None of the four families looked at their cards, all betting five thousand, five thousand, five thousand on blind bets.
It wasn't until the end of the third round, when the fourth round began, that seeing that Skinny Bamboo Pole hadn't even hesitated and directly threw in five thousand chips, I immediately sensed something was wrong.
Logically speaking, if he was the type to go all-in from the start, why hadn't he shown any such behavior in the three rounds where Little Junior Sister shuffled and dealt?
Usually, at the beginning of a card game, everyone's style and play are not yet clear, which is the best time for those who like to bluff to perform.
The bold thrive, the timid starve!
In Golden Flower, people who like to bet blindly have a characteristic.
That is, no matter what cards they get in the end, even if it's trash like 235 or 369, they play blindly.
In the first three hands, Skinny Bamboo Pole didn't bet.
Instead, he started raising the stakes in the first hand that Big Belly won.
In an instant, regarding Skinny Bamboo Pole's sudden increase in the maximum bet, I deduced a possibility in my mind.
Skinny Bamboo Pole was very likely in cahoots with Big Belly! These two bastards were not cheaters, but gamblers who teamed up to fleece the establishment.
The way gamblers fleece is extremely simple and crude, either through what they call "high-tech" products or the most cliché "dǎ jiāzi" (cheating by colluding).
Dǎ jiāzi is a dialect term meaning to cheat by colluding, similar to the interpretations of "double ghosts knocking on the door" or "two ghosts carrying a sedan."
Gamblers are a general term for a certain type of person, which I've mentioned before, so I won't explain it further here.
It seems that although the casino that Salted Fish found for me is a bit small and old, and even uses the outdated roulette wheel for draws, but...
It's truly a mixed bag here, full of all sorts of shady characters!
In a four-player table of casual games, not a single one of them is a genuine gambler!
So, all my brothers, please remember, if a friend you know takes you to an unfamiliar card game, you absolutely must not go!
Once you go, if you don't lose your shirt, it means they are playing the long game to catch a big fish.
At that time, the outcome will be even more tragic than losing everything at once!
Alright, back to the main topic.
For us cheaters, there is never anything that happens by chance at the gambling table.
Behind the accidental, there must be a long-planned and meticulously designed inevitability!
After deducing the hidden relationship between Big Belly and Skinny Bamboo Pole, I stopped blindly following the bets and chose to look at my cards instead.
My mixed hand, a head, could be played or folded.
If it were a normal situation, I would definitely have played, but in this gathering of all sorts of unsavory characters, playing would be pure money-losing.
Because gamblers are best at stalling.
Regardless of the opponent's cards, gamblers always play in a two-against-one formation.
And to save costs, they often both don't look at their cards and just play blindly.
Before the game started, the dealer had already announced that while other rules could be modified in the casual Golden Flower games, the rule for blind bets could not be changed.
In other words, even if someone looks at their cards in advance, as long as you want to bet blindly, you can keep betting blindly until the end!
The reason the casino doesn't limit the number of blind bets is purely for the 5% rake on every hand.
Five hundred from ten thousand, five thousand from a hundred thousand.
As long as there are a few hands with a turnover of a hundred thousand, the casino can make tens of thousands just from the rake!
Seeing me fold suddenly, Skinny Bamboo Pole's face immediately showed a hint of displeasure, and he said meaningfully, "Brother, I finally managed to build up the momentum, why did you fold so quickly?"
"Perhaps, your cards are the biggest in the whole game?"
Hearing Skinny Bamboo Pole's words, I didn't say anything, just smiled noncommittally.
Seeing this, Skinny Bamboo Pole said no more, and turned his gaze directly to Little Junior Sister across from him.
I knew that at this moment, Skinny Bamboo Pole must have been hoping that Little Junior Sister would continue to bluff with them.
After all, he was in cahoots with Big Belly.
If the only outsider stopped bluffing, it would mean that their actual profit from this hand would end there.
Although Little Junior Sister's winning strategy was a bit peculiar, she wasn't stupid. She picked up her cards and slowly looked at them.
After looking at her cards, I noticed a flicker of hesitation in Little Junior Sister's eyes.
But then, she took out a red chip worth ten thousand and threw it directly onto the table.
Little Junior Sister's action immediately made Big Belly, who was next in line, smirk with excitement.
However, he still maintained the actor's self-cultivation as a gambler.
"Girl, your cards this hand... surely aren't as big as your breasts, right?"
"Trying to force me to look at my cards and steal my chicken? Brother I'm not falling for your trick, I'll stand firm like a rock!"
"I'll continue to blind bet five thousand!"
After speaking, Big Belly continued to choose to blind bet and follow suit.
As for Skinny Bamboo Pole, who was ruthless and spoke little, he continued to maintain his persona, throwing chips without a word.
In an instant, the double-ghost-knocking-on-the-door stalling game... was formed!
Although I was the only outsider, and it didn't matter to me who won or lost this hand, sometimes observing from the sidelines can also yield a lot.
At least after they finish their confrontation this round, they won't shift their attention to me for a while.
Once they determine the winner, I can then freely fish in troubled waters...
...
Since deciding to bet openly after hesitating, in the second round when betting, Little Junior Sister threw another ten thousand chips onto the table without any hesitation.
Big Belly didn't look at his cards and chose to continue blind betting.
As for Skinny Bamboo Pole, there was even less to say.
And so it went back and forth for several rounds.
In the latest round, after Little Junior Sister bet openly and Big Belly blind bet, Skinny Bamboo Pole didn't choose to follow suit again, but instead started looking at his cards.
After looking at his cards, Skinny Bamboo Pole also acted professionally, hesitating for a long time.
The ten thousand chip was picked up and put down, and put down and picked up again.
But in the end, he still threw it onto the table.
Truly – a testament to the actor's self-cultivation!
Seeing this, Little Junior Sister, unlike before, was not fearless and uninhibited. She also hesitated for a moment and looked again.
The moment Little Junior Sister picked up her cards again, I saw...
Her left hand was placed in front of her right hand, and the ring finger and little finger of her right hand were slightly bent inward. Then, with a gentle hook, she secretly completed the card swap!
This move is called "Palm Flower."
To be honest, Little Junior Sister not only had a peculiar way of thinking, but she was also incredibly bold.
Palm Flower is an entry-level card-swapping trick, and it's the first card-swapping technique that most novice cheaters learn.