Chapter 1243: Blackjack
What does more than forty-three million mean?
It’s equivalent to a luxury villa in a good location in Kanyue City, or nearly one or two months of profits for this card game establishment.
If such a huge amount were to be lost, Zhang Ya’Er and the others wouldn’t be able to explain it to their superiors. Also, this person is a major rival to the Wang Family, which makes it even harder to accept. If all this money is taken out by Lin Tian, Zhang Ya’Er feels she can’t continue in this card game establishment. So, naturally, she would try everything to retain him.
Playing dice is surely a loss, but if it’s poker... maybe not! She was confident this could be turned around!
Zhang Ya’Er watched Lin Tian nervously, fearing that he would quit and leave, with no one able to do anything about it.
Unexpectedly, Lin Tian thought for a moment and then directly agreed, "Alright, let’s play this!"
Hearing that he was willing to continue, Zhang Ya’Er breathed a sigh of relief, DS and Shan also felt a bit more relaxed. It seemed like they saw a glimmer of hope.
"Is it going to be a one-on-one duel, or do you want to open a bank?" Zhang Ya’Er asked with a smile.
Lin Tian almost instantly blurted out, "I’ll continue to open a bank. What’s the fun in just two people playing? I already said, I like excitement!"
Zhang Ya’Er laughed, and DS and Shan laughed as well.
Do you really think you could take on the three of us all by yourself? How naive!
Since it’s poker, a different table is needed, and another croupier has to be found to deal the cards.
To ensure safety, Lin Tian requested to appoint a croupier himself. But to prevent Lin Tian from colluding with someone beforehand, Zhang Ya’Er asked him to choose from the card game establishment staff. Lin Tian had no objections and ultimately selected the counter girl who had exchanged chips for him earlier.
Unexpectedly, this counter girl transformed into a croupier and became much more nervous after witnessing the large scene. She stood in front of the gaming table anxiously, hardly daring to speak much, as the atmosphere was indeed quite overwhelming.
Some of the onlookers jokingly made a few remarks out of boredom, but it was just in jest, and no one took it seriously, though it made the croupier even more nervous. She even made several mistakes while shuffling the cards, nearly dropping them on the floor, causing the crowd around to burst into laughter.
Lin Tian needed someone this ’clumsy,’ ensuring trust on both sides. If the cards were dealt by a croupier from within the card game establishment, it wouldn’t be a fair game, as with their crafty techniques, many cheating tricks could be employed during the shuffle to prevent him from getting any good cards.
After Zhang Ya’Er comforted the croupier a bit, the game began properly.
Lin Tian, being the banker, naturally started dealing the cards from himself, with each person initially getting two cards as the starting hand.
Lin Tian slouched in his chair, peeked at the cards, and saw an Ace (which can be 1 or 11) and a 6, with significant potential for growth.
"I’ll take one more," Lin Tian said.
The croupier clumsily slid a new card across the table, and when Lin Tian lifted it to look, it was a 3, bringing his total to twenty points. It was already a very high score, and if he took another card and exceeded twenty-one, he’d go bust!
Zhang Ya’Er and the others each took between one and three cards, maintaining a quiet tension in the air.
"Let’s reveal, I have twenty," Lin Tian said, turning over his cards.
Zhang Ya’Er had twenty-one, DS eighteen, Shan busted, Mrs. Liu nineteen, and another gambler also busted.
Before the dealing began, they had already set a bet of fifty thousand per round, with a double payout for a twenty-one.
So, in this round, Lin Tian lost one hundred thousand to Zhang Ya’Er but collected two hundred thousand from the others, still making a profit.
The game continued round after round, and this style of playing was indeed more exciting and fun than the dice game, though the money came much slower. Lin Tian still preferred the thrill of hitting a big score with the dice, multiplying the stakes fivefold in an instant.
Among those present, all were seasoned veterans of the card game establishment, each with their own collection of illicit tricks such as palming cards unseen, each using different methods and with great stealth, making it extremely difficult for the crowd to notice anything amiss.
But these techniques, these cheating tricks, were all plainly visible to Lin Tian, thanks to his perspective vision, where everything was transparent, leaving no place to hide.
Mrs. Liu and the other gambler hardly dared to cheat, given the presence of experts at this table.
But Zhang Ya’Er and her group were much more brazen, cheating once every three to four rounds, executing each move flawlessly, seamlessly, and without a trace. Without Lin Tian’s perspective vision, he truly wouldn’t have been able to detect it.
Nevertheless, Lin Tian didn’t expose them, as that would take away the fun.
If they could cheat, Lin Tian surely could as well. He was even more skilled than anyone present!
Boldly swapping a card from the discarded pile! With his astonishing hand speed, coupled with the technique he had practiced at Xianglong Tea House, the execution was flawless and far more discreet!
Back and forth, both sides competed fiercely, each having their wins and losses. As the player acting as the bank, having good cards almost assured an unbeatable position. Losing to Zhang Ya’Er, but winning back from Mrs. Liu!
As the game heated up, Mrs. Liu suddenly stared firmly at Lin Tian, focusing on the cards in his hand! She had noticed something suspicious!
Earlier, when Lin Tian’s hand brushed across the table, something seemed to flutter momentarily, but it was too quick to see clearly. Now Lin Tian was covering his cards with both hands, slowly rubbing them as if gathering strength to unveil a strong hand.
This technique was quite common in card cheating, called "the sleeve trick" or "water sleeve," a method of card-switching and an essential skill of a seasoned cheater!
There’s definitely something fishy!
Mrs. Liu was utterly convinced in her heart, but without concrete evidence, she chose to remain silent for the moment.
"Let’s reveal the cards,"
Everyone showed their cards, and in Lin Tian’s hand, it was exactly twenty-one!
Seeing this result, Mrs. Liu immediately stood up, excited, pointing at Lin Tian and shouting loudly, "He’s cheating!"
A buzz erupted, everyone’s eyes focused on Lin Tian. Some were astonished, while others had suspected it for a while but hadn’t dared to speak. Now that Mrs. Liu had voiced it, the discussions immediately grew louder!
Lin Tian, however, remained unhurried, clasping his hands on the table, smiling at Mrs. Liu as he said, "You should have evidence before speaking, or it might bring trouble."
"I want to verify the cards!" Mrs. Liu demanded loudly, supporting herself on the table with both hands.
Verifying the cards means laying out all the cards again to see if there are any extras or missing ones, revealing who was cheating! It’s a method to catch cheaters!