Chapter 603: A Spate of Good Luck
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The four cards were dealt; he and the dealer each had an open card and a concealed card.
For the open cards, his was a king of hearts while the dealer's was an ace of hearts.
It appeared as though the dealer's hand was better than his. The appearance of an ace of hearts meant that there was a chance of a Blackjack. Even without a Blackjack, the ace could represent either one point or eleven points.
His king was only worth ten points.
Of course, the most important part was the two concealed cards below.
Li Di knew what the two cards were, without even opening them. The dealer's card was a five and his was an ace of spades!
Blackjack—it was a Blackjack right at the start!
This round would be a sure-win for him. If he were to stake everything he had on this round, the gamble would then end.
To prevent something like this from happening, and to increase the excitement of the gamble, Knight had stipulated beforehand that players could only stake a maximum of ten chips each time.
Li Du estimated that he had around fifty chips on hand. As he piled them up into five stacks, the excitement in the air mounted.
He flipped his card and looked at it, before casually pushing ten chips out.
The dealer could only follow as he had no say whatsoever, where this game was concerned. This was probably why the Playboy had chosen this game for the gamble.
Once the chips had been pushed out, Li Du flipped the concealed card over.
Blackjack!
Immediately, applause could be heard. Hans waved his fist at Small Boy Kim. "Cool!"
Small Boy Kim's face paled, as he began to lament, "F*ck. D*mmit, have you given your soul to God? That's real good luck. I hope you'll be lucky all the way!"
The payout for Blackjack was one-and-a-half times: Li Du had amassed 65 chips now.
While Small Boy Kim looked cross, he remained solemn—such a result did not mean much.
Another two cards were dealt. This time, Li Du had an open card with a five, while the concealed card was a ten. Small Boy Kim had an open card of a jack and a concealed card of an eight.
Li Du had no other way of maneuvering; he couldn't open his card and needed to add more cards, as he had not yet reached 16 points.
Since he waved his hand for a card, Small Boy Kim gave him another card.
His luck this time around was not good, Li Du had gotten a Queen. The total was more than 21 points—he had busted his cards.
Throwing his cards down, his chips were now the dealer's.
Small Boy Kim laughed in disdain. "What happened? Your deal with God ended? Starting to lose? You'd better stroke your chips now, as they won't be yours to touch very soon . . . "
As he spoke, his hands moved swiftly. With a wave of his hand, four cards flew out again.
Li Du's open card was a jack, his concealed card was a nine—19 points when added together. It was almost 21 points. He couldn't take any more risks.
The dealer's open card was a five, while his concealed card was a king. He had to take another card, which turned out to be another five. His was 20 points, which was greater than Li Du's.
As such, Li Du could not stake his bet. He threw out his cards and said, "Again."
Small Boy Kim had won two rounds consecutively. He chuckled and said, "I know—you're planning to bet chip by chip? Good idea. At least you can stay here for a few more minutes."
Li Du turned around to Hans and said, "In the movies that I watched, dealers are not allowed to talk. Why is this chap talking non-stop?"
Hans responded with a shrug. "Those were movies. Of course, dealers can talk, but professional dealers don't speak randomly to maintain their professionalism."
Four cards were issued. Li Du had a 10 and a Jack. Small Boy Kim had an 8 and a 9.
Hence, he pushed 10 chips out without hesitation and laughed, "I don't believe that yours is a Blackjack!"
The side of Small Boy Kim's mouth quivered, as he opened his card with a gloomy face. Li Du had won ten chips again, and now had 73 chips in total.
Hans patted his back. "Boss, way to go!"
Cards were dealt as the gamble continued.
Unless Small Boy Kim cheated, there was no way Li Du would lose to him.
A game like Blackjack was a great test of one's luck, unlike that of Five Card Stud and Texas Holdem Poker. In addition, Blackjack games progressed fast; a round of Five Card Stud could take as long as a few rounds of Blackjack to complete.
There was another reason for the Playboy and Knight to choose Blackjack—it was a game that, theoretically speaking, players could defeat the dealer in.
Where Texas Holdem Poker and Five Card Stud were concerned, players competed against each other and dealers were not involved.
From this aspect, although Li Du might have been over-analyzing things, he felt that the gamble hinted at Knight's and the Playboy's relationship not being one of player-player, but of dealer-player instead.
Small Boy Kim had amazing deduction and mental arithmetic abilities. He usually relied on mathematical calculations to calculate the probability of winning and deducing the probability of the cards dealt, in order to compare with the dealer's cards
That meant his prowess was only maximized in the player role. However, being a dealer in this gamble, he could only deal out cards passively—his powerful calculation abilities were of hardly any use.
This was especially so since his opponent was Li Du, who could see all the cards clearly: the cards he held and the cards left in the deck. Everything was crystal clear thanks to the little bug's help.
Small Boy Kim dealt the cards. Li Du's two cards were a seven and a nine, the dealer's were a nine and a queen. As he could see that the upcoming card was a four, he asked for another card. With seven, nine, and four, the total was 20 points—crushing the dealer.
Small Boy Kim dealt the cards again. Li Du's two cards were a Jack and a ten, the dealer's were a five and a nine. The upcoming card was a King, and so Li Du chose to show his cards. The dealer took the next card—five, nine and a king. Bust!
And so, Li Du grew his chips into nine stacks in no time.
He patted the table with a half-smile. "If my eyesight isn't failing me, it looks as though the dealer only has five stacks, which may not be enough for the next round."
Surprisingly, Small Boy Kim was not annoyed. Instead, he smiled and said, "How could your luck be so good all the way? You won't win the next round."
He continued to deal the cards: Li Du's open card was an ace, while the dealer's open card was a six.
At this sight, Li Du sniggered. He touched his concealed card, he said, "This time around, the likelihood of me getting a Blackjack is pretty high. To start and end the game with a Blackjack—would God actually favor me so much?"
He already knew that God indeed favored him that day: the concealed card was a Queen—yet another Blackjack!
He glanced at his card, then pushed out ten chips. He laughed as he threw the cards on the table. "Apologies, my luck is really that good!"
For quite a while he hadn't lost a single round. The crowd watching the game also found it incredulous.
However, to Li Du, this was safer than gambling with dice. This was because he had very good luck, and kept getting the good cards. Since the cards were dealt by Small Boy Kim himself, he wouldn't have any issue with it.
A look of astonishment came over the Playboy's face as he went up to hug Li Du. He gave him a smack as he said in a low voice, "Sh*t, you are such a lucky b*st*rd! God bless me, I've chosen a great helper!"
That instant, Knight's face took on a frightful look. However, he quickly adjusted it to carry a smile instead while his eyes conveyed his "son of a b*tch" sentiment.