At this moment, only I, the middle-aged man, and the pimpled young man named Xiaoshan remained at the gambling table.
It was evident that the middle-aged man kept Xiaoshan, the pimpled young man, around solely to provoke me.
Ever since my "Star Picking" technique had broken his perfect shuffling, this hand of cards had shifted from pure skill to a game of luck.
Anyone could win.
Of course, in a two-on-one situation, their chances of winning were naturally higher.
Seeing my hesitation, the middle-aged man decisively threw in 600, continuing to bet blind.
As for Xiaoshan, he made a show of raising his arm.
I knew this meant he was preparing to look at his cards.
And after looking, he would definitely bet!
As expected, after a moment's hesitation and lighting a cigarette, Xiaoshan threw in money to bet.
This was likely the middle-aged man's idea, planning to use 1800 yuan to trap my 600 yuan.
While it seemed like a significant loss, remember that the middle-aged man and his companions had won a full 200,000 from playing with Leng Meng earlier!
Therefore, he wouldn't be at a loss at all.
Moreover, from a probability standpoint, although I only had a one-third chance of winning, this was contingent on me calling the bet.
Thus, to completely trap me, the middle-aged man proactively changed the game, using three times my bet to drag me in.
If we continued betting at this ratio, I would likely need to put in around 5,000 yuan per hand.
If I got lucky and won, I could recoup about 13,000 yuan of Leng Meng's capital.
But if I lost, well... that would be my first step into the abyss!
Betting small to win big! Heh.
How many people have been lured into deep pits by these four words, "betting small to win big," never to climb out again.
In this round, as long as one of the two, the middle-aged man or Xiaoshan, drew a lucky card, they could basically guarantee a win...
After thinking it through, even though I knew it was a trap, and that the middle-aged man and his associates had dug it very deep, I still jumped in without hesitation!
There was no choice; I had to reciprocate the favor.
Since I was here, it meant I had agreed to Yu Shuang's terms.
Therefore, whether I could afford it or not, I had to play!
...
After feigning hesitation and dawdling for a while, I reluctantly matched the 600 yuan.
Of course, this wasn't an act.
Because I was betting my own money!
The middle-aged man and the others didn't know I was an outside reinforcement hired by Yu Shuang. If they realized it, they would surely try every means to change their tactics and cheat me out of my money.
Thus, the three of us, each putting in 1200, with two of us betting 600 and 600.
No one spoke while betting, as everyone knew we were aiming for the table limit!
In less than two minutes, the bets had reached the limit of 18,000.
Looking at the piles of hundred-yuan bills on the table, the three people watching from a distance, Leng Meng included, all showed expressions of tension.
"The limit has been reached, we can reveal our cards."
"I'll go first."
As the middle-aged man's words fell, the three of us began to reveal our cards.
Before revealing the cards, perhaps due to nervousness or a nicotine craving, Xiaoshan lit another cigarette.
After taking a deep breath, the middle-aged man began to lift his cards.
The first card... a Heart 2.
The second card... a Spade 9.
As a thick plume of smoke was exhaled from Xiaoshan's mouth, and just as I couldn't help but blink my eyes because of it, the middle-aged man's third card was flipped over.
A Spade 4.
A very bad hand.
The middle-aged man had a mixed hand of 2, 4, and 9. As long as I wasn't possessed by the god of misfortune, a single picture card would be enough to beat him.
"Damn!!!"
"What the hell kind of terrible hand is this!!!"
Perhaps it was because I had broken his perfect shuffling technique, the middle-aged man was furious and uncharacteristically cursed.
After cursing, as if still not appeased, the middle-aged man scooped up his three cards and threw them forcefully into the deck.
Seeing that the middle-aged man had a mixed hand, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, this was my first time gambling against a cheating ring, and I had no confidence at all.
Although the middle-aged man had said at the start of the game that it was a friendly match, a pure technical contest without animosity, who knew if they would take the opportunity to cheat.
After all, cheating techniques weren't limited to shuffling and cutting; they also included palming, hiding, and switching cards, and so on.
Therefore, there was plenty of room for manipulation and wordplay.
The so-called pure technical contest without animosity was merely a formality to save face when neither side was confident of completely seeing through the other.
Such worthless verbal promises could only reveal their true nature and reliability at the moment of truth.
However, judging by the current situation, the middle-aged man and his associates were quite reputable, and they hadn't secretly made any underhanded moves.
Next, it was Xiaoshan's turn to reveal his cards.
Unlike the middle-aged man who revealed his cards one by one, Xiaoshan directly flipped over all three cards at once.
Diamond Ace, Diamond Queen, Club Ace.
A pair of Aces.
Upon seeing the pair of Aces, my heart sank by more than half.
I hadn't expected Xiaoshan to get a pair of Aces in a hand that was purely based on luck.
From the moment the cards were dealt, I had observed every move of the middle-aged man and his associates.
The four of them had hardly spoken to each other. And there were no suspicious or superfluous movements with their hands.
Oh, wait! Strictly speaking, there were two small movements.
Lighting a cigarette and smoking.
From the moment it was just the three of us, when betting on exposed cards, Xiaoshan lit a cigarette.
Then, before the middle-aged man revealed his cards, he lit another cigarette.
And just now, he had exhaled a large puff of extremely dense smoke.
Would there be a problem? Probably... not, right?
To switch a cigarette for an Ace, you'd need someone like Stephen Chow with supernatural powers!
As it stands, Xiaoshan's pair of Aces was most likely a pure luck hand.
To beat him, I would need at least a straight.
"Kid, you're done for this hand!"
Lighting a "Nine-Five Supreme" cigarette and taking a leisurely puff, Xiaoshan raised an eyebrow and smiled.
His demeanor was so arrogant it was begging for a beating!
At this moment, the middle-aged man's tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
Instantly, the pressure shifted to me.
Ignoring the middle-aged man and Xiaoshan, I directly shifted my gaze to the three cards in front of me.
At this point, all the fancy tricks were useless.
Under the watchful eyes of four seasoned gamblers, it was completely impossible to palm, hide, or switch cards.