"Please cut the cards!"

Once seated, Ye Ming settled in like he was firmly planted on the Fishing Platform, gesturing with his hand for the beautiful croupier to cut the deck. Then he looked at Qin Fang with a calm and self-assured gaze.

The initial card cut was done by the croupier, and how many cards to cut was entirely up to their discretion. Both Qin Fang and Ye Ming had no say in the matter.

The beautiful croupier stepped forward, laid her hand on the shuffled deck, and with a gentle slide of her palm, she fanned the cards out in an arc. Nonchalantly, she picked a card near the middle, slightly off-center, and cut the deck, then took less than a quarter of the deck from the end.

This cutting of the cards was one thing; which side of the deck to take after the cut was also at the croupier's discretion.

However, as the attractively dressed croupier finished handling the cards, a bitter smile flashed across Qin Fang's face. His luck was not on his side—he had lost the first hand.

Even before the cards were dealt, Qin Fang knew he had lost the first round.

Why? Because in their one-on-one betting game, if Ye Ming, the dealer, got a 9 on his hand, he would win outright. That's how the cards were now starting out: the first four cards had values of 0, 9, 9, 7.

Qin Fang stayed quiet. Although the first hand was certainly a loss, he needed to figure out the croupier's dealing sequence first.

Some croupiers have a habit of dealing cards alternately, others prefer to deal two consecutively, and there are those who like to pick one from the top and one from bottom. Customers can specify how they want the cards to be dealt, but it's usually the croupier's decision, and they often stick to what they are most comfortable with.

What Qin Fang needed to observe now was exactly this, to determine their pattern, as it would be advantageous for him going forward, especially since he would be dealing next.

As for this first hand, no matter which dealing style was chosen, Qin Fang was doomed to lose, unless the beautiful croupier dared to deal the first card to the player. That could give Qin Fang a sliver of chance, but obviously, that was out of the question. The more experienced the casino personnel, the more strictly they adhered to the rules, especially in these details.

The beautiful croupier didn't employ any special dealing methods such as dealing two cards consecutively or one from the top and bottom; instead, she followed the standard rule—dealing from the top in an alternating fashion.

"Haha, I won!"

Very quickly, both players' two hole cards were dealt. Ye Ming had known he won the first hand just from the croupier's cut, but like Qin Fang, he was also observing the croupier's dealing method. He could afford to not care about winning the first hand, but not about the upcoming ones.

Upon revealing the hole cards, a 9 appeared right away. Ye Ming instantly defeated Qin Fang in the first round, to the point where Qin Fang didn't even need to draw another card—there was no possibility of victory.

"First round, Mr. Ye wins!"

With that result, the beautiful croupier simply gestured to Qin Fang and promptly announced the outcome of the first round. Qin Fang lost the first hand, and his starting-chip stack of two hundred thousand US dollars now belonged to Ye Ming.

...

"Lost!"

Although Jiang Li already knew Qin Fang had lost the first hand as soon as he saw Ye Ming's 9-point hole card, he couldn't help but shudder when the croupier announced it with her soft voice.

Losing the first hand was not a good sign, instantly casting a shadow of worry over Jiang Li's heart. After all, with that round, two hundred thousand US dollars were gone—over a million in RMB...

"You can't tell much from this one round; it's just that the guy named Ye was too lucky..."

However, Qiao Zhenfei made a quite fair assessment. His skills might not surpass Ye Ming's and without knowing the Qianmen Illusion Technique, he would be at a significant disadvantage.

However, Qin Fang did lose the first round in a rather helpless manner; the croupier's cutting and drawing of the cards just happened to land at that position, which was most advantageous for Ye Ming.

Even if Qin Fang were extremely skilled, it was to no use, as his luck didn't seem particularly strong. He was instantly killed off upon entering the game, without even a sliver of a chance to fight back.

Luck is also a kind of strength, and Qin Fang's luck has always been better than others'. However, unexpectedly this time, it was Qin Fang who lost due to the opponent's luck, and that was quite troublesome!

"Indeed, it seems the other party's luck is a bit better…"

Comparing the hole cards of the two players, nine points to six points, Ye Ming held an absolute advantage. Although Qin Fang's six points had a chance to challenge the nine points, it was already meaningless. Ye Ming was the dealer; having reached nine points, he had already won. Even if Qin Fang matched up to nine points, it would have been in vain—he still would have lost!

Li Yang also quite agreed; they didn't lose this first round to anything else. Strategies and tactics were of no use; the opponent's luck was too good, allowing no opportunities whatsoever,

Ye Ming's Qianmen Illusion Technique had stolen the show, and that super good luck of his also lent a big hand.

The controversy over the first round was quite significant. Some said that it was Ye Ming's excellent shuffling that got the cards in perfect place; others claimed it was simply Ye Ming's fluky luck that granted him the victory in the first hand.

Yet, Qin Fang himself appeared quite calm, as if he hadn't lost the first round at all. His smile remained as brilliant as ever, as though he didn't take the first round seriously.

"Next round, please shuffle the cards, Mr. Qin!"

The beauty croupier was also quite composed; perhaps because she had witnessed many big shots competing, she was not overexcited by Ye Ming's victory in the first round.

What seemed strange to her was that, having lost the first round, Qin Fang should have been hiding in the room, holding his head and crying by now. Yet, Qin Fang acted as if nothing had happened, appearing unconcerned about anything.

Upon hearing the words of the beautiful croupier, Qin Fang stood up and straightened his clothes before walking to the middle of the gambling table. By now, a new deck of cards had been swapped in; the previous deck was set aside as it could no longer be used, and would probably be disposed of after the match was over.

This had nothing to do with Qin Fang, who now needed to shuffle the cards.

After taking a deep breath and concentrating all his energy, Qin Fang picked up the deck. Like Ye Ming, he bent the cards in half and began to shuffle them listlessly.

"Huh…"

Observing Qin Fang's action, Ye Ming blinked in slight astonishment, a hint of extreme surprise flashed across his face.

The reason was that the move Qin Fang was performing at the table appeared very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before but couldn't quite remember in the moment.

"Thousand Skills… but it seems not quite!"

Ye Ming was no fool; if Qin Fang were employing the Thousand Skills of the Thousand Gate, he would have given himself away immediately. However, Qin Fang used the Thousand Skills without the full display of the Qianmen Illusion Technique that Ye Ming manifested so dramatically. It didn't look like gambling, more like watching a juggling act.

Qin Fang's technique was rather simple in comparison. He just stood there, his hands continuously mesmerizing, while the deck hardly moved. Yet, the cards indeed went through many shuffles.

Ye Ming could vaguely detect a trace of the Thousand Gate style in Qin Fang's shuffling, but he couldn't recognize Qin Fang's version.

"Heh~~~ You have Qianmen Illusion Technique, and I have One-Handed Weapon Mastery. I want to see who will be the ultimate victor…"

Though Qin Fang was not adept at Qianmen Illusion Technique and was in a relatively disadvantaged position, he naturally had ways to cope, like the One-Handed Weapon Mastery Skill, whose Proficiency had already reached Intermediate level or above.

While One-Handed Weapon Mastery was nominally about wielding weapons, in modern society with firearms as the mainstay, the range of subtly handled weapons had grown much wider, virtually any object could become a "weapon". Now, these fifty-two playing cards became Qin Fang's "weapon", which he manipulated with flair… (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation.)

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