Have I accumulated a lot of good karma?
Is my luck turning around?
Lu Xinyi felt like laughing, and this further confirmed her suspicions.
Unlike the other three cautious players from Community 17, Lin Sizhi seemed to be a gambler who liked to go all-in.
He probably got a taste of winning against the chip exchange machine, got carried away, and then lost many rounds in a row.
Many gamblers have a strange obsession with luck, for instance, believing that after losing a lot, they are bound to win big next.
But real-world probability doesn't have a pity system like gacha games.
However, Lu Xinyi wasn't so easily convinced.
Whether he was a real gambler or just pretending to be one, it ultimately had to be judged by his actions of raising, calling, and folding in the game.
A gambler's actions, only when paired with the value of the chips, can reveal their true intentions.
The game began.
Everyone took out 1000 chips and threw them into the betting area on the table.
The mechanical arm, just like before, took out a new deck of cards, shuffled them randomly, and then dealt them in order.
Lu Xinyi was the dealer, and Lu Mingxuan was still on her right.
"Fold."
Lu Mingxuan directly threw down his hand.
The four from Community 3 were already well-coordinated, Lu Mingxuan's action indicated that his hand wasn't strong, so he had to let his other two partners do the raising.
It was Lin Sizhi's turn.
He carefully fanned open the overlapping cards in his hand and took a quick glance.
Then, he silently tossed a full 4 chips of 1000 points onto the table.
"Raise."
After speaking, Lin Sizhi stared at Lu Xinyi with a calm expression, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.
Lu Xinyi's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Raising to 4000 points right from the start meant that Lin Sizhi and Jiang He were definitely not the same style of player.
He did seem more like a gambler who liked to go all-in.
But the question was, did Lin Sizhi really have a strong hand, or was he bluffing?
Many veteran gamblers are skilled at this: having a very weak hand, but through superb acting and maneuvers, making the opponent mistakenly believe their hand is strong, thus forcing them to fold.
It had to be said, Lin Sizhi's acting was much better than Jiang He's, Lu Xinyi couldn't see through him for a moment.
But Lu Xinyi noticed that Lin Sizhi's hands were clasped together, seemingly trembling faintly and imperceptibly.
Was this also part of the act?
Lu Xinyi's mind raced.
Qin Yao chose to fold, which was normal, because calling at this point would require adding 4000 chips at once.
Lu Xinyi knew that even if Qin Yao had exchanged blood for chips, she probably wouldn't have gotten too many, at most having around thirty thousand chips on hand, there was no need to force a call with a bad hand.
Lu Xinyi's gaze swept across the faces of the other three from Community 3.
Obviously, none of their three hands were very strong, their expressions showed hesitation.
"You all should fold."
Lu Xinyi picked up four 1000-point chips from the pile in front of her: "I have to say, your skill is indeed much higher than that clumsy girl before, and you're much bolder.
"I really can't tell if you actually have a strong hand or if you're bluffing.
"But unfortunately, you should have come in the last game.
"Because now my chip pool is much larger than yours, I can call your bluff many times without any psychological burden.
"I bet you don't have a strong hand.
"Call."
Lin Sizhi's expression froze, and his fingers subconsciously tightened.
One person raised, one person called, the cards were automatically revealed.
Lin Sizhi silently turned over his cards.
A 3 of hearts, a 7 of clubs, a 5 of hearts.
The corners of Lu Xinyi's mouth lifted slightly as she showed her hand: "I have an Ace-high junk hand here, thanks."
_Looking at the mechanical arm sweeping all the chips on the table in front of Lu Xinyi, Qin Yao also seemed to become a little nervous.
Obviously, having the first round's bluff called was very disadvantageous for the next few games.
The psychological pressure borne by both sides was not on the same level at all.
Lin Sizhi seemed to quickly readjust, forcing a smile: "It's just one game, winning and losing are common at the gambling table. Let's continue."
Second round of the game, Lu Xinyi was the dealer.
