The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 154: Me again?
Next comes the river betting. Both players' hands are now clear, and this is the final battleground.

Tang Bei placed his bet first, then after thinking for a moment, said, "I owe the table $50,000, so I bet $60,000 and owe $110,000."

"What?" Jordan was taken aback.

What card did Tang hold?

"Michael has at least one pair, while Don has three?"

"A flush is impossible, and a better hand is also impossible. Is it a straight or three of a kind?"

The others immediately began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Jordan stared at Tang Bei for a while, and Tang Bei snapped, "Just give me a straight answer, are you going to follow or not?"

Jordan gritted his teeth, counted the remaining cash, and found he had $15 left. He had prepared a total of $20 in cash.

"I'll go for 6..."

He counted out six rolls of $4 each and threw them into the trough, then threw in four more rolls and said, "I'll add another $4."

As he spoke, he stared at Tang Bei with extremely sharp eyes and said in a fierce tone, "Tang, if you want to follow, you'll have to add another $4."

“God, Michael has raised the bet,” Pippen said.

"Keep it up, you two, don't let the opponent get a chance."

Larry Bird, undeterred by the large troupe, encouraged them from the sidelines.

"How much is in the pot now?" Hakeem Olajuwon asked, watching the spectacle.

“We have $17.3 in cash now, plus the $11 that Tang owes, so the total in the pot is $28.3,” Larry Bird said.

Jordan stared at Tang Bei with a provocative look on his face, raised his chin and said, "Tang, you're doomed to lose. I advise you not to follow."

He was serious about this statement, because if Tang Bei chose to call, the pot could grow bigger; if Tang Bei didn't call, he would win directly.

How could Tang Bei not follow suit? According to his analysis, of these five community cards, Jordan was most likely to have the same straight as him, and then a set.

His straight is the highest, AKQJ10, so no matter what cards Jordan has, his hand is higher than Jordan's, and he's guaranteed to win.

At that moment, the door opened and two people entered: Eric Fleischer and Jordan's agent, David Frank.

Eric Fleischer was holding a bag containing $100,000 in cash.

"Tang, how is it?"

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, he quickly came over and asked.

"This is 10, and we still owe 1 to the person on stage."

Tang Bei took the bag and threw it onto the stage, then said, "I'll take 40,000, plus another 60,000, so I still owe the stage 110,000."

As he spoke, he took out his checkbook and pen and began writing checks.

"Oh!"

"Did Tang really get a big card?"

"Stealing a plane, huh?"

The crowd gasped in surprise and began to discuss the matter.

Eric Fleischer twitched his eye. Goodness, did he get a big name?

Jordan's expression changed. He turned his head and glared at Tang Bei beside him, saying, "Tang, are you serious?"

"Stop talking nonsense to me. Call or fold, you have thirty seconds to decide," Tang Bei said irritably, then threw the written check away.

The current pot totals $38.3, which is already very large.

“Michael, calm down,” David Frank advised.

Jordan was deep in thought, but there was a time limit: 30 seconds for decisions on the turn and river.

The female dealer quickly began the countdown: "5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds..."

"Fake!"

Jordan cursed angrily, grabbed his two tables, and threw them into the bottom of the pool.

"Oh!"

"Michael folded?"

"The newbie actually won?"

When Jordan folded, everyone gasped.

"Haha, we won!"

Tang Bei was overjoyed and got up to dig out all the bottom pools.

He put away his $11 checks and had $27.3 in cash. He took out $3000 in cash and won $27.

He glanced at the little cash left in front of Jordan and joked, "Mr. Jordan, I can lend you some cash."

"Fake!"

Michael Jordan cursed and immediately told David Falk to go to the bank and withdraw $200,000 in cash for him.

Tang Bei laughed and tossed his two cards to the dealer without turning them over.

Jordan stared at the two cards and asked unwillingly, "What cards did you get?"

"I'll steal your machine," Tang Bei laughed.

Jordan gritted his teeth and cursed, "Shit, you're lying, you're not a newbie at all."

"You're kidding me!"

Tang Bei cursed, then said in English, "This is indeed my first time playing Texas Hold'em, and I'm not even very clear on the rules."

"Come again."

Jordan scoffed.

They played all night long.

