The portly man, seemingly with plenty of bullets in his pocket, lit a cigarette and chuckled, "This is getting interesting today!"
"Since none of us are the type to quietly make a fortune or pick up bargains, I'll raise the stakes again and speed this round up!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a chip worth two thousand was tossed onto the table by the portly man.
The lean bamboo pole said nothing and simply called.
Without a word, I followed suit with a two-thousand bet, maintaining the previous rhythm.
It was the little punk's turn. After feigning a moment of thought, she declared, "I'll really just keep it quiet with you all!"
With that, another two-thousand chip entered the pot.
I had assumed that since the portly man had initiated the escalation and was now captivated by the little punk's cleavage, he wouldn't back down easily.
To my surprise, at the start of the third round, the portly man was the first to withdraw. He smiled meaningfully and said, "Heh! I can see it but can't touch it."
"Even if I could touch it, I might not be able to have it! It's better to save some money and go to the club to play the 'pull the carrot' game!"
With that, the portly man picked up the three cards in front of him and began to shuffle them, looking at them.
Less than a minute passed.
After examining his cards, the portly man did not bet but instead decisively folded his hand.
Seeing the portly man fold, I immediately began to ponder.
Whose hand would the cards that the little punk had pre-arranged fall into?
Would it be the lean bamboo pole, who hadn't said much since the start? Or me?
To my surprise, immediately after the portly man folded, the lean bamboo pole also stopped shuffling his cards and directly picked them up to look.
He then made the exact same move as the portly man... he folded!
In the time it took to smoke half a cigarette, the four players were reduced to two.
Although my mind was filled with suspicion, having already known that the little punk was a cheat, this sudden opportunity to look at the cards was not to be missed.
If she had chosen me as her opponent, the only way to minimize losses would be to look at my cards and bet openly.
But as I picked up my cards to look, I suddenly realized... I didn't seem to understand this little punk's unconventional methods at all!
She had dealt me a scattered hand!
Since she had pre-arranged the card order, how could she have only arranged her own three cards?
What kind of game was she playing?
I had originally planned that if my hand wasn't too strong, I would let the little punk win a few rounds to make her lower her guard against me.
But now that I had received a scattered hand, there was no need to act. I would simply fold my cards.
After I folded, the little punk directly won the first round!
Excluding the 100 ante, with four bets of 1000 and four bets of 2000, the little punk won 12,000 in the first round.
According to the rules, she had to pay 5% of the pot to the dealer, which was 600 in chips as a commission.
After deducting her own capital, the little punk actually won just under 9,000 yuan.
It didn't seem like much, but for a cheat, it was quite little.
Because even in a scattered game, if you're a cheat, you can't win every hand, can you?
You can only try to clear yourself of suspicion as much as possible within a limited time, and then wait for an opportunity to cheat.
Besides that, you also have to lose a little appropriately, at least keeping the probability of winning and losing on the surface around fifty-fifty.
Winning too much would definitely make it hard to get away.
Winning too little might not be satisfying.
Only by planning ahead can one smoothly leave the gambling table.
But the way the little punk played was truly baffling to me.
Could it be that she intended to shuffle the cards continuously?
With my mind full of questions, I entered the second round.
While gathering and collecting the cards, I noticed the little punk intentionally or unintentionally using her thumb to press on the cards.
Not many, still around three cards.
Judging by her posture, she likely intended to only scoop the ante this round as well.
She was using the same shuffling technique as before.
After the portly man cut the deck, the little punk began dealing.
Just as I had observed, in the second round, the little punk still only scooped the ante.
The difference was that at the end, she earned an additional bet from a double reveal.
Putting it all together, it was roughly another ten thousand yuan.
The result of the third hand was the same as the first two, ending with the little punk scooping the ante.
Before the fourth hand began, seeing that the little punk made no pre-arrangement of cards this time and was simply shuffling the deck, the slow-witted me finally realized...
The little punk was just scooping the ante!
I have to admit, she was truly peculiar.
Before starting to shuffle, she would pre-arrange the cards, then deal herself cards by touching two at a time, and accumulate bets by scooping the ante.
Although it seemed quite stable, this process of accumulating small amounts, coupled with frequent shuffling, would inevitably leave an impression on others, even if she was just scooping the ante!
But none of that mattered to me.
Humans have their ways, and ghosts have theirs.
Cheats have their own methods!
She could do whatever she wanted, as long as she didn't mess with me, I wouldn't mess with her. We could all get along peacefully and win money with peace of mind.
...
In the fourth round, since the little punk abandoned the pre-arrangement of cards and entered a state of detachment, the winner of this round naturally changed.
The winner of the fourth round was the portly man. The moment he started shuffling, I fixed my gaze on his hands while lighting a cigarette.
Confirming that the portly man's shuffling technique was flawless, I withdrew my gaze only after the lean bamboo pole, who was next in line, cut the cards.
After dealing the cards, the lean bamboo pole was the dealer in this hand and bet first.
Perhaps because the previous games had been lukewarm, as the dealer, the lean bamboo pole directly placed the top bet of five thousand without a word!
In casinos, the minimum and maximum bets in a scattered game of Zha Jin Hua are blind and open.
That is, in a game with limits from 100 to 10,000, the blind bet is at least 100, and the open bet is at most 10,000.
When no one has looked at their cards, the so-called top bet is a blind bet of five thousand, half of the open bet.
A top bet of five thousand would require a ten-thousand bet to call after looking at cards, and finally, a double reveal bet of twenty thousand to open.
If everyone called in the first round of this hand, the ante alone would be twenty thousand!
It seems that most thin people are the type who are fierce and not talkative.
After the lean bamboo pole, the dealer, raised the bet, I, as the second player, had to call, even if I didn't want to.
There was no choice! You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing your child!
After I called, the little punk and the portly man also chose to call.
In the second round, the lean bamboo pole, without saying a word, directly threw a five-thousand chip onto the table.
Why does gambling stimulate the nerves?
It's because of the natural magic of money!
After a round of dull and tasteless gambling, with the fierce and taciturn lean bamboo pole immediately placing the top bet, in the blink of an eye...
Everyone at the table, including myself, perked up without any surprise.