The odds this time were overwhelmingly in his favor, and with his naturally high-risk nature, Ethan Wu was ready to bet! Ethan wasn't even looking at his hidden card, which made it hard for Grant Shen to believe Ethan's luck could reach such miraculous heights! Impossible! Unreasonable! Unscientific!
Grant Shen left in a hurry, with Wayne Bao following closely behind. Grant Shen was obviously heading out to make a transfer and collect his chips. The Crown Club had a strict no-credit policy, so anyone who wanted chips had to transfer the money on the spot. For a boss like Shen, his account had no transfer limits.
Of course, if he won money, he could directly exchange his chips for cash when leaving the Crown Club. Tyler Li upheld his reputation for integrity, following the rules without deviation.
Everyone in the private room waited for Grant Shen's return.
The cards on the table were already secured under a cover to prevent tampering, even though both parties were present and watching. Sealing the cards was simply protocol.
Ethan reclined in his chair, hands behind his head. He suddenly tilted his head and whispered something to Isabella Li.
She gave him a puzzled look, unable to understand.
"Go grab it, quietly. It'll be useful. Just cooperate a bit," Ethan whispered with a sly smile.
"Don't order me around." Isabella retorted but stood up and left the room anyway.
Within minutes, she returned to sit next to Ethan. Half a minute later, Grant Shen also returned, holding a small tray with twenty 5-million chips.
He had come to smash the scene with a pro and prepared a bankroll of 150 million yuan, which he had gathered with difficulty and borrowed from others. However, the expert he'd brought hadn't disappointed him. After exchanging an initial 30 million for chips, he hadn't needed to exchange any further.
Thus, Grant Shen was left with 100 million in chips, with 20 million still in his account.
He handed the 100 million in chips to Ben Yao.
Ethan pushed all his chips forward and gestured to Wayne Bao, who had come back with Shen.
Since there had been some betting in previous rounds, Ben Yao's final all-in amount was 80 million. Adding in the chips from earlier rounds, it totaled 90 million.
Ethan matched his all-in bet of 80 million, totaling 90 million with previous bets.
Then, he added an additional 100 million, bringing the grand total to 190 million.
However, he didn't have enough chips — only 150 million. Fortunately, Wayne Bao had brought in another 100 million earlier, and although Ethan had told him to take it away, Wayne Bao had left it on a side table in the private room.
Wayne Bao brought over the small box.
Ethan took 40 million in chips from it, threw them onto the table, and then pushed all his chips forward again.
"Matching your all-in, plus 100 million more!" Ethan announced. "One hand to decide the winner. Let's go!"
"Fine! I'm in!" Ben Yao pushed all his chips forward as well, then stood up, adjusting his glasses with a confident smile. "Young man, you must know that in gambling, the biggest taboo is impatience. Whether you win or lose, if you can't control your mindset, you won't last."
Ethan smiled, watching Ben Yao lecture him.
It seemed like Yao had been holding this in for a while.
Indeed, ever since he was bluffed by Ethan in the eleventh round, he'd felt stifled. He couldn't win against Ethan, winning small but losing big. The 200 million he'd won previously had slowly trickled away. No wonder he was frustrated.
If he'd lost to a renowned gambling expert, it would've made sense. But losing to an unknown young man like Ethan? It hurt his pride.
Now was finally his moment to vent.
"Actually, you have great talent, but you have all the flaws typical of young gamblers," Ben Yao continued. "You have a bit of cleverness, you rely on luck, and you have certain habits at the table that give away tells. You've got a lot to learn, but… if you're interested, come to the gambling city with me. I can be your mentor and teach you!"
"You didn't even look at your hidden card. This style of play is unheard of. Only someone as young as you would dare to do such a thing! Although we both have face-up cards of the same value, what makes you think you can win?"
Finally, Ben Yao concluded his lengthy lecture. Even the God of Gamblers wouldn't have been as long-winded as him.
Smack!
Ben Yao dramatically slapped his hidden card onto the table.
The nine of diamonds!
"I have a pair of nines, not a big hand! But with your exposed card matching mine, there's only one card that can beat me, the spade nine! I can't understand why you wouldn't look at your hidden card!" Ben Yao said with a chuckle. He leaned forward, looking Ethan in the eye with an intense stare. "I don't believe it! Your hidden card couldn't be the spade nine, especially since you didn't even look at it! Are you seriously gambling on luck?"
Finally, Ben Yao finished his tirade.
Everyone in the room turned pale.
In this all-in match-up, pairs are compared first, followed by card value if pairs are the same, and then suit if values are identical.
For instance, if two players have a single highest card of Ace, then the spade Ace wins. The suit ranking from high to low is spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds.
Ben Yao's hand was a pair of nines, including the nine of diamonds, nine of hearts, seven of diamonds, six of clubs, and three of clubs.
His hand was a pair of nines.
Ethan's known cards were nine, seven, six, and three.
Under these circumstances, if Ethan's hidden card didn't pair with any of his known cards, it would be a high card, which wouldn't beat a pair. If his hidden card was another seven, six, or three, Yao's pair of nines would still be higher.
Thus, for Ethan to win, he needed only one card: the last nine, the nine of spades.
If Ethan's hidden card was the nine of spades, then they would both have a pair of nines. In this case, the suit would determine the winner, and the spade nine would be higher.
This was the source of Ben Yao's confidence!
Only one card could secure Ethan's victory!
A single chance!
But for two players to each have all four nines in a hand was an extremely slim probability, barely a lifeline!
If Ethan had checked his hidden card beforehand, Ben Yao might have thought otherwise, considering that someone who checked first and then raised would naturally believe they had a winning hand. But Ethan hadn't checked his hidden card, relying entirely on luck, which Ben Yao was confident couldn't be that extraordinary!
Everyone present realized that Ethan's chance of winning was less than that of winning the lottery!
Tyler Li's expression darkened.
He wasn't blaming Ethan; after all, if Ethan lost, it would just be a matter of winning and losing, and on the whole, the Crown Club had already lost over 200 million tonight, with only around 40 million of that loss due to Ethan's play. So, it wasn't Ethan's fault.
Instead, Tyler blamed himself for not stopping his seemingly reliable, but not-so-reliable "future brother-in-law" from placing such a large bet on pure luck.
"Ha-ha-ha, Mr. Li, your family is so wealthy that losing a little money shouldn't be a problem, right?" Nathan Lou patted Tyler's shoulder, laughing heartily.
Tyler shrugged Nathan's hand off with a twitch of his shoulder.
"Are you finished?" Ethan finally spoke up, still leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head, smiling at Ben Yao.
"Show your card then," Ben Yao said, making a "please" gesture with a smirk.
"Well… don't mind if I do." Ethan sat up, placing his elbows on the table. He picked up his hidden card without looking at it, flipping it over for Ben Yao to see directly. "Turns out I do have the spade nine!"
Smack!
Ethan slapped the card down onto the table.
"You—" Ben Yao's pupils contracted, and his face turned pale.
The room fell into a stunned silence.
Everyone was in shock!
Ethan stood up slowly, saying calmly, "Did you really think I didn't check my hidden card? Did I ever say I didn't?"
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