I knew the cigar man was trying to guess my hand.
Honestly, I was afraid he wouldn't guess and would just go all-in with a heavy bet. If that happened, the million chips I'd thrown in earlier to counter his fishing attempt would have been wasted.
Since the opponent had unconsciously started to follow my rhythm, I decided to set the pace a bit more.
With that thought, when Gu Jingjing signaled that it was my turn to bet, I immediately called out, "Pass."
I let the cigar man have the betting lead on the flush board.
Seeing this, the cigar man sneered dismissively, "Young man, your little plan... is likely to fall apart!"
"You want to fish for my cards? Two million! I'll let you fish!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the cigar man tossed a pile of chips into the pot.
Despite his tough talk, he was still not confident before figuring out my hand (in fact, he was nervous), so he made a moderate bet, one that allowed for either calling or folding.
Of course, I wasn't going to just call two million and then reveal my cards to compare.
Because a true flush is worth much more than that!
Right after the cigar man placed his bet, I scooped up all the chips in front of me and pushed them into the pot without hesitation.
"I'm not fishing, I'm going all-in!"
At this, the cigar man froze, and then a look of hesitation appeared on his face.
He clearly hadn't expected that after yielding the floor in the previous round of talk, I would then choose to go all-in.
In fact, Texas Hold'em and "Zha Jin Hua" (a Chinese poker game) share a similar principle.
Besides the necessary hard skills, a cunning and unpredictable playing style is also key to victory.
To put it bluntly, it's about bluffing and stealing!
You see in gambling movies, when the protagonist plays Texas Hold'em, they don't cheat throughout the entire game. They only make their moves in the most crucial rounds, relying on a mix of genuine skill and deception in the meantime.
Talking big about Texas Hold'em is one thing, but actually pushing all your chips into the pot is another.
When it comes to betting, casinos always operate on a "bet it and leave it" principle.
No matter how much you talk beforehand, as soon as the chips are on the table, they are effective and binding.
...
A cigarette break passed.
By now, the expression on the cigar man's face was no longer hesitant, but filled with disbelief, a hint of fear, and even terror.
After shaking the ash from his cigar, the cigar man took a silk handkerchief from his suit jacket pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
I knew he must be under immense stress, his mind constantly racing.
As the referee, Gu Jingjing reminded us at the appropriate time and then stood silently by, observing with a cold gaze.
After considering for nearly another minute, the cigar man lightly tapped the poker table and looked at me with resentment, saying, "You've got guts, young man, playing the preemptive strike with me!"
"This round, I'll let you have it!"
With that, the cigar man folded his cards.
Seeing this, I feigned composure and chuckled, "Heh heh~ Thank you, brother!"
As soon as I finished speaking, I deliberately placed the four suited hearts cards beneath the spade 5, and then slid them over to Gu Jingjing.
With the force I carefully controlled, a corner of the top spade 5 was exposed.
Upon seeing this, the cigar man's eyes widened in shock, and then he began to pant heavily.
It was clear that I had provoked him.
And at the same time, I let out a fitting, inexplicable laugh.
Mistaking my laughter as a deliberate mockery of myself, the cigar man gritted his teeth, glared at me, and angrily asked, "You're passing, aren't you, young man?"
"I was kind enough to let you have this round, and now you're pushing your luck?"
Hearing this, I dropped my smile and retorted sharply to the cigar man, "A bet is a bet! If you lose, you admit it. And if you admit it, don't tell me what to do or say!"
"You bastard!!! You damn..."
The cigar man immediately stood up from his seat, his face flushed red, his fists clenched, looking like he was about to lash out if words failed him.
Seeing this, Gu Jingjing immediately spoke up, "The Thousand King Tournament rules strictly prohibit arguments and fights during the competition!"
"I am issuing you a verbal warning now. If there is a next time, I will report it directly to the organizing committee, disqualify you from further participation, and immediately declare you eliminated!"
After hearing Gu Jingjing's words, and seeing that the security personnel responsible for maintaining order were already focusing their attention on us, the cigar man finally suppressed his anger and sat back down.
After Gu Jingjing announced me as the winner of this round, the cigar man snorted heavily through his nose, expressing his anger and dissatisfaction.
Even the way he looked at me was filled with resentment and an extreme lack of submission.
On the surface, I completely ignored him, dismissing it with a smile, but inwardly I was ecstatic.
The cigar man's reaction was exactly what I wanted.
He tried to play mind games with me, but instead, I caught him in my trap and messed with his head.
From now on, even if he tries to adjust his mindset, as long as he can't catch me and get revenge, his emotions will only become more anxious and harder to control.
After a few more hands, this person will be no threat.
Successfully winning the third hand, my chips instantly surpassed the ten million mark, making me the leader of the small table.
If I hadn't considered that ten million chips might not even rank in the top eight of the overall tables, I would have been content to just play casually.
In the next two hands, the cigar man stared intently at me, eager to redeem himself and win back his chips.
Besides the cigar man, the other three players were also, to varying degrees, targeting me.
It's unavoidable; a tall tree catches the wind. Once you have an advantage, becoming a target for everyone is inevitable.
To avoid being ganged up on by the others, I decisively chose to fold in these two hands, leaving them with nowhere to direct their efforts.
In the end, they had no choice but to give up on the idea of taking points from me.
After all, if I kept avoiding confrontation, they wouldn't be able to accumulate more chips, and elimination would be inevitable.
Therefore, starting from the sixth round, except for the cigar man, the attention of the other three players shifted away from me.
Taking advantage of the previous two hands where I folded, I took the opportunity to observe the playing styles and strategies of the hip-hop guy, the OL woman, and the white-haired man.
Among these three, the white-haired man, who had the lowest presence, had a high possibility of being a cheat.
In the final reveal of the previous hand, the white-haired man made an unusual movement with his hands, and frankly, I couldn't fully make out what it was.
I have to admit, the Thousand King Tournament is indeed full of hidden talents and formidable individuals.
And in the new round, the face-up cards dealt by Gu Jingjing forced me to stand in direct opposition to the white-haired man.
The one-hour competition time was already more than halfway through. If I wanted to solidify my advantage, I had to go head-to-head with the white-haired man in this round to determine the winner...