The second round had just ended, and everyone now had two face-down cards. Here's my current situation: I have a Six of Diamonds and an Eight of Spades. A pretty bad hand. But it's still fine I can figure something out. The real game begins now.
Suddenly, the referee announced, "Since one of our players is blind, every face-up card you pull must be declared out loud. This also applies if you discard, pick up from the discard pile, or swap face-up cards."
As my turn came, I reached for the pot. The great thing about the face-up card rule is that, based on people's reactions, you can gauge whether the card is important to them. This also applies when everyone has three face-up cards, making it easier to deduce at least two potential hands someone might be building.
I picked up a card, hoping for something useful. It was the Jack of Spades. Disappointing, but still nothing to worry about I just needed to regain momentum.
Suddenly, Lilith spoke directly into my mind. Man, you are truly a disappointment.
Well, thank you, I replied arrogantly.
It was now the old man's turn. He picked up a King of Spades. "My luck is back, it seems," I thought as I noticed the other players' reactions. The cheaters didn't seem to care, meaning they likely had no interest in the card. However, one of the players sitting near them reacted slightly this guy might have some use for it. I would need to find a way to get his card, but it was risky. A swap would be a 50/50 gamble, and if I chose the wrong card, it could set me back significantly.
There was another issue. When I picked up the Jack of Spades, the ginger-haired man from earlier reacted too, while the other guy didn't. This meant the latter might already have a pair or one King and was aiming for a strong three-of-a-kind or even four-of-a-kind. Meanwhile, the ginger-haired man was likely aiming for the Jack of Spades possibly for a flush, a straight, or something bigger. I needed to confirm.
After each player drew their third card, the hands looked like this:
My hand: Six of Diamonds, Eight of Spades, Jack of Spades.
The old man: the King of Spades.
Super-Hero: A guy in a shirt with a superhero logo he had a Four of Clubs.
Fisherman: A man with a fish hat he had a Five of Diamonds.
The ginger-haired man: He drew an Ace of Hearts, not bad.
Snoop: A guy with braids wearing a shirt of the famous rapper Snoop Cat he got Queen of Clubs.
Tank Top: A man wearing a tank top had a Ten of Clubs.
The three cheaters:
Red Suit: He drew a Three of Clubs.
Grey Suit: He picked up an Eight of Diamonds.
Green Coat: He now had an Ace of Diamonds.
As we moved into the fourth round, I knew I needed to make a play. My current situation wasn't good, and I needed better cards. My immediate goal was to get a card I could use as bait for a swap.
Noticing that many Club-suited cards were appearing, I realized someone might already have two or even three Clubs. If I could get a Club card, I could use it to lure someone into swapping for one of their better cards.
Reaching for a card, one of the cheaters tried to swap one of my cards in secret. I couldn't react visibly it would expose my fake blindness. Thinking fast, I pulled my hand back slightly and said, "Actually, I'll take this one. Tell me, what is it, referee?"
"It's the Seven of Diamonds, sir," the referee replied.
At that moment, I noticed the Grey-Suited man's eyes light up briefly as he glanced at his colleagues. That's when it clicked the Grey-Suited man likely had the Four of Diamonds or Nine of Diamonds. If he could get my Six of Diamonds and Seven of Diamonds, he'd only need the Fisherman's Five of Diamonds to complete a straight flush.
"Well, that's not ideal," I muttered internally. At this pace, I would lose. Unless, of course...
"Referee," I said, my voice steady. "I would like to place a bet on another player's card."
The referee raised an eyebrow. "And which card would that be, sir?"
"The Eight of Diamonds. I'd like to place a bet of 10,000."
10,000?! ARE YOU CRAZY, KEN?! Lilith screamed in my mind.
Don't worry. It's according to plan, I replied with a confident smirk.
Fear is a strange thing. It creeps into your mind without warning, gripping your heart and clouding your thoughts. It whispers every worst-case scenario, dragging you into a spiral of doubt and hesitation. But fear isn't always the enemy. Sometimes, it's a warning, a survival instinct telling you to run, to fight, or to think twice. Other times, it's a cruel trick, holding you back when you should push forward.
In the end, fear shows you who you really are whether you're someone who freezes in the dark or someone who burns brighter because of it.
Now then, let's see what he'll do. How will the grey-suited man overcome this fear?
