God's imitator

Chapter 14 The Unfair Game
Qin Yao was still very nervous, but she breathed a sigh of relief after the blood draw was completed.

Qin Yao was worried that this simple blood-drawing device might not be able to accurately locate her veins. If it punctured her muscle or blood vessel, it would be no laughing matter.

However, judging from the current situation, no matter how scary the various devices in the "corridor" may look, they are absolutely reliable in terms of function.

Although the loss of 200ml of blood did not cause her much discomfort, she still did not want to do it a second time.

Because this device draws blood very quickly, it is much more painful than drawing blood in a regular hospital, and watching the bright red blood continuously drain away is a very unpleasant experience.

In addition, Qin Yao felt dizzy and lethargic, and was afraid that if she smoked any more, she would faint.

After the blood draw was completed, the mechanism was not unlocked because, according to the game rules, the entire exchange process was only fully completed after a game was played with the "chip exchange machine".

For every 10000 chips, you must gamble at least once.

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

These are chips worth a total of 20000.

Although these chips are all round, their specific size, thickness, color, and numbers on the chips vary depending on their face value, making them easy to distinguish.

The robotic arm in front started moving. It picked up the deck of cards, began to shuffle them skillfully, and then dealt three cards each to itself and Qin Yao.

"Texas Hold'em... Fu Chen talked about it before, but I didn't remember so many details..."

"Fortunately, there are detailed rules and card pattern diagrams here."

Qin Yao used her only functional right hand to pick up the three cards that had been dealt to her and examine them, while also looking at the card pattern diagram on the right wall.

The three cards are the 7 of hearts, the 9 of clubs, and the King of hearts.

"This... doesn't seem to form any hand pattern?" Qin Yao compared the cards in her hand with the hand pattern diagram again and again, and had to admit this with some disappointment.

Texas Hold'em is a fairly simple and straightforward poker game. Each player receives three cards, and the hands are compared based on their ranking.

In order: Three of a Kind (three cards of the same rank) > Straight Flush > Flush > Straight > Pair > High Card. The highest high card is Ace, and the lowest is 2. However, 2, 3, and 5 of different suits > Three of a Kind.

However, what is being played in "Blood Poker" at this time is actually a "simplified version of Texas Hold'em," with the original rules regarding open and hidden bets, comparing cards, and the maximum number of hands all being removed.

Under this new rule, after the cards are dealt, everyone can see them. There is no distinction between betting with open cards and betting with closed cards (i.e., betting without seeing the cards), and there is no step of selecting players to compare cards.

All players need to do is raise, call, and fold in sequence.

When only one player chooses to raise, and all other players choose to call or not raise, the cards are automatically revealed, and the player with the best hand wins all.

When 235 and a leopard appear at the same time, 235 wins; otherwise, 235 is the smallest.

It must be said that these rules are much more user-friendly for people who don't play cards often than the usual rules.

Qin Yao looked at the robotic arm opposite her. According to the game rules, both sides were to place their bets at this point.

However, something shocking happened to Qin Yao: the robotic arm actually drew another card from the deck!

At this moment, the robotic arm has four cards in its hand. It selects three cards from them as its own hand, and then a muffled electronic sound comes from the speaker again.

Please place your ante and then choose to raise, call, or fold in turn.

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

Qin Yao's questions received no response.

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

When betting against the "Chip Exchange Machine," the "Chip Exchange Machine" will always be the dealer, always act first, and can draw an extra card to choose any three cards from the four cards to form a hand.

"This is not fair!"

Qin Yao gripped the cards in her hand tightly. Although she wasn't good at calculating the specific probabilities, even a primary school student could guess that under these game rules, her chances of winning would be greatly reduced.

This is definitely not a game of luck with a 50/50 chance of winning!
But Qin Yao still had no choice; she could only continue this game, which was almost certainly going to be lost.

For the "chip exchange machine," the chips are unlimited. The robotic arm takes the smallest chip from the mountain of chips on the other side and places it in the betting area on the gambling table.

500 is the smallest denomination of all chips and the default base bet when betting against a chip exchange machine.

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

[The dealer chooses to raise the bet.] As the notification sounded again, the robotic arm placed another chip worth 500 in the betting area.

According to the usual rules, the dealer should be the last to place a bet, but in the rules of this game, the "chip exchange machine" is always the dealer and always acts first.

Now it's Qin Yao's turn, and she only has three choices: raise, call, or fold.

The minimum increment for adding funds is 500.

Qin Yao had already placed a 500-coin ante, while the other party raised their bet to 1000.

Therefore, if Qin Yao raises, she will have to throw in another 1000 chips; if she calls, she will throw in 500; if she folds, she will concede defeat.

"I choose to... call the open bet."

Qin Yao finally made up her mind and took out another 500 chips, carefully placing them in the betting area.

Raising the bet is never a wise choice. The "chip exchange machine" can draw an extra card, and in a four-out-of-three situation, its chances of winning are much greater than those of the player.

Folding your hand minimizes your losses, reducing them to only 500, but it also means that both hands will be taken away without being revealed, leaving you with no way of knowing whether your hand is strong or weak.

So Qin Yao ultimately chose to call, even though it meant paying an extra 500 chips, at least she could understand why she lost.

And what if we win?
The opponent gets to draw an extra card, which greatly increases the probability of winning, but it doesn't necessarily make it 100%.

Qin Yao subconsciously felt that betting 500 chips on this probability wasn't too bad.

However, as the two decks of cards were revealed, Qin Yao's heart sank.

Her opponent had a pair of 6s, and her mixed hand of Kings was doomed to lose.

Qin Yao felt a pang of heartache as she watched her two 500-yuan chips being taken away by the robotic arm.

That's equivalent to a full thousand dollars, enough to buy at least two weeks' worth of food from the community's vending machines.

The robotic arm collected the cards and chips.

Then, it took out a brand new deck of cards from the gambling table, unfolded it, shuffled it, and dealt the cards again.

Qin Yao exchanged a total of 20000 chips, so she needs to gamble at least two rounds.

Just like the previous game, the robotic arm deals the cards and raises the bet first.

Qin Yao is facing the same problem as before: should she call or fold?
Qin Yao looked at her hand and was disappointed, because it was another hand of mixed cards with a Queen, even slightly smaller than the mixed cards with a King last time.

After a moment's consideration, Qin Yao took out another 500-coin chip and placed it.

"Call, show your cards."

She was still unwilling to accept defeat without revealing her cards; she wanted to die knowing why.

However, this time the loss was even more devastating; the chip exchange machine had a pair of Jacks.

Qin Yao instantly lost her spirits. Losing two consecutive games without any suspense completely extinguished her fighting will.

"Di."

A green button on the right lit up, with the words "Leave" written on it.

This button will light up after the minimum number of games required are completed.

Of course, Qin Yao could also choose not to press the button and continue gambling. According to the game rules, exchanging 20000 chips allows her to play a maximum of 40 rounds with the visa exchange machine.

But it was clear that Qin Yao didn't want to stay here for even a second longer.

She pressed it almost impatiently, and the next second, a series of "click" sounds rang out, and all the mechanisms binding her were unlocked.

Qin Yao quickly stood up from the iron chair and turned to push open the door of the cramped cubicle.

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

Then she suddenly remembered something, turned back, and grabbed the rest of her chips.

(End of this chapter)