"Hehe, brother, you're really smart. This is an underground boxing arena. Let me tell you, the owner of this place has a very powerful backer. No one in the city dares to mess with them. Of course, they also get the benefits. We call this place a jade distribution center, but to be honest, the income from jade wholesale may not be able to compare with the income here. Moreover, the income here is illicit and not taxed. In fact, I estimate that it is much higher than the normal business income of the whole city!"
Zhou Xuan asked in surprise, "Is that possible? Even if it's underground income, how much income can a boxing ring like this generate? I've never gambled on boxing matches, but in any kind of betting, when the bookmaker opens a betting pool, normally both sides bet, and the bookmaker makes a cut. If one side bets more, the bookmaker loses money. If the bets are too high, the bookmaker will definitely manipulate the system to make players bet on one side. But, hehe, making players bet on one side is extremely difficult!"
Gao Mingyuan gave a thumbs up and praised, "Haha, brother, you really are an expert. The owner here is not only capable, but also incredibly wealthy. If you place a bet here, as long as you offer a price, they will accept it. And as long as you have it, gold and silver jewelry, jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, even women, as long as you dare to place a bet, there is no bet they won't accept. What's most attractive is that, in addition to the normally selected boxers appearing to bet on the fights, there is something even more exciting: players can go into the ring themselves to bet on the fights. If you are extremely confident in your skills, you can place your big bet and then go up to fight. However, such bets basically end with the player losing the fight and losing money!"
Zhou Xuan chuckled. He hadn't expected Gao Mingyuan to bring him to such a place. It wasn't a bad idea to have some fun while waiting for the drug dealers. Gambling was something he didn't care about. Who else could make money off him?
However, he has played many different kinds of gambling, but he has never played this kind of gambling on people. After all, his ability can only detect and devour, but cannot control people. Detection is no problem for him, but the key question is, how can he detect who will win and who will lose?
Moreover, the boss behind the scenes definitely determines who will win and who will lose based on the betting volume. How could he possibly know that? Unless he reveals it privately in some corner of the venue, which is still within Zhou Xuan's detection range.
The host finally came out while we waited. He was a middle-aged man in his thirties with a shrewd look on his face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's betting session. I won't waste any more words. What you want to see isn't me talking, but to step into the exciting betting game. Alright, let's welcome the boxing champion, Lu Dapao, who has won four games in four days!"
The tall and burly Lu Dapao emerged from the underground passage, surrounded by several attendants. When he reached the edge of the platform, he shook off his cloak, revealing his muscular physique. He then leaped into the arena, bowed to the surroundings, and made a majestic gesture.
The host then announced, "Welcome our new boxer, Ah Xing, to the arena!" This introduction was much weaker, and the boxer Ah Xing who appeared was actually several sizes taller than Lu Dapao. The host's deliberate attempt to downplay Ah Xing's presence made Zhou Xuan realize that there was something wrong with this first match.
Gao Mingyuan whispered to Zhou Xuan, "Brother, want to place some bets? I think Ah Xing will definitely win this round. Lu Dapao is too popular, winning four rounds in a row. He's also a familiar face and very skilled. But this Ah Xing, I've never even heard of him. Bringing out someone who's unknown and has never fought before, even a fool knows he can't win. So I think this is the bookmaker's strategy. Ah Xing is definitely going to win this first round!"
Zhou Xuan chuckled and whispered to Gao Mingyuan, "Manager Gao, I have a different opinion from you. I think Lu Dapao will win. How about this, sitting here is boring, how do we place bets? Do you have a limit?"
Upon hearing that Zhou Xuan wanted to place bets, Gao Mingyuan immediately exclaimed happily, "No, no, there's no limit to the number of bets. Every seat here is registered, and everyone here knows each other. Even if a stranger comes, they need someone they know to let them in. For example, you, I had to vouch for you to get in. If anything goes wrong, I'll be responsible."
Volume 1, Chapter 597: The Gambler
This is the typical gambler's mentality: they think they will become more and more skilled at gambling, and they will have an instinctive reaction to all gambling games, and their first feeling will be that all gambling games are cheating!
This Lu Dapao is clearly stronger than A Xing. Isn't this an obvious trap? They're trying to get everyone to bet on Lu Dapao, then let A Xing win the fight, so everyone loses all their bets!
Gao Mingyuan thought this way, and so did the vast majority of people. This was an obvious trap set by the bookmaker to lure everyone in.
