Logically speaking, even if Mr. Ho didn't mind that I won against Mr. Ho's gambling king Stevenson last time, there was no need for him to be so enthusiastic towards me, a junior.
In this match, the gambling king not only opened the money counting room as a gambling hall, but also used a new type of dice cup, rendering the skill of listening to the dice completely useless. Anyone with eyes could see that Mr. Ho seemed to be favoring Zhuang Rui.
Unsolicited kindness is always suspicious and could be a trap. Zhuang Rui became more vigilant, worried that he might win against Jervis only to be tricked by Mr. He, who seemed to know very little about gambling.
It's important to understand that the title of "King of Gambling" in Macau didn't come easily. Mr. Ho has been a dominant figure in the gambling industry for decades, and even the legendary gambling master Yip Hon suffered a crushing defeat at his hands. He is a true old fox in the underworld. When it comes to cunning, Zhuang Rui is far inferior to the King of Gambling.
"I want to see..."
Although Jervis appeared relaxed, he was actually quite serious inside. He knew about this new type of dice cup and had tried to crack it before, but he hadn't had much time and still had no clue.
Unlike Zhuang Rui, Jervis makes a living through gambling, so the more he knows about the gambling equipment, the better before he starts gambling.
After receiving the dice cup, Jervis tapped the inside of the cup with his finger. Those watching from outside could clearly see on the large screen connected by the camera that Jervis's ears were twitching, as if he was trying to discern the sound of the dice cup.
"Impressive, truly a master..."
"Yes, this is the first time I've ever seen someone whose ears can twitch non-stop..."
"Old Qin, your Qin family's son-in-law might not win this time. Judging from the looks of it, Jarvis seems even stronger than Stevenson was a few years ago..."
"That's not necessarily true, Mr. Liu. How about we place a bet?"
Although the crowd was close at the casino, they couldn't clearly see some of the actions of the two parties involved.
Unlike the casino, another large room was filled with smoke and bustling with noise. Everyone was expressing their opinions. Although these people were not as famous as the old fogies in the casino, they were still prominent figures from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
The man who spoke earlier was in his fifties, slightly overweight, with a fair complexion and wearing glasses. He was no ordinary person; he rose to prominence in Hong Kong in the early 1990s, stirring up a storm in the stock market and earning the nickname "stock market sniper."
He was originally qualified to have a place in the casino, but unfortunately, Boss Liu liked to smoke cigars, which was not allowed in the casino, so he came to this private room to watch the game.
"Let's gamble, but given the Qin family rules, I'm afraid the stakes aren't very high, are they?"
Mr. Liu is incredibly wealthy. He spends lavishly on maintaining celebrities, often gifting them properties worth hundreds of millions. Gambling tens of millions is nothing to him.
Upon hearing Mr. Liu's words, the man who had spoken earlier looked somewhat embarrassed and stammered, "Uh, just a little game, let's play a little game too, ten million Hong Kong dollars, Mr. Liu, what do you say?"
The speaker was Qin Haoran's second younger brother. Last year, he lost 100 million yuan gambling in Macau and was confined to his home by his father. He had been behaving himself for more than a year. Now that he was in the casino, he couldn't help but feel itchy again.
"Second brother, if you gamble again, Dad might send you to the Philippines..."
When the third son of the Qin family saw that his second brother was about to relapse into his old habits, he whispered something in his ear.
Upon hearing his third brother's words, Qin Lao Er shuddered, then straightened his neck and shouted, "What are you afraid of? Isn't this to boost Xiao Rui's morale? Our Qin family can't lose face..."
Qin Lao Er was quite adept at leveraging the situation, directly linking himself to Zhuang Rui, which left Lao San speechless for a moment.
"Mr. Liu, what do you say? Ten million Hong Kong dollars, wanna gamble?"
Seeing that his third brother was speechless after he spoke, Qin Lao Er was very pleased and turned his face to Liu Daheng.
"Ten million? That's a bit too little, isn't it? I have a house in Repulse Bay that I originally planned to give away as a birthday gift. It's worth about sixty million Hong Kong dollars. If you're interested, let's take a gamble..."
As soon as Mr. Liu said this, the noise in the private room immediately stopped, and all eyes were focused on him. Giving a villa worth tens of millions of dollars as a birthday gift was something only this playboy in Hong Kong would do.
Two years ago, when an old friend of Liu Daheng celebrated his birthday, he spent millions to place a fullcelebratory advertisement in Ming Pao and also gave away several mansions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, it is quite possible that he will give away another house worth 60 to 70 million Hong Kong dollars.
"Sixty...sixty million?"
Qin Lao Er was stunned when he heard Liu Daheng's words. Sixty million Hong Kong dollars was nothing to the Qin family, but it was a considerable sum for him.
