Show Hand, a popular card game often featured in Hong Kong gambling movies, is also known as Crab, or more formally, Five Card Stud. In this game, victory is determined by the arrangement and combination of five cards.
The basic hand rankings, from highest to lowest, are: Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card. The suit ranking is Spades (highest), then Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds (lowest). For card values, Ace is highest, and Two is lowest. (A Full House consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank.)
A standard deck contains 54 cards, including two Jokers. Once the Jokers are removed, 52 cards remain. Thus, a maximum of ten people can play Show Hand simultaneously.
At the start, seven or eight people were seated around the table where Song Cai was. Piles of chips, worth tens of thousands each, lay before them—all individuals eager to curry favor with Song Cai. More people tried to join, but Song Cai's gaze was enough to turn them away. Eventually, the seat directly opposite the dealer remained vacant.
Nearly everyone's gaze was fixed on Lin Feng; they all knew Song Cai was waiting for him.
Lin Feng didn't refuse. Holding Tang Rou's small hand, he sat down boldly opposite Song Cai. He casually tossed his chips, and with a CLACK, eleven of them landed in a neat stack on the table.
"Not bad technique, looks like you've practiced. Unfortunately, we're not playing dice. No matter how good your skills are, they're useless here!" Song Cai commented disdainfully. He believed Lin Feng was just showing off.
"Damn it, can you not? I just casually tossed some chips, and you have to critique my technique! If I fart, are you going to come over and critique it? Then tell me I should've dropped my pants first because it would affect the flavor?" Lin Feng, already annoyed with Song Cai, certainly wasn't going to be polite.
Lin Feng's offbeat remark sent everyone around the table into fits of laughter.
"HAHAHA… Lin Feng is hilarious! Farting with your pants on affects the flavor? Looks like we'll all have to drop our pants before farting from now on!"
"Vulgar, so vulgar!" Wu Jun said, pinching his nose with an effeminate flick of his fingers and a disdainful frown.
"You have no scruples at all! I won't stoop to arguing with you; it's beneath my dignity!" Song Cai silently resolved not to engage in any more verbal spars with Lin Feng.
"That's right! Chatting with someone whose intelligence knows no depths like yours is truly beneath my dignity too…" Lin Feng echoed, his tone similar but the content pointedly different.
PFFT… Lin Feng and Song Cai had now resorted to personal attacks, and the onlookers struggled to suppress their laughter, finding it hard to laugh openly.
"Such a sharp tongue! I'll make you leave bankrupt after this one round!" Song Cai meant that in Show Hand, one round of betting would be enough to eliminate Lin Feng.
In Show Hand, the betting limit is determined by the player with the fewest chips. Lin Feng, having the smallest stack, would indeed be forced out empty-handed if he lost the first round—a true 'show hand' situation!
"I didn't expect you to be so ruthless, wanting to strip me bare! Do you want the tens of thousands of young maidens waiting for me to rescue them to become widows?" Lin Feng's imagination ran wild, and he started spouting nonsense again. Only after speaking did he remember Tang Rou was beside him. Oh no, will such crude talk make Tang Rou angry? he worried.
Lin Feng turned to Tang Rou and found her looking at him blankly. Apparently, she hadn't grasped the second, cruder meaning of 'losing everything.' Ah, some girls are just wonderfully innocent!
"Cut the crap! Wu Jun, deal the cards!" After a moment's stunned silence, Song Cai finally realized Lin Feng's 'losing everything' was a euphemism for castration. He was speechless with fury. This guy's imagination is insane! Arguing with him is pointless. Actions speak louder than words!
Wu Jun produced a new deck, removed the two Jokers, and fanned the cards on the table for everyone to inspect. He then skillfully shuffled them twice and cut the deck three times before starting to deal.
"The ante is one hundred. The minimum raise is one hundred, and the maximum…" As he dealt, Wu Jun shot a scornful glance at Lin Feng's meager pile of chips and announced, "...the maximum raise is two thousand!"
Everyone at the table remained silent, eagerly waiting to see how Lin Feng would lose his two thousand yuan and embarrass himself by revealing his presumably shallow pockets.
A new deck is typically arranged in a standard order. For most ordinary people, Wu Jun's shuffling, after displaying the cards, served only to confirm the deck's legitimacy and meant nothing more. However, Lin Feng, with his astonishing memory, had already instantly memorized the entire sequence of cards in Wu Jun's hands.
Following Wu Jun's dealing sequence, Lin Feng silently calculated and arrived at a conclusion.
If no one folds early, I should get two pair this round, fives and sevens. Ultimately, I'll lose to Song Cai's three eights!
Let's verify first to make sure I didn't misremember.
Wu Jun quickly dealt two rounds of cards: one face up and one face down for each player.
Lin Feng's face-up card was the Ace of Hearts, and his hole card was the Five of Diamonds—exactly as he remembered.
"Your face-up card is highest. You bet first," Wu Jun said, staring at Lin Feng expressionlessly, his reluctance evident.
"One hundred." Lin Feng casually tossed out a red chip, drawing numerous scornful glances.
"PFFT! That's hilarious! He only bets a hundred with an Ace of Hearts showing? He must have no guts! Lin Feng is terrified of losing his two thousand yuan!"
"Don't be so quick. Let's wait and see. There are still three cards to come. Who knows if his hole card is a deuce..."
"I'm telling you, even if he had a pair of Aces, he'd still only bet a hundred. Believe me?"
Everyone at the table called Lin Feng's bet, chattering idly. However, no one, including Song Cai, raised. The round proceeded calmly.
The next bettor was a female classmate who had been dealt a King. She shot Lin Feng a challenging look before tossing in five red chips.
Damn it, showing off with a worthless hand! Lin Feng suddenly found this woman, Zheng Yiyi, incredibly irritating. However, to see how things played out, he still called the five hundred.
The third face-up card was dealt. Lin Feng now showed a pair of sevens, the highest board. Meanwhile, an Eight of Hearts appeared in front of Song Cai. Lin Feng clearly saw Song Cai's eyebrow twitch, his eyes betraying a suppressed excitement.
Song Cai probably has a pair of eights! Lin Feng still calmly tossed in a hundred. He glanced around nonchalantly, meeting countless disdainful stares.
"Coward!"
"Something feels off. He only bets a hundred with a pair of sevens showing? Is Lin Feng trying to bait us? Is he waiting for someone else to raise?"
"So what if he's baiting? Are you scared to pay a thousand or so to see his hole card?"
"True. Only one card left. Let's see!"
...
No one folded. The final card was dealt without any suspense.
Sure enough, it's the Five of Clubs. So, Song Cai should have three eights. It seems my memory is still pretty good, enough to handle these small occasions! Lin Feng casually gathered his cards, chuckled, and tossed them forward. "I fold…"
Song Cai, who was slyly peeking at his cards and had just seen his final card was an 8, heard Lin Feng announce, "I fold." He nearly choked with frustration. Wait a minute! Where do you think you're going, you idiot?! I haven't even revealed my hand yet!
Hearing Lin Feng suddenly fold, Wu Jun was overcome with curiosity. He casually flipped over the cards Lin Feng had tossed onto the table. Two pair—fives and sevens—lay there, dazzlingly clear!
"You... you... with a hand like that, you folded?!" Wu Jun stammered, pointing at Lin Feng, his voice filled with such distress he looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
Thank you "Star Maple" for your reward!!
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