Chapter 47: The Gambling Den Begins

  Kwok stood next to the cashier, took out the money with the receipt given by the cashier that afternoon, exchanged the banknotes for chips of the same value, and put them into two pockets on both sides. Then he slowly walked through the crowded tables to the casino hall.

  There, a wide Bakelite table was placed behind the copper railing, and people were already seated next to it, with their faces down and cards scattered on the table.

  The accountant shuffled the cards after washing them, and the order of the cards was disrupted. This method of shuffling is the most effective way to prevent cheating.

  The team leader took out the chain wrapped in velvet, let Guo Guoyong walk into the entrance, pass through the copper railing, and said with a smile, "As you instructed, I reserved seat No. 6 for you, Mr. Guo."

  Guo Guoyong walked into the railing, a waitress immediately pulled out a chair for him, he nodded to the neighbors on both sides, and then sat down.

  He pulled out the wide cigarette case and black lighter, placing them on the green felt surface of his right elbow. The waitress immediately wiped a thick glass ashtray with a cloth and placed it beside the cigarette case and lighter.

  He lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, the Zhuang family's chair opposite him was still empty. He glanced around the table, most of the gamblers were familiar faces, but only a few could be called by name.

  To his right, No. 7 was Mr. Zicktor, a wealthy Balkan who made his money in the metal trade in the Congo; at No. 9 sat Lord Danfey, a well-known figure, but looking weak and ineffectual, probably because his dollars were provided by his rich American wife, who sat at No. 3, a middle-aged woman with a greedy mouth like a pike.

  Guo Guoyong understood that as soon as the couple lost money, they would immediately withdraw. The No. 1 seat on the right side of the banker was a famous Greek gambler. In Guo Guoyong's experience, he was like some rich men in the eastern Mediterranean, owning a lucrative fleet. He played cards with a cold and calculating demeanor, a man of strong will.

  Guo Guoyong asked the waiter for a card, drew a beautiful question mark under the remaining numbers 2, 4, 5, 8, and 10, and then called the waiter to give the card to the leader.

  The card was soon returned with all the names filled in on the numbers.

  The still vacant No. 2 should be Carmel Davenport, an American movie star living on alimony from three ex-husbands.

  Guo Guoyong thought, the person who is now accompanying her at the Royal Restaurant is desperately pursuing her? She has an optimistic personality, and when playing cards, she shows a happy and pretentious expression, maybe she can bring good luck.

  Seats 4 and 5 were occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Du Pang, who looked very wealthy. Guo Guoyong thought that they must be big shots in the casino, judging from their relaxed and happy conversation, as if they were at home in this high-stakes gambling den.

  Kwok was delighted to have them sitting next to him, thinking that if the stakes set by Mr. Chuang were too high, he might be able to cooperate with the two of them or Mr. Sikert on his right to share the bet.

  The 8th is a little Indian Rajah perhaps gambling with all the British coin he made during the war.

  Kuo Kuo-yung's experience told him that Indians were rarely rich and daring gamblers, and would lose confidence even in a continuous losing streak. However, the Touban master might persist for a long time in this card game, as long as the large sums of money lost were lost gradually, he would hold on.

  Number 10 is a young Italian swell, known as Mr. Tomelli, who rents out dozens of apartments in Milan and earns many times the annual value of the property in rent, he gambles with great dash, not much calculation, sometimes gets angry and becomes impatient.

  Guo Guoyong had just finished adjusting the table next to Pan's house when he saw Liefu silently walking in from the entrance of the copper railing. He smiled coldly, welcomed Pan, and then sat down in the Zhuang-style chair directly opposite Guo Guoyong.

  He quickly cut all six decks of cards in front of him with extremely swift movements. Then, the accountant put the cut cards into the metal tray in order, and at this time, Lefevre whispered something to him.

  "Gentlemen, ladies, the game is on. The first bet of Mr. Zhuang's family is one thousand dollars." As soon as the words fell, the Greek at seat 1 patted the stack of chips in front of him and said: "I'll give it a try."