Because Qin Lao Er was addicted to gambling, his status in the family was even lower than some of the third generation. He could find ways to raise a few million, but he couldn't come up with 60 million even if he sold himself.
"What's wrong, Lao Qin? You're short of money?"
When Liu Daheng saw Qin Lao Er's appearance, he couldn't help but laugh. Unlike Qin Lao Er, he was a complete grassroots man who had built his current wealth through his own hard work. Therefore, he often liked to tease these young masters from wealthy families.
"It's not that we can't afford it, there's no need to go to such lengths..."
Actually, Qin Lao Er was just having a gambling spree and didn't intend to challenge Liu Daheng. But after hearing Liu Daheng's words, he immediately backed down.
Upon hearing Qin Lao Er's words, not only Liu Daheng, but even some of the younger generation in the room began to look at Qin Lao Er with a different gaze. He had been clamoring to gamble with others, but now that the stakes had been raised, he immediately hesitated to accept.
To be honest, Qin Lao Er didn't really think Zhuang Rui could win. The gambling world also had its superstars; in his eyes, Jervis was like Michael Jackson in the music industry, or Cruise in the movie world—a god-like figure. "I'll have Dad deal with you when we get back..."
Seeing this situation, the third son of the Qin family had no choice but to step forward. This was not just a loss of face for the second son of the Qin family, but for the entire Qin family. Therefore, no matter how big the bet was, he had to accept it now.
"Mr. Liu, since you're so keen on this, then I'll play along with you..."
Qin Laosan is quite talented in business. Although he loves racing, he has a good reputation in Hong Kong. As soon as he said this, everyone's gaze towards the Qin family changed.
"This is a HSBC bank draft worth 60 million. Manager Tang, would you please act as the middleman?"
Qin Laosan was decisive. As he spoke, he took out his checkbook. Unlike his second brother, who stayed at home doing nothing, Qin Laosan was in charge of many of Qin's Jewelry's businesses in Southeast Asia. He could easily take out tens of millions of dollars.
"Oh? If the third brother is in such an interest, then I must oblige..."
Liu Daheng originally intended to humiliate Qin Lao Er, but he didn't expect that others would take it seriously. So he could only call over the casino manager in the room and have him write a betting agreement.
The bet was very simple: Zhuang Rui and Jervis would wager their money. If Zhuang Rui won, Liu Daheng's villa in Repulse Bay would belong to the Qin family. If Zhuang Rui lost, he could take the HK$60 million bank draft on the spot.
Everyone here is a person of status, and Qin Lao Er doesn't need Liu Daheng to produce the property deed or anything like that. With so many people watching in the private room, no one can afford to lose face by defaulting on their debt after losing.
Even among Hong Kong's tycoons, there are circles of friends. Those in the private room who are on good terms with Lau naturally hope he wins, while those who are close to the Qin family naturally hope Zhuang Rui wins. However, after this incident, the atmosphere in the private room has become tense.
Such overseas betting is extremely normal in Hong Kong. There are overseas betting odds for both football and horse racing. After the betting agreement was finalized, everyone's attention returned to the casino.
Zhuang Rui was naturally unaware of what was happening in the next room; at this moment, his attention was focused on the dice cup that the dealer was shaking tightly.
"Gentlemen, please place your bets. The minimum bet for this round is HKD 500,000..."
After shaking the dice cup with dazzling skill for more than a minute, the dealer slammed it heavily onto the gambling table.
Just as the emcee had said, this new dice cup made only a very faint sound when shaken or placed on the gambling table. Even with Zhuang Rui's hearing, he could only hear it barely.
"Two hundred million to bet in two hours, how can you possibly lose it all? Mr. Jarvis, I'm betting 10 million on my first bet, um, three numbers, a total of 30 million, are you in or not?"
Zhuang Rui glanced casually at the dice cup, then took out five 2 million chips and pushed them onto a number on his table.
Because of the time difference when placing bets, there are 18 number zones on each side, numbered from 1 to 18, and a small screen separates the number zones on both sides.
In this way, neither of the two gamblers can see the number the other has bet on; only the dealers on both sides can see it. Once the game is over, the dealers will naturally remove the screen.
Furthermore, due to the unique nature of point betting, according to the rules, you can bet on multiple numbers. If you bet on the correct number and your opponent does not, you can also take all the chips your opponent has bet on the table.
Zhuang Rui has now bet at least ten million for each point, which means that if Jervis wants to call, he will have to put up at least ten million, and he will have to bet ten million for each point.
If Jarvis only bets on one number and wins against Zhuang Rui, then he has essentially won 30 million from Zhuang Rui with 10 million.
If he bets on five numbers and wins, while Zhuang Rui bets on none of his three numbers, then he wins 30 million out of 50 million. If both of them bet on 10 million, then it's a tie.
This gambling method is quite novel, whetting the appetites of everyone in the gambling hall and the onlookers outside.
