I started dealing the cards.

 

With 52 playing cards, I can deal whichever card I want.

 

Even if you stare at me without blinking, even if I slow down my speed, you still can't see.

 

But for me, this is all child's play, just basic skills in the art of deception.

 

Because they've lost quite a bit.

 

This time, Hou Jun and Chen Xiaoxue both stood up.

 

They stared at the cards in my hand.

 

To make sure they could see every card I dealt.

 

When dealing cards to others, I dealt normally.

 

But when dealing to myself, I covered the back of the cards with my fingers.

 

As soon as the cards hit the table, I immediately covered them with a cigarette box.

 

No matter how they looked, they couldn't see any of my hole cards.

 

After dealing the cards, Hou Jun and Chen Xiaoxue became somewhat excited.

 

More accurately, they were nervous.

 

Because their cards were big, so big that they were afraid others would fold.

 

I was the banker, so I should place the first bet.

 

Before I could even take out the money, Hou Jun suddenly spoke to me:

 

"Chu Liu, do you dare to follow without seeing until the end with me? I don't believe you can still beat me this time."

 

Chen Xiaoxue immediately echoed from the side:

 

"If you, Chu Liu, still want to be considered a man, then continue to follow with my husband! If you win, I'll find you a girl tomorrow, a girl from the bathing center, you can pick anyone you want!"

 

They echoed each other.

 

One used bluffing strategy, the other used the temptation of a beautiful woman.

 

"Fine, I'll follow!"

 

I said as I placed a ten-yuan bet.

 

My next player was Old Hei.

 

Just like before, he didn't follow, choosing to see the cards.

 

His way of looking at the cards was the same as many inexperienced gamblers.

 

First, he rubbed the cards vigorously, then looked at them little by little.

 

As if this would make the cards bigger.

 

When Old Hei clearly saw the three cards in his hand, his breathing noticeably became heavier.

 

His dark face even turned slightly purple.

 

Old Hei had a big hand.

 

Since playing Three Card Poker, he had never had such a big hand.

 

Of course, I knew what his cards were, and Hou Jun and Chen Xiaoxue knew too.

 

Three Jacks!

 

Three of a kind!

 

Suppressing his excitement, Old Hei quickly called with twenty yuan.

 

Hou Jun naturally didn't look at the cards and also followed with ten yuan.

 

The other players all looked at their cards and folded.

 

And so, the three of us continued to bet round after round.

 

No one was willing to fold.

 

Around the year 2000, there was a very deceptive rule in Three Card Poker, which was that only two players could compare cards, and three players couldn't reveal their cards.

 

This led to some dirty tactics used to deceive others, such as two ghosts pressing one.

 

The two players didn't care about the size of the cards, as long as they had enough money, they would keep betting.

 

And the side that was pressed, even if you had a big hand, you couldn't compare cards.

 

In the end, when the money ran out, you would naturally be eliminated.

 

I once heard that a gambler had a hand of three Aces, but in the end, he didn't have enough money to bet.

 

Depressed, he jumped off a building while holding the three Aces.

 

In the blink of an eye, over a thousand yuan had been bet on the table.

 

Because Old Hei had seen the cards in advance, he called with twenty yuan each time.

 

This also meant that he only had a little over a hundred yuan on the table.

 

Glancing at Hou Jun, Old Hei tried to persuade him:

 

"Big Jun, why don't you fold and let me compare with this kid…"

 

As he spoke, Old Hei even winked at Hou Jun.

 

He meant well, trying to tell Hou Jun that his cards were big.

 

But unexpectedly, Hou Jun immediately refused.

 

"Why should I fold? I want to follow this kid until the end! What's wrong, if you don't have money to follow, I can lend you some!"

 

That's the kind of bastard Hou Jun was.

 

He always claimed that Old Hei was his best brother.

 

But he knew that his cards were better than Old Hei's.

 

Yet he still wanted to lend money to Old Hei to follow.

 

This grandson would cheat anyone.

 

As he spoke, he handed eight hundred yuan to Old Hei as a loan.

 

And he himself only had a little over a thousand yuan left on the table.

 

Because I had won earlier, I still had about fifteen hundred yuan on the table.

 

The three of us continued to bet.

 

After several more rounds, Old Hei's eight hundred yuan had dwindled to just a few tens.

 

He held his cards and said to me and Hou Jun:

 

"Let's just play with this, no more betting. The three of us will compare, whoever has the bigger hand wins!"

