Seeing Sister Liu go all-in, Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao naturally had no reason to raise further, each choosing to call and show their cards.
Sister Liu had a K-high junk hand.
Qin Yao had a pair of Qs.
Lin Sizhi had a J-high junk hand.
[Player's chips have been depleted, please leave the table.]
Watching the mechanical arm sweep all the chips on the table in front of Qin Yao, Sister Liu left the gambling table, looking somewhat crestfallen.
But she had no complaints.
Looking at the chips before her, Qin Yao couldn't help but feel invigorated, "Great! I finally won a round!"
In this round, she had earned 19,000 points, which was simply an incredible number.
However, when she looked at Lu Xinyi, Qin Yao's heart skipped a beat again.
Because the corners of Lu Xinyi's mouth were slightly turned up, as if she didn't care much at all.
Lin Sizhi looked at her, "It's two against three now, can you still manage a 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 last."
Evidently, Lu Xinyi's confidence came from the depth of her chip stack.
She and Lü Mingxuan still had plenty of chips, enough to handle the rest of the game with ease.
On the other hand, Lin Sizhi, after losing two rounds with big bets, had already lost a total of 13,000 points in chips.
Even if Lin Sizhi sold blood, they could at most get forty to fifty thousand points in chips. Playing like this, how many more rounds could they last?
...
"Tick-tock."
"Tick-tock."
The countdown on the big screen was still ticking, with 21 minutes remaining.
The game had also reached the seventh sub-round.
The young man to Qin Yao's right had run out of chips in the previous round and was forced to leave the table, while the remaining four had their wins and losses.
This was an inevitable outcome, as he had the fewest chips.
With Lin Sizhi's constant mindless raising, he either had to fold and lose the ante for nothing, or call and get reaped by Lu Xinyi or Lü Mingxuan. After struggling for a few rounds, he could only leave the table.
But clearly, the one who lost the most wasn't him, but Lin Sizhi.
Because Lin Sizhi continued with the previous playstyle, after looking at the cards, they would always mindlessly bet at least 4,000 points in chips, and then call recklessly.
It was just that the thinking time after looking at the cards was getting longer and longer, and the willingness to raise was gradually diminishing.
Up to now, they had already lost nearly forty thousand chips.
Of this, over ten thousand was won by Qin Yao, while the rest was split between Lu Xinyi and Lü Mingxuan.
Looking at the ever-growing pile of chips in front of her, Lu Xinyi's anxious heart finally settled.
As the chip counts shifted, the possibility of Lin Sizhi making a comeback was also rapidly decreasing.
As long as Lin Sizhi's chips were depleted, then in the next three rounds, it would be her and Lü Mingxuan two-on-one.
At that time, they would have an absolute advantage, and would definitely make Qin Yao spit out the chips she won, with interest.
At that point, for Qin Yao, the only choice would be to give up and lose the ante for three rounds.
This round, Lü Mingxuan was the dealer. After looking at his hand, he chose to raise.
It was Lin Sizhi's turn.
"I've had bad luck for six rounds, it's really my turn to get lucky, right?"
They sighed silently, listlessly picked up the cards on the table, and glanced at them.
Then, their eyes instantly brightened.
But soon, Lin Sizhi's expression became calm again, even tinged with a bit of sorrow.
After struggling for a full minute, just as the countdown was about to end, their right hand, which had been in their pocket, finally came out, and then they slammed 6 chips of 2,000 points onto the table.
"Raise!!"
Qin Yao looked at them, and after considering for a while as well, she carefully selected from the chips she had won and placed 13,000 points worth of chips.
"I also raise."
Lü Mingxuan's brow twitched, somewhat shocked.
Because the number of chips this time did scare him a bit.
More importantly, in his estimation, Lin Sizhi had at most a little over forty thousand chips, but now, the total amount of chips Lin Sizhi had put out had reached just over fifty thousand.
This had completely exceeded his and Lu Xinyi's initial expectations and disrupted their judgment.
The countdown on the table was still ticking, and in just one minute, it was a bit difficult to make a quick decision.
Fortunately, he wasn't the one who needed to make the decision right now.
Lü Mingxuan looked at Lu Xinyi, only to find the corners of Lu Xinyi's mouth uncontrollably turning up.
She even couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Your acting at a critical moment is a bit too poor, are you putting on a show for me?"
Lu Xinyi quickly counted out 13,000 points from the chips on the table and then pushed them forward.
