America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 270 Poker

I strolled around the commercial area, amusement park, and museum on the cruise ship. There were many waitresses dressed in Christmas costumes holding signs. I even spotted Hollywood Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire.

Upon inquiry, it was learned that the person was a regular customer here. He had gone bankrupt and divorced once due to gambling, and his career had plummeted. He only made some money by reprising his role as Spider-Man, but then he lost it all again.

Many Hollywood stars used to be VIP members in the VIP boxes, and they were very popular there, but now they can basically only play in the lobby. Zhang Ailun watched for a while and then stopped paying attention.

Led by the two female celebrities, they returned to the Brilliant Casino and sat in a VIP box.

The waitress brought over drinks and champagne, but Zhang Ailun only chose sparkling water. He sat at the table and waited for a while before the manager of the Brilliant Casino arrived with his entourage.

Zhang Ailun glanced around and saw several short, stocky Black men in suits, sporting dreadlocks, and with broad shoulders, enter the VIP box with cheerful smiles. They wore ten rings on their fingers and gold necklaces around their necks, exuding an air of nouveau riche even from a distance. Several white bodyguards accompanied them.

Zhang Ailun was somewhat surprised. You have to admit, this outfit is quite intimidating.

A few black men hiring white men as bodyguards—how novel! This is practically turning the world upside down!

Back when trade was booming, it's a real shame they didn't manage to bring the other side's ancestors on board.

Coulson first introduced the other distinguished guests to the Central African tycoon, then stepped forward to introduce them to each other: "This is Mr. Juan King, an investor in the Hamburger Foundation. Mr. King, these are royal tycoons from Central African countries. Mr. Nikarape, Mr. Oliver, Mr. Mani, Mr. Zankouwakati, Henry Mathil Lakutu Alimanana Rajonari Mampiana…"

"Hello, gentlemen." They were mumbling something. Zhang Ailun couldn't remember any of their long names, so he could only extend his hand in greeting.

"Hello, Mr. Jin." The group of wealthy Chinese from Central Africa greeted him with a smile and shook hands. Then, at the invitation of the manager, they entered the private room, plopped down on the sofa, ate fruit, drank champagne, and chatted happily.

His body language was exaggerated during the conversation, giving off the air of a wealthy, nouveau riche, with confidence written all over his face. No wonder Coulson was intimidated by him.

When a distinguished guest jokingly asked him, "As a royal family in the Central African Republic, you must have never encountered anything regrettable in your life, right?"

The other party immediately seemed surprised. "Regret?"

The group of wealthy Africans shook their heads, speechless, and said, "Guys, regrets are for the poor. As rich people, we've never felt any regrets! I'm from African royalty. From the day I was born, all I had to do was give my family a smile, and I could get everything I wanted. You know what I've discovered is the most meaningful thing in life?"

The tycoon chuckled and held up five fingers. "A person's five fingers are of different lengths, but if I bend the other four fingers and only extend the middle finger, people will feel angry. It can't speak, it doesn't say anything, yet it can manipulate other people's emotions. Don't you find this discovery interesting?"

"It's really interesting." Zhang Ailun smiled and crossed his legs. The two female celebrities snuggled up to him and held peeled grapes to their lips.

I took a sip; it was juicy and sweet.

"Jin, are those bodyguards outside your men? They all look pretty energetic. Hey, interested in working for me? How much do you pay them each month?"

The black man in the Central African tycoon group, whose name was quite long and whom Zhang Ailun hadn't quite memorized—let's just call him Henry for now—turned his head and shouted at Sieg and the others standing guard at the door, looking like he wanted to poach them.

"They are my right-hand men, but I never pay them a salary."

Zhang Ailun smiled slightly and said casually, "Because every time I go out to do business, I like to bring them along to make money. Sometimes it's a business of tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes it's a business of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions. They're all small amounts, not worth mentioning. I treat them as my family and friends, and I doubt they would want to leave me."

"..." These words left the wealthy Chinese and African groups speechless.

No way, even one of your bodyguards is this rich? You treat him so well? Does he have hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in his pocket? If he were your relative, you'd fawn over him.

The two female celebrities next to him were even more enthusiastic, their eyes filled with no extra emotions, only longing and desire for the life of a wealthy wife, as if they couldn't wait to pull the leader into the private room and make it a done deal.

A group of people were chatting here. Whenever the leader talked about the shareholders' collections and some things he had come into contact with, and it involved profound knowledge, the several wealthy people from China and Africa would shut up and start to change the subject, because it seemed to involve their blind spots in knowledge.

Zhang Ailun was also convinced that these guys really didn't have much knowledge and lacked any professional expertise.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that they got down to business.

The casino manager came over to remind them whether they wanted to exchange their chips.

The leader of the Central African tycoon group nodded and smiled slightly: "Anyway, we're here today to have a good time, so a couple of tens of millions will do. Mr. Jin, what do you think?"

