Zhu Yonghong pursed his lips, then picked up the cards and looked at them. They were also a set of scattered cards, with the single card being the highest. After thinking for a moment, he threw the cards away.
Back to Wang Damao. He started with a blind bet of fifty yuan, but now a blind bet would cost two hundred yuan. After thinking for a moment, he picked up his cards to look at them. When he saw it was a pair of sixes, he was filled with regret. The hand wasn't strong, but there weren't many players left, and two others were playing with their hands revealed. It would be easy to lose. But throwing the bet away seemed wasteful, so he put in four hundred yuan anyway, just to test the waters. If he could beat the two players with revealed hands, that would be the best outcome, and he would have to deal with Zhou Xuan with his blind hands. That would be much better.
Without a second thought, Wang Liang threw down another four hundred yuan. He was playing openly, and this four hundred yuan was for Zhou Xuan and Li Wei, who were behind him in the interrogation. Since it was their first time playing against each other, he didn't know their psychology. Besides, he had Wang Damao to back him up. If Wang Damao took the bottom card, the money wouldn't end up in someone else's hands.
At this moment, Zhou Xuan realized that Wang Liang was bluffing, but Wang Damao actually had a pair of sixes. If he looked at his cards and called, Wang Damao might take money to see his hole cards, and then he would be doomed. So he immediately threw in another 500 yuan.
A blind bet of 500 is already quite large, because the bet for open cards is 1000. If you want to see the hole cards, you need to double that to 2000, because Zhou Xuan just said that the maximum bet is 2000, and you can see the cards for 4000.
When Zhou Xuan threw down 500 yuan, Wang Liang and Zhu Yonghong exchanged another glance, their eyes burning with desire. They had found a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, because Zhou Xuan dared to bet big and was willing to bet big. Such people are the rarest. Even if someone is rich, if they don't dare to bet big and only bet ten yuan at a time, it's hard to win their money.
Li Wei threw away his cards. Although the amount of money was small, he couldn't just throw it away for nothing, because if he played again, he would have to spend a thousand yuan, which wasn't worth it.
At this point, only three teams remained: Zhou Xuan, Wang Damao, and Wang Liang.
Without hesitation, Wang Liang placed another thousand yuan. However, when he placed the bet, his hand hesitated for a moment. Although it was a very short time, Zhou Xuan saw it clearly.
At this point, Zhou Xuan stopped playing his cards face down. He reached out and picked up his cards. Although he knew the cards without looking, he pretended to look at them. They were still four, five, and nine of different suits. Zhou Xuan only glanced at them before putting the cards down and counting out two thousand yuan to follow suit.
Wang Damao hesitated immediately. If he called again, he would have to spend another two thousand. If Zhou Xuan continued to call instead of choosing to see his hole cards, he would have to spend another four thousand to see them. Calling would cost him six thousand. Even if he didn't call and saw his hole cards now, he would still have to spend four thousand. His own hole cards were only a pair of sixes, which was a very weak hand!
Although Wang Damao and Wang Liang were in cahoots, he would still be scolded if he lost a large sum of money in Wang Damao's hands. Because of this, Wang Damao hesitated. It didn't matter if he lost a thousand or two thousand, but it would be unpleasant to lose six or seven thousand in a small hand like this. The key was that Zhou Xuan, that bastard, bet too much. If it had been smaller, he would have doubled his bet and looked at his hole cards.
With this thought in mind, Wang Damao regretted it. Why did he have to show off just now? If it were online, he wouldn't have called, but instead chose to see Zhou Xuan's hole cards. He wouldn't have had to spend so much money! After just one move, Zhou Xuan immediately raised the price, making him afraid to call and afraid to look.
Just now, when Zhang Danian was hesitating, Zhu Yonghong had urged him. Now Wang Damao was also hesitating. Although Zhou Xuan didn't say anything, Li Wei didn't hold back and shouted, "Hurry up, okay? What are you dawdling for?"
Wang Damao gritted his teeth, threw the cards into the middle, and said, "I'm throwing them away!" He then glanced at Li Wei. Normally, if Li Wei said that, he would have already started fighting, but now Zhou Xuan and Li Wei were their benefactors, bringing them money, so he couldn't afford to offend them first.
Wang Damao threw down his hand, and Wang Liang hesitated. He had a bad hand, and although he was bluffing, he was still unsure whether he could win.
Given Zhou Xuan's personality, even if it's only their first meeting and their first encounter, Wang Liang is certain that Zhou Xuan will not fold his cards just because he calls again. Or, if he calls and Zhou Xuan pulls out his money to see his hole cards, then he's doomed!
With a hand of four or five, Wang Liang had no confidence whatsoever. If he wasn't sure he could force Zhou Xuan to discard his own cards, there was no need for him to continue playing, and of course, he couldn't afford to spend money to reveal Zhou Xuan's hidden cards.
After thinking for a moment, Wang Liang silently inserted his cards into the middle pile and said calmly, "I'm throwing away my cards!"
His action was to prevent others from knowing that he was bluffing and to keep his true intentions hidden.
Li Wei cheered, and Fu Ying smiled slightly behind Zhou Xuan. Although she had never played this card game before, she understood it as soon as it was explained. Seeing that Zhou Xuan had managed to make these people look so bad with a bad hand, she was really happy.
Zhou Xuan smiled and turned his cards over to the table: a four of clubs, a five of diamonds, and a nine of hearts—different suits, a really bad hand.
Wang Liang was stunned, his face twitched, and he felt as if his heart had been cut by a knife!
Damn, this guy is a fraud too!
