Among the four of us, the only female gambler, a young woman who looked about my age, with hair dyed the currently popular chestnut brown, wearing a low-cut halter top adorned with two butterfly tattoos on her chest, actually went ahead and reached out first, touching the ace card.
Seeing this, an uneasy feeling immediately arose in my heart.
A 1/4 probability of touching an ace, was this luck?
Or was she, like me, a cheat?
If this young woman was a cheat, then to be honest, her attire was too flashy and too attention-grabbing.
Just the butterfly tattoos on her chest could attract a lot of attention.
Before I could finish pondering, the young woman who touched the ace revealed her card first, stating she wouldn't bet and instructed those who drew twos, threes, and fours to sit in order to her left.
With the ace already revealed by the young woman, the other two gamblers eagerly vied to pick from the remaining three cards, aiming to draw a deuce.
After they finished their scramble, I no longer needed to reach for a card myself.
Because... I was the last player! Sitting to the young woman's lower right.
Come to think of it, this outcome was quite good.
If this young woman was indeed a cheat, she would surely use her cheating to continuously raise the stakes.
And as the last player, I would have more time to consider and make choices.
After determining our positions, this casual game of Golden Flower officially began.
The dealer moved to the side, and the first round was handled by the young woman for shuffling and dealing.
As soon as she started shuffling, I don't know if it was due to unfamiliarity or some other motive, but the half-deck of cards held in the young woman's left hand suddenly scattered from her grasp!
Several cards even flew directly under the table.
Such unprofessional and unskilled shuffling immediately caused the other two gamblers to frown deeply.
If it weren't for the two butterflies, I estimated those two would have surely "fired" at the young woman... or rather, "blasted" her!
Seeing this, the young woman, disregarding the accidental display of her chest, immediately bent down to pick up the cards.
Watching her flustered movements, she truly seemed like a novice who didn't know how to shuffle.
But I knew, this young woman was playing with fire.
Just as she straightened up with her prominent butterflies, I saw her subconscious action of gathering the cards was that of an experienced player.
Especially the moment she gripped the cards and rose, as if worried the top cards might slip again, the young woman's thumb curled inward slightly, firmly holding the top few cards.
From this single observation, I concluded that this young woman was a cheat! As for her skill level, I would have to wait and see.
After the card-dropping interlude, the gambling match officially commenced.
During the shuffling, the young woman showed no signs of abnormality.
She used the two-half-deck riffle shuffle most commonly used by novices, with no extraneous movements throughout the process.
Seeing this, my heart was filled with suspicion.
What was going on?
Could it be that this young woman was employing the same tactic as me, playing a game of hiding her strength initially?
If that were the case, then her deliberate dropping of cards earlier was truly unnecessary.
Just as I was secretly speculating about the young woman's intentions, after the next player cut the deck, she began dealing cards clockwise.
The young woman's next player was the portly gambler.
As she dealt the cards, the man with the big belly kept looking at her with lecherous eyes and said teasingly, "Little sister, your two butterflies... are really big!"
Upon hearing this, the young woman not only didn't get angry but proudly lifted her chest again.
This sudden, unexpected action instantly drew the attention of both the middle-aged man with the belly and the skinny gambler who hadn't spoken a word the entire time.
Seeing this, a slight curve appeared on the young woman's lips.
Just as she was dealing the card in front of her own position, suddenly...
I saw her use the "touch two" technique to deal a card in front of her own position.
Seeing this, I immediately understood why the man with the belly, when he teased the young woman earlier, not only didn't get angry but deliberately showed off!
It turned out she was using her body as a cover!
Since it was the "touch two" technique, it was undoubtedly the case that while bending down to pick up the cards, she had already arranged the desired card sequence in advance.
No wonder I thought she was shuffling and cutting the cards so properly earlier, and assumed she wouldn't dare to use any tricks in the first hand.
It turned out she had done all the preparatory work beforehand!
If the young woman wasn't a shill hired by the establishment, then she was, like me, a cheat preparing to make money in casual games.
However, her methods were much more daring than mine.
Instead of hiding her strength, she used card dropping and her body as cover.
If nothing unexpected happened, she intended to win the first hand!
...
After dealing the cards, the man with the belly spoke first.
Perhaps because the young woman hadn't shown too much resistance to him earlier, the man with the belly, holding his chips, said with a sinister grin, "Sister dealt the first hand, and as your elder brother, I naturally have to support you! One thousand!"
He emphasized the word "support" heavily, clearly implying a double meaning.
Hearing this, the skinny gambler pondered for a moment and then decisively threw in a thousand yuan chip.
And I followed suit immediately.
Although I knew I couldn't win this hand, I had to throw in this thousand yuan chip!
Not to mention that in a casino Golden Flower game, not betting is absolutely not rewarded.
If I appeared too conservative from the start, and then started cheating later, a sudden change in my playing style might arouse their suspicion.
Investment and return are always proportional.
Provided, of course, that you can control the risk.
Therefore, the money that needs to be spent... must be spent!
Seeing that someone was already helping to raise the stakes, the young woman was overjoyed. Without a moment's hesitation, she matched the thousand, muttering to herself, "I shuffled these cards myself, I must go all the way!"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
As for this young woman, if you say she's brainless, she's quite good at understanding men and playing tactics.
But if you say she's very smart, that last sentence was unnecessary.
Just like the earlier, subconsciously exposed card-protecting move.
After all, gamblers are not fools; on the contrary, they are extremely sensitive.
This is the principle of "a long illness makes a good doctor."
A truly skilled cheat won't make a big deal about themselves; instead, they will target their mark directly and use that target to set up a series of plans.
However, the more the young woman acts out, the more advantageous it is for me.
Because she is my ready-made cover!