Armed, Arthur strode toward the green table that had been garnering a lot of attention.
A new round was just about to commence, and that empty seat was still available.
"Starting bid's fifty thousand ryō," the dealer announced, seeing Arthur sit down.
Normal people couldn't afford that. But Arthur was not normal.
He slid the exact number of chips forward, drawing the eyes of the crowd.
The only ones that mattered to him, however, were the other players.
The table included a man with a golden tooth and a cigar, an older woman puffing smoke with an unfriendly countenance, a lavishly dressed gentleman, a businessman wearing shades, and finally, there was a skinny man who appeared out of place.
That last man's posture was poised, showing his poker face.
Meanwhile, the others scoffed due to the disparity of the chips he possessed.
Was one hundred thousand ryō in chips really that much less? To those at the table, it was.
"New here?" the man with the cigar casually asked Arthur.
"No…"
"Really?" the elder woman responded with suspicion. "Looks like we got another vet then."
Vet was short for veteran.
"I wouldn't call myself that," Arthur replied. Then he looked at the dealer. "Mind I get a rulebook?"
The others were surprised.
"I thought you said you weren't new?" the man with the cigar wondered.
"You asked if I was new here," Arthur said, skimming the book. "You never said where 'here' was…"
The response earned him a laugh from the crowd, mainly from the older woman.
After Arthur finished reading, he handed the book back. "I don't really get it, but I guess I'll learn as I go." Truth be told, he only read it to ensure it was the same blackjack he had played back on earth.
The rules were straightforward: get as close to 21 as possible without exceeding it to win.
Face cards equaled 10 points, aces could be valued as either 1 or 11, and a bust (or loss) occurred when one's point total surpassed 21. The dealer had to hit (or give himself cards) at 16 points or lower but stood at 17 or higher.
If both the player and dealer bust, then the player loses by default.
The secret of blackjack was not just about the cards at hand but understanding potential outcomes. A non-dealer could adjust their risk based on their existing cards, but the dealer faced fixed obligations regarding their hands, creating natural vulnerabilities.
Now the game was now about to start.
As each player placed their bets, it became increasingly apparent that Arthur had significantly fewer chips than the others.
He had started with 100,000 ryō, while the others ranged between 300,000 and 1 million ryō in chips. Even the unsettlingly poker-faced skinny man had an impressive stack.
Who knew what their backgrounds were and their exact level of wealth?
All Arthur had to remember was the rule of thumb: if someone was betting big, it also meant they were prepared to lose it all.
Not many in this world could pull out several hundred thousand ryō and blow it at a casino. That was why these specific gamblers had seated themselves at the highest table—this was no place for beginners.
After the dealer finished shuffling the cards, he dealt two to each player.
Arthur quickly assessed the faces around him, noting their calmness or excitement. He then took a glance at his own hand—a jack and a two, bringing him to a total of twelve.
Some players were calling for hits; others chose to double down or split their hands, showcasing knowledge of the game and how strategically they played.
A few turns later, the skinnier fellow had the highest cards at seventeen.
It was now Arthur's turn.
"Hit me…" The dealer slid him a two. "Fourteen." That was a cause for concern. Nonetheless, he held a smile, perfectly masking himself. "Hit me…" The dealer slid him a three. "Seventeen." Amateur hour, and he wasn't going to buy into it. "Hit me…"
The dealer provided him with a four!
Arthur calmly soaked in the reactions of the other players. Meanwhile, the dealer revealed an unfortunate bust, much to the dismay of the skinny man.
"If you hadn't drawn that four," the man said to Arthur, "I would have won."
"Maybe next time then," he replied, keeping his tone light.
But from his peripheral vision, he noticed the man with the cigar—his grin was too wide, too knowing. That sight of condescension told Arthur all he needed to know.
Arthur leaned in closer, feigning uncertainty. He estimated that his previous hands would provide insight into the deck's overall composition.
After a couple of rounds, Arthur's total now stood at 200,000 ryō, a significant gain but not one to boast about.
