The empty roulette wheel area kept flashing through his mind, and David was filled with remorse.
Suddenly, as if grasping at a last straw, he abruptly released Diana, grabbed her shoulders with both hands, and said urgently, " Diana, do you have any change left in your purse? Exchange it all for chips, quick!"
" David, maybe... we should stop gambling?" Diana clutched the canvas bag in her arms tightly; that money was her last remaining capital.
"I'm not playing roulette anymore!" David spat angrily. "This damn roulette is rigged; you can't win any money with it."
"Let's go back and play dice! This time I'll stick with Bellatrix and bet carefully, I won't do anything reckless, I just want to win back some of the money I've lost, please, Diana."
His gaze returned to the dice table where he had won 9,000, and a spark of hope rekindled in his eyes.
"Okay, I'll go change." Seeing the almost pleading look in her husband's eyes, Diana felt a last glimmer of hope.
So she nodded, choking back tears, grabbed her bag, and went to the chip exchange counter, turning back every few steps. David, on the other hand, couldn't wait to return to the dice table.
Bellatrix was cheering at that moment.
A small pile of chips appeared in front of her, and seeing David return, she smiled and said, " David, you finally decided to come back?"
Bellatrix, you've won quite a bit again?
"Yes, I've had pretty good luck in the dice area today, more wins than losses." Bellatrix finished speaking, glancing at David's empty hands. She knew the result immediately and asked calmly,
"How about over there? What are the results?"
"I... I... it was just... just so-so, I didn't play for too long..." David stammered, his eyes Winky.
He was afraid that his secret of losing all his money in one roulette game would be exposed.
"Winning and losing are common occurrences. It's always better to be safe on the dice than on the roulette wheel." Bellatrix smiled without saying anything more, thus giving David ample face.
"Come on, let's continue." Bellatrix called to her gambling buddies beside her, and soon she won several more rounds, increasing her chips again.
At this moment, Diana finally returned and cautiously walked to David's side, clutching the two hundred-plus dollars in chips she had just exchanged tightly in her hand, afraid of losing even this last bit of money.
Upon seeing the chips, David hurriedly grabbed them, keeping a close eye on Bellatrix's movements, intending to follow her lead and place his bet.
" David!" Diana pressed his hand anxiously, dissuading him, "That's all we have left. We can't bet recklessly anymore. If we lose again, we really won't have a single penny left."
"It's alright, it's alright!" David released her hand, his gaze fixed intently on Bellatrix. "You've seen Bellatrix's luck, she keeps winning. If you bet with her, you're sure to break even this time."
" David," Bellatrix said kindly, while organizing her chips, "I'm not 100% sure of winning either. Gambling is all about luck, so you should be careful with your chips."
"It's okay, today is different." David wouldn't listen at all; all he saw was Bellatrix winning money.
"Since you're so confident, then you can play by yourself." Bellatrix said, putting all the remaining chips back into her pocket.
Standing to the side, Diana looked at Bellatrix gratefully. If it weren't for Bella's intervention, David would definitely have made another impulsive bet.
Seeing that Bellatrix wouldn't budge, David could only reluctantly withdraw his intention to go all in and temporarily suppress his impulse.
A new round of betting began. Bellatrix placed small bets at her own pace, and David, seeing this, also placed a small bet. Unexpectedly, he actually won this round.
David, confident in Bellatrix, bet half his chips in the next round, but the dice rolled and he lost.
However, the good times didn't last long. The next few rounds were a cruel torture for David's mental defenses.
We won the third game.
We lost the fourth game.
We won the fifth game.
This cycle of winning one hand, losing one hand, winning two hands repeats itself over and over, with the chips remaining stagnant.
There was no significant increase, nor was the money completely lost.
This left David utterly exhausted.
"What kind of lousy approach is this!"
Could I be getting punished by the casino's system? Winning big money is impossible; slowly grinding it out is a complete waste of time.
"Don't worry, David," Diana comforted him softly. "At least we haven't lost everything. As long as we've preserved our capital, that's enough."
"What's the use of not losing! It's so slow, we won't even have enough for 50,000 by the time the cruise ship docks," David complained. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "That's it!" There seems to be a pattern to it.
Since it's a cycle of winning one game and losing one game,
If you bet more on the winning rounds and less on the losing rounds, wouldn't that guarantee an overall win?
"I have a plan, Diana!"
Before Diana could even ask, David immediately got to work.
Following the pattern, David adjusted his betting amount, and after a few rounds, the chips on the table indeed increased slightly. David was overjoyed, feeling that he had finally figured out the winning formula.
After that, he started to feel elated again. Looking at the meager gains, David felt increasingly that things were going too slowly.
This amount of money is far from enough to make up for his previous losses, and it's even further from his goal of redeeming the house.
Then a crazy idea took root in his mind: since he could predict the winning hand, why not go all in? That way, he could multiply his winnings several times over in one go!
"Winning like this is too slow!" A greedy glint flashed in David's eyes. He grabbed all the chips in front of him and slammed them heavily on the table. "Next hand, I'm all in!"
"Don't go all in! David, please!"
Diana intervened again, and Bellatrix was startled. " David, if you're going all in, I'm not following suit."
"This isn't gambling, this is suicide."
"I've figured out the pattern!" David was blinded by his own imagined pattern, his mind filled with dreams of turning the tide.
"This hand is a guaranteed win; it's your loss if you don't bet!"
Diana paced anxiously, shaking her head and trying to dissuade him from betting everything, but David was determined to place his bet.
The dice are thrown, land, and the number is revealed.
The dice stopped rolling, but it wasn't the number David had expected.
He lost. In an instant, all the chips in front of him, including the winnings and his initial stake, were taken away by the dealer with a blank expression, leaving the table empty.
This was truly a bolt from the blue.
Suddenly, a surge of furious anger at being deceived welled up inside me.
"No... impossible!" David pointed at the dealer, his face flushed red, and shouted angrily.
"You cheated! Your casino manipulated the results! Otherwise, I couldn't have lost! There's definitely something wrong with these dice!"
The people around immediately fell silent and turned to look.
"Sir, our casino operates entirely transparently."
The dealer gave him a very official answer.
"All games here are conducted in accordance with the rules and are recorded by surveillance cameras. There is no manipulation whatsoever. Please maintain order in the venue and refrain from causing trouble." The dealer had seen this kind of thing many times and handled it with ease.
The security personnel approached slowly, posing a strong deterrent. David looked at the dealer's attitude and then at the surrounding gazes, feeling helpless and speechless. He could only clench his fists and tremble all over.
Diana did not choose to blame him; she simply turned away silently, her back to the gambling table, her shoulders shaking as she wept silently.
Bellatrix sighed, arranged her chips, walked over to David, and said earnestly, " David, the scariest thing about gambling isn't losing money, it's thinking you've won."