However, Zhou Xuan didn't think that way. Although he gambled relatively little, he had experienced big and ruthless gambling. He also had supernatural abilities, so he couldn't hide his opponents' mentality and cards from them. He wasn't as addicted to gambling as other gamblers, but he had the advantage of supernatural abilities, which allowed him to clearly understand his opponents' thoughts. The dealer was best at playing this kind of deceptive and realistic tactics.
The first game is just a warm-up. Usually, no player will place a heavy bet in the first game. As long as the house doesn't lose money, it generally won't play any tricks in the first few rounds. It will only play the players' psychology. Since gamblers generally think they are smart and won't be fooled, they will always be on guard against the other party's ideas. Therefore, the first game will usually let the strong win and the weak lose, so that the gamblers will feel that the house is not playing tricks.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then asked Gao Mingyuan, "How do we place bets? How does the game work?" "People who come here, especially acquaintances, will register with a fixed mobile phone number. We'll use that number to place bets with them. There's basically no limit to the number of bets." "You can bet as much as you want; as long as you dare to bet, they'll accept the bet. Unless there are special instructions, there are no betting limits."
Gao Mingyuan quickly explained to Zhou Xuan, "How much do you want to bet? I'll place the bet for you right away. We have some new customers here, and usually the people who brought them here are in charge!"
Gao Mingyuan didn't actually reveal the full reason. The casino gives a commission to the people who bring players. The larger the bet, the higher the casino's commission. The minimum commission is 5% of the bet. Bets over one million will be higher, over ten million will be at least 10%, and over one hundred million will be even higher. However, Gao Mingyuan didn't tell Zhou Xuan this.
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly and said, "Alright, let's just play around. But will the total amount of these bets be displayed on-site?"
"Yes, yes, over there!" Gao Mingyuan immediately pointed to a crystal screen display over ten meters wide at the top of the room. "That big display will show the real-time betting amounts for both sides!" Zhou Xuan looked at the display and indeed saw the names of two people. On the left was Lu Dapao, and on the right was A Xing. Under Lu Dapao's name was 485234, while under A Xing's name was 221141. Lu Dapao's betting amount was more than twice that of A Xing.
Zhou Xuan immediately sensed something fishy about the number. After thinking for a moment, he focused his supernatural power and "scanned around." About thirty meters behind the screen, in a heavily guarded hall, he detected the casino's data control room, where dozens or even hundreds of operators were answering calls and compiling data on computers.
Zhou Xuan paid special attention to the statistics there. Lu Dapao's betting amount was only over 40,000 yuan, while A Xing's betting amount had exceeded 2 million yuan. Moreover, the odds for betting on Lu Dapao were 0.7 to 1, while the odds for A Xing were 1 to 1.
From this point alone, Zhou Xuan felt there was something fishy going on. If the bookmaker really wanted Ah Xing to win, they wouldn't be paying out such low odds to deliberately lure players. The real odds should be 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 for Lu Dapao, and Ah Xing's odds should be 1 to 3 or higher. Now, by deliberately paying Ah Xing 1 to 1, they are intentionally creating the illusion that Ah Xing is guaranteed to win and that the bookmaker is afraid of losing money.
The actual betting amounts released by the casino were also false figures, which seems to confirm Zhou Xuan's estimation.
Moreover, the number of bets on Ah Xing is rising rapidly. Of course, this is the first game, and the gamblers who are betting will not place large bets. They will only play a small game to test their luck and see what the bookmaker is thinking.
Zhou Xuan smiled. As long as he used his special ability to get a true picture of the casino's numbers, he was basically guaranteed to win.
"Let's just play a small game for the first round. You bet one million for me!"
Zhou Xuan spoke casually, but it startled Gao Mingyuan. A small bet was a million, so how much would a big bet be? Usually, his biggest bet was a few thousand, and the largest number he ever bet was a thousand.
The casino's minimum bet is five hundred. Gao Mingyuan chose these two numbers when he was confident. When he was sure, he would bet a thousand or several thousand, and when he was unsure, he would bet five hundred or not at all. As a small player like him, as long as he controlled his mentality, he would win quite a lot. This indirectly made Gao Mingyuan like to come to this place more.
