Chapter 5 The River Card
The fifth street card was dealt, the Six of Hearts.
J, 7, 3, 2, 6, a rainbow of cards.
With such a board, any hand that was a flush or higher was eliminated.
Below a flush, only straights, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card, also known as miscellaneous cards, remained.
A one-in-five chance for the board, a one-in-three chance of winning.
If I wanted to guarantee a win, the best method would be to cheat by switching cards, changing A-K's hand to a 4 and a 5, regardless of suit.
Furthermore, in this hand, I had the initiative to switch cards.
With this thought, I directly took out a chip worth ten thousand and flicked it into the pot.
"Ten thousand!"
It was Shui Miaomiao's turn to speak.
My original plan was to take advantage of the time she took to make her final decision, using the excuse of looking at cards to take a gamble and perform a cheat.
But at that moment, I saw Shui Miaomiao suddenly turn and call over a passing waiter, asking for an iced Americano.
The moment the iced Americano arrived, she took a large gulp, and then…
"I'm all-in!"
As soon as the words fell, Shui Miaomiao pushed all the nearly two hundred thousand in chips in front of her into the pot.
This scene immediately stunned everyone.
What was going on?
Shui Miaomiao, who was leading the table in chips, had actually chosen to go all-in first in this round?
Was she aiming to take down both of us in one go, seeing as my chips and Old Smoker's chips combined were almost equal to hers?
Both Old Smoker and I seemed to have not expected Shui Miaomiao to go all-in directly, and we both couldn't help but frown.
In a Texas Hold'em tournament, it was extremely deadly for the player with more chips to go all-in first.
Unless you chose to fold, if you called, you could only aim for the win.
Because the consequence of losing was being eliminated from the table!
Seeing Shui Miaomiao's stance, a strange feeling suddenly arose in my heart.
Could it be that her initial bet of six thousand was not aimed at me, but she intended to trap Old Smoker?
If that were the case, then I would have walked right into the trap and sealed my own doom!
To be honest, I hadn't paid much attention to Old Smoker before. One reason was that I had lost to Shui Miaomiao in the opening hand.
Another was that the opponent played cards very casually, and the hands he won had a suspicious element of luck. Coupled with the fact that he was constantly smoking, I hadn't paid much attention.
Now it seemed I had been careless.
Just like a cheater, professional Texas Hold'em players had an extremely keen sense for their peers.
In an important event like the Thousand King Tournament, a cheater should be as low-key as possible and should not make too many small movements.
The fact that Old Smoker was constantly smoking first ruled out the possibility of him being a cheater…
When I came back to my senses, everyone on stage, including Jiang Bin, was glancing at Old Smoker and me from time to time.
I knew that the best time to cheat by switching cards had passed.
If I chose to fold this hand, my remaining chips of less than twenty thousand, while they could sustain me for another round, would mean…
I definitely wouldn't be in the big blind position next round.
Without the big blind, the initiative after the flop would be firmly in the hands of others.
If I chose to call, I would have to perform the act of cheating by switching cards under everyone's watchful eyes.
As I was anxiously thinking, I saw Old Smoker push all his chips in and choose to call.
Next, it was just me.
At this moment, I felt inexplicably nervous.
I had to admit that the initial feeling of having victory in hand, which inexplicably reversed into an opening loss, had a significant impact on me.
As a result, I lost my usual composure and calmness at the table, and my vision became narrow, focusing only on Shui Miaomiao and overlooking others.
No one had targeted me in this round; I had willingly walked into it myself!
Time passed silently.
Seeing me deep in thought for a long time, Jiang Bin couldn't help but remind me, "Time is up, please make your final decision."
Hearing this, I slowly raised my head and pushed all the remaining chips in front of me.
"I call!"
Rather than lingering on, it was better to fight to the death!
According to the rules of Texas Hold'em, if the player with more chips goes all-in first, then even if the player with fewer chips calls all-in, they are not eligible to wait for the cards to be revealed later.
In other words: all three players reveal their hands simultaneously.
Seeing that I had chosen to call, Jiang Bin immediately signaled for the three of us to listen to his command. After a three-second countdown, we would simultaneously reveal our cards. Anyone revealing their cards after the countdown would be considered in violation and immediately eliminated.
At this moment, my heart was as anxious as Chen Daozi's desire to produce the crucial 3.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
The moment Jiang Bin finished speaking, Shui Miaomiao, Old Smoker, and I all simultaneously flipped over the two hole cards in front of us.
As soon as the cards were revealed, everyone except the three of us involuntarily let out a gasp.
Let's first look at Shui Miaomiao's hole cards.
A Ten and a Nine.
A typical straight draw, the initial bet of six thousand was not a problem. When the first three community cards, J, 7, 3, came out, there was still a good chance.
Unfortunately, it was a near miss.
No wonder she suddenly asked the waiter for an iced Americano before deciding to go all-in. It turned out she wanted to bluff and scare Old Smoker away.
From this, it could be concluded that Shui Miaomiao's target in this round, from beginning to end, was Old Smoker!
Next, let's look at Old Smoker's cards.
A Five and a Six.
Combined with the final river card, the Six, they formed a miraculous pair.
If there wasn't the irreplaceable Six, it would have been hard to say who would win between the two!
Finally, let's look back at me.
To everyone's surprise, my hole cards were a pair of Aces!
Upon seeing me reveal a pair of Aces, a look of suspicion appeared in everyone's eyes.
Looking at my hole cards, Shui Miaomiao frowned and said, "Although I didn't intend to target you in this round, after you confirmed you would call earlier, I calculated your hand type if you chose to call without raising, and it definitely wouldn't be such a monster hand!"
"Can you tell me how you got your pair of Aces?"
Hearing this, I replied half-jokingly, half-seriously, "I'm sorry, it's a trade secret, and I cannot disclose it!"
Upon hearing my answer, the other players at the table burst into laughter.
Only Shui Miaomiao, Old Smoker, and Jiang Bin frowned, or looked solemn, or looked serious as they stared at me.
Feeling a bit unnerved by their stares, I secretly rejoiced: Uncle Tuo, bless me, I finally succeeded!
Just like the God of Gamblers, Gao Jin's trick of conjuring a 3 out of thin air, my great transformation of Aces is also an unpassed secret, originating from Uncle Tuo's month-long personal instruction.
As for the specific operation, I will tell you slowly next time…