The new robe of white ramie enters the tender coolness. In spring, the nibbling leaves rustle in the cloister, the peach blossoms are ready in Yumen, and the fragrance of osmanthus is first harvested in the Moon Palace.
Peng Beihai, Feng Chaoyang. Carrying books and swords, the road is boundless. Next year the blue clouds will go away on this day, but I will laugh at the busyness of raising children in the world.
——"Partridge Sky·Song Kuo's Autumn Exam" by Xin Qiji
…
The five people went down to the cabin. The gambling hall was spacious and bright, with gorgeous facilities and a variety of gambling equipment. Hundreds of gamblers gathered in the brightly lit hall, but they did not feel stuffy at all. They were scattered among various gambling tables.
The gambling house maids who shuttled back and forth in the gambling hall, from Orchid beyond the Great Wall to the beauty from the south of the Yangtze River, all kinds of beauties with half-exposed breasts, lotus arms and bright wrists, charming and sexy. Young men from aristocratic families lingered here and never knew what life would be like.
Jia Chang secretly observed Bai Fu. Bai Fu also showed an intoxicated look when he saw the beautiful woman. He was not rigid, repressed, or indulgent. Once the beauty left his sight, Bai Fu's demeanor immediately returned to normal.
Jia Chang's heart was filled with fear. Brothels and casinos can best expose people's bad nature, which is why he chose to do this as a living. He has seen countless people, but like Bai Fu, his heart is like a mirror, and things will appear when they come.
People who leave or not stay are still met for the first time.
On the south side of the hall is an antique box, made of exquisite materials, specially designed to receive distinguished guests.
The five people walked into the box and saw this mysterious gambler. This man was in his thirties, tall and burly, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a pair of piercing tiger eyes. He had the air of a chivalrous man from Yan and Zhao.
When he saw the five people, this man showed no fear, and his eyes glanced at Bai Fu, implying provocation.
There were piles of casino chips next to this person. Jia Chang glanced at them and roughly calculated that this person had won thousands of taels of gold.
Jia Chang snorted coldly and thought to himself: "You dare to come to my Beihai Gang's territory to cause trouble if you eat the courage of a bear's heart and a leopard's heart."
Ji Qianqian, the top gambling girl of the Beihai Gang, is beautiful and charming, dressed boldly and has superb gambling skills. She usually rides around the gambling table and rarely encounters opponents.
Today, she was killed by a mysterious gambler and was unable to resist. From time to time, she wiped the sweat on her forehead with a silk handkerchief. Seeing the gang leader Jia Chang arriving, Ji Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief and asked someone to replace her at the gaming table.
Walking in front of Jia Chang, Ji Qianqian's chest heaved and she said with shame: "Gang leader, please forgive me, I am incompetent."
Jia Chang said: "You have tried your best, there is no need to blame yourself. Is this person any good? If so, order someone to cut off his hands."
Ji Qianqian said: "This person's gambling skills are unpredictable and my subordinates can't tell. If my subordinates' discernment is correct, this person should be a disciple of Beigao."
As soon as these words came out, except for Bai Fu and Princess Qingluan, who were stunned, the other three people took a deep breath.
In the gambling world, there is a saying, "The north is high, the south is a small building, and one mountain reaches the sky and is unrivaled in the world." It refers to the three top players in the world of gambling.
Gao Zhan, the God of Gambling in the North, swept across Mobei from the Gobi to the grasslands and was never invincible.
Su Xiaolou, a gambling fairy from the south, was located near the Qinhuai River. He fought against the heroes of the world without losing. Ji Qianqian was Su Xiaolou's first disciple.
There is also a bettor named Yue Qingtian who has never seen the light of day. Thirty years ago he became invincible. He once defeated three mansions of Gao Lishi in one night. He has never appeared in the world in the past ten years. I wonder if he is still there.
world.
…
Seeing five people whispering beside each other, the mysterious gambler smiled arrogantly and said to Jia Chang: "Since Gang Leader Jia is here, why bother watching from the sidelines? Why don't you give some advice next time?"
Seeing this man openly declaring war, Jia Chang sneered and took Jia Qi and Li Qi down to fight. The Beihai gang brought the three of them gold plates filled with chips worth a thousand taels of gold.