"I don't know much about this kind of thing, but if you're interested, I'd be happy to play a few rounds with you guys." Zhang Ailun smiled, turned around and saw Coulson waving at him, then excused himself and got up to walk over.

Upon reaching the outer corridor, Coulson mysteriously produced a bone conduction headset and handed it to Zhang Allen, saying, "This is a headset that connects to the casino's back-end monitoring system. You can follow the instructions of the back-end staff to place bets, and it's guaranteed to make you win money. We plan to let them win a few million first, and then when they place large bets, we'll make them lose so much they'll get carried away. This kind of tactic is commonly used in casinos; no one can control their emotions."

Zhang Ailun nodded and put on the bone conduction headphones, which were just electronic components the size of a fingernail and had realistic skin, so they were completely invisible when placed behind his ears.

"Mr. Kim, how much chips are you planning to exchange? I can lend you some money," Coulson said eagerly. "After all, I invited you here, so it wouldn't be right for me to actually let you pay."

You're a really nice person.

Zhang Ailun was also somewhat surprised, but since someone was willing to provide him with the initial capital, he was naturally happy to do so without hesitation. He immediately nodded, "Then let's just exchange for $500 million in chips. Otherwise, if we're playing this high-stakes game, we won't even have enough capital to cover our losses."

Coulson hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth: "$500 million, right? Okay, I'll go all in! To land this big deal, I mortgaged all my assets, including my villa and other shops in Clark County, and cashed out $4000 million, which I'm going to use to acquire and take over their assets."

"Are you going to go this far?"

Zhang Ailun was somewhat surprised, not expecting this bald pervert to be so ruthless, going all in? Was he going to acquire someone else's assets, or was he waiting for the casino to acquire his? Were they just trying to fleece him?

"This is a rare opportunity. I'll make even more money, including my initial investment, at least a hundred million dollars!" Coulson chuckled.

"Good luck!" Zhang Ailun could only wish this old gambler well. He had made so much money from other gamblers before, and this time he couldn't resist the urge to gamble himself.

However, considering that the other party is willing to advance him 500 million yuan, if he really makes money here, the leader might as well share some with him, at least to prevent his family from being ruined.

Coulson went to handle the chip exchange, while Zhang Ailun returned to the VIP box of the casino. The casino manager also came over with chips, which were placed on a tray, with each chip costing at least $1.

Soon Coulson arrived with 500 million chips and placed them under the table to Zhang Allen's right.

Eight people sat at the gambling table, and the dealer was in charge of dealing cards to them. They were playing the classic Texas Hold'em game.

Texas Hold'em uses a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Each player receives two cards as their hole cards, and five community cards are dealt face up by the dealer.

At the start, each player receives two face-down hole cards. After all betting rounds, if a winner cannot be determined, the game enters the showdown phase. The remaining players reveal their hole cards to determine the winner, with the player holding the highest-ranking hand winning. The card rankings from highest to lowest are: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Three of a Kind with Two, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, and Pair.

The VIP room poker table naturally uses the no-limit betting rule, meaning if the first player bets 100, you must call 200; if the second player bets 400, then the third player bets 800, and so on, or you can fold. If no winner is determined after one round, the game proceeds directly to the showdown.

Zhang Ailun was very familiar with the rules and casually placed a $1 blind bet.

The wealthy Central African businessman next to him chuckled and placed a blind bet of 3, making the other guests present jump.

Damn it, you're not playing anymore?

The dealer immediately dealt two hole cards to everyone, glancing at the VIP clockwise behind the Central African tycoon. The VIP glanced at his hole cards and calmly called a $6 bet. The latter then looked at his cards again and called a $12 bet. The last one folded immediately.

When it was the leader's turn, the chips had been increased to 96.

To call, you would need to bet $192 million.

Holy crap, are they going to go this far?

Zhang Ailun glanced at his cards: a 2 and a 9.

Having heard no sound or prompts from his earpiece, he immediately folded. The wealthy Central African man next to him chuckled, "Folding already? The community cards haven't even been dealt yet."

As the big blind, he directly chose to call the $192 million bet.

The dealer dealt three community cards: 5, 2, and K. The small blind spoke first, and one of the wealthy Central African players glanced at his hand and the community cards on the table, then folded.

Seeing this, the others also decided to fold.

Upon seeing this, the Central African tycoon burst into laughter and immediately revealed his hand: a 4 and a King. "Guys, I only have one pair now. Your hands can't be worse than mine, can they? Hahahaha."

They started collecting money immediately.

Zhang Ailun chuckled, completely unconcerned about winning or losing. When the dealer announced the betting again, he casually threw down a $1 blind bet.

In the following rounds, he basically just coasted through, not caring about winning or losing. He simply placed his hand on Natasha's long, black-stockinged legs, and she sensibly opened her legs wide, leaving her exposed.

Betana then picked up the fruit platter and fed the fruit on it to the Grand Master.

