In the name of the true god

Jude glanced at the table.

The dealer's middle-aged priest's face-up card is the Jack of Spades, which is ten points.

The young priest and "fat" Allen have a total of 9 and 16 points respectively.

If you stop at 13 points, you are very likely to lose. If you simply calculate the remaining cards, the probability of drawing a card with a value of 1-8 is obviously higher than that of busting directly.

The young priest was the first to draw another card and reveal it.

10 of Hearts.

"Heh, not bad luck." The young priest's total points reached 19. He casually lit a cigarette. "Stop."

"Fatty" Allen shook his head, indicating that he was also suspended from trading.

Just as Jude was about to reach for his cards, the middle-aged priest, with a half-smile, preemptively said, "You only have thirteen points. You still have a good chance of winning by drawing a card. Want to double down?"

He immediately challenged himself to play a big game.

Regardless of winning or losing, people of this age are easily carried away and then they'll be led by the nose.

"Okay, double it." Jude deliberately acted aggressively, took out another gold coin from his wallet and placed it on the table, then drew the third card.

Ace of Plum Blossoms.

In blackjack, this card can be worth either 1 point or 11 points.

Considering that my original two cards already amounted to 13 points, in order to avoid directly busting out, this card can only be used as 1 point.

14 points in total, still doesn't seem enough...

"Can I draw another one?" Jude asked.

"No. According to the rules, you can only double once, and you can't ask for a second card after doubling." The middle-aged priest said, turning over his other face-down card—the 7 of Hearts.

Currently, the middle-aged priest has 17 points, the young priest has 19, "Fatty" Allen has 16, and Jude has 14.

"The game must stop when the dealer's total reaches or exceeds seventeen points." The middle-aged priest took the banknotes from in front of Jude and "Fatty" Allen. "You two have lost."

"It's just the first round, don't take it to heart." The young priest, having won the bet, took the money from the middle-aged priest.

Is blackjack entirely based on luck and strategy, or are the two priests secretly doing something behind the scenes?

Jude, who had only lost two gold coins, was not in a hurry. He decided to play a few more rounds to assess the situation and decide whether he could find a way to trick them.

"Continue," he urged the middle-aged priest to deal the cards.

Ten rounds in a row.

The middle-aged priest won 5 times, the young priest won 3 times, and Jude and "Fat Man" Allen each won once.

Not right.

Even if you play a lot and master a certain strategy, the difference in wins and losses shouldn't be so huge.

Could they have tampered with the cards?

Ordinary prison guards were not allowed to bring items unrelated to their duties into the heresy ward, so the playing cards they used were provided by the middle-aged priest.

If your opponent makes secret markings on each card that only they can see, maintaining a high win rate becomes incredibly easy...

But are they really that short-sighted?

The normal approach would be to first win a few rounds, then lower your guard before making a big bet and losing everything.

After just ten games, I lost more than ten gold coins, equivalent to three days' wages. Aren't they worried that I'll cut my losses in time and never play again?

Or perhaps, in their eyes, he is just a hot-headed young man, and that a purge followed by a sullen turn is more likely to push him to his limit than a purge followed by a sullen turn.

These are all secondary issues.

The key is to figure out how those two priests cheated, and whether my law of contact can be effective.

"Aren't we done playing yet?" The middle-aged priest shuffled the cards and consulted Jude before dealing them.

Jude rested one hand on his forehead, feigning deep thought, and quietly probed using the law of contact—

Is there anything wrong with this hand of cards?

Is there anything wrong with this hand of cards?

Is there anything wrong with this hand of cards?

the answer is--

Have.

really!

Playing blackjack with rigged cards, it's no wonder you lose everything.

Even if they cheat themselves and use the contact law to calculate their winning probability, they can still avoid doubling down if they know the cards in advance, so they are destined to suffer a major setback.

Moreover, I only use the contact rhythm a maximum of three times a day, and the more times I use it, the stronger the discomfort becomes.

If you keep playing like this, no matter how much money you have, you won't be able to withstand losing it all.

"Hey, I'm asking you a question." The young priest kicked Jude's shin.

Jude forcibly suppressed the dizziness and began to think of a solution.

Either you're willing to be ripped off by them, as long as you can stay in the heretical prison for a long time, losing some money is nothing.

Either you absolutely cannot fall into their rhythm, you must find a way to play that won't alert them, but can effectively weaken their advantage.

"I'll be the dealer," Jude said.

