Chapter 33 – God of Gamblers
Evan decided to clean them out this round.
If he lost by luck, he would accept it.
But this low-level fraud?
These bastards had to be taught.
The cards came down.
Evan lifted the corner and glanced.
A pair of aces.
As for the third card, he pinched it under his palm and slowly rubbed it upward.
Behind him, Wayne was sweating with nerves.
If the third card was another ace, that would be triple aces. Absolute slaughter.
But when the corner appeared, it showed a small sharp edge.
Clearly not an ace.
It looked like a ten.
Evan took a slow breath and covered the cards without changing expression.
"Twenty."
There were still five players on the table. Everyone had looked at their cards, and everyone seemed confident. They all called.
After two more rounds, someone finally could not endure it.
According to the rules, before the banker folded, players had to spend money to open the banker first.
The bald man threw chips to open the bearded man.
The bearded man lifted a corner, glanced, and casually tossed out his cards.
He won, his face full of arrogance.
Then the middle-aged man also opened him.
Still not big enough.
The last player saw the situation turning bad and folded to protect himself.
Now only Evan and the bearded man remained, locked one-on-one.
Evan said nothing.
He pushed the seven hundred dollars in chips before him all in.
The bearded man was not afraid at all. He called seven hundred immediately.
Behind Evan, Wayne sucked in a cold breath.
Going all in with a pair of aces and a ten?
Was he insane?
He jabbed Evan's back desperately with his elbow.
Evan ignored him completely.
Then Evan took another thousand dollars in cash from his pocket and tossed it to the punk watching the floor.
"Change this for chips."
Wayne panicked.
"Brother Evan! Don't be reckless!"
Before Evan spoke, the bearded man laughed first.
"Heh. Playing a little double act with me? Trying to scare me off? You think I'm afraid?"
He turned and shouted, "Get me another thousand too."
Both men shoved all the newly exchanged chips into the pot.
This was now a full shove.
The bearded man slapped his cards heavily onto the table.
Spade straight flush.
Queen, king, ace.
An absurdly powerful hand.
"Kid, unless you can pull out triples, this money is mine."
Every gaze around the table locked onto Evan.
"Open it! Hurry up!"
Everyone wanted to see what cards this young man had dared to hold.
Evan slowly flipped over two aces.
The last card remained in his palm.
He began rubbing it hard.
He rubbed for a full minute, until the surrounding gamblers grew impatient.
"What are you rubbing, your mother's ashes? You think you're in a movie? Open the damn card."
Evan sneered.
Then, with a hard flick of his wrist, he slapped the last card onto the table.
Ace of spades.
Boom.
The whole room went stupid.
Even the woman in the red dress, who had been leaning lazily against the pillar, took one surprised step forward.
After confirming it really was triple aces, Wayne went wild. He grabbed a random man beside him and jumped like a lunatic.
"Holy shit! Triples! Real triples!"
The bearded man's face turned deathly pale.
He kicked his chair over and shot to his feet.
"You cheated! Your last card should have been a ten!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Evan laughed coldly.
"Oh? How do you know my last card should have been a ten?"
Evan took a tiny broken toothpick from his pocket and slapped it onto the table.
"I have a bad habit. When I look at cards, I like putting a little toothpick near the edge."
He smiled.
"Block the corner just right, squint from behind, and the blind dog back there mistakes an ace for a ten."
Evan turned sharply and stared at the black-tank punk responsible for peeking.
"Brother, did your eyes dry out from staring? Need eye drops?"
Then Evan pointed around the crowd.
"And you. And you. And you."
"All of you standing behind players, staring at cards like hungry flies. You thought I didn't notice?"
"Picking your nose, touching your chin, rubbing your eyes. That's how you report points, right?"
Finally, Evan pointed at the missing-tooth dealer.
"And you, gap-toothed genius. Shuffling every which way to pass information to the bearded guy. Did you really think I was blind?"
The words dropped.
The gamblers around the table suddenly understood.
The men who had been cheated red-eyed sprang up at once.
"Motherfuckers! Give back the money!"
Evan did not care how they fought.
He swiftly pulled all the chips into his arms and walked straight to the counter to cash out.
Exposing the cheating in public had ruined the den's face, but the crowd was furious. If the cashier dared refuse, the gamblers would tear the basement apart on the spot.
The cashier could only grit his teeth and count the money.
More than eight thousand dollars in cash.
Evan happily tucked it into his pocket, hooked an arm around Wayne's shoulders, and swaggered out of the garage.
Behind them came the sound of tables being overturned and men cursing.
"My God, Brother Evan, you're insane! How did you see they were cheating?"
Evan was too lazy to explain.
He lit a cigarette.
"From now on, stay away from wild rooms like this. You can't beat them. Even in a legal casino, nine bets out of ten are losses. Listen to me. Don't touch this garbage again."
He counted four thousand dollars and shoved it into Wayne's arms.
"Take it. If you gamble again and somebody cuts off your hand next time, I won't save you."
"Brother Evan! You're my real father!"
Wayne was so moved he threw an arm around Evan's neck and puckered his greasy mouth, trying to kiss his face.
Evan pressed both palms against Wayne's fat face in disgust and firmly refused to let that foul saliva contaminate him.
They were about to head toward the night market for food when the clicking of high heels sounded behind them.
A woman walked over and blocked Evan's path.
"Young man, nice technique."
Evan looked up and studied her.
Red dress.
The same woman who had watched from the crowd.
Her neckline had a heart-shaped cutout in the center, revealing a pale, deep curve that pulled the eye whether a man wanted to look or not.
"And you are?" Evan narrowed his eyes.
The woman did not answer.
She went straight to the price.
"Your cheating skills are good. Want to watch my room for me? I'll pay you this much a month."
She lifted one pale finger.
Wayne swallowed.
"One thousand?"
The woman snorted.
"Ten thousand."
"Holy shit! Ten thousand!" Wayne stomped in place and tugged at Evan's clothes. "Brother Evan, do it! Why wouldn't you do it?"
Evan shook his head without hesitation.
"Not interested. I'm still a student."
"Oh? A student?" Surprise flashed in the woman's eyes. "Then you're even more impressive. So young with that level of card skill. Who taught you?"
Evan casually picked his nose.
"Self-taught. No teacher."
Jack had warned him a thousand times never to expose his background outside.
Evan's mouth was sealed tight.
Seeing that he would not say more, the woman did not push.
She took a business card from her bag and handed it over.
"Call me when you're interested."
After speaking, she turned, opened the door of a black luxury sedan by the roadside, and drove away with a roar of the engine, leaving only two red taillights behind.
"Damn, Brother Evan. Rich woman!" Wayne looked heartbroken. "Why didn't you take it?"
"Shut your dog mouth."
Evan snapped back without mercy and slipped the card into his pocket.
Author's Note:
This story will continue updating here.
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Thank you for reading.