Chapter 238: High Stakes
After the manager finished speaking, he made his way back to his red velvet seat, which sat perfectly centered between the upper and lower viewing areas. On his way down, he greeted a few of the nearby guests with a courteous nod and a smile.
The current match in the ring was still ongoing, and as Max continued to observe the spectacle, he noticed something interesting. Several guests were placing frequent bets. They simply pressed a small buzzer on the table in front of them, and the nearest waiter would rush over to place the bet with the manager on their behalf.
The odds must be constantly shifting, Max thought, just like a live boxing match or horse race. But there’s got to be a cutoff point for these bets, right?
One thing stood out, whenever someone from the VIP section placed a wager, including guests like Chad or Max himself, the manager personally got up from his seat to handle the bet.
Eventually, the fight reached its conclusion. A clean, powerful kick struck one of the fighters square in the face, sending them crashing back onto the mat, unable to continue.
Right at that moment, something intriguing happened. The table in front of them transformed, morphing into a screen. Two full fighter profiles appeared side-by-side.
"Are these the next contestants?" Max asked.
Chad leaned forward, eyeing the screen intently. He was reviewing the fighters’ weights, their win-loss records, and even their ages. All their stats were displayed, as if this were a professional league.
"Pretty neat, right?" Chad said. "The group behind this place invested a lot into these venues. We VIP guests get a bit of an edge, more info than the average spectator, so we can make the smarter choice."
The more Max talked to Chad, the more clueless the guy seemed. What kind of advantage was a fighter’s weight or record really going to give them? Especially in an underground fighting ring where matches were likely rigged more for entertainment than fairness.