Two cards were flipped over, one for Gu Yuan and one for Hua Jianxing. Zeng Guoyu was clenching his fists nervously, but his expression had relaxed considerably. As long as the last card wasn't an eight, any card other than an eight would win against Gu Yuan.
But when the last card was revealed, it felt like a heavy hammer had struck the hearts of all three of them!
What you fear most will come to pass; what you don't want will inevitably arrive!
That damn eight! It made them lose another four million to Zhou Xuan. After deducting the one million base bet, they have to give Zhou Xuan seven million!
This was beyond their initial expectations; the money wasn't particularly large. Split among them, it amounted to over two million each, but how could they possibly feel happy about it?
Zhou Xuan must have been lucky! He didn't even touch the cards, and he already won seven million from them!
Gu Yuan's mind went blank at that moment, and without thinking, he shuffled the cards and dealt them again. This time, he got a nine and a 36Q, while Zhou Xuan also got a 36Q.
According to the rules of Three Kingdoms, if the dealer and the player have the same hand, then the suits are compared: Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds; Spades, Hearts, Clubs; Clubs, Diamonds; Spades are the highest, and Diamonds are the lowest.
Zhou Xuan has the Queen of Spades, while Gu Yuan has the Queen of Clubs. Based on suits, Zhou Xuan's suit is higher than Gu Yuan's.
Gu Yuan hummed, "Mr. Zhou, place your bet!" They didn't believe Zhou Xuan's luck would last forever in this purely luck-based game.
Zhou Xuan smiled and shook his head gently, then pushed all the chips in front of him out, bringing the total to eight million.
This time, no matter which one it was, Gu Yuan and the other two were already struggling to cope!
Putting money aside, if Zhou Xuan continues gambling like this, he could win a lot of money if he gets lucky a few more times. Although he might lose everything in one go, if he wins, it will be a painful blow to Gu Yuan and the other two!
Originally, they just wanted to test Zhou Xuan's gambling skills, but instead of testing his skills, they ended up hurting themselves and the other two!
This time, Gu Yuan didn't say anything at all and directly revealed Zhou Xuan's trump cards: three of hearts, six of hearts, and queen of spades.
"Nine o'clock!" all three of them exclaimed in surprise!
With this hand, Zhou Xuan had almost a 90% chance of winning. How could Gu Yuan and the other two not gasp in surprise?
At first, they only lost a small one million. Although they were surprised by Zhou Xuan's boldness, they didn't take it seriously. Who knew that Zhou Xuan would bet the full amount every time in the next round? At this rate, they couldn't keep up. If they lost this round, they would lose fifteen million, which was no small amount. Moreover, according to the current situation, Gu Yuan had a 90% chance of losing!
My fingers were trembling slightly as I flipped over the first card, which was a three of spades. Then I flipped over the second card, which was a six of diamonds. The first two cards were also nines!
Gu Yuan was a little thirsty and was panting as she held the last card.
Hua Jianxing shouted with all his might: "K, K, K..."
The last card can only be a King to beat Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan's Queen is a spade, which is the highest suit. Gu Yuan's hand can only win with a King. There are only four Kings in a deck, but Zeng Guoyu already has a Club King in his hole cards, so there are only three Kings in the bottom cards. There are only three chances!
Gu Yuan's trembling hand finally turned the card over, and it turned out to be a Queen of Clubs!
We lost! We lost again!
The three people lost an average of five million!
Gu Yuan gave the chips to Zhou Xuan, then picked up the playing cards and shuffled them, but hesitated a bit when dealing the cards.
Hua Jianxing suddenly interjected, "Forget it, let's not play this. It's all about luck. Let's play something more skillful, like all-in!"
The three of them lost over 100 million yuan to Ma Shu by playing Texas Hold'em. It was the game they played most often in casinos, the one they were most familiar with, and the one they felt most confident in. But they lost because of the cards they were most confident in!
Gu Yuan and Zeng Guoyu both thought it was a good idea, but Zhou Xuan had never played Texas Hold'em before and didn't know the rules.
"I've never played Texas Hold'em before, so you guys tell me how to play and the rules!" Zhou Xuan wasn't against playing any particular game; he just needed to know the rules and how to play. Otherwise, all the gameplay was the same.
Hua Jianxing nodded and said, "Never played before? Let me tell you the rules. Stud Poker uses five cards, though some versions use seven. Most people play with five. Unlike Three-Card Poker, Stud Poker requires a mandatory ante, what mainlanders often call 'putting the pot'. Each player is dealt two face-down hole cards and one face-up suit card. The player with the lowest suit card must pay the initial bet, called a bring-in. It's usually half the initial bet, or sometimes the entire initial bet. If two players have the same suit, the suit determines who pays the bring-in: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades."
"After the bring-in is paid, starting with the player who paid it, the other players can raise, call, or fold. Each player receives one face-up card on each street and in subsequent betting rounds. Whoever has the highest face-up hand starts the betting round. Each player receives one face-down card, again starting with the player with the highest face-up hand. If there aren't enough cards, then a community card is dealt to each player instead. This player must use this card. Mr. Zhou, do you understand?"
