"Before the game starts, let's go over the rules."
After glancing at me and the middle-aged man, Shen Mengqing said in a deep voice, "Since it's a winner-take-all match, there's no such thing as folding."
"You can raise the bet or go all-in, but folding is absolutely forbidden!"
"Anyone who folds will be automatically deemed to have lost!"
"Because this is a high-stakes game, I need to re-emphasize the issue of cheating."
"Cheating is allowed, and so is calling out an opponent for cheating! However..."
"You must catch them red-handed!"
"If you fail, you will be immediately deemed to have lost."
"If there are no objections, we can start after the cards are verified. Please note that during the card verification process, hands are strictly prohibited from touching the faces of the cards."
After speaking, seeing that neither the middle-aged man nor I had responded, Shen Mengqing extended her hands, signaling for us to verify the cards.
In high-stakes games at legitimate establishments, the so-called card verification is merely a procedural formality.
Trying to tamper with the cards is absolutely impossible!
This is because, before the game even begins, you never have the opportunity to touch the cards!
The Ace to King of all four suits were laid out from beginning to end. After verifying the faces, Shen Mengqing first gathered the cards and instantly flipped them face down on the table.
Then, she repeated the same actions, smoothing and spreading out the 52 playing cards once more.
The reason Bee playing cards are universally used in casinos worldwide is because the patterns on the back are uniform and borderless, which is highly effective in preventing cheaters from cheating.
Of course, if you could touch the cards during verification, then what I just said would be irrelevant!
Getting back to the matter at hand.
With just one glance, the middle-aged man and I knew that there were absolutely no issues with this deck of cards.
After confirming that the playing cards were fine, Shen Mengqing began to shuffle them.
Perhaps it was due to the consecutive losses of Lu Yong and others before this, but the moment Shen Mengqing started shuffling, her hands trembled involuntarily.
Seeing this, my brow furrowed slightly.
Many people previously didn't understand why I chose to represent Shen Mengqing in this final showdown.
In fact, besides intending to repay her for protecting me, I also wanted to leverage the casino's setting to experience the feeling of cheating for the first time in a team collaboration.
But now it seemed... that was out of the question!
Even Shen Mengqing, a master of handling pressure, showed signs of nervousness under the middle-aged man's winning streak, let alone the others!
In this round, I could only rely on myself!
Lost in thought, Shen Mengqing was already shuffling the cards.
Just moments ago, as I was contemplating whether Shen Mengqing could provide any assistance, a myriad of chaotic and complex thoughts also flashed through her mind.
To cheat or not to cheat...
To palm a card or not to palm a card...
To conceal a card or not to conceal a card...
And so on, and so forth...
But for some reason, by the time she actually started shuffling, none of these thoughts were realized.
Without employing any cheating techniques, Shen Mengqing used the riffle shuffle, the pile shuffle, and the Hindu shuffle, commonly used by casino dealers, mixing them together for a full five or six times.
Only after confirming that I, and especially that middle-aged man, could no longer keep track of the card order did she stop and cut the deck.
"Due to the outcome of the previous round, this round... you will call the bet first."
As her nervousness gradually subsided, Shen Mengqing looked at the middle-aged man and said with a solemn tone.
Casually tossing 210,000 in cash onto the table, the middle-aged man smiled at Shen Mengqing and nodded, saying, "As expected of my little darling Mengqing, your methods are fair, your practices are just, and your words are open. So, 210,000 it is."
"Twenty-one equals 21, and 21 means I love you!"
Upon hearing this, I remained silent, instead reaching under the table for a box and throwing 210,000 in cash into the pot.
As for Shen Mengqing, her face clouded over as she began dealing the cards.
One face up, one face down.
The face-down card was in front, and the face-up card was behind.
Without knowing whether the face-down card was high or low, judging solely by the face-up cards, the middle-aged man had the King of Spades, and I had the Ten of Hearts.
He was high, I was low.
Therefore, he spoke to call the bet.
Glancing at the face-up King of Spades in front of him, the middle-aged man said confidently, "K stands for King! Since little darling Mengqing dealt me a good card right off the bat, then... 320,000!"
As soon as he finished speaking, I saw the middle-aged man very crisply and cleanly throw bundles of cash onto the gambling table.
Since there was no folding in this game, I immediately matched his bet without a word.
After both sides had placed their bets, Shen Mengqing continued dealing.
It was only when the third card was dealt that I realized the rules of Stud Poker in Zhejiang Province were somewhat different from elsewhere!
Except for the fifth, face-down card, during the process of dealing the third and fourth cards, the cards... were dealt face down!
In other words, the dealer would not reveal these two cards for you.
As Shen Mengqing pushed the third card towards the middle-aged man with the card shovel, I saw his hand move!
The moment he took the card with his left hand, his right index finger slightly curled inward, a cheating motion that resembled preparing to switch a card.
With the action of his left hand blocking the view, the movement of the middle-aged man's right hand was very subtle.
However, I still noticed it.
What was going on!?
He's going to cheat before even seeing the card?
This scene made my eyebrows twitch slightly.
Once you choose to cheat early, the risk of encountering a stacked deck increases significantly!
In a situation like this, the middle-aged man shouldn't be unaware of this.
Could it be that he was doing it deliberately to show me?
Trying to make me call him out for cheating?
Then, he would directly fail the call and be deemed to have lost?
Or was this guy playing a game of feints, of reality and illusion, blurring the lines between true and false?
Just as I was pondering what the middle-aged man's previous action meant...
He had already received the card and revealed it.
"Queen of Spades! Hahaha~"
"Little darling Mengqing, you really dealt me a good hand!"
As the middle-aged man's words fell, I saw almost all the onlookers around us gasp in unison.
Even Shen Mengqing herself widened her eyes, her face filled with disbelief.
Her pink lips parted several times, as if about to speak.
I knew Shen Mengqing wanted to call for a card verification, but her role was more than just a temporary dealer.
She was the Lantern Bearer of Ruichi, representing the entire Ruichi.
Once she called to stop the game and initiate a card verification, it would signify that Ruichi was about to call out a cheater.
But was the middle-aged man's cheat really that easy to catch?
As long as he wasn't caught red-handed, the game wouldn't need to continue, and Ruichi would lose everything!
I must say, the middle-aged man truly played a clever game of tactics.
He had completely mastered the concept of human psychology!