  Lefévre bent over the table, gave a sharp tap, and the cards sank to the bottom of the box. He gently tapped the box, and the cards slid out one by one from the leaden beak. With practiced hand he kept down the lid, dealt the first card to the Greek, then drew one for himself, another for the Greek, and a third for himself.

  After dealing the cards, he sat motionless, without touching his own cards, but staring at the Greek's face.

  The accountant used a wooden flat scraper, similar to a long-handled trowel used by masons, carefully scooped up the Greek's two cards and quickly placed them in a very close place on his right side. In this way, the two cards were just placed in front of the pale and hairy hands of the Greek, whose hands remained still there, like two cautious pink crabs on the table.

  Two pink crabs quickly moved, pressing down the two cards, tightly pinching them in their hands. The Greek man carefully bent his head, making out the suit of the cards in his hand, then moved his fingernail slightly to make out the number of pips on the edge of the card.

  His face was expressionless, he placed his palm flat, and put the card back up on the table, without revealing the points of the card.

  Then he raised his head and looked into Lefevre's eyes.

  "No supplement." The Greek said bluntly.

  From the fact that he stopped at two cards and did not draw a third, it is clear that this Greek has five, six or seven points. If the banker wants to win, he must have eight or nine points in his hand. If the banker's hand does not yet have this number of points, he can still draw one more card, which may be advantageous or disadvantageous for him.

  Lifer held his hands in front of his forehead, the cards were ten centimeters away from him. He picked up the two cards with his right hand, took a glance and then flipped them over onto the table.

  The two cards were a four and a five, a natural big card, he won.

  "The dealer is a nine." The accountant said calmly, then flipped the Greek's two cards over with a scraper. "Seven." He said indifferently as he put these two negative cards - a plum blossom seven and a Q - into the wide slot in the table. The wide slot led to a huge metal can that stored all the cards that had been played.

  Then those two cards of Liverpool were also stuffed in.

  The Greek pushed a thousand-dollar chip forward, the cashier placed this chip in the center of the table and piled up Lefevre's thousand-dollar chips on top.

  The accountant also slipped a few small chips next to LeFleur into the slots on the table, under which was a cash box specifically used for storing rake.

  Then he solemnly announced: "The stake for the next game is five thousand dollars."

  "Follow." The Greek muttered. This meant that he wanted to continue betting in order to recoup his losses.

  Guo Guoyong lit a cigarette and sat back in his chair, watching the development of the gambling game with great interest.

  The Greek filled a third card but had only four points in all to the banker's seven, and could only surrender.

  "The next bet is twenty thousand dollars," said the accountant.

  The person next to Guo Guoyong on the left remained silent.

  "I'll keep you company." Guo Guoyong replied loudly.

  Upon hearing the call to battle, Lefuel glanced at Guo Guoyong with an air of nonchalance, his eyes filled with bloodshot, his gaze growing even colder and more ruthless. He slowly lifted a thick, hairy hand from the table, stuffed it into the pocket of his nightgown, and pulled out a small metal cylinder with a cap. With his other hand, he unscrewed the cap, brought the cylinder to his nostrils, and inhaled several times with a detestable expression, clearly taking some kind of stimulant from the metal container.

  He calmly put the cylinder into his pocket, then quickly turned his hand over on the table and slapped the plate again as before.

  While Liver was making this speech, Guo Guoyong had been watching him coldly. Liver's face was wide and pale, with a tuft of short, upright brown hair on his head, and a tight, wet red mouth under his chin that didn't smile. On his broad shoulders, he wore a loose, oversized evening gown.

  Kwok Kwok-yung remained calm and took out a large stack of chips from his pocket, throwing them onto the gambling table without counting.

  If he lost, the accountant would draw out an amount equal to the bet. This carefree posture indicated that Guo Guoyong did not think he would lose, but rather was confident of winning.