"I bet you're bluffing.
"And, your pockets should be completely empty, with no chips left."
Lu Xinyi stared intently into Lin Sizhi's eyes.
Lin Sizhi didn't meet her gaze, but looked at the countdown on the table, "Why would you think I'm bluffing?"
Lu Xinyi smiled, "Because people have path dependence.
"In the most tense and critical moments, people often choose the playstyle they are best at, their most instinctive one.
"Obviously, you are a player who likes to bluff, and you're quite stubborn about it.
"After your first bluff fails, you will immediately use the 'hiding in plain sight' mindset to continue with a second and third bluff.
"An average player would really be easily scared by you, especially since you can throw out a large number of chips without changing your expression, breaking through the opponent's psychological defense. This is indeed a very excellent quality for a gambler.
"If you had scared me in this round, then in every remaining round, I would be at a mental disadvantage.
"But unfortunately, you miscalculated a very key factor: the depth of the chip stack.
"You tried hard to create an illusion, as if your chip stack was infinitely deep, as if you could easily pull out tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of chips from your pocket, making your opponents have the misconception that 'our chip stacks are not on the same level,' thereby continuously accumulating fear.
"And when you suddenly and illogically throw out a large number of chips far beyond expectations, the average person would think they have misjudged. Within a short minute, it's difficult to quickly decide to call.
"Not only that, you even put on a special performance when you looked at your cards, showing a 'self-contradictory' posture.
"This would intensify the opponent's suspicion. Whether they guess your hand is strong or weak, it will only make their thinking more chaotic.
"But unfortunately, I won't consider those issues.
"Because in this game, there is a limit to drawing blood, and there is also a limit to exchanging for chips.
"Drawing 400ML of blood is the safety line, 600ML is the limit, and 800ML carries an extremely high risk of death.
"Since your chip stack cannot be infinitely deep, then this final, desperate move must be a bluff.
"And what's more unfortunate is... my luck with my hand is quite good this round, so I've decided to call all the way."
Lin Sizhi was silent for a moment, "But what if my hand is even better? After all, my luck was terrible for the first six rounds, it's about time I got lucky, right?"
Lu Xinyi laughed, "Learn some probability. Each hand is an independent event. Real probability doesn't have any law of conservation of luck."
As she spoke, Lü Mingxuan's thinking time was up, and he had already folded. Lin Sizhi's thinking time also had only a few seconds left.
Lin Sizhi calmly reached into their suit pocket again.
"Is that so? Then what if... my hand is indeed very good, and my chip stack is indeed infinitely deep?"
They grabbed something in their pocket, then gently placed 3 chips of 1000 in the betting area.
"Raise, 3000."
Qin Yao also silently pushed forward 3000, "I also raise."
Obviously, Qin Yao was just coordinating with Lin Sizhi, raising by the difference of 1000 to ensure the cards wouldn't be shown.
Lu Xinyi's expression froze, clearly a bit surprised by these 3000 chips.
But she quickly recovered, sighing and shaking her head with some resignation, "Fine, you're quite good at squeezing things out, hiding these chips.
"Are you trying to stall for time?
"In that case..."
Lu Xinyi once again took out 5 chips of 2000 from the chips in front of her.
"I'll raise another ten thousand."
Ten thousand chips, in Lu Xinyi's view, was an amount that Lin Sizhi could absolutely not squeeze out anymore.
Next, they had only one choice, which was to go all-in and show their cards.
However, Lin Sizhi once again reached into their pocket, fumbled around for a bit, and then took out another 4 chips of 2000 points.
"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 figure out where these chips came from.
Lin Sizhi's suit pocket was like a cornucopia with infinite chips; no matter how many times they reached in, they 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 what Lin Sizhi's hand was, and all the chips she had thrown in before would be for nothing.
But if she continued to call, Lu Xinyi could no longer guess how many more chips Lin Sizhi could produce, and how many more chips she herself would have to bet.
"No, calm down, even if Lin Sizhi still has chips, Qin Yao's chips should be running low..."
And as long as Qin Yao ran out of chips and couldn't raise anymore, the cards would also be shown, and she would still be able to see what Lin Sizhi's hole cards were.
However, in the next second, a scene that Lu Xinyi did not expect appeared.
The chips on Qin Yao's table were completely insufficient, but she also reached into her pocket, and then scraped together 8000 points in chips.
"Raise."