If things continue like this, Zhou Xuan is betting 1,000 against them 3,000. In any case, Wang Liang and Zhu Yonghong will be the first to lose. When Wang Liang had put down nearly 40,000 yuan, half of the money in front of him was gone. He felt something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, he gave Zhu Yonghong a wink.
Zhu Yonghong narrowed his eyes, then picked up his cards to examine them. They were a bad hand, consisting only of singles. He had the highest possible hand, but after thinking for a moment, he figured he wasn't worried since Wang Liang had a strong hand. He calmly counted out two thousand and followed suit, and Wang Liang also bet two thousand.
At this point, both of them had their cards face up. This was intended to see Zhou Xuan's reaction and force him to look at his cards. If he saw the cards, they could probably read his expression.
Zhou Xuan quietly put more money in. Now he had 1,000 yuan to drag in 4,000 yuan, and he was sure to win the game. He had to drag them in some more money no matter what.
If it's a blind bet, and there are more than two players left in this round, then the player with the exposed cards cannot see the blind bet. Therefore, one of Wang Liang and Zhu Yonghong must be eliminated, and only then can the remaining player see Zhou Xuan's hole cards.
Thinking that dragging things out like this wasn't going to work, and that at least on the surface, they had to wear Zhu Yonghong down, Zhu Yonghong stopped playing along and instead counted out four thousand yuan to see Wang Liang's trump card.
After Zhu Yonghong saw Wang Liang's cards, he calmly put Wang Liang's cards back and then put his own cards into the discard pile in the middle of the table, which meant he had lost.
At this point, only Wang Liang and Zhou Xuan remained. Wang Liang was very confident and bet two thousand at a time for two more hands. Zhou Xuan stopped betting. There's a limit to pretending, after all, the other person had seen the cards before betting, while he was betting blind. If the other person kept betting without showing their cards, then they must have a good hand.
Zhou Xuan picked up his cards. Unlike Wang Liang, who examined each card carefully, Zhou Xuan casually picked one up and his eyes lit up. Zheng Bing and Fu Ying, who were behind him, could see clearly that it was a set of nines of hearts. According to the rules, this was a flush, a very high flush, second only to a straight flush and three of a kind. However, the chances of a straight flush and three of a kind coming out were so small that they could be ignored.
Zhou Xuan didn't make any move, and his expression was unreadable. He smiled slightly, counted out two thousand yuan, put it in, and said, "I'll take two thousand!"
Wang Liang paused for a moment, then asked, "You're not going to show your cards? Or are you going to call?"
"No!" Zhou Xuan replied calmly.
Wang Liang was stunned. He really couldn't figure Zhou Xuan out; he couldn't deduce anything from her expression.
At this moment, Zhou Xuan said, "Actually, my hand isn't very strong; if I open it, I'll lose. I can only call!"
Wang Liang's heart skipped a beat. He immediately remembered Zhou Xuan's cheating in the last round. He gritted his teeth, convinced that Zhou Xuan was cheating. Coupled with his strong hand, he chuckled, counted out two thousand, and threw it in, saying, "I can't afford to bet either, so I can only call!"
Next, the two of them, like bickering roosters, each threw in another 10,000 yuan.
Seeing Zhou Xuan follow him in without hesitation, his hand not even trembling, Wang Liang suddenly felt a chill in his heart, as if he had been tricked and fallen into a trap!
He hesitated for a moment. To be honest, there was a chance of getting a flush with a blind bet, but the chance of getting a straight flush or three of a kind was still there. If he called aggressively like this, in the end, no matter if he had a big hand or a small hand, he would have to show his cards. Because the bet he made was too big, even if he lost, he would still have to pay to see his hole cards.
With this thought in mind, Wang Liang immediately realized that Zhou Xuan wasn't stupid. Now that only the two of them were left, he would definitely look at Zhou Xuan's cards no matter what. But Zhou Xuan still called without hesitation. Was he stupid enough to deliberately give them money?
Absolutely not!
Wang Liang immediately sensed something was wrong. At first, he felt very confident, but in that instant, he suddenly felt a little scared. He had never felt this way before, because no one could overpower him in terms of aura when gambling with him. But today, he had not been in a superior position since Zhou Xuan came on stage.
But it's impossible for Wang Liang to surrender now, because seeing his hole cards only costs 4,000, while he's already thrown in almost 50,000. The total on the table is at least 130,000, and this round, the winner will take more than half of the total wealth of all the players!
Wang Liang broke out in a cold sweat, but remained remarkably calm. He hadn't resorted to underhanded tactics yet. Even if they failed, or if they saw through his schemes, he would ultimately use force to keep the money, regardless of whether he won it. He was confident he could get it back. Besides, at the gambling table, who knew whose money belonged to whom?
As long as you have the strength, Zhou Xuan and his gang will either submit or be beaten until they do. However, it's best not to go that far. The ideal outcome would be for Wang Damao, Wu Yong, and their group to play a card game under your cover and win all of Zhou Xuan's money in one go!
Using forceful methods might lead to unforeseen consequences. After all, causing trouble is never a good idea, and they won't take that step unless absolutely necessary. The best outcome would be to win Zhou Xuan's money. A gamble is a gamble, and even if it's a rigged bet, once they've won, they can use force to their advantage, even if Zhou Xuan sees through their scheme. They'll be helpless then!
