Glancing at the dealer, who was meticulously shuffling the cards, I confirmed that his professional shuffling technique did not involve any hidden sleight of hand.
My heart settled a little.
Frankly, I detested rigged games where one wrong move could put you in grave danger.
I was already helping Xu Shiyu rescue Bian Liangchu from a predicament, and I certainly didn't want to end up falling into the pit myself.
After confirming the dealer was clean, I shifted all my attention to the wealthy man.
Even though he only touched the cards when adding to his hand, using the opportunity to peek and bet, it was crucial for me to understand all my opponent's betting habits and subtle movements.
Details determined success or failure; that saying was not mere hyperbole.
When the dealer dealt the cards one by one, I took a casual look.
My luck was decent. Not only did I start with 20 points, but it was also a pair of Js.
In such a situation, if one were bold enough, splitting the pair could lead to a win if they managed to get an Ace or a ten-value card. A single win would allow them to leave the table immediately.
Although I wanted to split, I had only asked Cheng Minglang to exchange 200,000 in chips, so I ultimately chose to pass.
"Pass!"
After I said that, I lit a cigarette and took a puff.
Hearing me pass, the guy behind me bet double without even a second thought and then asked for another card.
I caught a glimpse of his two face-up cards. Good heavens, 13 points!
No wonder he was so eager!
This was a typical "fate decides life and death, wealth and honor are in heaven" style of gambling, leaving no room for retreat.
After drawing a Club 5, which brought his total to 18 points, the man immediately chose to stand.
An 18-point doubled bet had a fairly high probability of winning.
That was, of course, assuming the wealthy man wasn't cheating.
After everyone else had passed, it was the wealthy man's turn to decide.
The dealer's cards were dealt face-up and face-down. With the face-up card being a 7, I noticed the wealthy man signaling the dealer with his eyes, as if he wanted to reveal the face-down card himself.
I knew exactly what the wealthy man was planning.
If the dealer were to reveal his card for him, and it turned out to be a ten-value card or higher, according to the rules of Blackjack, the dealer, with two cards totaling a hard 17, would have to stand.
Once he stood, regardless of what others did, he would have to pay me my 20 points and the player next to me their 18 points.
The wealthy man didn't dare to gamble on that probability, so he wanted to play a trick.
However, there was no way I would let him succeed!
Because I had already thought of a good way to break his scheme.
Seeing the dealer stop, and just as the wealthy man was about to reach for the face-down card, I suddenly called out, "Wait a moment!"
The wealthy man immediately froze and looked at me with eyes filled with suppressed anger, asking coldly, "What do you want?"
Unhurriedly, I lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said with a half-smile, "If I recall correctly, you've been winning all evening, haven't you?"
"And before, you never once touched the cards yourself before adding to your hand..."
"Why are you suddenly unable to resist now?"
"Oh! Could it be that you saw a few of us bet heavily and get good cards, and you're thinking that you can't lose, so you're planning some trickery?"
Before the furious wealthy man could retort, I added, "Let me make it clear beforehand. I have no objection to you revealing that face-down card."
"But if there's an opportunity to add cards later, you must let the dealer reveal it for you!"
"If you can't do that, I will definitely demand the dealer inspect the cards on the spot!"
As soon as I finished speaking, the wealthy man's expression changed drastically.
But then, it quickly returned to normal.
Just as the wealthy man was about to argue, the other gamblers at the table erupted.
"This brother makes sense! I was wondering how you always managed to get good cards every time it was time to add to your hand... So there was something fishy going on!"
"We players only have one chance to draw a card when we can add to our hand, and you doing this is like having an extra chance to draw cards. I refuse! Absolutely refuse!"
"That's right! If you draw a card now, and you can add to your hand later, the dealer must draw and reveal the card for you! Otherwise, if you dare to win, we dare to demand an inspection!"
"..."
This time, even Bian Liang, who had always been at odds with me, sided with me and joined the ranks of those condemning the wealthy man.
Moreover, his expression was unusually excited and animated.
He probably hadn't expected such a way to break the scheme outside of cheating.
However, this method of breaking the scheme was only applicable to Blackjack and wouldn't work for other card games.
The reason I said this was that only in Blackjack were both cards dealt face-up to the player.
If a gambler wanted to play tricks, they could only hope that their hand wasn't too large, giving them the opportunity to draw a third crucial card.
But this kind of probability-related issue inherently carried a high degree of uncertainty.
So, on average, let alone one chance per round, they barely had half a chance to touch a card per round.
The dealer, on the other hand, legitimately had one chance to touch a card per round, which came from the second face-down card.
Although the wealthy man was the dealer, he was merely acting as a player who had bought the bank.
The casino had explicit regulations stating that for any card game that allowed buying the bank, all rules related to the banker and player must strictly adhere to the rules of the card game itself.
This regulation was in place to prevent those with ulterior motives from using the advantage of buying the bank to create more opportunities to touch cards for their own unspeakable purposes.
Therefore, the choice I presented to him between the face-down card and adding cards was actually quite generous.
If I were to lay out the rules strictly, I would guarantee that unless the dealer wanted to quit his job, the wealthy man wouldn't dare to utter a single word!
Of course, if these internal details, known only to casino staff, were exposed, the wealthy man would undoubtedly be able to guess my true identity.
...
Watching all the gamblers vehemently condemn him along with me, the wealthy man was completely stunned.
After regaining his composure, suppressing the surging anger, the wealthy man's gaze flickered continuously, as if he were contemplating how to make his choice.
From his demeanor, it seemed he was still somewhat unwilling, wanting to act on the face-down card first to eliminate any possibility of standing with a hard 17.
After an unknown period of time...
Glancing at the dealer, the wealthy man said in a deep voice, "Let's gamble on luck. You reveal that face-down card."
Upon hearing this, the dealer's face immediately showed a smile of relief, and he nodded decisively, saying, "Alright!"