The three of Jia Chang sat down. In addition to the mysterious gambler, there were also Lu Zi, the eldest son of the Lu family in Fan Yang, and Zheng Lu, the eldest son of the Zheng family in Xingyang.
The curtain is about to rise, and the atmosphere in the casino suddenly becomes lively.
Princess Yanguang has a special status and is relatively neutral. She took the initiative to apply to be the dealer, blindly shuffled and built cards with a gilt copper cover.
Li Yan took a look at everyone's gameplay and said: "The rules of Pai Gow on this gambling boat seem to be different from the rules of other gambling houses in Chang'an?"
Ji Qianqian said: "The rules here are indeed different from other gambling houses. This is a newly popular way of playing. The rules of barbarians are added to make the game simpler and more exciting. The win rate is greater, and counterattacks by gamblers often occur."
Seeing Bai Fu's confused look, Ji Qianqian explained the rules of Pai Gow to Bai Fu in detail.
There are a total of thirty-two dominoes. At the beginning, each gambler is given two face-down cards as "hole cards" and three bright cards that are dealt upwards by the dealer one after another.
After all the betting rounds, if the winner still cannot be determined, the game will enter the "showdown" stage. Players who have not discarded their cards will show their respective hole cards to compete with each other. The one with the higher card wins.
…
Bai Fu said: "If you want to cheat, how do you do it?"
Ji Qianqian said: "The methods of Chu Qian are ever-changing. Generally speaking, the northern faction is good at eyesight, while the southern faction is better at technique.
Some people are good at hiding cards in their hands and taking advantage of others' unpreparedness to take away the bad cards on the gambling table. This technique is called "keeping things in their sleeves".
But on Beihai Gang's gambling table, every Pai Gow card has a hidden mark, and each deck of Pai Gow is only used once, so this method doesn't work here.
There is also a method called "resurrection of corpses", which involves arranging ghosts among the maids in gambling houses, taking advantage of opportunities such as the maid pouring tea and water, to come behind the gambler, and wait for the opportunity to reflect the gambler's hole cards through glass cups and other objects.
…
Another clever gambling technique is called "stealing the sky and changing the day". Gamblers will play tricks when stacking the cards, remember the position of each card, and then when rolling the dice, allocate the good cards to themselves and return the bad cards to themselves.
opponent."
Bai Fu said: "If the dealer makes the cards, how can the gamblers manipulate the cards?"
Ji Qianqian said: "The first-class gambling skills do not rely on extraordinary skills, but test the gambler's eyesight and memorization ability.
The moment the dealer builds the cards, the gamblers must remember the position of each card. No matter how the dealer builds or cuts the cards, the gamblers must not be distracted. In this way, they will be able to know when the cards are dealt out.
The trump card in every guest’s hand at the table.”
Bai Fu clicked his tongue after hearing this. To remember so many changes in an instant was no less than learning a set of swordsmanship in an instant.
Ji Qianqian said: "But this method also has limitations. Once the person who builds the cards is replaced by a top dealer, he can use techniques such as 'Tiannu Sanhua' to build and cut the cards. Or he can blindly wash them in a gilt copper cover to prevent gambling.
The player sees the changes in the hole cards. In this way, the gambler cannot know the hole cards.
Therefore, top gamblers will combine all factors in the casino to judge the opponent's trump card, including the opponent's eyes, subtle changes in the body, etc.
He may even deliberately expose his flaws to induce changes in his opponent's mentality, causing him to make wrong judgments, blindly advance or timidly abandon his cards, thus handing over a good situation to others.
Among the thirty-six gambling skills taught to me by my master, there are many techniques such as the golden cicada's escape from its shell, borrowing a knife to kill someone, fishing in troubled waters, hiding from the sky, making something out of nothing, playing hard to get, substituting the beam for a pillar, watching the fire from the other side, and using false methods to attack Guo.
When we reach the realm of the three masters, Senior Yue, Gao Zhan and my master, the art of gambling is like the art of war. Soldiers are unpredictable, water is impermanent, ever-changing, and unpredictable.