Xie Qi smiled at the fat man and tapped his hole cards.
"Sir, are you planning to think it over until dinner ends?"
Everyone else who had already folded was watching them, putting even more pressure on the wealthy merchant.
He had just given them the impression that he could keep his cool under pressure. If a moment of impulse made him lose everything, wouldn't he have to beg someone for a bite to eat afterward?
The scales tipped in the wealthy merchant's mind. Under Xie Qi's teasing gaze, he tossed his cards onto the table.
[It's over. I knew he couldn't handle the pressure.]
[A 95% chance of winning! If he'd gone all-in too, the chef would have lost everything right then!]
[Quit the hindsight talk. That's skill, and you can only envy it (doge).]
Annie was about to collect the cards on the table and deal again.
But the wealthy merchant stopped her.
"You, I want to see what your hole cards were."
Xie Qi crossed his hands and leaned back in his chair, looking perfectly at ease.
Hearing the wealthy merchant's words, he chuckled. "Sure, if that's what you want, sir~"
With Xie Qi's permission, Annie turned over his hole cards.
Queen of clubs, ten of clubs.
Just a pair?!
The wealthy merchant's face turned bright red, and steam seemed to rise from his head.
He'd had three of a kind! Three of a kind!
And he'd let this kid bluff him!
He hadn't expected that, so soon after pulling off a small-stakes gamble for a big win, this pretty boy would return the favor.
The others marveled at Xie Qi when they saw the dramatic scene.
Phil hadn't paid much attention to their dispute, but after seeing Xie Qi's cards, he raised his head and discreetly studied him with his green eyes.
Song Nan couldn't help feeling pleased as well. That fat man had tricked her earlier, and now someone else had tricked him the same way, giving her a favorable impression of the chef.
The others were only surprised for a moment. It had nothing to do with them, after all, so they started the next round.
Nothing like that happened again after that. Everyone won at least a little, except the police officer, whose head was covered in sweat.
He had almost lost all his chips and had only 40 yuan left. If he couldn't win this round, he wouldn't even be able to pay the ante for the next one.
But when he saw his cards, he couldn't help smiling bitterly and casually tossed them away.
The others had noticed him too. After all, he had the fewest chips at the table. Seeing that he seemed to have given up, they stopped paying attention to him.
Feeling that last place had already been decided, the people at the table relaxed.
The stakes weren't high, just one meal, but they had all gone hungry for many days. They had only eaten their fill the night before and still hadn't recovered, so they really didn't want to go hungry again.
The wealthy merchant still had the most chips, with Xie Qi in second place.
He turned to look at Xie Qi and raised the bet to 2,000 without hesitation.
The next player was the lawyer Bailey. Seeing that his boss had raised, and by such a large amount, he knew it was time to fold.
So he tossed his cards away, and it was Xie Qi's turn.
Xie Qi looked somewhat troubled. He kept his hand on his hole cards for a long time, and only when everyone at the table and the viewers in the livestream were staring at him did he smile brightly and call the 2,000.
Phil sat beside him. He merely glanced at Xie Qi, then folded without a word.
The fourth community card was dealt: the king of spades.
The community cards were now the ace of spades, four of hearts, ace of diamonds, and king of spades.
The community cards alone made a pair and included two cards of the same suit.
The livestream had already erupted, because the wealthy merchant held two fours. Combined with the community cards, he had three of a kind, which was already a very strong hand.
Xie Qi, meanwhile, held the jack and ten of spades. If the last community card was a queen, he would have a straight: five consecutive cards, A-K-Q-J-10.
But the odds were extremely low, and it would take a great deal of luck.
The livestream therefore put the wealthy merchant's chance of winning at 90%, and Xie Qi's at 10%.
The wealthy merchant had thought of that too, but he was confident that such a slim chance wouldn't come to pass. He sneered and pushed all his chips into the pot.
"Call if you've got the guts, kid."
Seeing how bold he was, the livestream viewers erupted.
[Waaah! Awesome! That's how it's done!]
[If the fat guy wins this hand, he'll have nearly five thousand in chips, right? He'll get rich in one go!]
[The chef definitely won't dare call. The odds of a straight are way too low. He'd be better off cutting his losses.]
[Once this round is over, that officer's going to lose. He's only got 40 left, from what I can see.]
As everyone speculated that Xie Qi would fold, he remained expressionless, as though the wealthy merchant's provocation had gotten to him.
But before long, Xie Qi reached out and placed one hand on his two hole cards.
Just as the wealthy merchant thought he was going to push them away and a smug look appeared on his face, a voice as deep and pleasant as a cello rang out.
"Back when I played Texas Hold'em, someone once said they were most afraid of me getting a strong hand, because even with a trash hand, I always liked going all-in against people..."
As he spoke, he lifted his hand from his cards again.
The others had no idea what had gotten into him or why he had suddenly started reminiscing.
"And I also really like making people think I don't have a strong hand. That way, they won't get scared off and can keep raising, until..."
Clatter—
The pot was instantly filled with chips.
Xie Qi withdrew the hand he had used to push his chips forward, pulled a white handkerchief from his breast pocket, and wiped his hand as he spoke to the wealthy merchant, whose expression had turned ugly.
"All-in."
After wiping his hand, Xie Qi stuffed the handkerchief back into his trouser pocket, then turned and smiled at Annie, who was still standing there in a daze.
"Miss, game over. You can turn over the card now."
"Oh... oh! Okay."
Annie hurriedly turned over the last community card first, and it was—
The queen of spades!!!
[What the hell! Is this crazy? Is that really possible?]
[Royal flush!!! (furious shout)]
[A one-in-thirty-thousand chance! All right, I'm lying flat. Lord Kani, kill me!]
[Did he know from the start, or was it luck? If it was luck, his karma must be insanely good!]
[You really can calculate it using probability, but whose brain can beat an AI? Even the livestream's win-rate calculation was a second behind just now.]
It wasn't just the livestream viewers who went crazy. Once Xie Qi's hole cards were turned over too, the eight people present were blown away.
The wealthy merchant and Phil in particular were both casino regulars, yet it could be said that neither had ever seen anyone make a royal flush in their lives! A-K-J-Q-10 of the same suit.
The wealthy merchant's mouth hung open as he watched all the chips in front of him being pushed over to Xie Qi.
In an instant, he had gone from first place to penniless, ranking below even Saul with his measly 40 yuan.
Last place had been decided!