After thinking for a moment, Wang Liang slowly counted out four thousand yuan and put it in, saying with a gloomy face, "I'll reveal my cards!"
As he said this, Wang Liang had a strong feeling that he would lose!
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly and turned over his three cards. Ninety of Hearts!
Wang Liang already had a premonition, but he just chuckled coldly. Wu Yong, Wang Damao, and Zhu Yonghong were stunned for a moment. Wang Liang's best straight flush had been lost, which was quite unexpected!
Wu Yong and Wang Damao both kept their eyes on Wang Liang, waiting to see what he would do—whether he would continue gambling or let them persuade him to take all the money on the table for himself.
Wang Liang just chuckled coldly with a gloomy face, without saying a word, letting Zhou Xuan take the more than 130,000 yuan in front of him. There was too much money, so Zhou Xuan didn't count it or count it, and just piled it up in front of him.
Then Zhou Xuan continued shuffling the cards, and the two workers left the game. They clearly understood that it was impossible to win money from others in this situation because they didn't have enough capital. Their bosses, Wang Liang and Zhu Yonghong, had both lost money, so how could they ask to borrow money? Even if they did borrow money, they would only get two or three thousand at most, which was useless. The bets Zhou Xuan and his group placed were only enough to play once; they wouldn't have enough money for another round. To put it bluntly, if they continued gambling, they would lose everything they had, and they would never win any money. It was more exciting to watch from the sidelines than to play.
When Zhou Xuan was playing cards, he specifically asked Zhang Sinian, "I think you don't need to play anymore, right? Keep the money for living expenses, it'll be fine for food and drink!"
But Zhang Sinian's face was full of envy, her eyes gleaming as she looked at the pile of money in front of Zhou Xuan. She wasn't about to give up, and said awkwardly, "Boss Zhou, I want to win a bet too!"
Zhou Xuan sighed. They only lose money because they want to win. Look at Wang Liang and his gang, so ruthless! How could people like them possibly win any money? Even if Zhang Sinian didn't run into Wang Liang, he'd still gamble with Zhang Liang, Wu Liang, and Zhou Liang. And he'd still lose everything he had!
Zhou Xuan shuffled the cards and then asked Wang Liang to cut them, because the two workers to his left were too scared to play anymore, so Wang Liang was now the player to his left.
Wang Liang narrowed his eyes, took a card from the deck, and placed it on the table.
There's a trick called "skinning!" In the players' words, it means they're going to skin you alive!
Zhou Xuan naturally ignored all of that and dealt the cards one by one. Now that there were two fewer players, there were only seven people at the table. In terms of the number of people playing Texas Hold'em, it was still not a small number, but their game was a bit special.
Since Zhou Xuan and Li Wei are in the same group, they can only be counted as one family. Wang Liang, Wu Yong, Wang Damao, and Zhu Yonghong are in the same group, so they can also be counted as one family. Zhang Sinian is counted as a separate family. So strictly speaking, there are only three families playing, which doesn't count as many.
After the cards were dealt, it was Zhou Xuan's turn to speak. Li Wei threw in another thousand yuan. His next player was Zhang Sinian, who muttered to himself, extremely annoyed. He was helpless against such a reckless player as Li Wei; he was really at a disadvantage playing next to him!
Zhang Sinian dared not place a bet secretly. He only had 10,000 yuan in his hand. If he continued like this, his 10,000 yuan would be gone in just a few rounds!
He immediately picked up the three bottom cards and held them in front of him, covering their direction so that only he could secretly see them. After looking at them, Zhang Sinian's hand suddenly trembled. He then looked at them carefully again, then put the cards together and pressed them on the table. His left hand, which was pressing the cards down, was trembling slightly, while his right hand was shaking as he counted out two thousand yuan and called in. He had his cards face up, and calling in would double his bet.
Anyone could see from Zhang Sinian's action that he knew his hand was limited and wouldn't be too weak.
Zhou Xuan extended the ice energy to test Zhang Sinian's hand. Zhang Sinian's hand was indeed surprisingly good; he had also gotten a flush—a four-seven of diamonds. No wonder he was so excited!
Zhang Sinian's expressions were too exaggerated and stereotypical; this action made it obvious to everyone that he had a card to play.
Zhu Yonghong wasn't stupid. Zhang Sinian was not like Zhou Xuan. If it were Zhou Xuan, he would have made a blind bet and tried to win, but Zhang Sinian definitely had a hand. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to call if he didn't have a hand in this situation.
Zhu Yonghong also took a look at his hole cards; another bad hand. Different suits, the highest being [missing information]. Without thinking, he threw down his cards. Trying to bluff with such a hand would be very dangerous, because he was facing Zhang Sinian, someone who doesn't bluff and can see the hole cards.
Next, Wang Damao and Wu Yong also picked up their cards and then discarded them. Their hands were bad, so they didn't follow suit.
Wang Liang pondered for a moment whether to draw his cards or look at his cards. He first glanced at Zhou Xuan. No matter what, he only recognized Zhou Xuan as his opponent now. Zhang Sinian posed no threat to him. Even if he had a decent hand this time, Wang Liang had plenty of ways to defeat Zhang Sinian later.