The core rules of Texas Hold 'em were very simple. It was a combination of two of one's trump cards and five public cards. Whoever had the biggest hand would win. And the public cards were dealt in three rounds. Three cards were dealt in the first round, one card in the second round, and one card in the third round. Every round, one could call, follow, or raise until no one raised, or only one person didn't fold.
Klein played with the chips in his hand and divined that he would be luckier in the next few rounds. However, he couldn't tell which round it would be. After all, it was only a simple and quick divination. The effects weren't that great.
Using such a method to play with ordinary people or Low-Sequence Beyonders isn't a problem as long as I have the right strategy. However, it's definitely not possible against a demigod. Even winning against a Mid-Sequence Beyonder would be rather difficult … Don't tell me I have to close my eyes and rest every round to do a complete dream divination? Heh heh, if that's the case, Dawn Dantès might have the nickname "Sleeping God of Gamblers" … Klein sighed inwardly as he continued his style of discarding after reading his cards. He had already lost a small and a big blind bet (which was half and a bottom bet, and the bottom bet for this round was one pound). Now, it was his turn for two rounds.
At this moment, Klein noticed something. Qonas Kilgor, the deputy director of MI9, had lost 20 pounds to Admiral Amyrius in this round.
"Bribe" succeeded … Admiral Amyrius should've been able to tell that Qonas had used the powers of the Baron of Corruption, but he might not know that this deputy director of MI9 is a demigod … The next round, hehe, it'll definitely be fun … Klein's mind stirred. After the attendant placed his two new trump cards in front of him, he didn't even flip a corner to confirm the cards. Instead, he directly bet the metal chip he was playing with on his trump card, acting as though he was going to the end without looking at his cards.
After two people folded, the stern and old-fashioned Amyrius Rieveldt casually looked at his trump card and counted out chips worth five pounds. He threw them into the middle of the table and, without any surprise, made an additional bet.
Another person folded. Macht followed up with a bet of five pounds. Right on the heels of that, the tough-guy Qonas Kilgor raised again, throwing a total of 20 pounds worth of chips.
Colonel Calvin confirmed his hand again and indicated that he would raise the bet.
After the remaining player folded, Dawn Dantès didn't bother to count. He grabbed a handful of chips and threw them out.
"20 pounds, follow the bet," the waiter in charge of counting the chips said accurately after a glance.
"I thought it would be 50 pounds. Seems like you're not familiar with this kind of chips," Dawn Dantès, who had white sideburns and an outstanding temperament, said with a smile.
However, he did not pay the remaining 30 pounds.
At that moment, everyone had expressed their stance. It was once again Amyrius Rieveldt's turn.
The Admiral didn't even look at the rest of the people. He picked up five 10-pound chips and threw them out.
"More."
His emotions did not fluctuate at all. It was as if he was talking about a cup of black tea. However, his indescribable majesty and his continuous raising of stakes without even seeing a single public card made the atmosphere of the entire table rather tense.
This situation often meant that Admiral Amyrius had an excellent trump card. It could be a pair of Aces, a pair of Kings, or an Ace plus a King.
Macht decided to fold. Qonas Kilgor stroked his high nose bridge and looked around with his dark blue eyes that were nearly black.
"Call."
Once again, Colonel Calvin confirmed his trump card, hesitated for ten seconds, and chose to fold.
Dawn Dantès touched the metal chips on his two cards and revealed a smile.
"Call."
After this round of declaration, there were only three players left. Then, the waiter in charge of dealing the cards placed the three public cards in the middle of the table and spread them out.
"Two of Spades, Nine of Hearts, King of Spades."
The first to call was Admiral Amyrius Rieveldt. He leaned forward slightly and said with an extremely oppressive posture, "Two of Spades.
"Fifty pounds."
He directly raised the bet from one pound to fifty pounds!
Macht, Colonel Calvin, and company felt a baffling sense of suffocation even though they weren't participating in the game.
"…" Qonas Kilgor's body trembled slightly, but he eventually grabbed a fifty pound chip and threw it out.
Dawn Dantès shot a glance at the deputy director of MI9 and smiled as though he didn't feel any pressure.
"Call."
Upon hearing that, Colonel Calvin turned his head and nodded at Dawn Dantès, whose blue eyes resembled a lake at night, in acknowledgment.
From his point of view, Admiral Amyrius's aura was useless against a person whose goal was to lose money.
At this moment, the red-vested waiter threw out the fourth public card.
"Nine of Spades."
With three spades appearing, the chances of a flush instantly increased. However, Admiral Amyrius didn't hesitate at all as he calmly pushed out a stack of chips.
"One hundred pounds."
Qonas Kilgor's fingers tapped his trump card a few times, clearly lacking in confidence. But eventually, he chose to follow the bet.
Dawn Dantès glanced at the deputy director again and maintained his warm smile.
"Call."
To this point in time, he hadn't seen his hand. This left Colonel Calvin a little worried, believing that such a performance was overboard. It was as though he was giving away money. Admiral Amyrius, who had a relatively conservative style, might not accept it.
At this moment, the red-vested waiter threw out the fifth public card.
"Two of Clubs."
As such, the entire public card was completely formed.
