Lawless & Sinful Another World

(What the… what’s going on here?)

Five men were seated around a large table. One of them held a large number of cards in front of him—he was probably the dealer in charge of distributing cards and running the game.

The remaining four each held two cards dealt by the dealer.

The man closest to me had four silver coins and about twenty copper coins on the table. The man next to him had one silver coin and seven copper coins. He was breathing heavily. He was probably the one who had just been stripped of his money.

Next to him was a man with six silver coins and over ten copper coins.

Finally, the man farthest from me—the one with the most money at the table—had over ten silver coins and about ten copper coins. He looked composed, unlike the agitated man right beside me.

One man threw his cards toward the dealer. Next was the turn of the man who was breathing heavily, but…

“Call!”

He slammed two copper coins forward with force and glared at the dealer.

After watching this, the man to his right put out one copper coin but then tossed his cards to the dealer.

Now it was the turn of the man with the most money. Hiding his cards with his left hand, he quickly checked the two cards in front of him. After closing his eyes for a moment in thought, he flashed an eerie smile and tossed two silver coins forward.

“Raise.”

His action was clearly a provocation and a challenge to the agitated man.

If the man breathing heavily wanted to take money from the eerie-smiling man, he would have to put in all the money he currently had on the table. Not only that, he would also lose the two copper coins he had just put out for nothing.

The agitated man had two choices: go all-in with everything he had, or fold and wait for a better opportunity to make a big move.

Logically, the latter seemed far wiser, but as expected, the agitated man pushed all his remaining coins forward.

“Call!”

The moment he did so, the agitated man revealed his hand.

“Queens!”

A wave of astonished “Ohhh!” rose from the onlookers.

The design was a little different from the playing cards I knew, but they were unmistakably Queens. I still didn’t know the exact rules of poker in this world, but according to the rules from my original world, this was the third-strongest hand at this stage.

In contrast, the hand of the man with the most money was…

“Hey! Show your hand too!” “Yeah… but honestly, it’s almost embarrassing after yours.”

With those words, the man flipped over his two cards, revealing an Ace and a King of the same suit.

This hand was far from bad. If even one of the five upcoming community cards was an Ace or a King, the man would win.

The outcome now depended on the five cards the dealer would reveal.

With practiced movements, the dealer set one card aside and laid out three cards in a row.

From left to right: Queen of Hearts, Seven of Hearts, Five of Spades. At this point, the agitated man’s three Queens were complete. It was a strong enough hand.

However, the people around them couldn’t cheer honestly.

Because the Ace and King the other man held were both Hearts. If one more Heart appeared, he would complete a flush, and the agitated man’s defeat would be sealed.

With tense expressions, everyone watched as the fourth card was revealed.

It was the Three of Diamonds. A completely unrelated card.

The final card. This one would decide the match.

With slow yet smooth movements, the dealer revealed the last card.

The fifth card that appeared on the table was the Ten of Hearts.

“My win, it seems.” “Goddammit!!!”

In the end, the man with the most money won with a Heart flush, while the agitated man had three Queens. Victory went to the man with the deepest pockets.

“Move!”

The man who had lost all his money left the table, and a new challenger immediately took his place.

Excluding the dealer, five men continued the game.

I could join in at this timing, but I still didn’t have enough information. For now, I would observe a few more games to confirm whether the rules matched the poker I knew, while also paying close attention to the habits of the men in front of me.

Poker was a game where a person’s personality tended to show in every single play. For example, their reaction when first looking at their two hole cards—some people showed it on their faces, while others revealed it through their later betting patterns.

I would steal their tells over the next few games.

And then, I’d earn today’s lodging fee!