Ace of Spades.
Ten points plus seven, making it a hard 17 that the dealer had to stand on.
Shen Mengqing couldn't draw any more cards, and the first round of engagement ended with my complete victory.
Having won the victory with a heavy bet of 380,000, at odds of 1.5 to 1, my total profit was 570,000.
Including the principal, I held nearly a million in chips.
I took out five chips of ten thousand face value and gave them to the waiter, instructing them to exchange them for cash. Then, I asked Jiang Xiaowan to distribute fifty thousand in "lucky money" to the surrounding gamblers.
At this stage, I lacked nothing except attention and popularity.
After Shen Mengqing lifted the betting restrictions, I had calculated how many consecutive rounds I needed to win to achieve the goal of clearing the house.
According to the turnover ratio of the casino tonight, about four more rounds would be enough.
That is, starting from the next round, I would continue to bet heavily on everything and win four consecutive rounds.
By winning four rounds, a starting bet of 900,000 would be multiplied 16 times, reaching around 14.4 million. By then, Ruichi would likely not be able to hold on.
This was only possible in the prosperous city of Wenzhou. If it were in a private casino in other cities besides Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, it would likely only take winning five to six million to cripple the casino's cash and turnover, forcing them to close.
...
I was well aware of Shen Mengqing's style of doing things, and she clearly hadn't cheated in the last hand.
She was deliberately letting me win.
Knowing that I was there to challenge her and deliberately losing to me, Shen Mengqing had only one purpose.
To temporarily avoid the spotlight.
Or, to show weakness to the enemy.
If I guessed correctly, she wasn't cheating now because she wanted to deliver a devastating blow in the final round!
The one who wins first is just paper; the one who wins last is the real money.
Shen Mengqing's enduring the humiliation was all for the sake of making me feel like I'd gone back to square one in the final hand.
However, she had her plans, and I had mine.
In the second round, I bet all the 900,000 chips on the table.
In the end, I had 19 points, and Shen Mengqing had 18 points.
I won, and 900,000 turned into 1.8 million.
In the third round, I bet as much as I had.
I had twenty points, and Shen Mengqing busted by drawing more cards.
1.8 million became 3.6 million.
In the fourth round, there was a small interlude.
I chose to stand on 17 points. Shen Mengqing's first two cards added up to only 7 points. She drew a card and got 10 points, making it a soft 17 with three cards.
According to the rules of Blackjack, when the dealer and player have the same score, the dealer wins by default. However...
Although the casinos in Wenzhou followed this rule, they added a sub-clause to it.
The specific annotation was: When scores are equal but the number of cards is different, the player with fewer cards wins.
This sub-clause was taken from the民间 Blackjack.
With this sub-clause, Shen Mengqing's soft 17 allowed her to choose whether to draw more cards or stand.
Drawing could lead to a win or a loss.
Standing would guarantee a loss.
After a slight deliberation, Shen Mengqing ultimately chose to draw.
Her soft 17 was drawn with a single 5, exceeding the limit by one point, causing her to bust.
My 3.6 million instantly became 7.2 million.
As the chips were paid out, the plastic chips piled up in front of me instantly drew the attention of all the onlookers.
I knew that Shen Mengqing hadn't cheated and that she had deliberately drawn cards to bust, all as a setup for the final round.
Therefore, even though the atmosphere in the casino had been silently pushed to its peak, my expression remained as calm as a tranquil lake.
However, seeing the growing crowd of onlookers, all of whom were in high spirits, I handed over twenty thousand in loose chips to Jiang Xiaowan, asking her to exchange them for cash at the counter and distribute them to these people.
With over a hundred people sharing, each could receive about 2,000 yuan in cash for free.
The "lucky money" received in one night was equivalent to a month's salary earned by working hard outside. This was the real reason why most gamblers, once addicted, were unwilling to go back to work.
In an instant, cheers of "Gambling God," and "Chen Xiaodao possessed" began to erupt sporadically from the crowd.
The scene of winning thirty million US dollars with twenty Hong Kong dollars was clearly very popular.
Ignoring the praise from these gamblers, I took a deep breath and pushed the entire seven million in chips into the betting pool.
The sight of me betting millions in chips immediately made the surrounding gamblers' eyes turn red and the atmosphere boil.
Those gamblers who were still playing at other tables couldn't help but cast curious glances at my table.
Seeing that I had placed my bet, Shen Mengqing, without a word, took out four new decks of cards from the drawer, preparing to open them one by one...
If Shen Mengqing lost this final round, the casino's cash flow would undoubtedly be completely blocked by me.
Without even thinking about it, they definitely couldn't afford to pay out fourteen million in cash.
Being able to cobble together eight to ten million in payment would already be a good outcome.
If it truly came to that, and I chose not to pursue the matter, Ruichi would still have some room to breathe.
Once I insisted on full cash payment, then tonight... Ruichi would be finished!
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. When the wall collapses, everyone pushes.
This group of gamblers could be the key to the casino's daily profits, or they could become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
This was not only clear to me, but Shen Mengqing also knew it very well.
Therefore, in this crucial final round, Shen Mengqing completely reversed her previous passive state, directly using new cards, striving to perfect every detail of this hand and not give me the slightest opportunity.
Because she knew that I would definitely cheat.
The purpose of using new cards was that once Shen Mengqing detected any anomaly, she could stop the game by calling for a card inspection.
Without knowing what method I would use to cheat, using card inspection as an entry point was the best choice.
Therefore, in this round, I had to think ahead about the retreat plan for what might happen after the cheating was discovered.
...
After opening the cards, I expected Shen Mengqing to shuffle them first and then hand them to me to cut.
But unexpectedly, she directly stacked the cards on the table and looked at me, saying, "Sir, to prove that our casino is absolutely fair, just, and open, I propose..."
"For this final hand, let's find an outsider to shuffle, cut, and deal the cards. What do you think?"
As soon as Shen Mengqing finished speaking, I was immediately slightly stunned.
No wonder she became a "lantern holder" at the age of 25 or 26. Her mind... was incredibly meticulous!
I wasn't sure if Shen Mengqing had absolute confidence in beating me.
But I was very clear that she was truly using everyone and everything she could to maximize her chances of winning.