God's imitator

Chapter 15 Free Gambling
At this moment, the chips won by the "chip exchange machine" have been neatly stacked inside by the robotic arm and covered with a thick, transparent glass cover.

At that moment, Qin Yao had some thoughts, such as what would happen if the chips were snatched directly from the robotic arm during a bet?
But she quickly dismissed the idea, because she was firmly locked in her seat throughout the entire exchange process and couldn't reach the chips at all; moreover, the "Arcade" made it very clear that any behavior that broke the rules would inevitably be punished with "reduction of visa time" or even "deportation".

Don't be reckless and cross the line.

Leaving the small cubicle where the chips were exchanged, Qin Yao felt a sense of relief and greedily inhaled the fresh air.

Compared to that dark, cramped, and somewhat oxygen-deprived narrow room, the outside area was like paradise.

This place is somewhat like the lounge area of ​​a high-end bar or cafe, with spacious sofas, exquisite coffee tables, and an old record player playing a vinyl record, the melodious sound adding a touch of artistic flair to the whole scene.

The most spacious area has two huge gaming tables, each with eight seats.

The "chip exchange area" is located at the edge of the entire scene. It is dilapidated and simple in appearance, with rough and uneven cement walls that are covered with dirt. It is a completely different style.

At this moment, the doors to the other cubicles also opened one after another.

To Qin Yao's surprise, two familiar faces appeared.

"Sister Jiang He? Aunt Su! We're actually at the same event!"

Qin Yao's joy was palpable, because the people who came out of the next cubicle were none other than familiar faces from Community 17: Player No. 2 Jiang He and Player No. 8 Su Xiucen.

"Yaoyao! I'm so happy to see you!" Jiang He also seemed very happy, and even gave her an excited hug.

"But... what's going on?" Jiang He frowned as she looked at the only cubicle whose door was not open.

Su Xiucen pointed to the opposite side: "Hey, look! There are people over there too!"

Qin Yao followed Su Xiucen's hand and looked to the other side of the game area, where she found four "chip exchange area" booths. Four completely unfamiliar faces walked out of them one after another.

On their side, there were also four cubicles, but one of them remained closed.

"Is anyone inside? Could he be from our community? Why hasn't he come out?"

Jiang He stepped forward and took a look. The door to the cubicle was still locked. The red sign meant that the inner lock had not been opened, so she could not enter.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Jiang He gently knocked on the door of the cubicle, but received no response.

Although these cubicles look very simple, they are actually very soundproof. When everyone was inside, they couldn't hear any outside noise at all.

"Could they have died inside...?"

Jiang He's expression changed, and a guess suddenly flashed through her mind.

To redeem chips, one must have their blood drawn. However, if too much blood is drawn, it is entirely possible to fall into a coma or even die.

Su Xiucen subconsciously moved a few steps away from the cubicle.

Qin Yao quickly said, "Sister Jiang He, let's not worry about those unimportant things for now, the game isn't over yet."

"Look, the screen says we need to play at least one more game with players from other communities before we can leave here."

Jiang He looked at the two multi-player gambling tables in the center of the venue. There was a large screen on the wall directly in front of the multi-player gambling tables, on which the corresponding game rules were clearly written.

[Hello players from Communities 3 and 17, welcome to 'Blood Poker'.]

Players who have already redeemed their chips can proceed to the automated gaming table in the center of the venue to begin their game.

The game rules remain the same as the simplified version of Texas Hold'em. The specific rules differ slightly for multiplayer games; please refer to the instructions on the gaming table for detailed rules and card combinations.

The gaming table can automatically shuffle, deal, and collect cards according to the rules, ensuring a completely fair and impartial gaming experience.

[Multiplayer tables are limited to 2 to 8 players, and each table must start with at least one player from another community.]

The default ante for multi-player gaming tables is 1000 chips.

[Once a table game begins, players must complete 10 rounds or use up all their chips before leaving the game.]

[Any violence or violation of rules is strictly prohibited in this game; violators will be subject to immediate death.]

[The game lasts 90 minutes.] [At the end of the game, the arcade will tally the players' chips. After players return to the community, their chips will be converted into corresponding visa time.]

If you haven't played with any other players by the end of the game, you will have 10000 minutes of visa time deducted.

Will it be a windfall or a complete loss?

The game has started, good luck!

The countdown was already on the big screen, but the current time was 1:25:33, which meant that the time spent in the chip exchange area was also counted into this hour and a half.

The bright red numbers kept ticking, and although the "tick-tock" sound wasn't loud, it gave people an extremely urgent feeling.

Jiang He instantly realized something and asked, "Yao Yao, Aunt Su, how many chips do you have left? I have 19000 left."

Qin Yao counted the chips in her hand: "18000."

Su Xiucen held her chips tightly in her hand: "I also have 18000."

Clearly, these visa periods are extremely valuable to Su Xiucen.

She had only 16 days left on her visa. If she could take these chips with her when she left, her remaining visa time could double.

"You all exchanged 200ml of blood, right? And... you also placed bets?" Jiang He asked.

Qin Yao and Su Xiucen looked at each other and then nodded.

Since everyone goes through the same process when gambling against the "chip exchange machine," it's easy to guess the specific situation based on the number of chips remaining.

The 1000 chips that the two had less than Jiang He were clearly losses from calling and checking the cards twice.

Jiang He sighed: "How can you follow suit? You can't afford to have this kind of wishful thinking."

"This game is obviously unfair, so running away is the right thing to do."

"A little curiosity or disbelief resulted in a real loss of 500 yuan."

"However, this loss is still acceptable. I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to raise the stakes or continue gambling under these circumstances."

After saying that, she looked at the still closed cubicle, wondering what was going on inside.

Su Xiucen sighed, "I understand. Consider this money a lesson learned..."

As someone who saves every penny, losing a thousand yuan for no reason was very painful for her.

Qin Yao wasn't too upset, but she felt the game rules were unfair: "This chip exchange machine could have been easily snatched, yet they pretended to play two games with us."

Given the current odds of winning or losing, betting against a "chip exchange machine" is definitely the worst possible choice.

The extra card drawn from the chip exchange machine greatly increases the probability of forming a better hand, which is a significant advantage in the "Simplified Version of Texas Hold'em".

"So what should we do now? Should we gamble with those people?" Su Xiucen was at a loss.

Qin Yao thought for a moment and said, "We should still gamble, right?"
"If you don't gamble, you'll have 10,000 minutes of your visa time deducted. But if you gamble, even if you lose all ten rounds of the ante, it's only 10,000."

"During this period, as long as you get a relatively strong hand in any round, you can make a lot of money back."

Jiang He shook her head slightly: "Things aren't that simple."

“The situation at the gambling table changes in an instant. How can you be sure that you have a ‘stronger hand’?”
“There is a situation called ‘enemy hand’, which means that you have a pretty good hand, but someone else happens to have a better hand than you.”

"In this situation, if you confidently increase your bet, you'll only end up losing everything. In that case, the loss won't just be 10,000, but a complete loss."

Qin Yao had some doubts: "But this is a low-probability event, isn't it? If we keep folding because we're afraid of it, then we'll never be able to win, right?"

Jiang He thought about it for a moment and said, "I think we should still go to the gambling table, but we don't necessarily have to gamble according to the rules of the game completely."

"There is actually a 'perfect solution' to this game."

(End of this chapter)