11:00 PM. A few more tables of guests arrived at the bar. Some departing guests even pulled back the curtain to peak in.
Yang Yi and the others were being very quiet, but the sound of the chips was too crisp. Those clinks sounded like they were providing percussion for the singer. The battle officially entered its state.
This hand came to the blinds of Gold Tooth and Yang Yi. Zhenzhen and Sister Zhao folded. Brother Zhao raised to 40. Strange raises like this were happening all night. Usually, Yang Yi played with raises to 30 at most, and rarely did anyone call.
Mazi folded. Blackie paused for a few seconds, called 30. Tian Ci called 30. It was Xiao Lin's turn at the button. Xiao Lin wasn't a total novice at cards, though Yang Yi hadn't seen him at the table before. Tonight he played a few hands quite decently, but Xiao Lin loved "buying" cards—sometimes spending chips to chase a straight. Occasionally, after folding, he'd reach over to rummage through Yang Yi's hand, his curiosity even heavier than Yang Yi's.
Xiao Lin agonized for a long time, finally calling 30.
It was Yang Yi's turn in the Small Blind. Before the deal, he had been forced to post a 10 blind; he only needed to supplement 20 more chips to stay in. If the hand was good, he could even re-raise.
Yang Yi looked at his cards: Kd2d.
Call? What if the flop came with two Kings or two 2s? That would be a huge profit.
"Your turn." Quan Quan tapped the felt in front of Yang Yi.
"I know." Yang Yi gave her a cold look with a hint of aggression. What's the rush?
"Give the boss time to think. If the boss wins, he'll give a 'Xi'er'," Mazi quickly smoothed things over to ease the awkwardness.
Quan Quan sighed, collected the cards folded by Yang Yi and Gold Tooth, grabbed all the cards in the muck with her right hand, and tapped them twice against the table. Using the surface, she lined up all the discarded cards perfectly. Those two taps were accompanied by increasingly loud thuds, seemingly venting her emotions at Yang Yi.
"Hold the deck steady with your left hand. Don't show the faces before dealing. Yes, like that." Mazi noticed the deck in Quan Quan's left hand was a bit loose and reminded her.
After the reminder, Mazi glanced at Yang Yi. Yang Yi, still angry, was staring right back at him. The two held the stare for three seconds until Mazi finally gave a contemptuous smile and moved his eyes to the community cards.
Flop: 6c, 6h, 7h.
Brother Zhao checked. Blackie bet 50. Tian Ci called 50. It was Xiao Lin's turn to agonize again. Yang Yi, not wanting to be left out, grabbed Xiao Lin's hand to take a look while he was thinking.
Good lord: 8h9h. That's ten thousand "outs". Xiao Lin snatched his cards back and called.
Turn: Ks.
Brother Zhao and Blackie checked. Tian Ci quickly checked too. It was Xiao Lin's turn.
"What kind of cards are these?" Xiao Lin muttered to himself, looking very conflicted. Xiao Lin was genuinely conflicted, and so was Yang Yi. Both were unaccustomed to tonight's game; from the raise amounts to the fact that at least four or five people were in every hand, it made them agonize over every action.
"If you hit a card, fire a shot." Although Mazi had folded, his heart was still in the game. "Fire a shot" (Da yi qiang) meant placing a bet.
"Leading a draw? Why would I want someone to push All-in on my face?" Xiao Lin was also full of jargon. He checked.
"Deal something good, dear," Xiao Lin didn't forget to tell Quan Quan.
River: 6s.
Well, Xiao Lin was completely finished. He missed the straight and the flush. Yang Yi felt it was most likely Blackie had a 6 or a 7 in his hand, because Blackie was the only one who bet 50 after the flop. But Texas Hold'em is a game of choosing the best five cards. With two 6s and two 7s on the board, if Blackie had one in his hand, it would only use one card; the other wouldn't fit into the five-card hand and would be void.
Strangely, everyone checked again.
Brother Zhao showed Ah5h. He missed the Ace-high flush. Blackie showed AsJc. Nothing, just Ace-high.
The most tragic was Gold Tooth. He was originally leading everyone, but the 6 on the river made his pair of 3s the smallest. The best five-card hand didn't include his pocket cards; it was just the two-pair plus Queen combo on the board.
"Small pocket pair died, haha," Mazi watched with schadenfreude, turning to Xiao Lin. "You missed your straight draw?"
It seemed Mazi read Xiao Lin as being on a straight draw. "Miss" meant failing to hit the draw.
"I wasn't just drawing a straight, I was drawing a flush too!" Even though he failed, when Xiao Lin showed his cards to Mazi, his posture and confidence made it seem like he'd won the hand.
"Screw you, what a pit," Xiao Lin was actually complaining about his cards, but Quan Quan looked clearly displeased when she heard him.
"Drawing a straight and flush and didn't fire? Let Ace-high win." Mazi intentionally stoked Xiao Lin's fire; Xiao Lin didn't bother to respond.
