"All in!"
The moment the words fell, Isabella decisively pushed all the chips in front of her forward.
Before the match started, Isabella and I had agreed to act according to her signals and hints.
In this round, before the masked man had even bet, I was certain that Isabella had not given me any hint.
Therefore, to be safe when facing this masked man, who was highly suspected of being an inside informant for the casino, I ultimately chose to fold.
But Isabella's sudden all-in now left me a bit confused.
As I was pondering whether Isabella had discovered something and hadn't had time to hint at it, or if she had been cautious for a long time and was now trying to use an all-in to bluff and change her luck...
The masked man, after a moment of thought, unhesitatingly pushed all the chips in front of him and said in a deep voice, "Call!"
This scene plunged the atmosphere into a silent, eerie calm.
Within seconds, cheers like a tidal wave erupted from all corners of the spectator area.
Clearly, the audience preferred the life-or-death all-in situations; trivial rounds couldn't stir their excitement.
After the masked man called, before he could even recover, I saw another suspect highly suspected of being an inside informant for the casino...
That was the previously unremarkable-looking middle-aged man with exceptionally sharp eyes, whom I had paid close attention to. After thinking silently for a while, he also chose to go all-in!
This instantly ignited the spectator area outside the venue, with screams reaching breaking point echoing one after another.
To the spectators who were unaware of the details, an all-in in Texas Hold'em was the same as a showhand in poker; once the bet was placed, there was no turning back.
Gambling rounds where tens of millions could change hands in minutes, and where someone could be eliminated at any moment, looked much more exciting.
After all, losing money felt much better than winning.
Following the consecutive all-ins from the three players, the remaining individuals, even if they felt their cards were not bad, did not call. Instead, they all chose to fold.
No one sitting at this gambling table was without a brain.
If they continued, three or four people would be eliminated within the first hour of the game.
...
After everyone had taken their turn and made their decisions, the dealer immediately gestured for Isabella and the other two to reveal their cards.
This was the rule in formal Texas Hold'em tournaments: all players who went all-in early had to reveal their cards beforehand.
This measure not only reduced the probability of cheating but also effectively controlled the risk of card collusion that might arise after cheating.
At this moment, the three community cards on the table were: the 7 of Hearts, the 7 of Spades, and the 8 of Spades.
The ordinary-looking middle-aged man's hole cards were the 9 of Spades and the 10 of Spades.
No wonder he chose to call; he had received a straight flush draw, giving him a direct path to a straight flush.
As for the masked man, he had a pair of 8s, the 8 of Diamonds and the 8 of Hearts.
With two community cards yet to be dealt, the masked man already had a full house!
To be honest, the moment I saw the hole cards of these two people, I truly suspected that the casino had arranged for more than one inside informant.
The hands of these two were more outrageous than the other!
After the masked man and the other player revealed their cards, the entire audience erupted, with cheers and screams even louder and more chaotic than a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush.
Even the dealer, who was dealing the cards, stood frozen in place, his eyes filled with an extreme, disbelieving look, as if he couldn't believe he had dealt such cards.
Of course, whether he was acting or not was impossible to know.
When it was Isabella's turn to reveal her cards, all eyes at and around the table turned to her.
After exhaling softly, Isabella appeared relaxed and at ease. With a slight flick of her slender fingers, she flipped her cards...
Her two hole cards instantly appeared.
As Isabella revealed her hole cards, the entire venue fell into a profound silence.
A deathly quiet, where a pin drop could be heard!
If the hole cards revealed by the other two "inside informant" players had shocked me, then Isabella's cards gave me an extreme sense of disbelief!
Four of a kind!
When Isabella revealed her hole cards, they were the 7 of Clubs and the 7 of Diamonds!
A bomb hand from the start!
Aside from a royal flush and a straight flush, a bomb hand was considered the highest possible hand!
When the masked man and the ordinary-looking middle-aged man saw Isabella's hole cards, which were a pair of 7s, their eyes widened, and their pupils flickered with disbelief.
As for the dealer, his expression became extremely complex and varied.
After a long pause, the dealer, having regained his composure, lightly tapped the table, signaling for everyone to prepare for the fourth card.
Drawing the fourth card from the deck and slowly revealing it, the dealer said in a deep voice, "Turn."
"Turn" means the turn card.
After the all-in, there was no betting round. After revealing the fourth irrelevant 3 and arranging it, the dealer reached for the crucial fifth card.
The river card, also known as the river.
The essence of Texas Hold'em lies in the fifth river card.
There were not a few cases of cheaters and professional players losing on the river.
Therefore, in Texas Hold'em, a game lost on the fifth river card is called a "river kill."
However, this round was clearly not a "river kill."
Because Isabella had already won.
She had won from the starting line to the finish.
The fifth river card was the King of Diamonds, which did not bring good luck to the masked man and the middle-aged man.
The hands of both of them were finalized.
One was a杂牌 (mixed hand) that started strong but ended weak, and the other was a weak three-of-a-kind with a pair, neither of which was as strong as Isabella's starting bomb of 7s!
They lost!
The masked man and the middle-aged man both lost!
Isabella, unexpectedly, defeated both of them with her starting bomb hand, instantly killing them!