Who cared that he couldn't access the Water Country's funds? Not when he was multiplying his winnings at this table!
Across, the other players were beginning to take note of his unexpected streak. A great sign for him to use.
It was now time for the next round.
"Why so few chips this time?" the man with the cigar asked, sizing up Arthur.
"Oh… just getting started," Arthur airily replied as he shuffled the colourful chips before him.
He then began tapping on the table with one of the chips.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Can you knock that off already?" the cigar man said with annoyance. "I can't concentrate with you doing that!"
"It's not against the rules, is it?" Arthur taunted.
The man paused, choosing to look away. Arthur, however, knew what the man was likely thinking: 'Oh well, if I just leave this sucker alone, he'll eventually go broke.'
How wrong that man was.
As more rounds progressed, Arthur demonstrated an uncanny knack for winning. Already his stack of chips had nearly tripled, drawing glances of disbelief from everyone.
The man with the cigar finally erupted as he leapt from his chair, slamming his palm down on the table in frustration. "How the heck are you going up in chips?"
"You're not cheating, are you?" the older woman asked.
"Not at all," Arthur innocently replied. He hadn't even activated his Kekkei Genkai yet. "I'm just counting cards."
A murmur went through the crowd at his revelation.
In blackjack, the dealer often busts depending on the cards remaining in the deck. If the deck had many cards with values of two through eight, the dealer held a substantial advantage.
Conversely, if numerous nine, ten, or ace cards remained, the upper hand shifted to the players.
This was known as counting cards, which was considered illegal in some countries and states on earth. But this was neither; this was the Edo period, where many didn't even know what that was!
"Did you know," Arthur explained, "there are 52 cards in a deck, and 24 of them are nine, ten, or ace cards? That gives a ratio of about 2.17. As that ratio shifts, the dealer becomes more vulnerable, allowing me to adjust my bets accordingly."
That was why he had purposefully lowered the amount of chips he placed earlier. And when he knew he was likely to win, he increased them.
"What the…?!" the skinny man interjected, "Are you telling me that in this short amount of time, you came up with a card-counting theory?"
The man with the cigar shook his head in disbelief to add, "Only the most skilled could do that! How's an amateur like you even pulling this off?"
As this banter unfolded, Arthur noted the man with the shades, the only one who had hardly voiced his thoughts at the table. It dawned on Arthur that this same man had recognized the meaning behind his tapping: a simple yet effective method he was using to keep track of the cards discarded.
That now meant Arthur's time playing rookie ended before it could really begin.
"You should all know," he clarified, "many people think that money's the root of all evil. In truth, it's the love of money that's the root of all evil."
Everyone soon sat down to prepare for the next round.
"All the cards have been used up," the dealer suddenly addressed. "I'll bring out the new deck now."
This revelation piqued Arthur's interest. Because through his card counting, he knew only 49 cards had been dealt.
Did Arthur miscalculate or something? No, someone among them had been cheating.
He could probably figure out who it was without any tricks. But with the level of wealth these gamblers had, it wouldn't be easy.
That's what made Arthur so different, though: he knew how to use chakra!
'Crimson gaze…'
Arthur's eyes secretly grazed over the table before pinpointing the candidate: the skinny man.
Under that man's clothes were other cards, strongly resembling what the dealer had. Now Arthur had to be extra careful.
Some rounds later, it was revealed to Arthur that the skinny man wasn't the only one using tricks.
The elder woman had her own method. She marked the back of certain cards with her fingernail—a barely perceptible bend that would escape the eyes of most.
And the man with the cigar? He had developed a method called "shiner," using carefully placed reflections in the room to glean information on the open table.
The man with shades intrigued Arthur as well because the dealer consistently dealt the second card from the top to him—a technique known as "second dealing," almost impossible to perfect unless working together with the dealer.
These weren't just rich folks playing around with chips; they were high-stake gamblers passionate about the game.
No wonder a seat was really open at this table.