  This sum of money is just a symbolic part of the large amount of funds at Guo's disposal.

  The others at the table sensed the tension between the two gamblers, and when Lefevre shook out four cards from the deck with his hand, there was a hush around the gaming table.

  The accountant pushed two cards to Guo with the tip of his shovel, and Bond, who was still staring at Leffel's eyes, stretched out his right hand to pinch the card, and quickly glanced down, then he raised his head again, expressionless, looking at Leffel, seeing that he had no reaction, he flipped the card over with a disdainful gesture and slapped it on the table.

  The two cards were a four and a five, just the right natural big cards, and a soft, envious sigh of admiration came from the table.

  The Du couple sitting on Guo's left exchanged regretful glances, regretting that they did not accept the $20,000 bet.

  Lifer slightly shrugged his shoulders, slowly turned his gaze to the two cards in front of him, and quickly used his fingernails to pick them up, revealing two useless J's.

  "Naturally." The accountant yelled as he shoveled a large pile of chips from the center of the table in front of Bond.

  Victory in the first battle, Guo Guoyong was greatly encouraged in his heart, but there was no expression on his face. He was very happy about his success in the first game and delighted by the silence of the guy opposite him.

  Mrs. Dupont, sitting to his left, turned to him with a bitter smile, "I shouldn't have given you this chance," she said, "These two cards were dealt directly to me, but I didn't accept them."

  "This is just the beginning," said Guo Guoyong. "You have plenty of opportunities."

  Mr. Du Pang leaned forward from the other side of his wife, "If we could judge accurately for every dish, then we wouldn't be here either," he said with some philosophy.

  "I'll be right there." His wife was skeptical. "Don't think I play cards just for fun."

  The gambling continued, and the crowd around the railing grew larger. Guo suddenly found that Liefu's two bodyguards had arrived, one standing on either side of their master, dressed quite decently.

  The guy standing on the right side of Liverpool is very tall, wearing a night suit. His face is gray and looks very serious and stiff, but his two eyes are piercing. His long legs keep swaying back and forth, and his hands keep changing positions on the copper railing.

  Guo Guoyong knew that people with this attitude were ruthless and poisonous, killing without batting an eye.

  Another fellow looked like a shop assistant, he was very short and dark, with a flat head covered in thick greasy hair. He seemed to be lame, with a stout stick with an india-rubber ferrule on it, which he had propped against the rail beside him.

  Guo Guoyong thought that he must have obtained the consent of the casino beforehand to bring in the cane, as the casino had rules prohibiting the bringing of sticks and other weapons into the gaming room to prevent violent behavior.

  He must have eaten well, grown very sturdy, with his mouth half open, revealing a set of very ugly teeth. A bunch of black whiskers were thick and dense, and the back of his hand on the railing was covered in black hair.

  The card game continued uneventfully, with the stakes increasing each round. Experienced gamblers all knew that in Baccarat, the third round was called - The Solid Obstacle.

  You might get lucky and win the first two sets, but when the third set comes around, it's usually a disaster.

  At this point, you will find yourself losing game after game, and no one dares to bet easily. This situation seems unfavorable to the banker.

  About two hours later, when the gold price rose to $100,000, a stable, irresistible and unfavorable penetration phenomenon appeared for the banker.

  Kwok didn't know how much money Lefevre had made in the past two days, but he estimated that Lefevre had won a million and with what was left for tonight, his stake wouldn't exceed two million dollars.

  In fact, Lefevre was badly beaten that afternoon and now had only a million dollars left.

  They sat quietly around the high table, betting, in stark contrast to this, from other gaming tables came a constant hum of noise, and at twenty-one, roulette and other gambling shouts.

  The sound of the accountant's clear voice was interspersed with bursts of laughter and excited sighs from various corners of the hall.

  In the background, there was also a ratcheting sound of a slot machine. With each rotation of the wheel and at the end of each round of cards, one percent of the small chips fell into the slot machine's money box.