The Depth of the Chip Pool

Seeing Sister Liu go all-in, Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao naturally had no reason to continue raising. They each chose to call and reveal their hands.

Sister Liu had K University's mixed hand.

Qin Yao had a pair of Queens.

Lin Sizhi had J University's mixed hand.

[Player chips depleted, please leave the table.]

Watching the robotic arm sweep all the chips on the table in front of Qin Yao, Sister Liu looked somewhat dejected as she left the gambling table.

But she didn't complain.

Looking at the chips in front of her, Qin Yao couldn't help but feel excited: "Great! We finally won a round!"

In this round, she earned 19,000 points, which was an incredible number.

However, when she looked at Lu Xinyi, Qin Yao's heart skipped a beat.

Because Lu Xinyi's lips were curved upwards slightly, as if she wasn't too concerned.

Lin Sizhi looked at her: "It's two against three now. You can still smile?"

Lu Xinyi shook her head slightly: "You should worry about yourself. Is bluffing the only way you know how to play?

"Count your chips and see how many more rounds you can play."

Clearly, Lu Xinyi's confidence stemmed from the depth of the chip pool.

She and Lu Mingxuan still had plenty of chips, enough to comfortably handle the rest of the game.

On the other hand, Lin Sizhi's side had lost a total of 13,000 chips after losing two big rounds.

Even if they sold blood, Lin Sizhi would at most get forty to fifty thousand chips. At this rate, how many rounds could they last?

"Drip."

"Drip."

The countdown on the big screen continued to tick, with 21 minutes remaining.

The game had also reached the seventh mini-round.

The young man to Qin Yao's right had been forced to leave the table in the previous round after running out of chips. The remaining four players had each won and lost.

This was an inevitable outcome, as he had the fewest chips.

With Lin Sizhi constantly making mindless raises, he either had to fold and lose the blinds for nothing, or call and be harvested by Lu Xinyi or Lu Mingxuan. After struggling for a few rounds, he could only leave the table.

But clearly, he wasn't the one who lost the most; it was Lin Sizhi.

Because Lin Sizhi continued the previous playstyle. After looking at his cards, he would always mindlessly bet at least 4,000 points, and then follow the bet desperately.

However, his thinking time after looking at the cards grew longer, and his willingness to raise gradually diminished.

Up to this point, he had lost nearly forty thousand chips.

More than ten thousand of these were won by Qin Yao, while the rest were divided between Lu Xinyi and Lu Mingxuan.

Looking at the pile of chips growing higher in front of her, Lu Xinyi's long-held anxiety finally subsided.

As the chip counts shifted, Lin Sizhi's chances of a comeback rapidly decreased.

As long as Lin Sizhi's chips were depleted, then in the next three rounds, she and Lu Mingxuan would have a two-on-one advantage.

At that point, they would hold absolute dominance and could definitely make Qin Yao return the chips she won, with interest.

For Qin Yao, the only option would be to give up and lose the three rounds' blinds.

This round, Lu Mingxuan was the dealer. After looking at his hand, he chose to raise.

It was Lin Sizhi's turn.

"I've been unlucky for six rounds, it's really time for my luck to turn, right?"

He sighed silently, listlessly picked up the cards on the table, and glanced at them.

Then, his eyes instantly brightened.

But soon, Lin Sizhi's expression returned to calm, even tinged with worry.

After agonizing for a full minute, just as the countdown was about to end, his right hand, which had been in his pocket, emerged. He then slammed six chips worth 2,000 points each onto the table.

"Raise!!"

Qin Yao looked at him. After considering for a while, she carefully selected from the chips she had won, and placed 13,000 points on the table.

"I'll raise too."

Lu Mingxuan's eyebrows twitched in shock.

Because the amount of chips this time was indeed a bit startling to him.

More importantly, based on their estimates, Lin Sizhi had at most a little over forty thousand chips. But now, the total amount Lin Sizhi had put in had reached just over fifty thousand.

This had completely exceeded their initial expectations and disrupted their calculations.

The countdown on the table continued to tick down. It was difficult to make a quick decision in just one minute.

Fortunately, he wasn't the one who needed to decide right now.

Lu Mingxuan looked at Lu Xinyi, only to find the corners of her mouth lifting uncontrollably.

She couldn't even help but let out a laugh.

"Your acting at such a crucial moment is terrible. Are you pretending for my benefit?"

Lu Xinyi quickly counted out 13,000 chips from the table and pushed them forward.

"I bet you're bluffing.

"And, your pockets should be completely empty, no chips left."