He's still too young to wear that mask!
Wang Damao was stunned for a long time, filled with regret. He thought to himself, "If only I had spent four thousand to see Zhou Xuan's trump card!"
Meanwhile, Zhang Sinian slammed his hand on the table with a loud bang, muttering curses under his breath. His trump card was a pair of sevens, the highest possible hand!
With just this one move, Zhou Xuan threw Wang Liang and the others off balance. Of course, he revealed his trump card on purpose!
Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge, Chapter 216: A Battle of Wits, Courage, and Gambling Skills
Zhou Xuan picked out the money from the middle of the table one bill at a time and placed it in front of him, with a hint of deliberate showing off.
The people present had very different feelings, but Zhou Xuan's first move undoubtedly disrupted the mood of Wang Liang and the other three. Trying to suppress their winnings through psychological manipulation was no longer an option.
To psychologically suppress others and prevent them from daring to fight you, you need to have an extremely strong aura. But as of now, Zhou Xuan has completely destroyed the aura of Wang Liang and Zhu Yonghong's group!
If they can't match the opponent's momentum and seem unable to overpower Zhou Xuan financially, then they have no advantage whatsoever.
The winner deals the cards, so Zhou Xuan will deal the cards in the second hand.
Zhou Xuan casually shuffled the cards twice, then handed them to a worker in front of him to cut the cards. The worker cut about twenty cards, and then Zhou Xuan began to deal the cards.
His card-dealing technique was not as skillful as Zhu Yonghong's; in fact, it was somewhat clumsy. After dealing the cards, the next player would speak.
Zhou Xuan's next player was Li Wei. This hothead had also learned Zhou Xuan's trick. Without even looking at his cards, he counted out ten hundred-dollar cards and threw them down, saying smugly, "I'll bet a thousand dollars by blind bet!"
Zhang Sinian looked at his cards with a bitter face, then threw them away. He should have won several thousand yuan in the last round, but he didn't. Now, his opponent before him had run into Li Wei again. This guy was both stupid and clueless. He bet a thousand yuan in the first round, which was the maximum. The whole family bet the maximum at once, which made it very difficult for the people behind him. The blind bet was a thousand yuan, and the open bet was two thousand yuan. Moreover, according to the rules, you can't see your hole cards in the first round. You have to call the bet before you can see your hole cards.
If the next player wants to follow suit, they'll need to see the hole cards in the second round, which would cost at least six thousand. And if there are three or more players left, even more cash will be needed to sustain the game, making it purely a money-driven gamble!
Next up was Zhu Yonghong. He hesitated for a moment, then counted out a thousand yuan and placed a blind bet.
Wang Damao lost his momentum because Li Wei had started too high. It was easy to predict that if he continued for two rounds plus the revealed cards, he would have to spend eight thousand yuan. He dared not bet blindly anymore and immediately took out his cards to secretly examine them. It was truly a coincidence; his hand was another pair of sixes, except the other card was a single card. Looking at the others, Li Wei was the first player with a blind card, Zhang Sinian had discarded his, and Zhu Yonghong also had a blind card. After thinking it over, he decided it was still worth a gamble.
Wang Damao gritted his teeth, counted out two thousand yuan, and put it in.
To be honest, Wang Damao's actions and expressions already made it clear that his hand wasn't very strong. Because the stakes were so high, he was hesitant to play it lightly, and thus, his true feelings were unconsciously revealed.
Next up is Wu Yong. He doesn't dare to bet blindly; a hundred or two hundred doesn't matter, but betting a thousand is a huge sum, so he doesn't dare to bet carelessly. He picks up his cards, arranges them neatly, and then slowly reveals them one by one. The first card is a black seven, and the second is a red one. Seeing these two cards, Wu Yong's heart sinks. The best he can get with this hand is a pair, which is his ideal hand. Then there's a pair of sevens. Next are the loose cards.
Even with a pair, Wu Yong was still very nervous. With such a large bet, it would take tens of thousands of yuan to keep up if he followed. Unless he had a strong hand, he would feel uncertain and unsure of himself.
Fortunately, the last card was a six. It was a terrible hand, neither good nor bad, so there was no need to think about it anymore. After throwing away the cards, Wu Yong suddenly realized: What's wrong with me today? I don't have my usual aura at all. In the past, when I played with those construction workers, I could just throw in a few hundred dollars of a bad hand and scare them away. But today, I didn't even dare to go up with a pair. It's really strange. This is my territory. There are only four men and one woman here. Do you think I'm afraid of them?
It was Wang Liang's turn. He'd been robbed of his chicken by Zhou An in the last round, and he was seething with anger, though he'd forced it out on his face. He was usually the one teasing others, but today he'd been teased instead, and his anger towards Zhou Xuan was stronger than anyone else's. He'd already made a firm decision: if he didn't take all of Zhou Xuan's money today, then Zhou Xuan wouldn't even be a Wang anymore!
Since we're going to fight, we should at least build up our momentum first. Once he becomes the dealer, then we can let Wu Yong handle the cards, and that's when Zhou Xuan will suffer!
Wang Liang didn't even look at the cards. He counted out a thousand and threw it into the middle of the table, then casually shrugged at the people behind him.
Behind him were two construction workers who only had a few hundred yuan on them. Even if they wanted to play, they couldn't afford to. At this point, their only hope was to get a good hand, borrow money from Wang Liang, and win one round before quitting. However, even if they got pairs or straights, they wouldn't dare to play them. They would basically spend ten yuan per round to buy a pot and a chance, but this cost was indeed too high for the two of them.