Gao Mingyuan was taken aback when he heard Zhou Xuan's instructions, but then he was overjoyed. He quickly and happily called the bookmaker to place a bet of one million. He didn't have to put up a single penny, there was no risk, and he could earn seventy or eighty thousand for free. He would get a commission of nearly seventy or eighty percent. If the bet amount was higher, the commission would be even higher. Zhou Xuan had casually placed a million on his first small bet. It was easy to imagine that if he played medium or large bets, the number would be even larger, and the commission would be even higher. Maybe if he brought Zhou Xuan here to play for a day, he could earn an extra million.
Gao Mingyuan knew that Zhou Xuan had earned 35 million in free money. Not to mention how much money he himself had, he could imagine that with Zhou Xuan's generosity in casually throwing out 7 or 8 million, if he wanted to gamble, he would probably have tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. At the very least, he would have had several million.
After placing Zhou Xuan's million-dollar bet, Gao Mingyuan was surprised to realize that Zhou Xuan had just asked him to place a bet on Lu Dapao, and he couldn't help but exclaim "Oh dear!"
"Oh no, brother, you told me to vote for Lu Dapao, that's a mistake! I panicked and didn't have time to think it through. This round I have to vote for A Xing!" "No need!" Zhou Xuan smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'll vote for Lu Dapao. I have a good feeling about him. I think Lu Dapao will win. He's much stronger than A Xing!"
Gao Mingyuan, with a long face, said, "Brother, you've really got it wrong. How can you win the bookmaker's money so easily? Lu Dapao is clearly stronger than A Xing. Everyone's not stupid. Anyone can see that Lu Dapao is so much better than A Xing, how could he possibly win? If Lu Dapao wins, the bookmaker will have to pay out a lot of money!"
Zhou Xuan smiled and pointed at the display screen, saying, "Manager Gao, you guys trust the numbers the bookmakers give too much. I suspect these numbers are fake. Of course, I don't mean they're always fake, but I just think the data for this round is fake!" As Zhou Xuan spoke, he tried to deflect responsibility, because Lu Dapao was clearly going to win and was obviously much stronger than A Xing. Everyone could see that, so why should he say it was wrong?
If you simply say that the data is fake, you need to provide evidence; otherwise, how can people believe you?
"Manager Gao, think about it again," Zhou Xuan then lowered his voice and whispered to Gao Mingyuan, "You just said that everyone else thinks the same way you do. In times like these, the more this is the case, the more you need to go against the crowd. If everyone bets like you, how can the bookmaker win?"
Gao Mingyuan was taken aback, his facial muscles twitched a few times, and then he suddenly realized what was going on and covered his mouth with his hand!
Yes, that's what he thinks. Then everyone else, at least the vast majority, thinks the same way. Since they all think that way, they must have all placed bets on Ah Xing. So if Ah Xing really wins, then the bookmaker will lose a lot of money.
Gao Mingyuan was stunned for a while, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was the case. He slowly recalled the details. "It is also the case from the perspective of the odds. If Ah Xing would win, then how could lowering the odds reduce the amount of bets?"
Normally, Ah Xing's odds should be 3 to 1 or higher, but now they're 1 to 1, which clearly sends a signal: Ah Xing will win and Lu Dapao will lose!
But what about those bets?
Thinking of this, Gao Mingyuan broke out in a cold sweat. In the past, he would win and lose, but he could never win in a row. He would win once and lose several times. However, he did not bet big. When he was sure, he would bet big once and then bet small. In this way, he did not lose much money. Now, thinking back, he realized that Zhou Xuan was right. The betting amount displayed on the big screen was fake!
In the past, players lost money in matches with large betting volumes and high popularity, even though they bet less on the side that was the most popular. Now it seems that the "most popular" side wasn't actually popular, but rather the bookmaker deliberately created a false impression. The numbers were fake, and the side with less betting was the real favorite. In later rounds, the bookmaker might then input relatively "real" data, creating a confusing and deceptive system that kept players losing money most of the time!
To be honest, Gao Mingyuan was planning to bet 3,000 on A Xing. Normally, he wouldn't bet big in the first round, but today he was happy because firstly, Zhou Xuan, a big customer, had made him a millionaire overnight, and secondly, Zhou Xuan was continuing to increase his wealth. With such a large bet from Zhou Xuan, he would probably earn over a million today. His commission would definitely be substantial.
However, after Zhou Xuan mentioned Ai, Gao Mingyuan immediately stopped what he was doing. After sitting down and thinking about it carefully for a while, he couldn't help but look at Zhou Xuan again and his opinion of him changed.