Either way, whatever he does, I'll know what to do next. I've trapped him within my own disadvantageous situation. Looking at his expression, if he doesn't act, that means he's scared. He'll avoid making sudden moves and try to win slowly. But judging by his face his determination I know he's planning to push through.
As the fourth round continued, it was The old man turn to pick a card. All I had to do now was wait and see what the grey-suited man would do.
Allen reached for the deck and picked up a Five of Clubs. Not ideal for his hand, I'm sure, but it could be very useful for others. If I played this right, I could use his cards as leverage without him even realizing it.
"Hey, old man, what's your name?" I asked casually.
"Allen. Allen Whitaker," he replied.
"Well, let me tell you something, Allen…"
I leaned in close, whispering in his ear. "Listen carefully... no matter."
Perfect. It's done. I've cheated successfully, swapping my Six of Diamonds for one of his face-down cards. Now, if the grey-suited man wants to complete his straight flush, he'll need to get the Six of Diamonds from Allen. The best part? He doesn't even know I've already switched it, and even if he did, now he wouldn't suspect it's with me.
The game continued as the turns progressed:
Me → Allen → Super-Hero → Fisherman → Ginger-haired Man → Snoop → Tank Top → Red Suit → Grey Suit → Green Coat, then back to me.
Super-Hero drew a Two of Spades and chose not to place any bets.
Fisherman picked up a Jack of Clubs. It wasn't important to me, but I knew I had to pay attention to every player in this game. If anyone reached their goal before I did, it wouldn't matter how smart I thought I was. Fisherman placed a bet of 3,000 on all of his cards.
The ginger-haired man drew a Nine of Spades.
"I'd like to place two bets: 5,000 on my Ace of Hearts and 5,000 on my Nine of Spades," he declared.
This was bad but not irredeemable. With my Eight of Spades and Jack of Spades, taking the Nine of Spades would bring me closer to a straight flush. The problem was the cost. If I matched his bet, it would reveal my intentions. Everyone would know what I was aiming for.
Snoop drew a Six of Hearts, followed by Tank Top, who picked up a Three of Hearts and placed a 2,500 bet on all his cards.
"Ken, what are you going to do now?" Lilith whispered in my head.
"What do you mean exactly?" I replied.
"The obvious! All of these people have either bet everything on their cards or, especially, that ginger-haired man. Don't you need one of his cards?"
"Oh... If that's what you're worried about, don't be. Let me explain."
"Let's use this example: Invisible Guard. By betting on all your cards, you essentially create an invisible shield. If anyone tries to swap with you, they risk taking a useless card that has a bet on it. If they lose the game, they might end up paying far more than they intended.
There's another way to use this invisible guard. By betting only on your face-up cards, you leave your face-down cards unguarded but in the early game, no one is likely to take a face-down card. It's too risky. By this logic, you can protect all of your cards while only placing bets on the face-up cards."
"That was so boring. Are you finally done?"
"Hey, weren't you even listening?!"
"Whatever. What I wanted to say is that there's a way to exploit this invisible guard."
"How?"
"Well, it has two flaws. The main one being that it becomes useless in the end game. The second is that if you take a card from one of the players using this method, and they take it back, you can learn exactly what they want and completely destroy their hand, forcing them to switch it. Then you can take your desired card."
"Isn't that a bit too much work for a single card?"
"Well, yes, but when the stakes are high and you only need one card, going this far isn't as bad as it seems."
"As long as you don't screw this up, Ken."
Finally, it was the cheaters' turn.
The red-suited man drew a Four of Hearts. This didn't affect me directly, but with the increasing number of hearts being revealed, the suit had become the most dangerous one in play. In a game like this, identifying someone's strategy was tricky in the early rounds. However, if multiple cards of the same suit were swapped or played, it would become obvious what someone needed. This could easily lead to sabotage or worse, manipulation.
Before ending his turn, the red-suited man placed a 6,000 bet on one of my face-down cards: the Eight of Spades.
It was a clear warning. A challenge.
"Back off," his action said.
But come on like hell I'd back off.
Inside the grey-suited man's head, a storm of thoughts brewed.
This kid… he's not bothered at all. Does he even care? He must have a lot of cash to play so recklessly. Even so, he's terrifying. Could he know I'm aiming for the straight flush? No, I'm overthinking it. He's just a brat. I'll prove I'm the best. I'll win this game. I'll break through his stupid trap.
But unbeknownst to him, he had just... fallen right into it.