The leader had no interest in playing cards, and his hands were never idle under the table.

Another round of blinds began, and the wealthy man from Central Africa next to him placed a 5 blind bet, making everyone else's scalp tingle.

Damn it, I think you really don't want to play anymore!

If all eight players don't fold, when it's your turn, your winnings will double to $1280 million.

Are you that rich? Then what's the point of everyone else playing?

The resentful buyer chose not to continue.

When it was Zhang Ailun's turn, he glanced at his hole cards and once again chose to fold.

Great, I've already lost $9 in blinds in a row. I've been losing the whole way, I'm so full from eating fruit, and my fingers under the table are foaming.

I'll see when I can finally win!

The next wealthy businessman from Central Africa wasn't surprised, understanding that the leader was a cautious player. "Buddy, being so cautious won't win you much money!"

"I only have 5 million in capital right now, how am I supposed to follow?" Zhang Ailun chuckled, "Maybe next time you'll only bet 10,000, and I'll choose to follow the player before me."

The wealthy businessman from Central Africa actually took it into consideration and won the game in a simple and unpretentious way, as almost everyone else chose to fold. He started by betting 1.

The leader was munching on a cantaloupe, just about to relax, when a voice from backstage suddenly came through his earpiece: "Your hole cards are a pair of Aces, you can place the big blind."

Zhang Ailun pondered for a moment, then picked up a stack of chips and threw them out without even looking at them.

The wealthy Central African businessman, his face flushed and his expression turning ashen, stared at him with a look of utter disbelief. "Mr. Kim, what do you mean by this?"

I'm not placing the big blind anymore, and you're betting one, two, three, four... $6?

Something was definitely amiss. After hesitating for a moment, he decisively chose to call!

When the others saw the leader making a strong move, they suspected something was amiss and immediately folded. When it was the leader's turn to finish, the player before him turned out to be the player after him. The wealthy man from the Central African Republic called with 12, and the leader naturally called with 24.

The dealer dealt three community cards: Ace, 7, and King.

Zhang Ailun's expression became inexplicable.

This means he now has three blackjacks in his hand. Judging from the previous rounds, three of a kind should almost certainly guarantee him a win in this round.

Is this the power of technology?

Natasha, who was standing next to her, also took a moment to get up and ran to the bathroom to straighten her skirt. On her way back, she glanced at the tycoon's cards and gave the leader a private hint: the other party's hole card was a 2, and she couldn't see the other one clearly.

Zhang Ailun remained unfazed.

It was the turn of the Central African tycoon's small blind to speak, and the other party placed a bet of $10.

Zhang Ailun immediately chose to bet 20.

The dealer dealt the fourth card, a 5.

The wealthy businessman from Central Africa was in a dilemma and had no choice but to place another $5 bet.

Zhang Ailun decisively placed a $10 bet.

The dealer dealt the fifth card, a King.

Three with a pair, gourd.

Stable.

Zhang Ailun chuckled and looked at the deep-thinking Central African tycoon. "Are you going to bet again?"

The wealthy man from Central Africa hesitated for a moment, then said generously, "Buddy, what's there to be afraid of? I'll bet 20!"

"I'll give you 40."

Zhang Ailun nodded and generously pushed out his chips, "Let's lay our cards on the table. I'm the gourd."

It revealed a simple and unadorned AAAKK hand.

The tycoon immediately donned a mask of pain, exclaiming, "WTF?"

Looking at the cards, he realized that he only had a pair of 2s and a pair of Kings in his hand, including the community cards.

No way, you actually dare to follow that?

Zhang Ailun happily accepted all the chips and casually handed two $10,000 chips to the female celebrity next to him.

"Mr. Jin, you've got incredibly good luck this time!"

"Mr. Jin, keep up the good work!"

The two men, speaking in high-pitched voices, dribbled the ball and bumped into people.

Natasha wrapped herself up even tighter.

Zhang Ailun didn't care about the praise from the two men, after all, he didn't win with his own skills, but entirely with technology and cheating.

But then again, who doesn't cheat to win money? Aren't all those con artists cheating? Winning money in a casino also requires cheating, it's just that one is hard work and practice, and the other is high technology.

But in the end, high technology is still more reliable.

In the new round, the leader continued to bet the usual $1. The wealthy Central African businessman next to him, having suffered a loss before, also chose to play it safe this time.

But another wealthy man from Central Africa got cocky and placed a bet of 5 in blinds.

Seeing this, the others all folded.

Zhang Ailun also chose to fold in the second round.

After more than ten rounds of games, he lost another two hundred thousand chips.

However, the leader performed relatively steadily, with both wins and losses. When he lost, he didn't lose too much, and when he won, he could recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The other guests weren't doing so well. I don't know where they came from, but they played terribly and had bad luck. After a few dozen rounds, they lost all their chips and chose to leave and go to the spa upstairs to have some sex with a waitress.

(End of this chapter)