To be honest, what Lao Jiang feared most was Guan Lin. This young man was too cunning. Although he didn't understand him, he was always uneasy and most wary of him. If Guan Lin wasn't around, Lao Jiang seemed to be able to act more freely.
This mentality is actually a matter of momentum. Guan Lin is the son-in-law of Uncle Yu's older brother, so the relationship is different. Old Jiang can't do anything to him, and this fear naturally extends to the gambling game.
Although Zhou Xuan discarded his cards, he didn't relax his vigilance at all in probing Guan Lin and Yu Qiang. Guan Lin had an excellent grasp of Lao Jiang's thoughts. This time, he gave the good cards to Yu Qiang, while he himself actually had a bad hand. Lao Jiang wanted to see his cards, which suited him perfectly. By getting rid of him, he also saved money and made Lao Jiang feel more at ease.
When Lao Jiang asked to see Guan Lin's cards, Guan Lin smiled and put his cards together, handing them face down to Lao Jiang, saying, "Lao Jiang, my cards are very strong, see for yourself."
Old Jiang was stunned for a moment, feeling genuinely scared. The more Guan Lin said this, the more frightened he became. After all, in the game of poker, having a flush with a King isn't necessarily the best hand; a flush with an Ace could easily beat him.
However, Lao Jiang remembered that Guan Lin's hand was a blind bet, and it seemed that he hadn't looked at the cards himself, but just picked them up and handed them to him.
Old Jiang was a little worried, but after taking the cards and looking around to block others' view, he secretly peeked at them himself. Upon seeing them, he immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Guan Lin had a hand of 4, 5, and 9, which was extremely weak. Even if he had a single King, let alone a King of Spades, he could have won against Guan Lin's hand.
After a moment of surprise, Old Jiang chuckled again, casually tossing Guan Lin's cards into the discard pile, and then laughed, "What a big hand! But it's only slightly smaller than mine."
Guan Lin chuckled and said, "It's rare to have such a good hand, but then I ran into Uncle Jiang. Uncle Jiang is my nemesis."
Old Jiang seemed extremely satisfied and proud, pointing at Yu Qiang with a smile and saying, "Yu Qiang, it's your turn. Aren't you going to look at your cards?"
Yu Qiang gritted his teeth and chuckled, "Fine, I won't look then. Maybe my trump card is amazing. Blind bet, another fifty, consider it a gift to Uncle Jiang."
He picked up the money in front of him and counted it. Apart from a few loose bills, it was all hundred-yuan notes; there were no fiftys. So he took a hundred-yuan note and put it in, laughing, "You still owe me fifty in the plate. Keep playing, as long as Uncle Jiang is willing."
When they said these words, they seemed not to have considered that Bao Gu was present.
However, Zhou Xuan knew that Lao Jiang was just a jackpot player, and naturally wouldn't have the courage to continue playing later on. Besides, given Lao Jiang's personality, even if he had a strong hand, he would only play a few hands at most before he dared not continue. Others didn't look at their cards, but he would.
Guan Lin was killed by Jiang Zemin, Fu Shan was also killed by Jiang Zemin, and then it was Fu Gui's turn.
Fu Gui was filled with regret at this moment. He regretted not listening to Zhou Xuan's advice. If he had listened to him and continued to bet, he didn't know how much money he would have lost with this hand. With this hand, let alone the money in front of him, even if his wife was next to him, he would have gritted his teeth and bet. Anyway, no matter what he bet on, he would always get back double the amount. He didn't believe that there was such a coincidence that Lao Jiang and Yu Qiang also had three of a kind.
Besides, judging from his appearance, it's highly likely that Lao Jiang has a flush. If it were a three of a kind, Lao Jiang would be a fool and would wait a couple more hands. Otherwise, why would he look at the other person's hole cards so early?
Yu Qiang hasn't touched his cards since Guan Lin dealt them, and he's still betting blindly without looking at them. No matter what, even if he's incredibly lucky, it's impossible for him to have a three of a kind, right? Besides, even if he did have a three of a kind, three of a kind is still above average. Except for three of a kind J, Q, K, A, whatever other hand he gets, he'll lose. How small is the chance of him getting a three of a kind?
No matter what Fu Gui said, he would never believe that Yu Qiang's hidden bet could be better than his, nor would he believe that he could possibly get those four hands of heavenly cards. No matter how you looked at it, his hand was the best.
Fu Gui was extremely nervous. Firstly, he had a strong hand, and secondly, there was a lot of money in the pot now, which was too tempting. He reached out and pressed his hand tightly against his cards, and then put down another hundred yuan.
Seeing that Fugui didn't even mention opening their hand, but just put down the money, although his expression looked tense, it was clear that he had a big hand. If he were bluffing, it would be too unlikely, and Fugui hadn't reached that level yet. Even if he were bluffing, you could tell from his expression that he had put up so much money in this round, and he would eventually open his hand no matter what. Blistering would actually be useless.