"You want to play? Sure." The middle-aged priest didn't seem to care and handed the cards to Jude.

Jude reshuffled the cards and dealt two cards to the middle-aged priest, the young priest, and "Fatty" Allen in turn. When it was his turn, he held the face-down card tightly in his palm from the moment he drew it.

in this way.

There are seven face-up cards on the table, but no one knows the exact value of the one face-down card.

"What do you mean?" The young priest looked at Jude's left hand, which was pressing down on the hidden card.

"Keep it under control, lest I can't resist peeking ahead of time." Jude's reply was impeccable and left no room for criticism.

"Let it be." The middle-aged priest felt that even if he couldn't confirm the number of the hidden cards, he still held the initiative.

at the moment.

The middle-aged priest has two cards with a total value of 15.

The young priest's two cards have a total value of 11.

"Fat Man" Allen's two cards have a total of 12.

Jude's face-up card is an Ace, which can be considered either 1 or 11: "Would you like to double down?"

The two priests looked at the remaining cards.

The stack of cards was covered by Jude's other hand, so the markings were not visible.

"How are we supposed to take the card if you're covering it up?" The young priest gestured for Jude to move his hand away.

Jude naturally wouldn't agree: "What does whether I cover it or not have to do with your decision not to double it?"

That makes so much sense...

The two priests exchanged a glance.

The middle-aged priest was worried about overdrawing, so he gave up doubling down as a precaution and did not draw a third card.

The young priest, with only 11 points, still had room to "fight," and chose to go head-to-head with Jude: "Double up, take the cards."

"Okay, which one do you want?" Jude asked.

I'll smoke it myself.

Jude's hand remained firmly in place, only slightly raised: "Take it from my grasp."

Blind draw.

This means that he has no advantages whatsoever and is truly relying purely on luck and strategy to play against Jude.

The young priest's face darkened with anger: "What exactly do you mean?"

"What do you mean?" Jude feigned ignorance.

"Are you suspecting us of cheating?" the young priest questioned.

"You think others are cheating just because you lost a few rounds? You really can't take a game," the middle-aged priest sneered from the side. "I advise you to produce some evidence."

"Fatty" Allen was quite startled by this scene and quickly tried to ease the tension: "Jude definitely didn't mean that, he, he..."

Jude shrugged. "I didn't say you cheated. I just thought it would be fairer this way. As long as it doesn't stop you from freely drawing cards and doubling down, what's wrong with drawing cards the way I do it? Are you really feeling guilty?"

indeed.

Jude's actions, though offensive, did not compromise impartiality.

The young priest calmed down slightly, his face grim, and said, "Do as you say. If we lose again, I'd like to see what other tricks you have up your sleeve."

As he spoke, he blindly drew a card from Jude's hand.

Nine of Diamonds.

The total points have reached 13.

"Want to keep smoking?" Jude asked knowingly. "Oh, I almost forgot, you can't smoke anymore after doubling down."

The young priest didn't reply, staring resentfully at the hidden plaque Jude was tapping with his left hand.

"Fatty, what about you?"

"Double it up." Fatty Allen drew a card, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and drew the 10 of diamonds, bringing his total to 22, which caused him to bust.

"Tsk." All three players had stopped or busted. Jude calmly turned his face-down card face up. "Seven of Clubs. I'll use the Ace for eleven points. Total points: eighteen."

Won!

As long as the marks made by the two priests on the cards are covered, this game is purely a contest of luck and strategy!

Jude took the cards from the table, and without waiting for their reply, shuffled and dealt the cards again: "Continue!"

Soon, another ten rounds were over.

Jude won four times this time, significantly increasing his winning percentage!

The two priests' faces grew increasingly ashen, and 'Fatty' Alan, who had come specifically to curry favor with the priests, felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

Jude secretly calculated that he had only lost three gold coins.

From now on, relying solely on luck and strategy, in a back-and-forth exchange, even if you win, you won't win by much.

If they don't lose enough or win enough, they'll likely feel they're not getting any benefit from it and might as well find another easy target to fleece.

No...

If they don't invite me to play cards next time, then it'll be a loss for me...

We need to adopt more radical methods...

"Sigh, I've heard a lot of people say you guys are really good at cards, I thought the money I brought today might not be enough..." Jude deliberately pulled out all the hundred-plus gold coins from his wallet and counted them in front of everyone, "I didn't expect you guys to be so bad at cards!"