultaneously, her fingers seemed to tremble slightly, beyond her control.
As the saying goes, "Once you taste blood, you crave more."
It appeared the young woman had fully savored the sweetness of success and was eager to reap another harvest, thereby solidifying her ultimate victory.
When it was the young woman's turn to bet, she didn't hesitate and immediately called for fifty thousand.
When it came to me, after some consideration, I chose to call.
After the first round of betting, out of the nine people at the table, only one had folded; everyone else called.
Subsequently, the dealer began dealing the fourth card, the turn.
A Six of Hearts, completely unrelated to the current community card situation…
However, this Six of Hearts provided me with an excellent idea for dealing with the portly dealer!
Because in this round, my hole cards were a pair of Sixes!
My first truly good hand!
Before the river card was dealt, the Six on the board combined with my pair of Sixes formed a full house, three of a kind with a pair, against the two Queens.
A hand like this had a very high probability of winning.
Of course, the prerequisite was not to give others a chance to form a straight flush or four of a kind.
After the turn card was dealt, everyone began to bet in turn according to the order of the round.
"Five hundred thousand!"
A flat-topped man sitting next to the mature lady, eager to recoup his losses, made a large bet without regard for exposing his hand.
I didn't pay attention to the reactions of others, only keeping my eyes fixed on the young woman.
She didn't say anything, but simply stared at the community cards on the table. As she picked up chips and played with them, her right index finger tapped the gambling table three times.
Although the action was still very subtle, I, already on guard, immediately deduced…
In this hand, the young woman was once again colluding with the dealer to play dirty.
After weighing the situation, I had a plan.
So, after everyone ahead of me had placed their bets, I decisively pushed all my chips forward and declared, "I'm all in!"
This move completely stunned the young woman.
She hadn't expected that I, whose chips and points had always fluctuated indecisively, would go all in again this round.
After recovering from her surprise, the young woman immediately fell into a state of contemplation.
What was described as contemplation was merely a cover for covertly signaling the dealer while she thought.
Still with the tapping of chips, three light taps.
Judging by her demeanor, the young woman intended to completely corner me, eliminating any possibility of a comeback.
As I lit a cigarette, I kept a close eye on the dealer with my peripheral vision, wanting to see what kind of feedback he would give the young woman.
The key to winning this round lay with the dealer, so his decision was crucial.
If he accepted the young woman's signal and was prepared to secretly help her win again, then when the crucial river card was dealt, he would undoubtedly resort to the same trick.
At that moment, it would be my perfect opportunity to use his own methods against him.
However, if he chose to remain unmoved, then I would have to continue waiting aimlessly.
The dealer stood there expressionlessly, with no subtle movements on his face or body.
It seemed he hadn't given the young woman any feedback.
But that wasn't the case.
It was clear he was an experienced dealer who knew that any inconspicuous movement at the gambling table could attract the secret attention of countless eyes.
Therefore, he didn't immediately respond with any rash actions.
But I personally believed he would make a move!
For no other reason than the situation before the river card was dealt in the round where the bespectacled man lost his heavy bet was exactly the same as now.
Although the dealer showed no micro-expressions or movements, the young woman ultimately chose to call all in.
Except for the flat-topped man who had raised the bet initially, everyone else chose to fold.
Seeing this, the dealer reached for the last card, the river.
Just then, as I saw the dealer reach for the deck, I, sitting to his right, pretended to signal a waiter to come over. With my left hand, which held a cigarette, I flicked the ash onto the back of the dealer's right hand.
The moment the smoldering ash landed on the back of his right hand, the dealer's expression immediately changed.
As he instinctively drew his right hand back, I stood up and swept all the ash on the table away.
At the same time, I quickly stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray nearby and said apologetically, "My apologies, brother. Are you alright?"
Seeing my apologetic expression, the dealer waved his hands repeatedly and replied, "It's nothing, it's nothing!"
After the sudden minor incident, the dealer reached for the deck to pick up the top card and slowly revealed it.
A black card.
The Three of Spades!
The moment this Three of Spades was revealed, the outcome of the round was sealed.
Uncle Tuo's renowned card-switching skill, "Stealing the Sky and Changing the Sun," was indeed well-deserved!