Qin Yao was still very nervous, but after the blood draw was completed, she felt somewhat relieved.
Before, Qin Yao was a bit worried about whether this crude blood drawing device could accurately find her blood vessels. If it pricked a muscle or punctured a blood vessel, that would be no laughing matter.
But from the current situation, it seems that no matter how terrifying the appearance of the various instruments in the "Corridor" might be, they are absolutely reliable in terms of function.
Although the loss of 200ML of blood didn't make her feel too much discomfort, she still didn't want to go through it a second time.
Because the device drew blood very quickly, much more painfully than a typical hospital blood draw, and watching the crimson blood continuously drain away, the feeling was very unpleasant.
Furthermore, Qin Yao always felt a bit dizzy and low-spirited, wondering if it was just her imagination. She was very afraid that if more blood was drawn, she would faint.
After the blood draw was completed, the mechanism did not unlock, because according to the game rules, the entire exchange process would only be thoroughly completed after the gamble with the "Chip Exchange Machine".
For every 10,000 chips, at least one game must be played.
A small cover on the right side of the table opened, and a stack of smooth, round chips was pushed by the mechanism to Qin Yao's right hand.
These were chips totaling 20,000.
Although these chips were all round, their specific size, thickness, color, and the numbers on them varied according to their face value, making them easy to distinguish.
The mechanical arm in front began to move. It picked up the deck of poker cards, skillfully shuffled them, and then dealt three cards each to itself and Qin Yao.
"Golden Flower... Fu Chen mentioned it before, but I didn't remember all the details...
"Fortunately, there are detailed rules and a card type chart here."
Qin Yao picked up the three cards dealt to her with her only movable right hand to check them, while looking at the card type chart on the right wall.
The three cards were the 7 of Hearts, 9 of Clubs, and King of Hearts.
"This... doesn't seem to form any card type?" Qin Yao repeatedly compared the cards in her hand with the card type chart, and had to admit this with some disappointment.
Golden Flower is a rather simple and crude poker game. Each person gets three cards, and then the hands are compared based on the card types formed by these three cards.
Among them: Leopard (three cards of the same number) > Straight Flush > Flush > Straight > Pair > Single Card. A single A is the largest, 2 is the smallest. However, 235 of different suits > Leopard.
However, what was being played in this "Blood Poker" game was actually "Simplified Golden Flower". The original rules regarding open bets, blind bets, comparing cards, and hand limits were all removed.
According to these new rules, after dealing, everyone can see their cards. There is no distinction between open betting and blind betting (i.e., betting without looking at cards), nor is there a process of selecting players to compare cards.
Everyone only needs to perform actions of raising, calling, or folding in order.
When only one player chooses to raise, and all other players choose to call and not raise further, the cards are automatically revealed, and the winner with the largest hand takes all.
When 235 and a Leopard appear simultaneously, 235 wins alone; in all other cases, 235 is the smallest.
It must be said that this set of rules is much more friendly to people who don't often play cards than the general rules.
Qin Yao looked at the mechanical arm opposite her. According to the game rules, both sides had to place an ante at this point.
However, a shocking scene unfolded for Qin Yao: the mechanical arm actually drew another card from the deck!
At this moment, the mechanical arm had four cards in its hand. It selected three of them as its hand, and then a muffled electronic voice came from the loudspeaker again.
"Please place your ante, and in order, choose to raise, call, or fold."
"Wait, why do you have an extra card?"
Qin Yao's question received no response.
She looked at the game rules again and found that they did indeed explain this situation, but it was in a small line of text, easily overlooked.
"When gambling against the 'Chip Exchange Machine', the 'Chip Exchange Machine' will always be the dealer, always act first, and can draw an extra card, choosing any three cards from four to form its hand."
"This is unfair!"
Qin Yao clenched the cards in her hand. Although she wasn't good at calculating specific probabilities, even a primary school student could guess that under these game rules, her chances of winning would be greatly reduced.
This was definitely not a 50/50 game of luck!
But Qin Yao still had no choice; she could only continue this almost certainly losing game.
For the "Chip Exchange Machine", its chips were infinite. The mechanical arm took the smallest chip from a mountain of chips on the other side and placed it in the betting area on the gambling table.
500, this was the smallest face value among all chips, and also the default ante when gambling against the Chip Exchange Machine.
Qin Yao had no choice but to take a 500 chip from her meager supply and place it in the betting area.
"Dealer chooses to raise."
As the prompt sounded again, the mechanical arm took another 500-value chip and placed it in the betting area.
If following general rules, the dealer should be the last to bet, but in this game's rules, the "Chip Exchange Machine" was always the dealer and always acted first.
Now it was Qin Yao's turn, and she only had three choices: raise, call, or fold.
Raising required a minimum increment of 500.
Qin Yao had already placed a 500 ante, and the opponent had raised the chips to 1000.
So, if Qin Yao raised, she would have to put in another 1000 chips; calling meant putting in 500; folding meant directly conceding.
"I choose to... call and reveal cards."
Qin Yao finally made up her mind, took out another 500 chips, and carefully placed them in the betting area.
Raising was definitely not a wise choice. The "Chip Exchange Machine" could draw an extra card, and with four cards to choose three from, its winning odds were much higher than the player's.
Folding would minimize her losses, only losing 500, but it also meant that both hands would be directly taken away without being revealed, so she would have no way of knowing whether her hand was big or small.
So Qin Yao ultimately chose to call. Although it meant paying an extra 500 chips, at least she could lose clearly.
And what if she won?
The opponent could draw an extra card, which greatly increased their winning probability, but it wouldn't become 100%, would it?
Qin Yao instinctively felt that betting 500 chips on this probability wasn't too much of a loss.
However, as the two hands were revealed, Qin Yao's heart sank by half.
The opponent's cards were a pair of 6s, and her hand of miscellaneous cards with a King high undoubtedly lost.
Watching her two 500 chips being taken away by the mechanical arm, Qin Yao felt a pang of pain.
This was equivalent to a full one thousand yuan, enough to buy at least two weeks' worth of food from the community's vending machine.
The mechanical arm took away the cards and chips.
Then, it took a brand new deck of poker cards from inside the gambling table, unwrapped them, shuffled them, and dealt again.
Qin Yao had exchanged a total of 20,000 chips, so she needed to gamble at least two rounds.
Just like the previous game, the mechanical arm dealt the cards and raised first.
Qin Yao again faced the same problem as before: to call or to fold?
Qin Yao looked at her hand, very disappointed, because it was another hand of miscellaneous cards with a Queen high, slightly smaller than the previous King high hand.
But after a moment of consideration, Qin Yao still took out another 500 chip and placed it.
"Call, reveal cards."
Conceding without revealing the cards still made her very unwilling; she wanted to at least understand why she lost.
However, this time she lost even more miserably; the Chip Exchange Machine's hand was a pair of Jacks.
Qin Yao instantly deflated, having lost two consecutive rounds without any suspense, completely sapping her fighting spirit.
"Beep."
A green button on her right side lit up, with two words written on it: "Exit".
This button would light up after the minimum required number of games was completed.
Of course, Qin Yao could also choose not to press it and continue gambling. According to the game rules, exchanging 20,000 chips allowed her to play up to 40 games with the visa exchange machine.
But clearly, Qin Yao didn't want to stay there for another second.
She pressed it almost impatiently. The next second, a series of "click" sounds rang out, and all the mechanisms restraining her unlocked.
Qin Yao quickly stood up from the iron chair and turned to push the door of the cramped cubicle.
The door was locked, but Qin Yao quickly found the latch and opened it.
Then she suddenly remembered something, turned back, and grabbed her remaining chips.