"Baccarat!"
The long-haired man's casual remark told me he was a master of deception.
Baccarat, played with eight decks of cards, or even twelve in some casinos, was one of the card games most favored by cheaters.
It seemed the long-haired man intended to compete with me in terms of cheating techniques.
However, I wasn't too afraid of him.
Because I knew that not every cheater was willing to put in the hard work on multiple decks like Hao Qi.
As long as the long-haired man wasn't a specialist in multiple decks like Hao Qi, I wouldn't back down.
...
Since Baccarat only had a Banker and a Player, the long-haired man, representing the casino, was naturally the Banker.
And I was the Player.
After temporarily asking the dealer to fetch an extra shuffling machine from the warehouse, plug it in, and shuffle the eight decks, the long-haired man was about to place the cards into the shoe when...
I directly raised my hand to stop him.
"No need for such trouble, just lay them on the table and deal."
The reason I said this was not only to prevent the long-haired man from using the shoe to trick me, but also because I wanted to firmly grasp any advantages I could secure.
Although A Yuan was an arrogant frog in a well, he was at least a person who valued face and followed rules, and didn't mess around.
As for the long-haired man, I couldn't be sure.
However, judging by the long-haired man's demeanor, he didn't seem impressed by what I said.
Not only did he casually spread the cards out into a neat straight line on the table, but he also directly signaled that I could place my bets.
And he specifically emphasized one point.
No betting limit!
However, all odds were reduced to one-to-one.
I knew the long-haired man wanted to take this opportunity to force me to bet heavily and then eliminate me directly in Baccarat.
If that happened, I wouldn't have a chance to cause further trouble.
With this thought, after clearing all my scattered thoughts, I took out a chip worth one hundred thousand and pushed it forward, making a circle with my hand to tell the long-haired man that I was betting on "Tie" this round.
There was no area for Baccarat betting on the Sic Bo table.
Fortunately, Baccarat commonly only had Banker, Player, Pair, and Tie as betting options, and simple hand gestures could convey their meanings.
With so many gamblers watching from the surroundings, if I won the bet, the long-haired man wouldn't be able to renege.
Seeing me place my bet, the long-haired man arranged the eight decks in a line and then began to deal.
Unlike Blackjack, although Baccarat also dealt two cards, they were all face down.
If the first two face-down cards were revealed and neither Banker nor Player had a winning hand, a third face-down card would be dealt, with priority given to the Player.
As I was revealing my cards, many people who saw me bet one hundred thousand on a Tie immediately transformed into "experts" and started discussing animatedly.
They said betting on Tie at the start was foolish, that this young man might only have good hearing but a muddled brain, and so on...
But when I revealed my cards after playing them, and the long-haired man revealed his, these "experts" were stunned on the spot.
I, representing the Player, had a 2 and a 5, totaling 7 points.
The long-haired man, representing the Banker, had an Ace and a 6, also totaling 7 points.
The first round, it was indeed a Tie!
This scene of being slapped in the face instantly left everyone bewildered and confused.
No one, except the long-haired man and me, knew the hidden mechanism.
Facing the long-haired man, who was suspected of having twelve hidden lights, I won the first round.
My one hundred thousand chips instantly turned into two hundred thousand.
This outcome made the long-haired man smile meaningfully and say, "Heh heh! You've got some skill, little brother."
In response, I calmly replied, "Likewise!"
After nodding slightly, the long-haired man stopped speaking and gestured for me to continue betting.
I knew my performance had piqued the long-haired man's attention and interest.
But at the same time, the trick the long-haired man had secretly played while spreading the cards made me secretly wary.
To be blunt, he was a formidable opponent!
It was just that he hadn't fully revealed his sharp fangs yet.
For the second hand, two chips worth one hundred thousand remained untouched. I continued to signal for a "Tie."
Seeing this, the "expert" gamblers who had just quieted down became active again.
One older "expert" gambler couldn't help but remind me, "Young man, Baccarat games that start with a Tie are usually traps that swallow you whole. This round, you should definitely bet on the Banker!"
Honestly, the "kind advice" from the older gambler didn't make me feel any goodwill; instead, it made me want to slap him and make him shut up.
Didn't he understand the principle of not commenting on a chess game in progress or speaking during a card reveal?
Gamblers of any age are not worth sympathizing with or respecting.
If they were as good as they appeared, they wouldn't have ended up in a situation where they couldn't go home and lived solely by gambling.
The old man just now, I knew without even looking at him, was a seasoned gambler deeply influenced by Baccarat card tracking charts.
If I had listened to him and won, he would immediately have assumed the air of an experienced person and started chattering incessantly.
If I gave him face, he would have become even more presumptuous, dictating strategies with great fanfare, and might even have shamelessly asked me for chips.
If I hadn't believed him and won my bet myself, he would have certainly put on a different, dismissive face, saying it was just good luck, a blind cat catching a dead mouse, and other nonsense.
The gambling nature of such gamblers had reached an incurable stage, and letting them fend for themselves was the best choice.
Offering a word of advice and giving a chip would both be superfluous!
Ignoring the old man's nonsense, I directly signaled the long-haired man to deal the cards.
As soon as the cards were dealt, without even checking them, I revealed them plainly.
A Jack and a 6, totaling 6 points.
As for the long-haired man, he had a 7 and a 9, also totaling 6 points.
The second round was another Tie.
Under normal circumstances, the odds for betting on a Tie in Baccarat are eight-to-one. However, before the game started, the long-haired man had made it clear that with no betting limit, all four betting options would have odds of one-to-one.
The long-haired man's approach was much more reliable than that of A Yuan.
Although he was as confident as the latter, even more so...
After officially facing me, the long-haired man immediately changed the odds rules to prevent any unforeseen circumstances and avoid the recurrence of previous tragedies.
Confidence aside, I had to admit that the long-haired man was quite vigilant.
If he hadn't changed the odds rules in advance, betting on a Tie twice like this would have likely turned my one hundred thousand chips into eight million.
Unfortunately, now, it was only two-to-one, making my forty thousand.
However, even so, the result of two consecutive Ties left the surrounding gamblers utterly dumbfounded.
Everyone's gaze towards me was filled with an extreme, profound disbelief.
Only the long-haired man and I remained calm and composed throughout.