Chapter 14: An Unfair Game

Qin Yao was still very nervous, but after the blood draw was completed, she breathed a small sigh of relief.

Previously, Qin Yao had been worried about whether this crude blood-drawing device could accurately find her veins; if it punctured a muscle or pierced through a vessel, it would be no laughing matter.

However, judging from the current situation, no matter how terrifying the various instruments in the "Corridor" looked, they were absolutely reliable in terms of function.

Although the loss of 200ml of blood did not cause her much physical discomfort, she still didn't want to go through it a second time.

Because the blood-drawing speed of this device was very fast, much more painful than a typical hospital draw, and watching the crimson blood continuously flow out felt terrible.

Furthermore, she wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but Qin Yao felt somewhat dizzy and lethargic, fearing that if any more were drawn, she might pass out.

Once the blood draw was finished, the mechanism did not unlock. According to the game rules, the entire exchange process was only considered complete after finishing the gambling session with the "Chip Exchange Machine."

For every 10,000 chips, at least one round had to be played.

A small cover on the right side of the tabletop opened, and a stack of smooth, rounded circular chips was pushed by the mechanism to Qin Yao's right hand.

This was a total value of 20,000 chips.

Although these chips were all circular, they were easy to distinguish as they varied in size, thickness, color, and the numbers printed on them according to their denominations.

The mechanical arm in front of her moved. It picked up a deck of playing cards, began to shuffle them skillfully, and then dealt three cards each to itself and Qin Yao.

"Three Card Poker... Fu Chen mentioned it before, but I didn't remember all the details...

"Luckily, there are detailed rules and hand rankings here."

While using her only movable hand to pick up and inspect the three cards dealt to her, Qin Yao looked at the hand ranking chart on the wall to her right.

The three cards were the 7 of Hearts, 9 of Clubs, and King of Hearts.

"This... doesn't seem to form any kind of hand?" Qin Yao compared her cards to the chart repeatedly, having to admit this with a sense of disappointment.

Three Card Poker is a fairly simple and blunt way to play; each person gets three cards, and the winner is determined by the strength of the hand.

The hierarchy is: Three of a Kind > Straight Flush > Flush > Straight > Pair > High Card. An Ace is the highest single card, and a 2 is the lowest. However, a 2-3-5 of different suits beats a Three of a Kind.

However, what was being played here in this "Blood Poker" game was actually a "Simplified Three Card Poker." The original rules regarding open/hidden betting, comparing hands, and betting limits had all been abolished.

Under these new rules, after the cards are dealt, everyone can see their cards. There is no distinction between open betting and hidden betting (betting without looking), nor is there a phase for selecting players to compare hands.

Everyone simply follows the sequence to perform actions: Raise, Call, or Fold.

When only one player chooses to raise and all other players choose to call without raising further, the cards are automatically revealed, and the winner with the highest hand takes the entire pot.

When a 2-3-5 and a Three of a Kind appear simultaneously, the 2-3-5 wins; in all other cases, the 2-3-5 is the lowest.

It must be said that for someone who doesn't play cards often, this set of rules was much more user-friendly than the standard ones.

Qin Yao looked at the mechanical arm opposite her. According to the rules, both sides were now required to place an ante.

However, a shocking scene occurred: the mechanical arm actually drew an extra card from the deck!

At this moment, the mechanical arm held four cards. It selected three of them to form its hand, and then a muffled electronic voice emanated from the speaker once more.

【Please place your ante, and then choose to Raise, Call, or Fold in sequence.】

"Wait, why do you have an extra card?"

Qin Yao's question received no response.

She looked at the game rules again and found that they did indeed explain this situation, though it was in a line of small print that was easily overlooked.

【When gambling against the "Chip Exchange Machine," the "Chip Exchange Machine" will always be the Banker, will always act first, and may draw one additional card, choosing any three from four to form a hand.】

"That's not fair!"

Qin Yao gripped her cards tightly. Although she wasn't great at calculating specific probabilities, even an elementary school student could guess that under these rules, her chances of winning would be significantly diminished.