"Two of Spades, Nine of Hearts, King of Spades, Nine of Spades, Two of Clubs."
"200 pounds." Admiral Amyrius pushed down a pile of metal chips in an astounding manner.
Qonas Kilgor first took a deep breath before he pushed out two stacks of chips.
"500 pounds."
This sum of money was equivalent to half a year's salary.
Is he trying to bluff? Colonel Calvin and Member of Parliament Macht exchanged looks. They felt that Kilgor's actions were a little obvious and could be easily seen through.
One had to know that playing Texas Hold 'em, apart from money management and probability calculations, was often a psychological game. Be it body language, expression, or raising style, they would all reveal a person's cards.
Of course, there were also powerful players who would use such details to deliberately mislead their opponents.
Dwayne Dantès sized up Qonas Kilgor and suddenly laughed. Following that, he said the same thing as before, "You're the only one who's capable of doing this.
Following that, he said the same thing as before, "Call."
Admiral Amyrius raised his hands, prepared to push out all his remaining chips and use his aura to overwhelm his opponent.
At this moment, his actions suddenly came to a halt as his expressionless face revealed a heavy look.
After a few seconds of silence, he calmly said,
"Call."
At this point, it was time to reveal one's cards and compare the size of the cards.
Admiral Amyrius first flipped over his cards. An Ace of Spades, a Ten of Spades, formed a flush with the two of spades, a King of Spades, and a Nine of Spades from the public deck. This was considered a rather large card. The only cards bigger than it were a calabash, a four, a straight flush, and a royal straight flush.
"It's your turn," Amyrius urged Qonas.
Qonas first flipped over a card. It was a King of Diamonds, forming a pair of Kings and Nines with the public deck.
Right on the heels of that, he picked up his second card. At this moment, the remaining poker cards on the red-vested attendant's table turned blurry.
Pa!
The card was thrown onto the table, revealing its appearance.
"Nine of Clubs!"
"What?" Macht and company exclaimed in surprise, unable to believe their eyes.
This meant that Qonas Kilgor had formed a calabash with three Nines and a pair of Kings!
This was bigger than a flush!
"Sorry about that, calabash," Qonas said with a smile as he looked at Admiral Amyrius.
Then, he turned his head to Dawn Dantès.
"You can reveal your cards."
"I'm also very curious what card it will be." Dawn Dantès smiled and picked up the metal chips in front of him. He casually flipped over his two cards and threw them out.
"Eh …"
"What?"
…
Colonel Calvin and company rubbed their eyes.
Dawn Dantès's cards were an extremely small pair.
"Two of Hearts, Two of Diamonds."
And in the public deck, there happened to be a very small pair.
"Two of Spades, Two of Clubs."
They formed four, the smallest four, but they were bigger than all the calabashes!
"Praise the Lady!" Dawn Dantès's eyes revealed a look of pleasant surprise as he drew a crimson moon on his chest, as though he hadn't expected it either.
"What an interesting round." Admiral Amyrius was taken aback for a moment before he clapped gently.
Qonas Kilgor gave Dawn Dantès a deep glance and sighed with a smile.
"I never expected the final winner to be you."
Klein returned with a smile as he mumbled inwardly, It's only right that I beat you.
On the one hand, Admiral Amyrius only likes to use his aura to oppress me and didn't use his Beyonder powers to cheat. As for you, you placed all your attention and Beyonder powers on Admiral Amyrius and ignored me. On the other hand, the person who played cards with you is actually called Winner Enuni.
Without looking at his cards, it was obviously all luck!
When he placed the metal chips on his cards, Klein had already swapped places with Winner Enuni, taking on each other's looks!
Although Colonel Calvin had previously made him deliberately lose the 1,000 pounds worth of chips, Klein decided to win after seeing Qonas Kilgor.
This wasn't to say that he couldn't bear to part with the money. His main goal was to attract the attention of the MI9 demigod and take the opportunity to familiarize himself with him and establish a connection!
Only by doing so would Klein have a chance of obtaining information from Qonas Kilgor and even completing his attack. After all, he was a demigod. To deal with him in Baekeland, one had to be sufficiently careful and cautious. Without the confidence of landing a hit or being able to transfer him out of Baekeland, one would rather give up on the operation. Otherwise, one would definitely expose one's goal and be watched by many demigods and angels in Baekeland.
Following that, Klein won and lost. Finally, not only did he retain the 1,000 pounds worth of chips, he even won an additional 1,000 pounds. During this process, Colonel Calvin repeatedly hinted for Dawn Dantès to lose money, but Dawn Dantès brushed it off by saying that he was too lucky and couldn't lose no matter what.
After the game ended, the first person to walk towards Dawn Dantès with a smile was Major-General Qonas Kilgor.
PS: Reed's writing is very simple and saves a lot of information. Otherwise, I would have to explain what a muzzle is, what a three bet is, what a turn, and what a river is. That would be too troublesome and not in line with the tone of the book. After all, this is a fantasy, not a game of cards. You can't switch from Witcher 3 to Gwent 3. The focus is on the purpose of playing cards, not the cards itself. Therefore, I have tried my best to write it in the simplest and most understandable way. It might be very different from the actual strategy of calling and raising, so please do not copy it.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