Old Jiang's heart sank. He realized he had misjudged the target. It seemed that Fu Gui was the real culprit. He had spent two hundred yuan to see Guan Lin and another two hundred yuan to see Fu Shan. Apart from Fu Shan being a jackpot player, Guan Lin was a complete scumbag. He had lost two hundred yuan, but at least he had gotten rid of the person he feared most, which put him at ease.
Now it was Lao Jiang's turn again. If Lao Jiang were to continue, he definitely wouldn't. Actually, although he had defeated several opponents who had seen his hole cards, his King flush wasn't a very strong hand. If Fu Gui also had a King flush, but with a slightly stronger card, he would be defeated. If it was an Ace flush, he would be defeated outright.
Old Jiang's heart was pounding, his face was flushed, and he was panting. There was at least a thousand yuan in cash in the pot; if he won this round, it would be a big win.
With trembling hands, Old Jiang counted out another two hundred yuan and put it in. Then he reached out to Fugui and said, "I... I'll see your cards."
Fu Gui slammed his hand down on the cards, urgently saying, "I want to see your cards!"
Old Jiang snorted, but dared not follow suit again. He could only hand over his cards, saying sullenly, "Let me see if you can make a difference? You think you can make it bigger just by looking?"
However, despite saying that, her eyes were fixed on Fugui, afraid that he might be fooling her.
Everyone else was focused on Fugui, so even if Fugui wanted to do something underhanded, he couldn't. However, Zhou Xuan noticed that Guan Lin and Yu Qiang secretly exchanged a smile when no one was looking. This scheme was pretty good; they were definitely walking into a trap.
Zhou Xuan sneered inwardly. "So smug now? Let's see how smug they are later."
Fu Gui, panting heavily, saw his hand and realized it was a King of Spades. He was overjoyed; the tension was actually fueled by the prospect of winning, and he knew he was sure to win.
Old Jiang stared at Fugui anxiously and said, "Just tell me what happened, did you win or lose?"
Fu Gui took a breath, then threw Lao Jiang's cards into the pile of discarded cards. Lao Jiang panicked, quickly picked them out, and asked, "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? These are my cards! If you've got them wrong, you'll lose everything!"
"No...I didn't see wrong," Fugui answered breathlessly, "Yours is...isn't it..." He looked at everyone, but ultimately didn't say it.
When Lao Jiang saw Fu Gui say with certainty that he hadn't misjudged, his heart sank, as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. His vision blurred; the money was gone.
However, Lao Jiang was still unwilling to give up. He picked up his cards and looked at them. After confirming that they were correct, he put them back in front of him, face down, thinking that if Fu Gui's cards were not as good as his, he would have to take full responsibility.
At this point, only Fugui and Yuqiang remained.
With Lao Jiang dead, it was Yu Qiang's turn next. Yu Qiang smiled faintly and said, "You still owe me fifty in the pot. Blind bet, let's continue. Fu Gui, I know you're bluffing. Anyway, I didn't see my cards. I'll keep going until you reveal my hand."
Fu Gui was more than happy to see Yu Qiang do this. Although he had to bet half as much money each time, he was sure to win, so what was there to be afraid of? Besides, Yu Qiang was betting blindly. Even if he was lucky, his hand would never be as good as his three of a kind and ten of a kind.
"I'll follow you, I'll follow you to the death, I won't open your hand!" Fu Gui threw in a hundred yuan. If he opened Yu Qiang's hand, he'd be a fool.
Yu Qiang understood that if he looked at the hole cards before betting, he would make Fu Gui nervous if he bet too much, and Fu Gui would still reveal his cards. But if he kept betting blindly, he would lead Fu Gui into a trap.
Moreover, Fu Gui's personality is very different from Lao Jiang's. Lao Jiang is calm and steady. No matter how big his hand is, he will open his hand after a few big bets, unless he gets a three-of-a-kind, then he might go all out.
Fu Gui is a ruthless person. He'll fight to the death even if he catches a Golden Flower, let alone get three Tens.
Of course, he didn't know that his three tens were also a trap set by Guan Lin. If Zhou Xuan hadn't intervened, Fu Gui would have lost everything in this game.
But as the saying goes, "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," Guan Lin and Yu Qiang never imagined that Zhou Xuan could use such tricks to completely ruin their hard work.
Yu Qiang didn't touch his trump card at all; it was exactly the same as when Guan Lin gave it to him, without any change.
This was intentional on Yuqiang's part, to show that he didn't move the cards, didn't look at the cards, and that the cards weren't dealt to him; getting good cards was just luck.
The others watched the game with excitement. Yu Qiang and Fu Gui, one with an open bet and the other with a hidden bet, were having a great time playing their cards without revealing their hand. Zhou Xuan knew what the outcome would be, so he didn't say anything to avoid arousing Guan Lin and Yu Qiang's suspicion.
Fu Gui counted his money; he was almost out of a thousand yuan. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his wallet again. Inside was his recently received salary. He spent half of it, leaving him with about two thousand yuan. He took out all the money and said fiercely, "If I'm going to lose, I'll lose it all. At least I can earn money on the ship in peace."