The bald man's face-up cards were very strong, the legendary AK combination, which was considered a sure bet, but it was off-suit.
The middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair also had a good hand, an 8 and a 10, both of the same suit.
When it came to my turn, my hand was quite dismal: a small 4 and a small 5, off-suit.
Originally, I didn't want to continue, but with the signal jammed and no way to seek help, if I wanted to get out of this predicament quickly, I had to temporarily aim for the goal set by He Zhonghua.
So, after the bald man raised and threw in five million in chips, I finally chose to call.
Judging by the face-up cards alone, in this hand, the dealer would definitely keep using the "touch two cards" technique to keep dealing me low cards.
If I stayed until the end to compare hands, I would surely lose, but…
In a gambling game with undercurrents, nothing can be definitively concluded beforehand.
Because winning early isn't winning, losing late is losing!
As long as there's a chance, as long as there's room for manipulation, a cheat can create infinite possibilities!
The dealer began dealing the third face-up card.
Starting with the bald man, he received an Ace, making his hand a pair of Aces with a single King.
The middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair got a Queen, which, along with the 8 and 10, were all diamonds of the same suit.
My hand was the smallest, a small 3.
It was obvious that the dealer had already arranged a special card sequence for me when shuffling.
As long as I chose to call, he would use the "touch two cards" technique to deal me a hand that looked small on the surface but had a chance to turn into a straight of mixed suits.
Once I took the bait and called, it would mean I had fallen into a trap, and the only outcome would be to wait to be taken!
As it stood, among the three of us, the middle-aged man's flush was the strongest, followed closely by the bald man, with me at the very bottom.
However, those who have played a lot of showdowns know that big hands like straight flushes, flushes, and full houses are not as solid as a guaranteed pair.
So, in other words, before the complete hand is revealed, the gap between the three of us isn't that large; we all have a chance to "gamble" for what we want.
Of course, this statement comes from my own ideal state…
After the flush hand appeared, according to the rules, the middle-aged man was the first to call for bets this round.
Without any hesitation, the middle-aged man picked up a rectangular plastic chip and said, "Just playing around, ten million!"
I knew that the middle-aged man, holding the flush, wasn't betting heavily purely to bait me.
Yet, little did he know that the most skilled hunters often appear in the form of prey.
So, I called without a word.
To escape quickly, I had to keep winning hands, and the key to winning hands lay in the final showdown.
Only by staying in until the end would there be a showdown.
Folding early would result in losing everything later.
………………
I had to admit, the acting skills of these cheats were quite on point.
Seemingly remembering his role as a boss, the bald man, who called after me, puffed on his cigar and said in a deep voice, "Little brother, you dare to call with a hand like this? It looks like you have quite a close relationship with Young Master He!"
The bald man's implication was that I was wasting the chips left by He Zhonghua.
Hearing this, I pretended to know nothing and replied with a chuckle, "Not bad, not bad! I usually love playing showdown, and I would call with a hand like this even if I wasn't here to save the day."
"Is that so…" He paused, then after giving the middle-aged man a subtle glance, the bald man suddenly said, "You're going for a straight, and I'm going for trips or a full house. We're truly playing against each other."
"If you get what you're going for and I don't, I lose; if you don't get what you're going for and I do, I win!"
"Since little brother seems to know a lot about showdown, I won't go easy on you!"
"Call ten million, and raise you another ten million!"
Clearly, this was the prelude to the bald man preparing to strike me down after silently exchanging glances with the middle-aged man.
At this point, I finally confirmed what their purpose was in having five people sit at the table playing different roles to gamble with me in showdown.
Their task was to find a way to completely stall me and keep me in the villa.
After the bald man raised, it was the middle-aged man's turn. Holding the strongest hand on the table, he, without the slightest hesitation, decisively pushed another ten million in chips onto the table.
Immediately after, this guy who resembled Ah King turned his gaze to me, his eyes full of provocation and disdain.
Heh heh ~ a clumsy attempt at goading!
In fact, there was no need for any goading; as long as I didn't choose to fold earlier, I would inevitably stay in until the end.
Fortune favors the bold, and success is found in the details!
Every hand was an opportunity for them, and for me… it was the same!
Therefore, without any thought, I directly threw another ten million in chips onto the table.
After calling, the dealer began dealing.
After seeing the fifth hidden card one by one,
The bald man's four face-up cards were: A, K, A, 6.
The hand was completely set; a full house was gone, and the best he could have was three Aces.
The middle-aged man's face-up cards were: 8, 10, Q, 7, all diamonds of the same suit.
My hand turned out to be what I wanted most before calling: a small 2, the smallest possible, but it successfully turned my face-up cards into a mixed straight of 2-3-4-5, and it was a straight on both ends.
I still hadn't flipped over my initial hole card.
I knew very well that the four face-up cards and the hole card I had received were definitely designed in advance by that dealer.
Winning was absolutely impossible; staying in until the end was just sending myself to my doom, so it was better not to look.
When the dealer secretly manipulated the cards during shuffling, he definitely wouldn't have foreseen that only three people would be playing. Besides using the "touch two cards" to suppress my five cards, hands like those held by the bald man and the middle-aged man were likely found by the dealer from the deck using his memory.
There was accuracy, but also deviations.
Therefore, the true deciding factor in the game's outcome still depended on ourselves.
As I thought this, the middle-aged man, holding the flush, pushed out a small portion of the chips in front of him and said, "Fifty million!"
Frankly, the middle-aged man's flush was the biggest threat to me, because even if I cheated and replaced my hole card with either an Ace or a 6, a mixed straight still couldn't beat a flush.
Given the current situation, the most rational and correct course of action would be to fold, but…
I couldn't fold!
Because losing one game now might require me to spend three or four, or even five or six games to make it back!
If I were truly held back by these people, I would miss tonight's finals.
Furthermore, the middle-aged man had made a move before the fifth hidden card was dealt, clearly exchanging it with his hole card. His actual hand was definitely not a flush!
Therefore, I chose to do the opposite.
"I'll call your fifty million, and then…"
I paused, picked up the only two plastic chips on the table worth over a hundred million, and said with a light laugh, "I'll raise you two hundred million!"