Chapter 17: Change of Heart

If seven people sit at a gambling table and rely solely on their own skills, the final outcome is unpredictable.

Those with great gambling skills and good luck are very likely to win everything.

However, Jiang He and her two companions have neither gambling experience nor particular confidence in their luck; under these circumstances, they are clearly at a significant disadvantage.

Jiang He's plan ensures that everyone takes turns winning the ante, so that no one suffers too great a loss, resulting in a win-win situation for everyone.

Of course, this plan carries risks.

If someone changes their mind at the table and refuses to abide by the agreement—for instance, refusing to fold when it is their turn and instead raising because they have a good hand—then the plan cannot be executed.

But as Lu Xinyi said, such a possibility is not high.

Because according to the rules, the game is fair, and no single player can be certain of winning against six others.

Furthermore, if the four members of the 3rd Community were to collude to rig the game, they would need to solve two problems

First, even if they rigged it, there could only be one winner who takes all. According to the community rules, visa time cannot be traded at will, meaning they cannot distribute the spoils, which would not serve the interests of the other three members.

Second, Jiang He and her two companions are not entirely defenseless. With three people cooperating, there will always be someone with a relatively strong hand, so they aren't completely without a chance of winning.

Even if things turned ugly, it would amount to nothing more than returning to the original situation where everyone fights for themselves based on luck, without any additional losses.

Most importantly, if they do not adopt this plan, the others cannot temporarily come up with a better one.

Ideally, the opposing community would only send one person to gamble against the three of them, but they are not fools and would never agree to such a condition.

If a stalemate persists and no one can sit at the table, the final result would be everyone losing money together.

After a brief consideration, everyone could only accept this as the optimal solution currently available.

Qin Yao was still somewhat worried: "One last question. There are three of us and four of you. If things truly turn sour at the table, we will be at a disadvantage. Can you also only send three people? If we play 3-on-3, it would be fairer."

However, Lu Xinyi shook her head and decisively rejected the proposal.

"No.

"According to the game rules, every person must play ten rounds against players from another community; otherwise, ten thousand minutes of visa time will be deducted upon leaving.

"If we play 3-on-3, what happens to the remaining person?

"If they play against you alone, it becomes a 3-on-1, which is unfair to our people.

"If we were to find two more people to start another 3-on-3 match, there wouldn't be enough time, and there would be no need.

"Moreover, if you refuse to play a second 3-on-3 match after the first one, wouldn't our remaining person be left with no recourse?

"The fact that you only have three people is your problem, not the 3rd Community's. Our acceptance of this plan is already an act of good faith; you should also show your own sincerity.

"Otherwise, we can also refuse to cooperate. At worst, everyone will just lose visa time together when we leave."

Lu Xinyi paused slightly, her tone softening a bit: "I'm sorry. Although I am inclined toward cooperation, as a player of the 3rd Community, I must prioritize protecting our own interests."

Qin Yao hesitated, looked at her two companions, and finally could only nod: "Fine, let's do it this way."

With time running short, the group found a gambling table and took their seats.

The countdown on the large screen continued to tick down second by second.

1:19:33

1:19:32

This multi-player table also featured mechanical arms for dealing and collecting cards; all players only needed to sit in their positions to view their cards and place bets.

The mechanical arms extended from the center of the table, and a new deck of cards was used for every round, likely to prevent cheating via sweat or other means.

As stated in the game rules, the table would ensure absolute fairness.

Qin Yao carefully reviewed the multi-player rules and hand rankings for the "Simplified Three Card Poker" on the table.

It was similar to when they played against the "Chip Exchange Machine," with only a few subtle differences, such as

In a multi-player game, the dealer for the first round is randomly selected by the table; in every subsequent round, the winner of the previous round becomes the dealer;

The dealer is the last to raise;

Each player receives three cards; there is no possibility of drawing a fourth card like with the "Chip Exchange Machine";

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 with no upper limit.

Qin Yao breathed a slight sigh of relief. Clearly, under these rules, everyone's chances of winning were roughly equal, depending entirely on luck.

The dealer being the last to raise provided a slight advantage, as they could observe the behavior of others to roughly estimate the strength of the hands, but this advantage was not significant.

Soon, everyone placed chips worth 1,000 in the betting area in front of them, and the mechanical arms dealt the shuffled cards to everyone.

Jiang He's expression was somewhat joyful because her luck was quite good—not in terms of her hand, but in terms of being the dealer.

The mechanical arm began dealing from Su Xiucen on her left, meaning Su Xiucen was the dealer for the first round.

According to the previously agreed-upon plan, after each round begins, the player to the dealer's right calls first by choosing to raise, while everyone else chooses to fold.

In this way, the player to the dealer's right wins the antes of the others and becomes the dealer for the second round.

The second round follows the same logic. In this manner, the seven people would take turns being the dealer in a counter-clockwise order, each winning the antes of the other six people once.

Of course, the game must last at least ten rounds, which means three people would act as the dealer twice, earning an extra 6,000 in chips.

The others, meanwhile, would lose an extra 3,000 in chips.

But there was no way around it; since the ante was 1,000, ten rounds could not be evenly divided among seven people, so it had to rely on luck.

Thus, everyone agreed to the plan.

At this moment, Jiang He and Qin Yao to her right were quite lucky; they were destined to win an ante once, meaning they would earn an extra 6,000 in chips.

This was no small amount.

"Alright, I'll raise as we agreed."

Jiang He placed a 1,000-value chip into the betting area.

To her right, Qin Yao also followed the agreement and chose to fold.

"Fold."

"Fold."

The two players from the 3rd Community also chose to fold.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, proceeding according to the set script.

Soon, it was Lu Xinyi's turn; she sat opposite Jiang He.

However, an unbelievable scene occurred.

Lu Xinyi took out two 1,000-value chips and tossed them into the betting area.

"Raise."