Chapter 483: Poker

“If I lose, then so be it. It’s no big deal,” Su Li replied.

She had her own opinion about her chances, so there was no way she would listen to what Leon had to say. She placed her bet of a million-dollars.

“Sabrina, are you trying to gang up on me along with your husband?”

Leon snickered before looking towards Xiao Luo and said, “Mr. Xiao, it’s your turn.”

“Raise, five million!”

Xiao Luo pushed several stacks of gambling chips out to the middle. From one to five million—he had instantly raised the bet five-fold.

Although five million was hardly a dent to the other people sitting at the table, losing would definitely not feel good at all regardless of the sum.

Leon, Su Li, and Shen Qingyan were all stunned. They immediately glanced at Xiao Luo’s opened cards and wondered to themselves, does this guy have a straight? Otherwise, why in the world would he be so confident with raising the bet?

“Hmm, Mr. Xiao seems to be really bold. It appears that you have a straight,” Leon said. He was deliberately attempting to read the man and a.n.a.lyze any signs he could detect from his body language.

“Don’t look at me, Leon. You won’t be able to gain anything from it. Call or no call, just make your decision,” Xiao Luo said.

“Call. Of course, I will call.”

Leon forced a smile and pushed five million dollars’ worth of gambling chips out. He looked confident and put on a face that looked like he had already won. “Hahaha, I bet you’re trying to fool me,” he said.

It was time for Su Li to make her call, and she looked at Xiao Luo. She just couldn’t imagine where Xiao Luo got his confidence from. How did he have the guts to throw in five million without batting an eyelid?

“Li, this battle will be between both of them. We’re better off just looking on from the side.” Shen Qingyan bent over and whispered into Su Li’s ear.

Xiao Luo turned his head around and smiled at Su Li. “Listen to what she said and fold your cards,” he said.

Su Li gave him a meaningful look and said, “You better not be rash and do things without thinking, don’t let your…”

Xiao Luo flashed her a smile. “We’ve already been through this. Win or lose, no one knows; this is gambling. It’s all about luck,” he said.

Su Li could tell that Xiao Luo’s mind was made up and realized that he was planning to go all out against Leon, “Alright then, I will fold.”

She decided to take Shen Qingyan’s cue and just be a bystander watching from the side.

“Now, that’s being obedient,” Xiao Luo said.

Obedient?

Su Li’s face turned red, and she felt a little embarra.s.sed. She thought, was this jerk trying to own me by treating me like Su Xiaobei?

She was initially a little angry, but then, it felt quite touching at the same time.

“Mr. Xiao, it’s your turn. Are you going to call or not?” Leon was very agitated when he saw them flirting with one another in front of him. If they were now in the States, he swore he’d already have hired several wiseguys to teach this brat a good lesson. This country b.u.mpkin evidently did not know where he stood.

“All in!”

Xiao Luo leaned forward as he pushed all the stacks of gambling chips in front of him to the middle of the table. He smiled, looking very confident, and emanated an aura like a royal used to getting what he wanted. His confident smile never waned from the time they started the game.

“Gulp!”

The dealer’s eyes widened in shock, and he had a hard time swallowing his saliva. Oh, my G.o.d, what are these people playing? It was simply too bold for a player to be throwing twenty million out just like that, and to think that he did so without any hesitation at all, he thought.

But he didn’t forget to do his job and promptly dealt out the last card to both players.

Leon had an Eight, and Xiao Luo got an Eight as well.

“Are you going to call or not?”

Leon started to hesitate a little. He tried his best to read the game by looking at Xiao Luo’s expression, but all he saw was the same unreadable smile on his face. Leon couldn’t figure anything out at all. He had a two-pair hand of Aces and Sixes, and his fifth card was an Eight, while Xiao Luo’s opened cards showed a pair of Eights, a Seven and Nine. Leon knew that Xiao Luo couldn’t have a straight in his hand, and to win, Xiao Luo needed to have an Eight in his face down card—only a “three of a kind” would beat Leon’s two pairs.

“Mr. Xiao, your face down card can’t possibly be an Eight. Three Eights have already been opened. The odds of you having the last Eight is very slim,” Leon said.

“If you really want to find out, then throw all your money in,” Xiao Luo replied. Then he turned to the staff in the private room and asking for a cup of water to drink.

