If you asked me: did I cheat?
I would answer you with certainty: Yes!
And they definitely wouldn't be able to catch me with any evidence!
This was because after observing the dealer for a full two hours and roughly figuring out his shuffling technique, it was my first time seriously employing a cheating method.
This new cheating method was one I was using for the first time, never having employed it in any previous gambling match.
It had a very pleasant name, "Yi Hua Jie Mu" (Moving Flowers and Grafting Wood), one of Uncle Tuo's signature skills.
It was specifically used in high-stakes cheating competitions, adapted for specific cheating techniques in Stud and Texas Hold'em.
The prerequisite for executing "Yi Hua Jie Mu" was, first, to accurately calculate one's own dealing position in the next round based on the win-loss relationship of the previous round.
Secondly, it was related to the dealer, specifically their extremely professional shuffling technique.
The so-called Yi Hua Jie Mu, the "flower" being moved was the one in the dealer's hand, and the "wood" being grafted was one's own.
From the very start of the final round, every time the dealer opened a new deck of cards and began shuffling, I would secretly pay attention and observe from the dealer's initial posture.
Taking the last hand as an example.
Before the last hand officially began, the dealer, as usual, separated the 52 cards into four "dragons" to shuffle them individually, and then mixed them together.
This move was designed to maximally restrict those with sharp eyes and quick hands who wanted to memorize the card order.
While there were indeed people who could remember the order of a complete deck even with segmented shuffling, they were certainly not many.
Of course, I couldn't do that at the moment.
So, I didn't waste time memorizing the order of the entire deck, but selectively remembered the card order of the sevens and tens, which had four suits each.
Because by remembering the card order of all suits related to these two cards, one could, with the highest probability, disrupt the card paths of most straight flushes.
When the dealer performed the segmented shuffling, I firmly memorized the positions of all four sevens and four tens in my mind.
When the cards were combined and shuffled again, given that two sevens were inadvertently shuffled into adjacent positions by the dealer, I decisively identified the card order of the four-suited sevens.
After firmly locking down the positions of the four-suited sevens within the deck, the next step, cutting the cards, was when "Yi Hua Jie Mu" would show its power.
The moment the cards were cut, the four sevens, which had been pre-arranged, were quickly secured. Utilizing the gap between cutting and combining the cards, three sevens were sent to fixed positions first.
These were the 16th, 17th, and 18th positions, following the 14 hole cards for seven players and one discard.
As for the most crucial single seven, it was only when the cards were completely combined that it was drawn out and grafted into the position belonging to the two hole cards I was supposed to receive.
Those who have watched "The Brain" in later years know that eyesight can be trained through acquired practice.
Why is the eyesight of a cheat so precise?
It's because their daily work, year after year, involves nothing but poker cards.
Excluding the two Jokers, the thickness of a 52-card bee deck is between 1.64cm and 1.65cm, with the average thickness of a single card being around 0.03cm.
In low-stakes games, there are many opportunities to handle poker cards, and cheating mainly relies on picking and hiding cards, but in high-stakes games... these two tricks won't work!
Therefore, under the premise of limited card contact in high-stakes games, using the cut to change the card order is the true method of defeating the enemy!
When I mentioned cutting the cards earlier, most people's first reaction was likely that I was going to pick or hide cards, unaware that I had no intention of doing so.
Without anyone noticing, I used the signature skill "Yi Hua Jie Mu" created by Uncle Tuo to change the card order.
Afterward, even if someone was unconvinced by the result and demanded an inspection of the cards, they wouldn't find anything amiss.
...
After going all-in, the dealer began dealing cards without stopping.
As the two community cards of different suits were dealt, no one in this round could form a five-card straight flush.
Undoubtedly, I... won!
In this one hand, I not only won back everything I had lost before, but I also had more chips than when I was in second place.
It was a resurrection, and I had managed to hold on.
Currently, with about an hour and a half left until the end of the competition, the final outcome had once again become suspenseful...
Immediately after winning the hand, Isabella secretly signaled with her eyes, instructing the mole team members to "pressure" the dealer to inspect the cards.
For the dealer, who was already in cahoots with Isabella's group, this request was perfectly reasonable.
Thus, in the decisive round, at the request of other contestants, the dealer, for the first time ever, began inspecting the cards.
Unfortunately, there were exactly 52 cards, not one more, not one less.
As if she had already anticipated it, Isabella was not very surprised by this result.
On the contrary, her expression was extremely calm, so calm as if nothing had happened.
I knew very well that although Isabella accepted the result, she hadn't truly accepted it with conviction.
If nothing unexpected happened, she would definitely exert more effort and launch a relentless offensive against me.
If I couldn't withstand it, the championship would once again be without suspense...
With this thought, while the dealer was separating new cards and shuffling, I gave Xu Shiyu a look, signaling her to prepare to receive chip transfers from my side.
In a final round like this, fighting five opponents alone was unrealistic.
After all, I hadn't reached Uncle Tuo's level yet.
Only by cooperating with Xu Shiyu, who was also a high-level cheat, could there be hope of turning the tide and crushing Isabella's mole team!
For the next period, I used a strategy of alternating between true and false, and false and true, to intermittently transfer several waves of chips to Xu Shiyu.
Before long, Xu Shiyu's chips had become abundant again.
The combined chips of the two of us were now almost on par with the other four players, excluding Isabella.
During the time I was transferring chips to Xu Shiyu, I was constantly on guard against Isabella.
I had expected her to use her chip and numerical advantage, as she had before, to launch a pincer attack against me.
However, even after Xu Shiyu's chip count had been significantly boosted by me, Isabella still showed no intention of making a move.
I was utterly perplexed by this.
However, there was one thing I could confirm in advance.
That was: the storm was brewing, and the wind filled the tower!
Isabella, this professional player, must be secretly accumulating strength for a big move!