Lu Xinyi stared intently into Lin Sizhi's eyes.

Lin Sizhi didn't meet her gaze, instead looking at the countdown on the table. "Why do you think I'm bluffing?"

Lu Xinyi smiled. "Because people have path dependence.

"In the most tense, most critical moments, people often choose the play they are best at, their most instinctive move.

"Clearly, you're a player who likes to bluff, and you're quite stubborn about it.

"After your first failed bluff, you'd immediately use the 'hiding in plain sight' strategy for a second, a third bluff.

"An average player would easily be intimidated by you, especially when you can throw out a large amount of chips without batting an eye, breaking their psychological defenses. This is indeed excellent gambler's quality.

"If you intimidate me in this round, then in every subsequent round, I'll be at a mental disadvantage.

"But unfortunately, you overlooked a crucial factor: the depth of the chip pool.

"You're trying hard to create an illusion, as if your chip pool is infinitely deep, as if you can easily pull out tens or even hundreds of thousands of chips from your pockets, making your opponent feel 'our chip pools are not on the same level,' thus accumulating fear.

"And when you suddenly throw out an unreasonably large amount of chips beyond expectations, most people would think they've misjudged. It's difficult to make a calling decision within a minute.

"Not only that, but you also put on a show while looking at your cards, displaying a 'contradictory' demeanor.

"This will increase the opponent's suspicion. Whether they guess your hand is strong or weak, it will only make their thinking more confused.

"But unfortunately, I won't consider those issues.

"Because in this game, there's a limit to bloodletting, and there's also a limit to exchanging chips.

"Drawing 400ml of blood is the safety line, 600ml is the limit, and 800ml carries a very high risk of death.

"Since your chip pool can't be infinitely deep, this final desperate gamble must be a bluff.

"And even more coincidentally... my luck in this round is quite good, so I've decided to call all the way."

Lin Sizhi was silent for a moment. "But my hand might be even better? After all, my luck has been terrible for the first six rounds, it's about time I got lucky, right?"

Lu Xinyi smiled. "Learn some probability. Each hand is an independent event. There's no such thing as a conservation of luck in real probability."

As she spoke, Lu Mingxuan's thinking time ran out, and he had already folded. Lin Sizhi also had only a few seconds left to think.

Lin Sizhi's expression was calm as he reached into his suit pocket again.

"Is that so? Then what if... my hand is indeed good, and my chip pool is indeed infinitely deep?"

He scooped something from his pocket and gently placed 3 chips of 1000 each in the betting area.

"Raise, 3000."

Qin Yao also silently bet 3000. "I'll raise too."

Clearly, Qin Yao was just cooperating with Lin Sizhi, betting the difference of 1000 to ensure she wouldn't be forced to reveal her cards.

Lu Xinyi's expression froze. She was clearly surprised by these 3000 chips.

But she quickly recovered, sighing and shaking her head with a hint of helplessness. "Alright, you're quite good at squeezing toothpaste, hiding these chips.

"Are you planning to stall for time?

"If that's the case..."

Lu Xinyi took out 5 chips of 2000 each from the chips in front of her.

"I'll raise another ten thousand."

Ten thousand chips, in Lu Xinyi's opinion, was an amount Lin Sizhi absolutely could not pull out anymore.

His only choice now was to go all-in and reveal his cards.

However, Lin Sizhi reached into his pocket again, fumbled around, and then took out 4 chips of 2000 each.

"Raise."

Lin Sizhi's two bets were 3000 points and 8000 points, exactly 1000 points higher than Lu Xinyi's.

Lu Xinyi was stunned. She couldn't understand where these chips came from at all.

Lin Sizhi's suit pocket was like a cornucopia with infinite chips; no matter how many times he reached in, he could always pull out chips.

And what was worse, Lin Sizhi's chips were always just 1000 more than Lu Xinyi's.

This meant that if Lu Xinyi folded now, she would never see Lin Sizhi's hand, and all the chips she had thrown out would be lost.

But if she continued to call, Lu Xinyi had no idea how many chips Lin Sizhi still had, nor how many chips she herself would have to bet.

"No, calm down. Even if Lin Sizhi has chips left, Qin Yao's shouldn't be much either..."

And as long as Qin Yao ran out of chips and couldn't continue raising, she would also have to reveal her cards, and they would still be able to see Lin Sizhi's hole cards.

However, in the next second, a scene appeared that Lu Xinyi did not expect.

Qin Yao's chips on the table were completely insufficient, but she also reached into her pocket and then gathered 8,000 chips.

"Raise."