Chapter 55: Gambling Technique

  Zhang Xiaobao led several people including Yue Fei's brothers into the Four Seas Casino through the lion's mouth at the main entrance.

  As soon as they entered the casino, the brothers first felt a sense of "quietness". The vast space, more than a dozen large and small gambling tables of different shapes, crowded with people, was surprisingly quiet.

  The atmosphere was eerily quiet, with people even walking on tiptoes and breathing softly. Only faint sounds could be heard: the clinking of dice against the cup, the rustling of money being counted, the gentle calls of the croupier, and the occasional shouts of the gamblers. This was in stark contrast to other gambling dens, which were usually loud and boisterous.

  Ladies and gentlemen: In the Song Dynasty, a brothel owner was called a "Fangzhu", while a casino owner was called a "Bozhu".

  Yue Fei and his brothers looked puzzled, so Zhang Xiaobao nodded towards the left and led them into a room. It turned out to be a tea house, where many old men were drinking tea leisurely.

  Zhang Xiaobao found a table by the window and sat down, and his brothers also sat down around him.

  Zhang Xiaobao smiled and asked, "Isn't it too quiet here? Do you guys find it strange?"

  The brothers nodded in agreement

  Zhang Xiaobao said: "Gamblers who come here, more or less understand some gambling techniques and bring enough capital to win big money from the boss. Therefore, it is necessary to have a quiet environment, and only when the surroundings are quiet can you hear the dice and the money on the table. A quiet environment and good reputation are the way for this Four Seas Casino to attract customers."

  "Can you tell the number of dots on a dice by listening?" Wang Gui was quite surprised.

  "Of course," said Xiaobao, taking out three dice from his pocket and gently tossing them onto the table. The dice fell to the ground, making a few crisp sounds.

  Zhang Xian said: "Don't all these voices sound the same? What's the difference?"

  Xiao Bao didn't respond, picked up a dice, swept the side with one point towards his brothers, and then lightly placed it down, making a crisp "crack" sound; Xiao Bao picked up the dice again, swept the side with six points towards his brothers, and then lightly placed it down, making another crisp "crack" sound.

  Xiao Bao asked his brothers if they could hear anything different. Niu Gao and the others all shook their heads and said no, only Yue Fei lowered his head and remained silent.

  Xiao Bao demonstrated it several times, but Niu Gao and the others still couldn't tell the difference, while Yue Fei's face showed a smile, clearly having found the key.

  Xiao Bao saw the change in Yue Fei's expression and was greatly surprised, saying: "In those days, Fat Daddy made me listen for three days before I could make out what he meant to say, and even then Fat Daddy said that I had a surprising talent. Now Big Brother Yue has only listened a few times and already found the key, truly a divine person."

  "It's nothing difficult." Yue Fei said, taking out a silver needle box from his bosom, with nine needles inside. He then beckoned to his assistant to bring over a candle, and after lighting it, he roasted the silver needles one by one. After roasting, he pressed down on Tang Huai, Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, and Niu Gao, gently twisting the silver needles into their Tinghui and Fengchi acupoints. He continued, "We martial artists emphasize controlling every inch of muscle in our bodies. Now, I'm helping you with acupuncture, which is equivalent to using internal energy to flush your ear acupoints, enhancing your hearing."

  After finishing the injection, Yue Fei picked up a dice from the table and swept the side with one point towards his brothers, then pressed it down gently on the tabletop, making a "thud" sound with a dull tone. Then he swept the side with six points towards his brothers and also pressed it down gently on the tabletop, making another "thud" sound, but this time the sound was noticeably different.

  Yue Fei explained: "The dice are made from animal bones or ivory, and each dot on the surface is first dug out and then painted with color. Therefore, the sound of knocking on different numbers of dots is different, just like the sound of launching different types of hidden weapons is also different. My hand sticking to the dice slows down the falling speed of the dice, although the sound becomes duller and deeper, but it's easier to distinguish. Isn't this the same as the method I taught you before to distinguish between hidden weapons by listening?"

  "Ah!" Wang Gui and others suddenly realized.

  Yue Fei picked up the dice again, changing the points and slapping them on the table dozens of times. His brothers finally heard the difference. Yue Fei pulled out the silver needles from Wang Gui's body, threw the dice again, and his brothers could still distinguish between them. They immediately applauded to celebrate.

  Zhang Xiaobao saw that Yue Fei and his brothers were already able to listen to the dice, so he said: "Several big brothers are really powerful, they got started so quickly. Then I'll roughly talk about the gameplay in this casino. The most famous ones in Sihai Casino are 'betting big or small', 'grabbing cow head', 'spreading money' and 'bone cards' these four games."

  After finishing, Zhang Xiaobao put the three dice on the table into an empty bowl, picked up another empty bowl to cover it, and shook it vigorously several times. After shaking well, he placed it on the table and said: "Betting big or small is simple, the booth owner shakes the dice, and the gambler buys big or small according to the number of points they hear; a total score of 4 to 10 is small; a total score of 11 to 17 is large; three ones are surrounded by dice, and the booth owner kills them all."

  Zhang Xiaobao opened the bowl cover, and inside, the three dice were all ones, surrounding the dice to eat.

  Xiao Bao picked up the dice from the bowl and said, "Grabbing the bull's head is also simple. I throw six dice at once, and as long as three of them have the same number of dots, the remaining three can be used to determine the outcome. If the remaining three have a total number of dots less than ten, the shopkeeper loses; if it's more than eleven, the shopkeeper wins."

  Xiao Bao pulled out a handful of copper coins from his bosom and introduced them.

  "What is called 'Tan Qian' is when the booth owner randomly takes out dozens of copper coins, puts them in a container, and lets the gambler guess the remaining amount of copper coins, either zero, one, two, or three. After the betting is fixed, the booth owner opens the container to count the number of copper coins, with every four coins as one 'Tan'. The remaining copper coins are counted at the end, divided into four groups: zero, one, two, or three. Whoever guesses correctly wins and gets paid accordingly."

  After finishing speaking, Xiao Bao had already covered the copper coins with a bowl and said: "Everyone can try buying some first, just gamble one coin."

  Several brothers bet, Yue Fei bet one, Niu Gao and Wang Gui bet two, Zhang Xian and Tang He respectively bet three and zero.

  After the brothers stopped, Xiaobao opened the bowl and used chopsticks to spread out the copper coins. One spread, two spreads, three spreads... In the end, there was one left over. As a result, Xiaobao won two cents from his brothers.

  Yue Fei asked Xiao Bao: "Can you determine the remainder at will?"

  Xiao Bao smiled and didn't answer Yue Fei's question, continuing to say: "The rules of Pai Gow don't need me to introduce them, the gameplay is the same nationwide, and Bianliang City is no exception. I've introduced everything that needs to be introduced, you guys go play in the casino yourselves, I'll just wait for you here."

  Ladies and gentlemen, a rumor has been circulating in Jianghu: Pai Gow was created by Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, during the Xuanhe era. The popularity of Pai Gow at the end of Northern Song Dynasty and throughout Southern Song Dynasty is comparable to that of Mahjong today.

  The brothers saw this and had no choice but to get up and go to the gambling house.