Chapter 912 Lucky Numbers
Over the past two years, the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes has been upgraded several times. Although the detection range has increased a lot, the ability to see through objects is still only maintained within ten meters. If the distance is further, he can only sense objects with spiritual energy and cannot observe them directly.
This is similar to infrared scanning, which uses the shape of an object and whether it is a living organism to determine what it is, but it is far less clear than seeing within ten meters.
Although the gambling table was not small, the two sides were only four or five meters apart, which was enough for Zhuang Rui to see the numbers on the dice in the dealer's hand.
"Mr. Jarvis, what's wrong? Not betting? Then you can throw in half a million chips for me to take the ante..."
After placing his bet, Zhuang Rui calmly looked at Jervis across from him. The screen in the middle of the gambling table could only block the two of them from the shoulders down, but their facial expressions were still clearly visible.
Jervis hesitated. Based on the faint sound of the dice cup, he wasn't even 10% sure of winning. It was like gambling on luck, which made the skilled gambler Jervis feel like he had no place to use his talents.
However, since the betting was proposed by Liu Minghui, Zhuang Rui naturally had a reason to choose the betting method. It's just that Mr. Gambling King intentionally or unintentionally helped Zhuang Rui by changing the betting cup to a silent one.
Five or six minutes passed, and Jarvis still hadn't placed a bet. After a brief whispered discussion, the middle dealer announced, "Mr. Jarvis, please place your bet. If you don't, this round will be declared a win for Mr. Zhuang..."
The dice game only lasts for two hours. If each round drags on for five or six minutes, it probably won't last many rounds. That's why the dealer reminded Jervis.
However, Zhuang Rui didn't care. According to the casino's rules, even if he only won one 500,000 chip from Jervis within two hours, Jervis would still have to pay out 200 million. After all, the total amount for dice betting was 200 million, and the chips were just for counting.
"I abstain..."
Instead of betting randomly as everyone expected, Jervis chose to fold and flicked a chip worth 500,000 with his finger.
"What kind of gambling king is he? He has no backbone at all..."
"Exactly, both sides are incredibly lucky. It's just a matter of who has better luck. Is it really necessary to forfeit?"
"What do you know? This is called avoiding the enemy's strength. Jarvis is very powerful..."
Jervis's decision not to place a bet sparked a flurry of discussion among those watching from both inside and outside the arena. Some were optimistic about Jervis, while others were dismissive. However, Jervis remained remarkably calm, showing no sign of regret.
"Damn, they didn't even..."
Zhuang Rui was also a little frustrated. He had hoped for a good start, but Jervis backed out at the last minute, which made Zhuang Rui feel like he had punched cotton.
"Let's continue..."
Jervis made a gesture to the dealer, indicating that he wanted to avoid direct confrontation. Zhuang Rui placed the first bet in the first round, and it was 30 million from the start, which put some pressure on Jervis.
In this situation, as a seasoned gambling king, Jervis would rather give up than rashly follow suit.
"Snap!" The dice cup, which the dealer had been flipping and shaking in various ways, landed on the gambling table.
"I'm betting fifty million, five numbers." Almost at the same time the dice cup was set, Jervis unhesitatingly used his betting tool to push out five piles of chips, placing them on the eighteen number zones in front of him.
This means that if Zhuang Rui calls, he will have to put up at least ten million chips to bet on a single number.
Of course, he could also beat Jervis. If he bet 20 million on a number, Jervis wouldn't need to call, but if Zhuang Rui bets correctly, Jervis would have to pay out the extra chips Zhuang Rui bet on, in addition to the chips he won on the table.
"A contest of momentum?"
Zhuang Rui finally understood. So, Jarvis was trying to intimidate him with his imposing manner? "Heh heh, I'm not buying it..."
Zhuang Rui smiled, and before the dealer could speak, he immediately used the ruler-like tool in his hand to push out three piles of chips, saying, "Three bets, twenty million each..."
Zhuang Rui's actions made Jervis's expression change. If Zhuang Rui bets correctly, even if he bets correctly as well, he will still lose because Zhuang Rui's bet is bigger than his.
This put Jervis in a difficult position. If he added another 10 million to each number, his total bet would reach 100 million.
"Hey, that young man really has guts..."
"Yeah, just like last time when we gambled, so extravagant..."
"Old Song, you were here last time, tell us a few things..."
After Zhuang Rui placed his bet, the onlookers immediately began to whisper among themselves. While Jervis had indeed been aggressive when he started betting, Zhuang Rui's casual placement of 60 million chips immediately suppressed Jervis's momentum.
The gambling world is a battleground, much like a contest between masters. You absolutely cannot lose in terms of momentum. As the saying goes, you can lose the game but not the battle spirit. If you lose your momentum, you will become anxious and lose control of your mindset when you gamble.