Lu Mingxuan raised by 1000, it seemed his hand was good this time.
Lin Sizhi looked at his cards seriously, his thinking time was noticeably longer than last time.
A moment later, he took out four 1000-point chips from his pocket again.
"Raise."
Lu Xinyi was a bit surprised, because it was rare to see someone continue to bluff in the very next round after just being caught bluffing.
Perhaps, Lin Sizhi's hand was really good this time?
But it was also possible that he was using this "hiding in plain sight" psychology in reverse.
Lu Xinyi looked at her own hand, unfortunately, her hand was very poor this time, just a 7-high junk hand.
In this situation, even if Lin Sizhi was really bluffing, it would be very difficult for her to call it.
Not only that, Qin Yao, to Lin Sizhi's right, also took out a handful of chips from her pocket, counted out 5000, and gently placed them in the betting area.
"I also raise."
The large pile of chips in the betting area instantly made the atmosphere tense.
Lu Xinyi stared at Qin Yao, trying to find some clues from her micro-expressions, but found nothing.
From Qin Yao's expression, she was indeed very nervous, but the problem was, she wasn't playing with Jiang He this time, but with Lin Sizhi.
Lu Xinyi knew that before Lin Sizhi came, he must have taught Qin Yao some basic cooperative tactics.
Therefore, Lu Xinyi couldn't tell if Qin Yao's nervous expression at this moment stemmed from bluffing, or from the inner anxiety about some special plan.
"A double bluff?
"But, judging from the number of chips, it's more like Qin Yao really got a strong hand..."
Lu Xinyi knew that Qin Yao didn't have too many chips, even after exchanging blood for them, she would have at most a little over thirty thousand.
Betting 5000 chips at once was definitely not a small amount.
It seemed that Qin Yao's hand should be good.
But Lu Xinyi couldn't rule out the possibility that both of them were bluffing, this round had to be called, otherwise this mystery would never be solved.
But to see the cards, just calling was not enough.
Because Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao raising together was to push the chip count up indefinitely.
If Lu Xinyi called this round, then Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao would continue to raise the chips, up to eight thousand or even ten thousand.
Just like how Lu Xinyi and Lu Mingxuan played before.
Paying such a high price to see the cards would not be worth it.
But Lu Xinyi wasn't panicking, because she had other ways.
The young man to Qin Yao's right had already chosen to fold, with a weak hand, 5000 chips were beyond his tolerance.
After a moment of thought, Lu Xinyi gave an instruction to the next player, the lady sitting to her left.
"Sister Liu, you call all the way this round."
Sister Liu was stunned for a moment, wanting to explain again that her hand was really small.
But Lu Xinyi shook her head slightly, signaling her not to say more.
Sister Liu could only look down at the few chips in her hand: "Alright."
She was the unluckiest of the four from Community 3, having lost more than she won in the previous game against Jiang He, and now had only 7000 chips left.
Of course, most of her chips were won by Lu Xinyi and Lu Mingxuan.
None of the four from Community 3 had good hands, but at least one person had to call to see the cards.
The person with more chips faced a greater risk by calling to the end. On the contrary, for someone like Sister Liu with few chips, going all-in at the end would at most mean a loss of 7000 chips.
In terms of chip count, this was the optimal solution.
Sister Liu took out 5000 chips to call.
When it was Lu Xinyi and Lu Mingxuan's turn, they both indeed chose to fold.
Lu Mingxuan's hand was decent, but the chip amount in this round was a bit beyond his capacity.
Their backbone was Lu Xinyi, who needed to observe more before giving clear instructions, so to be safe, Lu Mingxuan still chose to fold.
"So many people folding?
"A bit of a pity, I'll continue to raise."
Lin Sizhi once again took out a 2000-point chip and tossed it into the betting area.
"I also raise." Qin Yao also took out a 2000-point chip.
Sister Liu looked at Lu Xinyi, and after receiving an affirmative look, she threw all her remaining 2000 chips into the betting area.