The Supreme Soldier in the City

Don’t be fooled by how arrogant Charles Goodman appears; he acts like a typical playboy, a scatterbrain. But actually, this guy isn’t dumb. In some ways, he’s quite smart - like in the casino, he’s a very clever person. Right now, he’s setting John Brown up, and he’s doing it quite well.

At first, he didn’t gamble big, usually betting just about a thousand, but as he lost a little, he started betting more and more, and it seemed like he was specifically targeting John Brown, trying to compete with him. Soon, this guy was placing bets of ten thousand each time.

Initially, when John Brown saw him betting so big, he didn’t dare to follow, even with a small pair. But after watching Charles Goodman and Robert Johnson play a couple of rounds, he seemed to see through it. Charles Goodman was acting like a fool who loved to intimidate people, like with a small pair, daring to bet tens of thousands—a typical sucker with money to burn.

Now, John Brown is making the other side think of him as a novice, while Charles Goodman also wants John Brown to see him as a scatterbrain. The two of them are playing dumb with each other, waiting for the moment to pounce like wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Next, John Brown tried to challenge Charles Goodman twice and won each time. John Brown showed immense joy, making Charles even more pleased since it meant John had taken the bait. Once he’s comfortable with such high stakes, things will get easier.

Meanwhile, Ryan King and Brandon Carter were almost just bystanders, rarely following the cards. If they occasionally did follow, it was definitely with good cards. Being as steady as they were, they naturally wouldn’t lose. In such situations, they couldn’t win much either, so they just stayed in a no-win, no-loss situation, whereas John Brown became the big winner. Most of Charles Goodman’s seventy thousand dollars were already lost, and the guy exchanged for another one million dollars in chips.

It seemed like the opportunity came quickly. When John Brown became the dealer, Charles Goodman got a good hand, a flush with five, six, seven. Despite being low point cards, because it’s a flush, it’s quite strong, and the only thing that beats it would be three of a kind—which is very hard to get—or a higher flush.

If you’ve played poker, you should know how hard it is to get three of a kind or a flush. You can play for hours without a single one. And even if you do get such a good hand, if the other players have nothing good, it’s practically useless. Without anyone challenging you, you can’t win any money.

Charles Goodman was most worried that John Brown wouldn’t have any good cards, which would be a shame. However, John Brown raised an eyebrow, clearly indicating he had something, and by the way he raised it, it looked like he might have a straight, at most a flush.

This made Charles Goodman very happy; it was a great opportunity to take John Brown down hard in this hand.

"Ten thousand!" Charles Goodman, as usual, grabbed a chip worth ten thousand and tossed it into the center of the table.

Robert Johnson looked at his cards this time and matched the ten thousand. By this stage, anyone with even a small pair had to follow with ten thousand, and John Brown, of course, did the same.