If seven people sat at the gambling table, each relying on their own skills, the final outcome would be hard to predict.
Those with good gambling skills and good luck would very likely win it all.
Jiang He and her two companions had neither much gambling experience nor any particular confidence in their luck, which obviously put them at a great disadvantage in this situation.
Jiang He's plan ensured that everyone could take turns winning the ante, so no one would suffer a significant loss, making everyone happy.
Of course, this plan also had its risks.
If someone at the table had a change of heart, no longer abiding by the agreement, and instead of folding when it was their turn, they raised the bet because they had a good hand, then the plan would fall apart.
But as Lu Xinyi said, this possibility was not high.
Because according to the rules, the game was fair, and no single player could be certain of beating the other six.
If the four from Community 3 were to collude, they would need to solve two problems:
First, even if they colluded, only one of the four could be the winner-takes-all, and according to the community rules, visa time cannot be freely traded, meaning they couldn't split the winnings, which would not be in the interest of the other three.
Second, Jiang He and her two companions were not entirely defenseless, as long as the three of them cooperated, one would always have a relatively better hand, so they wouldn't be completely without a chance of winning.
Even if they turned on each other, it would just revert to the initial situation where everyone fought for themselves, relying purely on luck, with no additional losses.
Most importantly, if this plan wasn't adopted, no one else could come up with a better one for the time being.
Ideally, of course, the other community would send only one person to gamble against their three, but the other side wasn't stupid and would never agree to such a condition.
If the stalemate continued, no one would be able to get to the gambling table, and the final result would be everyone getting their money deducted.
After a brief consideration, everyone had to admit that this was the best solution they could think of at the moment.
Qin Yao was still a bit worried, "One last question, there are three of us, and four of you, if we really turn on each other at the table, we'll be at a disadvantage.
"Could you also just send 3 people, so we can play 3-on-3, which would be fairer."
However, Lu Xinyi shook her head and decisively rejected the proposal.
"No.
"According to the game rules, everyone must play ten rounds against a player from another community, otherwise, they will have ten thousand minutes of visa time deducted upon leaving.
"If we play 3-on-3, what about the remaining person?
"If they play against you alone, it would be 3-on-1, which is unfair to our person.
"If we were to find another two people to start another 3-on-3 game, there isn't enough time, and it's unnecessary.
"What's more, what if you refuse to play the next round after the first 3-on-3 game, wouldn't our remaining person be helpless?
"The fact that you only have 3 people is your own problem, it has nothing to do with our Community 3. We've already shown our sincerity by accepting this plan, you should show your sincerity as well.
"Otherwise, we can choose not to cooperate, and at worst, we all get our visa time deducted when we leave."
Lu Xinyi paused for a moment, her tone softening slightly, "I'm sorry, although I'm inclined to cooperate, as a player from Community 3, I must prioritize protecting my own interests."
Qin Yao hesitated, looked at the other two, and finally could only nod, "Alright, let's do it that way then."
Time was tight, so the group found a gambling table and took their seats.
The countdown on the big screen was still ticking down, second by second.
1:19:33
1:19:32
This multi-player gambling table also had a mechanical arm for dealing and collecting cards, so all players just needed to sit in their seats to look at their cards and place their bets.
The mechanical arm extended from the center of the table, and a new deck of cards was used for each round, possibly to prevent cards from being marked by sweat or other forms of cheating.
Just as the game rules stated, the gambling table would ensure the absolute fairness of the game.
Qin Yao carefully reviewed the multi-player rules and hand ranking chart for "Simplified Golden Flower" on the table.
It was similar to when she played against the "Chip Exchange Machine" before, with only a few minor differences, for example:
In a multi-player game, the first dealer is randomly selected by the table, and for each subsequent round, the winner of the previous round becomes the dealer;
The dealer raises last;
Each person gets three cards, unlike the "Chip Exchange Machine" where you could draw four cards;
If only one person chooses to raise and everyone else chooses to call, the cards are automatically revealed; if two or more people choose to raise, the cards are not revealed, and another round of raising begins from the start, with no limit on raises.
Qin Yao breathed a small sigh of relief, it was clear that under these rules, everyone's chances of winning were about the same, purely dependent on luck.
The dealer raising last was a slight advantage, as they could observe the others' actions to roughly estimate their hands, but this advantage wasn't very significant.
Soon, everyone took out 1000 worth of chips and placed them in the betting area in front of them, and the mechanical arm dealt the shuffled cards to everyone.
Jiang He's expression was a little joyful, because her luck was quite good, not in terms of her hand, but in terms of being the dealer.
The mechanical arm started dealing from Su Xiucen on her left, which meant Su Xiucen was the dealer for the first round.
According to the agreed-upon plan, after each round begins, the player to the dealer's right would be the first to bet, choosing to raise, while everyone else would choose to fold.
This way, the player to the dealer's right would win the ante from the others and become the dealer for the second round.
The second round would follow the same logic, and so on, the seven people would take turns being the dealer and winning the ante from the other six in a counter-clockwise order.
Of course, the game had to be played for at least ten rounds, which meant three people would be the dealer twice, earning an extra 6000 in chips.
The others, however, would lose an extra 3000 chips.
But there was no helping it, because the ante was 1000, and seven people couldn't split ten rounds evenly, so it could only be left to luck.
So everyone agreed to this plan.
At this moment, Jiang He and Qin Yao to her right were lucky, they would definitely win the ante once, which meant an extra 6000 chips.
This was no small sum.
"Alright, I'll raise as we agreed."
Jiang He placed a 1000 chip in the betting area.
And Qin Yao to her right, also as agreed, chose to fold.
"Fold."
"Fold."
Two players from Community 3 also chose to fold.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, developing according to the pre-written script.
Soon it was Lu Xinyi's turn, she was sitting opposite Jiang He.
However, a scene that Jiang He found unbelievable occurred.
Lu Xinyi took out two 1000 chips and threw them into the betting area.
"Raise."