He Guan did not go all-in, but instead placed a bet of fifty million.
That guy's calculations were as clear as day.
If I win, I lose all chance of a comeback.
If I lose, he only loses about thirty million in total. With over an hour left in the match, even if I only managed to take the pot bet each hand, I would still have a chance to make up the thirty million chip difference.
In this current situation, given He Guan's cunning and treacherous nature, I could no longer tell if he only had a pair of 5s, two pairs, or even three of a kind.
Under these circumstances, if I wanted to guarantee a win, I would have to cheat by switching cards, replacing my hole card with a single 10.
Glancing at my hole card, I found it to be a useless single 3, and decided to take the risk.
Uncle Tuo had once said that the skill of a cheat, besides diligent learning, continuous improvement, and practical drills, was also partly linked to innate personal talent.
For example: being naturally left-handed, or having sharp hearing and clear vision from childhood.
Another small factor depended on courage.
A cheat who dared not perform their tricks in full view of everyone would always be a mere paper tiger, all show and no substance.
In such an important occasion tonight, if I were to hold back due to environmental factors… I would never be able to cross the threshold of becoming a top-tier cheat!
………………
After He Guan bet fifty million, I pretended to check my hole card again, reaching out to slowly fiddle with the corner of the card.
As soon as my hand made a move, I saw all the hidden lights within the surrounding crowd of onlookers cast their gazes uniformly towards me.
Some even pushed their way out of the crowd, deliberately moving to the front.
The purpose of these hidden lights was to keep a close watch on me, both openly and covertly, to catch any irregular movements I made and apprehend me red-handed!
At this very moment, I lowered my head slightly, glancing at He Guan sitting directly opposite me from the corner of my eye.
I noticed that He Guan's gaze had become as sharp and piercing as swords at this moment.
Simultaneously, the corners of his mouth revealed that same incredibly eerie cold smile he had shown earlier when I requested to inspect the cards.
After a hurried glance, a strange sense of nervousness immediately arose in my heart.
I felt as if countless eyes, including He Guan's, along with the 360-degree high-definition cameras around us, were all focused on me.
Connecting He Guan's peculiar cold smiles from before, suddenly… an extremely chilling and terrifying thought struck me.
Could it be that He Guan had seen through everything from the moment I used the excuse of inspecting the cards to actually steal one?
If that were the case, then my current act of switching cards would undoubtedly be digging my own grave!
But if I gave up cheating, then what awaited me would be a slow death!
Unless I had another way to break free from this no-win situation.
Did I?
Undoubtedly, the answer was no.
There was no choice. I had no other option in this situation but to close my eyes and go all the way, breaking the boats and burning the bridges for a desperate gamble.
With this thought, my right fingers moved slightly, preparing to cheat directly.
As my fingers moved, at this moment, including He Guan, all the hidden lights around, and the high-definition surveillance equipment, were all locked onto me.
Both humans and machines were searching for the right angle, attempting to see through the small movements in my hands.
With victory and defeat, life and death at hand, a continuous stream of nervousness surged from the depths of my heart.
My heart pounded, trembled, and palpitated to the extreme!
The moment I executed the Sleeve of Heaven and Earth technique, I distinctly felt that under the combined external factors of my extreme nervousness and the high-pressure surveillance around me, my fingers were not as nimble as usual.
Instead, they felt inexplicably numb and stiff!
As the saying goes: an expert's move reveals their skill!
The instant I employed the Sleeve of Heaven and Earth technique, a thought of utter despair naturally arose in the depths of my mind.
It's over!
With a slight deformation in my technique, I knew that I was likely in for trouble.
Those hidden lights might not have the keen eyesight to discern it, but He Guan definitely would!
………………
After completing the card switch, the sense of nervousness in my heart subsided somewhat.
To further alleviate the extreme pressure, like an arrow nocked and ready to be shot, I lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
Glancing at the chips He Guan had pushed forward, I suddenly pushed all fifty million chips in front of me.
"I call your fifty million, show your cards!!!"
As soon as I finished speaking, with a rustle…
Following my call, the atmosphere in the entire hall suddenly plummeted to freezing point. Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed firmly on the card table.
This kind of almost suffocating all-in confrontation felt a bit like those scenes in Hong Kong gambling movies.
Facing my call, He Guan remained unmoved.
He crossed his arms, not saying a word, just staring at me with that cold smile on his face.
Facing He Guan's repeated provocative glances, I no longer deliberately suppressed my anger. I looked at him and said indifferently, "I call, please show your cards!"
Upon hearing this, He Guan suddenly stood up.
He picked up his hole card and, without even looking at it, directly revealed it.
A single 7, with no connection to the visible cards.
"My hand is not as good as yours."
As soon as He Guan finished speaking, the entire venue erupted in an uproar. Even Xiao Tianci, who had remained composed until now, nervously stood up again.
But then, he immediately added, "According to the rules of Stud, my hand is definitely weaker than yours, but..."
"The one who truly loses this hand is you!!!"
Hearing this, I immediately retorted angrily, "Are you telling a joke?"
"Heh heh~" After a cold laugh, He Guan pointed at the cards on my table and said, "The rules of the Thousand Gate Blue Path state that no matter what is gambled, if anyone cheats, they are automatically deemed to have lost!"
"Your cards are indeed better than mine, but you obtained them through cheating!"
"Do you dare to reveal that hole card 10?"
"…………"
In an instant, I was rendered speechless.
Seeing this, He Guan immediately waved to his left and right, saying coldly, "Guards!!!"
Before I could react, He Guan pointed at me fiercely, "Don't move! From now on, if you dare to move, I will consider it cheating!"
At He Guan's command, those hidden lights hidden within the crowd of onlookers immediately swarmed forward, appearing beside me…