Jordan used his exceptional energy to wage a protracted battle, wearing down Larry Bird and his team. He used his financial advantage and extreme pressure tactics to constantly force his opponents to fold, and won all the cash they brought.

Charles Oakley, Larry Bird, and their gang lost anywhere from $10 to $15, totaling at least $80.

At 3 a.m., Larry Bird and his team had lost all their chips, leaving only Jordan and Tang Bei to gamble.

At this point, Jordan had $70 and had won $30.

Tang Bei returned Eric Fleischer's $10, leaving him with $67, all of which he had won.

After a bet, at 5:30 a.m., when it was almost dawn, Jordan had only $80,000 left. He had lost $620,000 in the bet, and out of a total of $400,000, he had lost $320,000.

"Ha ha……"

Tang Bei had $129 million in cash in front of him, all of which he had won.

"Shet!"

Staring at the arrogant Tang Bei, Jordan turned pale with anger.

He now understands that the reason he failed in his protracted struggle was because Tang Bei had just as much energy as he did.

Tang Bei, on the other hand, was equally decisive. The strategy of using his financial advantage to exert maximum pressure was completely ineffective against Tang Bei. After the game, Tang Bei returned to his room and slept for three hours, recovering most of his energy. He ate breakfast at 9 am and then took a two-hour nap to fully restore his strength.

After lunch, we rested for an hour, and then we were organized to sign one hundred basketballs. In the afternoon, we went to several community schools to interact with young fans, give away basketballs, and play games.

The All-Stars who were playing cards last night kept yawning and all had dark circles under their eyes, except for Tang Bei and Jordan, who were still full of energy.

When Tang Bei left the hotel, he found that the snow was at least 20 centimeters thick. Minneapolis had become a veritable ice and snow city, with snowplows clearing the snow on the streets.

"Are you out of your mind? It's so cold, aren't you worried about the kids getting cold? What kind of interaction is this?!" he muttered.

He wasn't the only one cursing; many All-Stars were also cursing, but they were all speaking very softly, not daring to let the officials in the car hear them.

After finally completing the official event tasks, it took three hours to get back to the hotel, and many All-Stars were sneezing.

Evening, Target Center Stadium.

This year, the NBA added a new event, the Rising Stars Challenge, which is divided into a Team of Talent and a Team of Passion, each lasting twenty minutes, which can be considered an innovation.

Tang Bei's powerful drives to the basket have always been a major reason for his popularity, making him a regular feature in the daily top 10 plays. The league invited him to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest, but he declined, opting to participate only in the main competition.

His dunks are all practical techniques, without much flair. He just relies on sheer force and doesn't bother to practice dunking. After a season and a half, his dunking skills haven't improved much.

Although this year's All-Star Game was held at the Timberwolves' home arena, none of the Timberwolves' players were selected for the All-Star Game.

Team leader Alonzo Mourning sat in the stands, watching Tang Bei and O'Neal enter the court, his feelings were very complicated.

O'Neal didn't make the All-Star team last year, but at least he made the bench this year. In contrast, he didn't even get a chance to be a bench player in the Western Conference.

Fortunately, rookie Ryder has performed well this season, with a much better record than last season, giving him a chance to make the playoffs.

However, the team's three-point shooting ability is seriously lacking. Only two players on the team can shoot three-pointers, and the starting lineup only has Ryder.

Their shooting percentage is still not high, averaging only 2.2 three-pointers per game, ranking last in the entire league. Their ability to create space on the perimeter is severely lacking, resulting in excessive defensive pressure in the low post and affecting offensive efficiency.

So he has no idea whether he can make it to the playoffs this season.

"Hey, Tang."

When action star and director Dolph Lundgren saw Tang Bei, he quickly stood up to greet him.

"Mr. Lunger, it's been a long time." Tang Bei smiled and went over to shake hands.

Longer had always wanted to spar with Tang Bei, but he never had the time. Now, that idea was fading away.

Steve Siegel has completely disappeared from Hollywood, and I heard he went to Russia, which is a major reason why he no longer wants to spar with Tang Bei.

Moreover, Tang Bei is not an actor, and there is a possibility of injury when sparring with him, which is one of the important reasons for his hesitation.

"Hey Tang, I heard you played cards with Michael and the others all night. How about we play mahjong sometime?" the beautiful Julia Roberts greeted her.

"Playing mahjong? You know how to play mahjong?" Tang Bei asked in surprise.

