Chapter 36: 36 - Poker
They started the next round. Li Yun happened to have a Queen Ace, and played the hand, easily winning the pot.
"You speak English or Cantonese?" asked the man in broken Mandarian, puffing out a wasp of cigar smoke toward Li Yun.
"A bit of both, but I'm slightly better at Cantonese, " Li Yun replied, in slightly broken Cantonese.
"Where ya from?"
"Yide City, in between Capital City and Magic City," Li Yun replied, trying his best at speaking Cantonese.
The man nodded, obviously not too familiar with the city.
"On vacation?" he inquired.
"Yep."
"You practice by watching online videos?"
Li Yun pretended to think for a moment and nodded. Zaowang was technically an online skill.
The rest of the table laughed.
"Lao Cao, quit interrogating the kid just because he's winning," Bullnose shouted, although it sounded like he wanted to insult Lao Cao more than protect Li Yun.
Li Yun started the game with 20k yuan, and he was now up to 50k yuan.
"Bah, I can't make conversations?" asked Lao Cao.
Everyone on the table had been trying to figure out Li Yun's tell. It was somewhat easy to see when Li Yun had good cards. However, that was also a pitfall. Li Yun looked too natural, like he didn't care that they knew he had good cards. It sometimes made the regulars reluctant to let go of their calls. Of course, the percentage of rookie that was actually good was very small, so most of the time they would call.
There was also something else that they had to account for, beginner's luck.
After winning a bit, Li Yun mainly watched the regulars battled it out.
He could tell that Lao Cao and Bullnose were really good at reading people. They both had very prominent sensory lines close to their ears.
Lao Cao was likely a former cop, or something along the line. Bullnose didn't look like a trial lawyer with the way he was dressed or spoke, but his facial features resembled someone who was used to stress and a high willow's peak hairline.
Later in the evening, all six players including Li Yun played their hands after the flop. The dealer dealt the flop, revealing a 6-7-10.
There were four players remaining on the river. All the players looked at their hand, and tried to guess the opponents' hands. It was entirely possible for someone to get a straight flush, but the percentage was quite low. Judging from the way Li Yun was betting, there was a possibility he got it, he wouldn't have raised it if he wasn't confident.
Lao Cao was hesitant to call because rookies don't know how to hide their emotions well, so when they got a good card, it was easy to see their confidence. They also had a tougher time knowing how to bluff, in most cases, they bluffed too often. However, Lao Cao hadn't seen Li Yun bluff before. Was he doing it on purpose so that he can bluff after going all in? Or was that just his usual playing style and that he was actually a noob playing it safe all along?
"What cards do you think Li Yun has?" asked Ju De.
"He probably has a straight flush," said Lui Jing. "I wouldn't go all in if I didn't."
"Well, considering it is Dr. Li, I'm not sure," replied An Luchang.
"Yeah, he hasn't bluffed once today, so I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if he's bluffing here or not," replied Ju De.
Lao Cao folded. "Dammit, I hate playing with noobs."
Li Yun smiled and threw away his card, not willing to show what he got.
"I was lucky to get a straight flush," Li Yun remarked, hauling in the winnings. "But I am going to run before my luck runs out."
Li Yun stood up from the table. With 90k worth of chips, Li Yun had more than enough to pay the last remaining loan to his parents. He had another three days left, and he didn't want to get marked on the first day. It would be wise to be cautious around serious poker players.
"I can see you sweating," Ju De remarked.
"No ****, they are scary," Li Yun said. The amount of pressure during the showdown wasn't a joke, not many people could handle it.
"Only a small part of you were scared, but you probably enhanced that a bit to make them underestimate you."
"You're not going to try?"
"Nah, I have my family money, I'm going to play some roulette."
"All right, I hope you lose."
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