After the last person who looked at the card on the table chose to fold, it was my turn to speak.
I still bet 200 points.
I don't know if everyone understood the patterns of "Zha Jin Hua" (a card game), or if the last person who folded had a psychological impact on the others...
In any case, after the new round of betting began, as soon as I placed my bet, Shui Cenyin and the young woman with a black rose tattooed on her chest both chose to fold.
This round, I won effortlessly!
It's just that the points I won were much less than expected.
As the scoring referee tallied the points, the dealer also began to collect the cards.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the moment I flicked the cards away while keeping them hidden, I replaced the original Ace.
This was an extremely dangerous move, and a slight mistake could lead to disaster.
If the dealer, in the process of collecting the cards, decided to flip them over to check... undoubtedly, I would be exposed!
But I could guarantee that the dealer would absolutely not do that.
The reason I was so confident was that the decisive factor in this round had already been determined.
Normally, once a game's outcome is decided, unless the gamblers request it, the dealer generally wouldn't check the cards easily.
Moreover, this "Thousand Skills Competition" initiated by Ying Baolin was precisely for contestants who dared to showcase their skills under immense pressure.
Otherwise, what would be the point of selecting the top ten players with the highest scores to advance to the main competition of the "Thousand King Competition" in Macau?
Was it to deliver heads from a thousand miles away? Or to slack off and watch the show?
...
Seeing that I had won without a fight, the fashionable young man who had cautiously folded earlier immediately showed a look of regret in his eyes.
Then, he turned his gaze to me and casually asked, "Brother, what cards do you have? Why didn't they dare to follow?"
This question asked by the fashionable young man is probably something everyone has encountered to some extent when playing "Zha Jin Hua."
To put it bluntly, this kind of person is a typical example of selfishness and cowardice!
They want to be cautious and stable, yet at the same time, they are unwilling to see others win money effortlessly.
If you truly encounter someone like the fashionable young man, and you are not very familiar with them, you don't need to pay any attention to them; just ignore them!
Never give them a friendly smile, because they will take advantage of your kindness!
If you let it go on for too long, they might even casually look at your cards.
Once your playing style is figured out, they will start targeting you!
Therefore, I remained silent and decisively chose to ignore him.
Seeing this, the fashionable young man, feeling somewhat embarrassed, gave me a sinister look after a forced smile.
Clearly, this guy had already taken a dislike to me.
I still didn't give any response, but instead lit a cigarette for myself.
After this minor interlude, once everyone had placed their bets, the dealer began to shuffle and deal the cards one by one.
Since I won the previous round, I was in the last position for this new game.
When the betting reached the fashionable young man, he directly bet 100 points without revealing his cards.
With a two-hour competition time, if you start speeding up early on, there's a high chance that someone might run out of points and be eliminated.
The fashionable young man's move was nothing more than an attempt to disrupt the game and muddy the waters.
This way, he could take advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters, just like I did earlier.
The player to his left hesitated for a moment before reluctantly calling the bet.
When it was my turn, as the last player, I had no choice but to call as well.
If no one folded from the second round onwards and everyone kept betting without revealing their cards, the final tallied scores could reach a rather astonishing number.
Since the battle had been ignited in advance, regardless of what others thought, I would definitely not retreat first.
At the same time, I made up my mind that I would decide which card combination to use for cheating later, depending on the situation.
After I called the bet, the next two players chose to look at their cards and then fold.
It seemed that everyone was not foolish and didn't want to be blinded by enthusiasm.
In the blink of an eye, only four people were left at the table.
Just like the previous round, three of the four players who bet without revealing their cards were the ones who had bet with revealed cards in the previous round.
Me, Shui Cenyin, and the tattooed woman.
The only difference was the fashionable young man.
He continued to lead the betting with 100 points.
Unexpectedly, Shui Cenyin and the tattooed woman did not bet again. Instead, they both chose to look at their cards.
And in the end, both women folded.
In an instant, only the fashionable young man and I were left at the table.
Seeing Shui Cenyin and the others choose to fold, a smile appeared on the fashionable young man's lips.
Clearly, he had been waiting for this moment.
This guy was extremely unbalanced seeing me get a lucky break, and he intended to bet the maximum from the start, to see how many people dared to be stubborn or play tricks.
As long as someone dared to play, he would keep betting without revealing his cards.
The fashionable young man's scheme, which wasn't really a scheme, was successfully executed.
Next, it was time for me and him to play one-on-one.
I didn't need to guess to know that he definitely wouldn't look at his cards first. He just wanted to keep betting without revealing them to stall me, and ideally, force me to reveal my cards.
However, I had already made up my mind in my heart to use the lucky break from the previous round to build momentum.
So, I started betting 100 points with him, one by one...
After about five or six minutes.
I could no longer remember how many "one hundred" bets we had exchanged.
But the only thing I knew clearly was that the fashionable young man was trying to trick me, and I... was also trying to trick him!
As I finished betting and was lost in thought, it was the fashionable young man's turn again.
This time, instead of saying "one hundred" as usual, he unexpectedly shouted, "Reveal!"
The fashionable young man's sudden move of "reveal" immediately startled me slightly.
By the time I recovered, the fashionable young man had already shown his cards.
It wasn't a mixed hand, but a pair of 5s.
A pair of 5s revealed purely by betting without showing cards was already quite significant.
Seeing this, the dealer immediately gestured to me and said in a calm tone, "Sir, please reveal your cards!"
Mistake, mistake! This move was a mistake!
If I had known that others were making symbolic calls to play it safe, I should have cheated and replaced my cards earlier.
Now, being stared at by the dealer was one thing, but the eyes of the other people at the table were also resting on me, intentionally or unintentionally.
I had no doubt that if I made any extra small movements with my hands... the dealer would immediately call a halt to the competition.
With this thought in mind, and without any preparation, I could only passively reveal my cards.
After coldly glancing at the fashionable young man, who looked smug, I reached out and flipped over my three hidden cards, revealing them one by one on the table...