 

I didn't say anything.

 

Because I guessed that Hou Jun definitely wouldn't agree.

 

Sure enough, Hou Jun firmly said:

 

"No comparison, if you don't have money, go borrow some, or don't follow!"

 

Hou Jun's tone was resolute, with no room for compromise.

 

Old Hei was also furious, his face twisted in anger.

 

With a loud "smack," he threw his cards onto the table and shouted:

 

"I fucking have three Jacks, how can I not follow?"

 

No one expected that hot-tempered Old Hei would actually reveal his cards.

 

Wow!

 

Everyone at the table couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

 

Three of a kind is the biggest hand in Three Card Poker.

 

And it was three Jacks.

 

Only a three of a kind with QKA could beat it.

 

"Lend me the money, I'll follow him!"

 

Old Hei revealed his cards and tried to persuade Hou Jun.

 

But Hou Jun was obviously not happy with Old Hei revealing his cards.

 

With a stern face, he said unkindly:

 

"No lending, I only have this much left. I want to follow him until the end!"

 

Old Hei was furious, but also helpless. He had run out of money and could only say in frustration:

 

"Fine, you guys follow, I fucking won't! I want to see whose cards are bigger than mine!"

 

There were only two of us left on the table, me and Hou Jun.

 

Hou Jun seemed afraid that I would look at the cards and fold.

 

So he directly said to me:

 

"Chu Liu, how about this, let's not bet ten yuan at a time, it's too troublesome. Let's just go all in, whoever has the bigger hand takes it all. How about that?"

 

I sneered in my heart, but my face still showed no expression.

 

I lit a cigarette and looked at the few hundred yuan in front of Hou Jun, saying:

 

"Going all in is fine, but do you want to go all in with however much money you have left?"

 

My tone was cold, seemingly provoking Hou Jun.

 

"Why the fuck are you asking me how much money I have? I'm richer than you, that's all. You bet, I'll follow however much you bet!"

 

"However much I bet, you'll follow?"

 

"That's right!""That's exactly what I've been waiting for him to say."

 

Slowly, I reached into my pocket.

 

Inside was a stack of hundred-yuan bills.

 

This was the lucky money Sister Mei had given me after we finished playing Mahjong in the afternoon.

 

"Ten thousand, I'm going all in!"

 

Ten thousand?

 

Everyone at the card table looked surprised.

 

They all turned to look at me.

 

They were all puzzled, wondering how I could have so much money?

 

You have to understand, the highest salary among us is earned by Hou Jun.

 

But even he only makes one thousand five hundred a month.

 

Ten thousand yuan, to us at the bottom of society, is nothing short of a fortune.

 

Hou Jun stared at the stack of ten thousand yuan on the card table, neatly bound with a money band.

 

There was a hint of surprise in his eyes.

 

But more than that, there was greed.

 

He seemed to have already decided that all this money was his.

 

"Boss, come over here!"

 

Hou Jun shouted towards the door.

 

The boss came in through the door, and Hou Jun said directly:

 

"How much money do you have? Lend it all to me, I'll pay you back after the casual game!"

 

The boss twitched his face, saying with a hint of helplessness:

 

"I put all my money on goods this morning, I only have a little over eight hundred left…"

 

Eight hundred, that's too little.

 

Hou Jun couldn't help but frown.

 

He asked the other people at the card table.

 

"How much money do you guys have? Lend it all to me!"

 

Unfortunately, the money these people had combined was less than two thousand.

 

Having no other choice, he turned to ask Chen Xiaoxue.

 

"What about you? How much money do you have left?"

 

At the mention of money, Chen Xiaoxue was clearly unhappy.

 

"I only have three hundred left, didn't I give you all the rest? Where would I get more money? Why don't you just bet me instead!"

 

As she spoke, Chen Xiaoxue even gave Hou Jun a disdainful look.

 

Hou Jun, helpless, could only turn to me and negotiate:

 

"Chu Liu, why don't you wait for me for a while? I'll go out and borrow some, and come back later!"

 

I didn't refuse, but I added a condition.

 

"Okay, but we start timing from now. If you're not back within an hour, you're considered to have discarded your cards and lost!"

 

Hou Jun hesitated.

 

His friends were also at the bottom of society.

 

It would be very difficult to borrow ten thousand yuan within an hour.

 

Looking at the bright red hundred-yuan bills on the card table, he was extremely unwilling to give up.

 

Suddenly, he turned his gaze back to Chen Xiaoxue.