This was definitely not a game of chance with a fifty-fifty win rate!

But Qin Yao still had no choice; she could only continue this game that was almost a guaranteed loss.

For the "Chip Exchange Machine," its chips were infinite. The mechanical arm took the smallest denomination chip from the mountain of chips on the other side and placed it in the betting area on the table.

500. This was the smallest denomination among all the chips, and also the default ante when gambling against the Chip Exchange Machine.

Qin Yao had no choice but to take a 500 chip from her own meager stash and place it in the betting area.

【The Banker chooses to Raise.】

As the prompt sounded again, the mechanical arm placed another 500 chip into the betting area.

Under normal rules, the Banker should be the last to bet, but in this game's rules, the "Chip Exchange Machine" was always the Banker and always acted first.

Now it was Qin Yao's turn. She only had three choices: Raise, Call, or Fold.

A Raise had to be in increments of at least 500.

Qin Yao had already put down her 500 ante, and the opponent had raised the total to 1,000.

Therefore, if Qin Yao wanted to Raise, she would have to put down another 1,000 chips; to Call, she would put down 500; to Fold would mean immediate surrender.

"I choose... to Call and reveal."

Qin Yao finally made up her mind, taking out another 500 chip and carefully placing it in the betting area.

Raising was by no means a wise choice; since the "Chip Exchange Machine" could draw an extra card, its odds of winning in a "three out of four" scenario were far higher than the player's.

Folding would minimize her losses to just 500, but it also meant both hands would be collected immediately without being revealed, leaving her with no way of knowing if her hand was actually strong or weak.

So, Qin Yao ultimately chose to Call. Although she had to pay an extra 500 chips, at least she would lose with clarity.

Besides, what if she won?

Even though the opponent drawing an extra card greatly increased its winning probability, it didn't make it 100%, did it?

Qin Yao instinctively felt that betting 500 chips on that probability wasn't too bad a deal.

However, as the two hands were revealed, Qin Yao's heart sank halfway.

The opponent had a pair of 6s. Her high-card King lost, without question.

Watching her two 500 chips being swept away by the mechanical arm, Qin Yao felt a pang of heartache.

This was equivalent to a full thousand yuan, enough to buy at least two weeks' worth of food from a community vending machine.

The mechanical arm collected the cards and the chips.

Then, it took a brand-new deck of cards from inside the table, opened it, shuffled, and dealt again.

Qin Yao had exchanged a total of 20,000 chips, so she needed to play at least two rounds.

Just like the previous round, the mechanical arm dealt the cards and was the first to raise.

Qin Yao faced the same problem as before: Call or Fold?

Qin Yao looked at her hand and felt disappointed; it was another high-card hand, this time a Queen, which was even slightly weaker than the previous King.

But after a moment of consideration, Qin Yao took out another 500 chip and placed it down.

"Call. Reveal."

Surrendering without seeing the cards still felt too unsatisfying; if she was going to lose, she wanted to know why.

However, this time the loss was even more crushing. The Chip Exchange Machine's hand was a pair of Jacks.

Qin Yao instantly lost all her spirit. Losing two consecutive rounds without any suspense left her completely devoid of fighting will.

*Beep.*

A green button lit up to her right, with two words written on it: 【Exit】.

The button would light up after the minimum required gambling rounds were completed.

Of course, Qin Yao could choose not to press it and continue gambling. According to the rules, with 20,000 chips, she could play up to 40 rounds against the machine.

But clearly, Qin Yao didn't want to stay here for even another second.

She pressed it almost impatiently. In the next second, a series of "clicks" sounded as all the mechanisms restraining her unlocked.

Qin Yao hurriedly stood up from the iron chair and turned to push the door of the cramped compartment.

The door was locked from the outside, but Qin Yao quickly found the latch and opened it.

Then, she suddenly remembered something, turned back, and grabbed her remaining chips into her hand.

(End of Chapter)