Quan Quan pushed the chips in the pot toward Blackie. Blackie and Brother Zhao shouted simultaneously: "Split." "Split the money."
Splitting means dividing the pot. When two hands are equal, the dealer splits the pot in half.
"Right, split. 6-6-7-7-A. The kickers don't even get in." Mazi hadn't noticed Quan Quan's movement and only snapped to it when he heard the voices. Because there was a King on the board, only the Aces from both hands entered the final five-card hand; their other cards were void.
Yang Yi looked at Xiao Lin's cards again. If only Xiao Lin had hit his flush or straight, he wouldn't have had to tax his brain calculating the four-way tie. He missed the old card games a little.
This 900-yuan cash prize was taken by Brother Zhao again. Mazi was second, and Yang Yi managed a third-place consolation prize, which was fine.
He looked at Brother Zhao—still the serious, sword-like eyebrows—then at Sister Zhao, who could hardly hide her joy. With just these two hands, Brother Zhao had taken two first places. Wasn't this more profitable than running a board game cafe?
Texas Hold'em was supposedly niche, but today it seemed everyone knew a little something.
A new game. Shortly after the start, Blackie acted first and raised to 40. Others folded. It was Yang Yi's turn.
The most beautiful scene in Texas Hold'em arrived. Yang Yi shielded his cards with his left hand and slowly pinched the corner of the cards with his right.
Pocket Aces (AA)!
The scene was truly beautiful, as if the whole world was cheering for him. He pinched the cards and looked for two seconds. To others, it looked like he was thinking, but who knew he was merely admiring those two pointed Aces.
"Raise." Yang Yi rarely shouted when betting, but this time he felt the hand was worth opening his mouth for. Yang Yi raised to 80.
Gold Tooth on the button folded. It was Zhenzhen's turn in the Small Blind. Zhenzhen quickly shouted "All-in," her usually smiling face now serious.
Sister Zhao was in the Big Blind, looking at Brother Zhao.
"You play your own game. If you want to push, push. Don't look at me." Brother Zhao's words had weight.
"Push." Sister Zhao spoke as light as a breeze; she definitely had that artist's aura.
It was Blackie's turn. He casually tossed a chip into the pot. "All~in."
Everyone else exploded. What was happening? A four-way All-in? The climax was on Yang Yi. The moment Yang Yi quickly shouted "All-in," everyone was laughing.
"What are the cards? Show them in order, show them in order." Mazi stood up to direct.
In Texas Hold'em, the first person to go All-in shows first, then the second, and finally the player who called the All-ins shows last. The showdown order followed the action order: Zhenzhen, Sister Zhao, Blackie, Yang Yi.
The four hands were: "QQ", "JJ", "KK", "AA".
Everyone had pushed All-in before the flop; there would be no more actions. Quan Quan quickly dealt the five community cards.
2h, 8d, 7d, 9d, 9h.
A sea of red. A bloody deal. Only Yang Yi felt the red looked festive as he took down this massive pot.
After counting, Yang Yi had the most chips—by only 20. That was enough to eliminate the other three, and the game ended prematurely as a result.
"Tsk tsk, truly bloody," Mazi sighed, then turned to Quan Quan. "You should say 'Boss Spirit' (Lao Ban Jing Shen)."
"Boss Spirit." Quan Quan caught the cue; she was very obedient to Mazi.
"Shouldn't the boss give a bit of 'Xi'er'?" Mazi said to Yang Yi with a grin.
"What's 'Xi'er'?" Yang Yi pretended not to understand.
You see it often in Hong Kong movies: after a hand, the winner takes a chip and tosses it to the dealer, who taps the table with it in thanks.
Xiao Lin joined the heckling. "Hurry up and give a tip to thank your lucky goddess."
"How about this?" Yang Yi picked up a black 100-chip and asked Quan Quan.
"What are you doing? Are you kidding?" Mazi laughingly covered the chip with his hand. "Stop teasing her, okay?"
"Hahaha, I'll give you half when I win." Yang Yi didn't say this without reason. First, he had no sense of boundaries; if he was having fun, he'd usually spend money to keep the mood up. Second, he wanted to appear very magnanimous; after seeing Quan Quan's flirtatious interactions with Mazi today, he had fire in his heart.
"The boss is so generous! What if you take first?" Mazi's mind was sharp; he immediately spotted the only bug in the logic.
"Then I'll give her 450, as long as she's willing to deal me AA." Yang Yi was waiting for Mazi to say that.
Gold Tooth, Tian Ci, and Sister Zhao smiled helplessly on the side. Blackie and Brother Zhao looked flat, having seen this many times before. Only Xiao Lin and Zhenzhen were anxious: "Boss, give me some too." "Yeah, share some, I haven't even opened my account all night."
This couple was famous for being stingy; you could tell just by the way they played.
"Next time, next time," Yang Yi brushed them off, glancing at Quan Quan. Finally, a smile appeared on her face. In his memory, Quan Quan had never actually smiled at him.