Su Li and Shen Qingyan stared at him without blinking their eyes. They were breaking out in a cold sweat on account of him. This was a bet where one could instantly lose twenty million. No matter how rich they were, losing twenty million so suddenly was never a good feeling.

Leon took another look at his face down card. It was indeed an Ace, but he just couldn’t figure out what Xiao Luo’s face down card was. Leon also considered that if he called and it really turned out to be an Eight, he would lose in front of Su Li—and losing twenty million in just the first round would be very embarra.s.sing. He chose to fold.

“Mr. Xiao, you win this round.”

“Thank you.”

Xiao Luo put his hands around the large pile of gambling chips and pulled them in toward him.

Sitting beside him, Su Li was very curious and couldn’t help flipping over his face down card. She screamed in shock, “How is it a Ten of clubs?”

Leon almost vomited blood as soon as he saw the card! He was a veteran gambler, and yet he had allowed himself to be fooled by a guy like Xiao Luo.

Shen Qingyan smiled a little and said, “Xiao Luo, you’re quite the poker player. You even managed to fool Mr. Leon with just a pair of Eights although he had a double pair with Aces.”

“I didn’t manage to get a good look at it. I really thought that the face down card was an Eight,” Xiao Luo said, playing dumb and waving his hands innocently.

“Yeah, right, you didn’t get a good look, indeed!” Leon sneered.

He almost shouted at Xiao Luo and felt that his pride was at stake here. He had lost six million, just like that. Looking at Xiao Luo now, his perception of the man had changed, and he no longer despised him. He would never have imagined that his guy had the kind of guts to play the bluff with so much at stake.

“Su…”

Xiao Luo was initially going to call her Ms. Su, but since he had a romantic rival right in front of him, he decided to address Su Li differently. “Wife, CEO Shen, you guys can rest from here on. I’ll finish this poker game with Mr. Leon,” he said.

Wi… wife?

Su Li was utterly shocked. Her face turned red like a bashful bride, and she felt her heart thump rapidly in her chest.

“Sure. We’re not really interested in gambling anyway. In that case, we’ll just watch the both of you gambling,” Shen Qingyan responded. She understood what was going on between the two men, and it was best to stay out of the fray.

Su Li didn’t say anything, and it seemed like she had just accepted it. Still ringing in her ears, the term “wife” kept repeating itself over and over again against the rhythm of her thumping heart.

“Mr. Xiao, are you sure you want to play poker with me?”

Leon said with a playful smile. He had once won a billion USD in just one night, and his opponent was one of the most renowned gamblers in the whole of North America. He would be playing against a nameless guy that he would never have even heard of, but for Sabrina. It would feel like using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken.

There was a glint in Xiao Luo’s eyes. “You don’t have the guts?” he taunted.

“Why would I not have the guts? Deal the cards!”

The dealer duly dealt out five cards to each of them; four were facing up, while the last card was facing down and hidden.

It was interesting. By some coincidence, they both had cards that were remarkably similar to the previous round. Leon’s four cards were two pairs of Sevens and Aces, while Xiao Luo had a pair of Eights, a Six and a Seven.

Leon took a look at his face down card and saw that it was an Eight. If Xiao Luo’s hand was going to be bigger than his, then his face down card would have to be an Eight as well, to make a “three of a kind.” But of course, there were only four Eights in a deck. One was in his hand, and two in his opponent’s. This meant that the chances of the last Eight being in his opponent’s hand were low.

“Bet—five million!” Leon bellowed, pus.h.i.+ng out several stacks of his gambling chips.

“Call!”

Xiao Luo followed with five million dollars’ worth of gambling chips as well, and then added, “And, I raise another nine million.”

CRAs.h.!.+

The air was thick with nervous emotions as Xiao Luo raised the bet, and several stacks of gambling chips fell over like skysc.r.a.pers.

Leon’s face looked dull and gloomy. He only exchanged twenty million, and he had already lost six million earlier on. He only had a total of fourteen million left now, and with Xiao Luo’s raise, the bet was now fourteen million. He was obviously being forced by Xiao Luo to throw in everything he had.

Leon stared at Xiao Luo with a casual smile on his face and said, “Mr. Xiao, you should only use the same trick once. I’d be a fool to fall for it again. Do you really think I’m going to fall into the same trap twice?” He then pushed out all the gambling chips he had into the pool.