Julia Roberts said, "Mahjong has been around in the United States for over two hundred years, which is no shorter than the founding of the United States. I learned it when I was three years old."

"OK, let's meet again." Tang Bei nodded in surprise.

The two immediately exchanged phone numbers, and Lundgren did the same.

"Hey, Tang."

"Hey, Rambo."

Another big-name celebrity arrived. Tang Bei had run into Sylvester Stallone several times and always called him Rambo.

"Tang, aren't you planning to open a temple yet?"

Stallone urged, "I want to learn some martial arts techniques that I can use for filming, the really cool kind, like Tom Cruise."

Tang Bei thought of Jia Bao's desire to open a kendo dojo, so he said, "How about this, if I win the championship this season, I'll open a martial arts dojo."

He had another reason: when he returned to China last time, Master Sun Jianyun arranged for him to join the Chinese Wushu Association and the Tai Chi Association, and gave him the opportunity to use his influence in the United States to promote martial arts, especially Tai Chi.

Sylvester Stallone said happily, "OK, then I will definitely support you to win the championship. Remember to let me know when you open your martial arts school, I will come to support you."

Julia Roberts asked gossipily, "Don, what about your beautiful girlfriend? Did you break up with her? I rarely see her at your games."

"I heard that this woman eloped with a singer a few days before her wedding. Could it be that her relationship with that singer has broken down again?"

Tang Bei thought to himself, then said, "No, we're doing great, we'll be getting engaged in a few days."

"Really? Congratulations!"

"Congratulations, Tang!"

Roberts, Stallone, and others quickly offered their congratulations.

In the following Rising Stars Challenge, Chris Webber led Team Genius to victory over Team Passion, led by Penny Hardaway.

Mark Jackson won the Skills Challenge, Mark Price won the Three-Point Contest, and Timberwolves rookie shooting guard Isaiah Riddle, the 5th overall pick in the 93 draft, won the Slam Dunk Contest.

The 13th is the All-Star Game day.

Before the carnival started, Tang Bei was standing on the sidelines talking to Gary Payton and Drexler when a woman came over and greeted him, "Hey, Tang."

"you……"

He thought it was some Hollywood actress, but it turned out to be the woman he had a romantic encounter with on the Fantasy.

It's been over a year since I last saw her, and this stunning British beauty has become even more mature and beautiful, with an even better temperament—truly breathtakingly gorgeous.

However, Garbo might be watching him on TV, along with a large group of people at home, so he immediately extended his right hand and said politely, "Catherine, it's been a long time."

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Catherine was somewhat disappointed. Now that he had a girlfriend, he didn't even offer her a hug after their one-night stand?

She really regretted it; she shouldn't have gone back to England in the first place. It would have been so much better if she had disembarked with Tang Bei that day.
"Are you going on vacation or coming to Hollywood to develop your career?" Tang Bei asked.

Catherine forced a smile and said, "I want to try my luck in Hollywood again."

Tang Bei couldn't help with this. He knew some Hollywood stars, but he hadn't made any special efforts to befriend them, and their relationships weren't deep.

Moreover, those celebrities can't help Catherine; the real power lies with the production and distribution companies, producers, directors, and so on.

However, he still shamelessly introduced Catherine to several Hollywood stars he knew who were there that evening, which delighted Catherine, as they were all big names in Hollywood.

Shortly after, the All-Star Game began.

Tang Bei was the All-Star vote leader and received the most playing time from both teams, playing a full 36 minutes.

Although he didn't receive many passes, he grabbed 18 rebounds, including 8 offensive rebounds, and made 7 of 8 second-chance shots.

总共14投11中，命中率78.6%，还有14罚10中，命中率71.4%，全场轰下32分18篮板1抢断5盖帽的数据。

"Why is it me again?"

The Eastern Conference All-Stars also won the game, and as a result, he won the All-Star MVP for the second consecutive year, and this time, unlike last season, he won it all by himself.

"If I achieve something again, will I not receive any reward?"

"There are only so many achievements in the NBA, so the rewards after that will be very few."

However, he did not receive any treasure reward; the treasure chest did not react at all, which greatly disappointed him.

On the 14th, at 7 a.m., he boarded the earliest flight and arrived back in Miami just after 10 a.m.

(End of this chapter)