The smile on his face made me sense, in an intangible way, a subtle atmosphere that only arises during a high-stakes duel between masters.
I surmised that this battle-hardened old gambler before me had likely seen through something.
However, I didn't become nervous because of this. I merely returned a smile to the middle-aged man, one that was imperceptible to others.
At this moment, perhaps, the old gamblers and I could sense something from each other, but neither side was quick to draw conclusions.
I had to admit, the feeling was quite peculiar.
It was akin to what was depicted in martial arts films, as if wisps of invisible gunpowder smoke permeated the air around us.
This seemingly ordinary card game was, in reality, a brewing storm beneath the surface…
Slowly picking up the deck, the middle-aged man shuffled the cards a few times with his hands. His technique was neither elegantly flamboyant nor strikingly swift and sharp.
After shuffling the cards in what appeared to be a casual manner, the middle-aged man handed the deck back to me, "Young brother, you can deal."
Since I hadn't understood the middle-aged man's shuffling technique, I still chose not to cheat after taking the cards and dealt them using ordinary methods.
After dealing the cards, the match among these members of the gambling world officially began.
Although these four old gamblers had barely spoken to each other since I sat down at the table, I knew that for this kind of team collaboration, they didn't need to communicate verbally.
A mere glance or a subtle movement between them was enough for them to convey messages and coordinate their actions.
As expected, under their pre-arranged plan, in the very first round, the pimpled guy took the lead, adopting a foolish stance and aggressively attacking without restraint.
In a game where betting on a blind card capped at six hundred, this fellow instantly bet six hundred.
This meant that before this hand ended, starting from the next round, blind bets would begin at 600, and raising would require an additional 1200.
In such a situation, if one received a small pair, they would either fold immediately or have to stubbornly follow through to the end!
Anyone who folded mid-hand was a fool!
After a symbolic round of blind betting, when it was my turn to speak in the second round, I decisively chose to look at my cards.
The moment I saw the three hole cards, I immediately realized that in this round… I had lost!
A pair of Jacks, not too big, not too small.
It was the kind of hand that could be dragged down and defeated by them.
With such a hand, betting would be like giving away money; there was no possibility of winning.
Therefore, I very decisively folded.
Seeing this, the pimpled guy's small eyes darted around, and he looked at me with a sly grin, saying, "Heh, not scared, brother? Not playing this first hand?"
"Playing like this… you won't win."
Upon hearing this, before I could even reply, the middle-aged man beside me immediately frowned and said irritably, "Little Shan, shut up!"
After speaking, he paused slightly, then quickly smiled at me, "My apologies, young brother, my younger brother doesn't know how to speak."
Hearing this, I didn't respond. I merely gave a dismissive smile and then shook my head.
When playing cards with fellow practitioners of the gambling arts, as long as you couldn't see through their techniques, remember, never, never, never harbor any hope of luck, thinking it's a pure luck-based hand without any skill involved.
In a card game, the luck that truly rests on you and that you can control is definitely much, much less than you might think!
I remembered Uncle Tuo once saying that if one encountered a gambling troupe in the future, regardless of whether they felt confident in defeating them, they must first maintain an absolutely calm mind.
Because at the card table, the calmer a person is, the more formidable they are, and the harder it is for others to guess their thoughts.
Furthermore, one shouldn't over-rely on gambling techniques; one must learn to think more with their mind and follow their intuition.
So, for this hand, my feeling was just one word: hopeless!
As expected, shortly after I folded, the four of them, after a period of "friendly fire," quickly determined the winner.
The middle-aged man had the best hand, a mixed straight of 6-7-8.
And the pimpled guy had a pair of 2s.
As for the other two unremarkable old gamblers, one had a mixed high card starting with an Ace, and the other actually also had a pair! A pair of 10s!
So fake! Even faker than what's shown in movies!
If I hadn't folded just now, if I had bet, starting with this pair of Jacks, I would have inevitably fallen into the deep pit they had meticulously designed and prepared for me!
Step by step, sinking deeper and deeper until I could no longer climb out!
Fortunately, I folded and only lost 600 yuan.
Although the gambling troupe won the first round, I could clearly sense that the leading middle-aged man wasn't very happy about winning.
On the contrary, he seemed somewhat annoyed.
Of course, I knew why the middle-aged man was annoyed. Although it seemed like he won and I lost, in reality, it was me winning and him losing.
It was just that he didn't realize I hadn't seen through his technique; I was purely playing it safe and strategically forfeited.
Seeing that I had lost, but only lost 600 yuan, Leng Meng and the other two had varied expressions on their faces.
There was shock, surprise, and hope…
But at this moment, I could no longer pay attention to them. I stretched my neck, my eyes wide open, staring intently at the middle-aged man's hands as he shuffled the cards.
Although I hadn't understood the middle-aged man's shuffling technique earlier, I was confident that his card-shuffling technique would absolutely not escape my eyes!
Because compared to the myriad of shuffling techniques, the truly winning shuffling techniques, including the most difficult perfect shuffle, were only a few.
Only by understanding the middle-aged man's shuffling technique could I counter it during the cut and directly break his shuffle.
The relationship between shuffling and cutting is like an invincible sword meeting an unbreakable shield; there is no absolute advantage of one over the other.
Each has its own merits, and they are evenly matched.
To win, one must resort to cunning.
Just as I maintained my prolonged stare, causing my eyes to become dry, and couldn't help but blink…
The middle-aged man began his performance.
Although I couldn't see the middle-aged man's initial movements due to the brief moment I blinked, his lifting motion… was clearly captured by me.
As I had expected, he was using the perfect shuffle, a winning technique that prevents others from disrupting the card order!
It seemed that since he couldn't gain an advantage from me in the first round, the middle-aged man was going all out this round.
To break the perfect shuffle, there was only one move.
This move had a particularly imposing name in cutting techniques: Star Picking.
Star Picking, it can pick down even the stars; no matter how perfectly the cards are shuffled, it's all just flashy nonsense!