There are many ways to play poker, but if you're talking about the one that wastes the most cards, it's definitely Zha Jin Hua.
This is because in Zha Jin Hua, as soon as a "Leopard" (three of a kind) appears, the deck must be changed. In stricter games, even a "Straight Flush"—also called a "Shun Jin"—requires a new deck.
Even if neither a Shun Jin nor a Leopard appears, the cards are still replaced if they become slightly deformed.
Of course, all of this assumes the stakes on the table are high enough. If it were the kind of game played by villagers to kill time, with a 1-cent ante and a 5-cent cap, they would wait until the cards were completely worn out before replacing them.
Mainly, playing cards weren't cheap in this era. A basic deck cost 30 cents, and one with slightly better quality cost 50 cents. This price was equivalent to a temporary worker's daily wage.
After Ma Ben finished shouting, Su Guangjun placed a strip—meaning 12 decks of the most basic cards—on the table. He glanced at Wang An with dodging eyes and then stood by the table with his head lowered.
To be honest, if Su Guangjun didn't have to collect the card money from the table, he would have hidden far away long ago.
There was no helping it; Wang An's ruthlessness and cruelty were deeply ingrained in the minds of the people in Su Family Village and the surrounding hamlets. Su Guangjun had screwed over Wang An's own brother-in-law; it would be strange if he weren't afraid of Wang An.
However, Wang An didn't even spare him a glance. He personally tore open the kraft paper, took out a deck, unpacked it, and pulled out the Jokers, tossing them aside.
Zha Jin Hua does not require Jokers.
Of course, Wang An mainly used the opportunity of unpacking the cards to inspect them and see if they were "marked cards."
So-called "marked cards," also known as "cheating cards," look identical on the back, but have subtle differences in certain spots.
Someone familiar with these cards can tell what a card is based on these minute differences.
Imagine the situation: the opponent knows what cards you have, but you have no idea what they have. How can you possibly play Zha Jin Hua?
One must realize that anyone who knows a bit of "cheating" or "sleight of hand" is invariably quick-eyed, quick-handed, and possesses an excellent memory.
Usually, during the deal, they can already determine the hand types of every player at the table based on the subtle differences on the backs of the cards. For them, it's truly difficult *not* to win.
Fortunately, after checking, Wang An found that the strip of cards Su Guangjun brought were the common kind found in supply and marketing cooperatives; there were no tricks or marks on them.
After finishing the inspection, Wang An shuffled the cards twice very quickly and casually handed the entire deck to the player to his left.
The player took the cards, gave them a simple look, and prepared to pass them to the next person. However, the next player didn't bother checking and simply smiled
"I can't make heads or tails of it anyway, you guys just check."
When it was Ma Ben's turn, he checked quickly and thoroughly. In this manner, after the deck had been shuffled several times by several people, it was placed in the center of the table. Everyone drew a card to determine who would be the dealer.
In the end, the player to Wang An's right, a middle-aged man named Li Ertie, drew the highest value and became the dealer.
It was evident that Li Ertie was a seasoned gambler; his dealing technique was quite smooth.
Once the cards were dealt, as the player to the dealer's left, it was naturally Wang An's turn to speak first. Wang An was very straightforward; without even looking at his cards, he tossed 2 yuan into the pot and said
"Blind 2 yuan."
Starting with a blind bet of 2 yuan was a standard operation in Zha Jin Hua, intended to stay in the game as long as possible during the gamble.
After Wang An blinded 2 yuan, the player to his left also unhesitatingly threw 2 yuan into the pot. Then, as if they had coordinated, everyone blinded 2 yuan. It was Wang An's turn to speak again.
Meanwhile, Su Guangjun took 1 yuan out of the pot as the "card fee."
Although his cards were bought in bulk and a deck might cost less than 30 cents, at the gambling table, a deck was worth this price.
Since he organized the game and provided the cards, there was absolutely nothing wrong with him taking 1 yuan as the card fee.
Wang An didn't continue blinding. He picked up his cards to look. However, Wang An's posture was strange; he held the three cards in his palm, flicked them with his thumb while scanning them rapidly, and then immediately flipped them face-down on the table.
Then, Wang An bet 5 yuan.
In reality, Wang An's hand wasn't great—just a pair of Jacks and a 7.
If only four people were playing Zha Jin Hua, a pair of Jacks might be a strong hand, but with six people, a pair was basically a death sentence; any straight or flush would easily eat a pair.
However, the persona Wang An was creating was that of someone who didn't really know how to play and didn't even know how to pretend to be an expert.
After Wang An looked at his cards and bet 5 yuan, the player to his left stopped blinding and looked at his own cards.
If the stakes were low, people might blind for several rounds before anyone looked. But now, a single blind bet cost 2 yuan—the equivalent of two days' salary for a formal employee. Anyone putting money in would feel the sting.
The player to Wang An's left looked at his cards quickly and folded even faster, tossing them into the pile after a glance.
Clearly, the best he had was a pair, or perhaps not even a pair.
After this guy folded, the player to his left didn't look at his cards and blinded another 2 yuan. It was Ma Ben's turn.
Ma Ben thought for a moment, picked up his cards, and after looking, tossed them into the pile.
After Ma Ben folded, his successor and the dealer also looked at their cards and folded in turn. It was Wang An's turn again.
Without hesitation, Wang An threw in another 5 yuan. This time, the one who was still blinding couldn't hold out; he threw in 4 yuan and said to Wang An
"I'm blinding to open you."
Actually, this kid was quite clever. Blinding to open only cost 4 yuan, but if he had looked at his cards, he would have had to spend 10 yuan to open.
The two revealed their cards to compare. Unexpectedly, the kid's luck was quite cheeky; he had blinded into a mixed-color straight of 4, 5, 6, taking down Wang An's pair of Jacks.
After one round, Wang An had blinded once for 2 yuan, bet twice for 5 yuan, and added the 1 yuan ante, losing a total of 13 yuan—essentially losing a whole month's salary as a security guard.
However, Wang An didn't care about the loss. On one hand, he had to maintain his image as someone who wasn't good at the game; on the other, he was observing his fellow players and waiting for his chance to be the dealer.
That's how Zha Jin Hua worked. If you wanted to win big in one hand, you had to use some "handiwork" while dealing—in plain terms, "cheating."
To want to win money without cheating was absolutely impossible. (End of Chapter)