In fact, anyone who gambles can understand any game once they get the hang of it. Zhou Xuan is no exception. There are no complicated ways to gamble; if they were complicated, no one would play. The only difference is whether you are good at it or not.
"Understood, now you can tell me how to rank the cards!" Zhou Xuan nodded and asked another question he needed to know.
Hua Jianxing didn't really understand Zhou Xuan, and even doubted whether Zhou Xuan was genuinely ignorant or just pretending. In his heart, he felt that Zhou Xuan was more likely to be faking it, but he still answered Zhou Xuan's questions seriously.
"In Texas Hold'em, the highest hand is a straight flush, led by an Ace. If all hands are of the same rank, then suits are ranked in the order of spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds, with spades being the highest and diamonds the lowest. The second highest hand is four of a kind, which you should understand. If all hands are four of a kind, then the remaining single card is compared. If the single card is also the same, then the suit is compared, and then it's Fulhouse..."
"What does Fulhouse mean?" Zhou Xuan immediately interrupted Hua Jianxing. He didn't understand, and he wanted to find out.
Hua Jianxing laughed. It seemed that Zhou Xuan really didn't know anything. Whether in Hong Kong or the mainland, almost everyone who had ever played Texas Hold'em knew what Fulhouse meant. But after laughing, he felt a little bitter. This guy who didn't even know much about the rules of the game had easily won 15 million from them!
"A 'Fulhouse' is a hand consisting of three of a kind plus a pair. If another player has the same hand, the three of a kind are compared by their rank. Below a 'Fulhouse' is a flush, which is five cards of the same suit that do not form a straight. First, the highest-ranking single card is compared. If they are the same, the second, third, and so on are compared. Below a flush is a straight. Below a straight is a three of a kind. This three of a kind is not a 'Fulhouse'; it refers to a net three of a kind plus two single cards!"
Hua Jianxing then gave Zhou Xuan a detailed explanation of the difference between this three-of-a-kind and the Fulhouse three-of-a-kind. The Fulhouse three-of-a-kind is three-of-a-kind plus a pair, which is higher than a straight, and a straight is higher than three-of-a-kind plus a pair of single cards.
"After three of a kind, there are two pairs. The five cards consist of two pairs and one single card. The size is determined by comparing the larger pair first, then the second pair. If both pairs are the same, the single card is compared. If the single cards are also the same, the suit of the larger pair is compared. After three of a kind, there are only one pair. The rest are single cards. If you get the same pair, the size of the pair is compared. If the pairs are the same, the suit is compared."
Hua Jianxing pointed to the cards and said, "The last card is the loose cards, five single cards that cannot form pairs, three of a kind, straights, flushes, full houses, or four of a kind. First, compare the highest card. If the highest cards are the same, then compare the suits!"
Hearing this, Zhou Xuan basically understood. There were still some minor details he didn't quite grasp, but he understood the general idea. However, it didn't matter. This kind of all-in poker game was actually very similar to Texas Hold'em, only the details were slightly different. But as soon as Hua Jianxing explained it, he understood. It's like how a smoker can tell the quality of a cigarette just by smoking it, or a drinker can tell the quality of a drink just by taking a sip!
Hua Jianxing picked up the cards and shuffled them several times, then said, "Let's make the base bet 10,000 yuan per round." If Zhou Xuan were to play at this point, he would simply not follow or gamble, and would only need to put in a few hundred thousand yuan as the base bet. How long would it take to win back the money in his hands?
Wei Haihong continued to watch. This wasn't a real gamble; Hua Jianxing and the other two wanted to test Zhou Xuan's gambling skills. He didn't need to participate in the betting himself. However, they had stated that if Zhou Xuan won, he could keep whatever he won. Logically speaking, this wasn't a fake gamble. Hua Jianxing and the other two couldn't afford to relax, because they were losing cash and had to pay out of their own pockets.
Zhou Xuan deliberately made them bleed, and deliberately didn't let them see Zhou Xuan's gambling skills. They had no confidence at all whether he could really win, because from the beginning until now, Zhou Xuan had only touched the cards in the first round. He hadn't even touched the cards in the remaining rounds. This made them think that Zhou Xuan had won purely by luck.
Zhou Xuan nodded, indicating that he fully understood, and then placed a 10,000 chip in the middle of the table. Hua Jianxing, Gu Yuan, and Zeng Guoyu also placed a 10,000 chip each.
Hua Jianxing then began dealing cards. His next opponent was Gu Yuan, followed by Zhou Xuan, and finally Zeng Guoyu. Each player received one face-up and one face-down card.
According to the rules, the face-down cards cannot be seen and can only be revealed when the game is decided. Although Zhou Xuan had never played Texas Hold'em before, he had seen it in movies. He had seen Texas Hold'em in Stephen Chow's God of Gamblers and Chow Yun-fat's God of Gamblers. He didn't understand it in general, but he had seen it and guessed some of it. Now that Hua Jianxing had explained it to him personally, he understood everything.
Of the cards played, Zhou Xuan had the seven of diamonds, Gu Yuan had the five of clubs, Hua Jianxing had the king of hearts, and Zeng Guoyu had the nine of spades.