Fold.
Between a guaranteed loss of two million five hundred thousand and a probable loss of four million five hundred thousand, the bodyguard ultimately made the rational choice for the former.
Seeing this, the purple-haired woman immediately said with a smile, "Not bad, big guy, you can bend and stretch! You have to be soft when it's time to be soft!"
The moment the purple-haired woman finished speaking, Gu Jingjing, the referee, also announced the result of the round in a timely manner.
After paying out the chips and shredding the poker cards directly into the automatic shredder next to them, Gu Jingjing replaced the deck and signaled for the game to continue.
There was only one hour left in the second half of the match. I roughly calculated that there would be about 10 to 12 rounds in total.
In other words, to stand out in the six-to-one elimination format of the second half, one would have to win at least half of these 10 to 12 rounds, and that was provided they made no mistakes!
Therefore, I couldn't just rely on the cards dealt; I had to find ways to create opportunities.
Another strategy was to do the opposite, to wait for favorable cards to appear and remain inactive.
By the time good cards showed up, the chip counts of the other five people at the table would likely have already diverged significantly.
Then, I would directly pick the person with the most chips and go all-in for a decisive showdown, reaping the rewards.
There was also a prerequisite for this: the cards had to be good enough to entice the opponent in the round that decided the winner.
As I was still pondering which strategy to choose, a new round had already begun.
Since the cards in the first round were decent, I chose to call.
After the community cards were dealt in the second round, I immediately made up my mind to make a move in this round.
When it's time to act, act decisively!
At this moment, the community cards in front of me were Q, J, Q.
No one's hand could beat mine, so I spoke first this round.
After a brief pause, I pushed one million chips onto the table.
As I mentioned earlier, everyone's average chip count was around four and a half to five million.
Calling for one million before the hole cards were dealt meant that if I continued, I would lose about a quarter of my chips.
This was a very taxing proportion. If the cards were truly bad, continuing would be a pure loss. Only those who were held back by mediocre hands would choose to take a risk and gamble.
As expected, after my one million chip bet, the bodyguard, who was currently at the bottom of the chip rankings, immediately chose to fold.
As for the other three people, they all hesitated and dithered, appearing indecisive.
In the end, only one middle-aged man chose to call.
When it was the purple-haired woman's turn, she threw in one million chips without even thinking, very decisively.
Currently, the purple-haired woman had the most chips, so her call did not surprise me.
After Gu Jingjing dealt the crucial hole cards, the three of us revealed our hole cards one by one.
At this point, the middle-aged man's hand was 7, 8, 10, J, a straight draw with a single out.
The purple-haired woman, on the other hand, had 2, A, 5, A.
As for me, my last card turned out to be a completely irrelevant 7.
According to the rules, the final round started with the purple-haired woman making the bet.
After glancing at the middle-aged man's hand, the purple-haired woman chuckled, "Uncle, are you trying to buy a straight?"
"Yes! Why wouldn't I be?" the middle-aged man replied with a smile.
"Since you want to buy a straight, I'll grant your wish..."
Saying this, the purple-haired woman suddenly pushed two long million-chip stacks onto the table.
"Two million, you can have it!"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's brow furrowed slightly, and then he chose to fold without any hesitation.
It seemed he was a conservative player unwilling to take risks.
But it was understandable. If the middle-aged man didn't hit his straight, the best outcome for him would be to pair up.
However, whether it was the purple-haired woman or me, our paired cards were far superior to the pair of Jacks he could get.
Therefore, rather than risking a gamble on an uncertain straight, it was better to preserve his chips and make a move later.
After the middle-aged man folded, I didn't just call the two million; I pushed all my chips on the table.
"I'm all in!"
As I said this, I revealed my hole cards along with the community cards.
A dazzling Spade Jack!
Seeing this, the purple-haired woman's expression immediately fell.
And that was exactly the effect I wanted!
Although I had only gambled with the purple-haired woman for two rounds, I had already figured out some things about her.
I couldn't be sure of her identity, but there was one thing I was certain of.
She particularly enjoyed bluffing!
I didn't know if others could see it, but I could see it clearly.
Whether it was the previous round that had ended or the current round that was reaching its critical moment, the purple-haired woman's final revealed cards were not the actual hole cards, but the initial bottom card!
Every time she looked at the last hole card, the purple-haired woman would use the first hole card as a base and pretend to be trying to hit a hand.
After pretending to try for a hand, she would then feign revealing the card.
Although she didn't deliberately hide anything throughout the process, the purple-haired woman used sleight of hand when revealing the cards.
She wanted to create psychological pressure on her opponents in this way.
Unfortunately, not only did I not fall for it, but I saw through her little trick at a glance and immediately employed a strategy of using her own methods against her!
After an unknown amount of time...
"Handsome, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to scare me with an all-in bet?" the purple-haired woman asked, staring intently at me after regaining her composure.
I remained silent, offering a noncommittal smile.
Seeing this, the purple-haired woman immediately snorted and said, "Let me look at the bottom card again!"
With that, she reached for the bottom card.
Just then, I saw the corner of the card slightly move the moment the purple-haired woman reached for the bottom card.
And her arm suddenly, inexplicably, dropped a tiny bit.
The drop of her arm was very small; an ordinary person might not even notice it even if they concentrated.
Seeing this, I immediately realized that the purple-haired woman was a cheat!
She was lowering her arm to perform a card switch.
And this card switch was likely a sleeve-in, sleeve-out maneuver.
Judging by her demeanor and actions, she was clearly an expert.
To be honest, the moment I confirmed the purple-haired woman was a cheat and was preparing to switch cards, I really wanted to call her out publicly...