Recovering my senses, Shui Miaomiao sneered dismissively, "Handsome, I never expected you to look so distinguished yet have a heart as small as a needle's eye!"
"Don't you understand the rules of honoring bets? If you can't take a loss, are you just going to smear your opponent with baseless accusations?"
"If this is the extent of your magnanimity, you should just go home and cuddle your mother to sleep!"
Shui Miaomiao's words drew hearty laughter from everyone at the table, and their gazes all turned towards me.
I didn't feel angered by this. Instead, I fixed my gaze on the smoker, watching him as I asked in a deep voice, "Buddy, that ventriloquism act... it was quite convincing, wasn't it?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, everyone at the table, including Shui Miaomiao and the smoker himself, froze in unison.
Even Jiang Bin, the referee, couldn't help but glance at me, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Before the smoker could recover and offer a rebuttal, I lit a cigarette and calmly pointed at him and Shui Miaomiao, asking, "You're in cahoots with her, aren't you?"
Upon hearing this, the smoker shot me an unfriendly look and retorted, "When you're losing badly, you start biting anyone indiscriminately? What the hell makes you say I'm in cahoots with that woman?"
"Because I saw you switch cards with her with my own eyes!!!"
As I uttered the last few words, I instinctively raised my voice.
"You're spewing pure bullshit!!!"
"If you're accusing me of switching cards, then I'm accusing you of cheating and stealing cards!" the smoker yelled back at me.
Ignoring the enraged smoker, I flicked the ash from my cigarette, stood up from my seat, and looked at Shui Miaomiao, asking, "Do you want to confess and leave with dignity, or wait until I catch you red-handed and have you dragged out?"
Although Shui Miaomiao remained silent, her expression flickered slightly, and the smile that had been on her lips vanished instantly.
Seeing this, the smoker beside her immediately grew agitated, swiftly standing up from his seat. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight me.
But before his fist could even swing, my words stopped him in his tracks.
"Just before the fourth turn card was dealt, through some imperceptible signals and subtle movements, you two had already established a connection, knowing each other's hole cards."
"After the fourth turn card was dealt, based on the community cards on the table, you and she quickly reached a consensus to help her win this round by secretly switching hole cards, allowing her chips to gain a decisive lead and ensuring her smooth advancement to the second round of the main competition!"
"Her sneezing action was actually a diversion to cover for you, intended to give you the opportunity to make your move."
"You did make your move, and you acted bravely, but..."
"To be honest, if you hadn't acted out of a lack of confidence and made a completely unnecessary move, I might not have suspected you at all, because your performance for the past hour was flawless!"
"Earlier, you chose to reveal your cards before the referee even spoke, which was actually to confirm if you had switched the wrong card!!!"
"Do I need to continue, brother? If you still intend to quibble or struggle, I'll have the referee pull up the surveillance footage!"
"Don't forget, your seat is directly facing a camera on the table."
"Although your card-switching move was quick and showed no flaws at the time, the surveillance footage can be played in reverse or slowed down!"
After hearing my complete description, the smoker dejectedly dropped his hands, completely stunned.
The look in his eyes suggested he couldn't believe I could describe the process of his card-switching cheating so accurately.
In reality, my claim about the surveillance camera capturing the act had a degree of gambling involved.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have needed to probe Shui Miaomiao first, aiming to make her crack under pressure and confess.
Because I knew very well that Shui Miaomiao was the leader of this two-person group.
I had initially thought the enraged smoker who jumped out was a tough character, but it turned out he was all brawn and no brains, with weaker psychological fortitude than Shui Miaomiao.
Shui Miaomiao only showed a moment of hesitation, while the smoker surrendered on the spot. The soft approach didn't work!
With his reaction, regardless of whether the surveillance footage actually caught anything, everyone now clearly understood that what I had said was true.
Including Jiang Bin, no one at the table was foolish; it was obvious that the smoker was genuinely scared after I had exposed their secret.
In fact, the small group formed by Shui Miaomiao and the smoker, both professional Texas Hold'em players, was quite clever.
With their relevant work experience, they knew that as long as they left no trace, they would be fine even if reported and searched.
Unfortunately, their cleverness backfired! The smarter people are, the more they strive for perfection.
And perfection is an undeniable double-edged sword.
Used well, it's invincible; used poorly, it inflicts more damage on oneself than the enemy.
...
After Jiang Bin contacted the backstage via his earpiece and confirmed the situation I described with the relevant staff, there was no need to question Shui Miaomiao further. She and the smoker were immediately disqualified for using props to cheat.
As the one who exposed their cheating, I became the ultimate winner, collecting nearly four hundred thousand in chips, making me the chip leader at that moment.
The reason I held back from cheating in the final moments of that hand and chose to expose Shui Miaomiao and the smoker was to eliminate them completely and claim all the chips.
Although cheating could win, since I was the one who initiated the All-in, even if they lost, they could have continued playing after paying out the chips because my chip count was the lowest!
Countless Texas Hold'em games had made me realize a crucial fact: one must never go head-to-head with professional poker players, as you might not gain any advantage.
Instead of exhausting myself with direct confrontation, it was better to find time-saving and effort-saving methods.
As it turned out, my change of strategy was timely and correct.
After eliminating two of the toughest opponents, I managed to survive the next hour and a half by employing a "muddy the waters" tactic.
When the match time ended, Jiang Bin immediately announced that I was the winner of this table and would advance.
After a half-night's rest and a full day tomorrow, the main competition of the Gambling King tournament would officially commence...