Qin Yao was still very nervous, but after the blood draw was completed, she felt somewhat relieved.
Previously, Qin Yao was worried about whether this rudimentary blood-drawing device could accurately find her vein. If it pierced a muscle or punctured a vein, it wouldn't be a trivial matter.
But from the current situation, despite their intimidating appearance, the various instruments in the 'Walkway' were absolutely reliable in terms of function.
Although losing 200ML of blood didn't make her feel too uncomfortable, she did not want to go through it a second time.
Because the blood-drawing speed of this device was very fast, far more painful than a typical hospital blood draw. Seeing her crimson blood continually drain out gave her a very bad feeling.
Besides, whether it was an illusion or not, Qin Yao always felt a bit dizzy, mentally sluggish, and very afraid that if more blood was drawn, she might faint.
After the blood draw was completed, the mechanism wasn't unlocked because, according to the game rules, the gambling round with the 'Chips Exchange Machine' had to be completed for the entire exchange process to be considered fully completed.
For every 10,000 chips, at least one round must be gambled.
A small cover on the right side of the table opened, and a stack of glossy, smooth round chips was pushed by the mechanism to Qin Yao's right-hand side.
This was a total of 20,000 in chips.
These chips, although all round, differed in size, thickness, color, and the numbers on them according to their denominations, making them easy to distinguish.
The mechanical arm in front started moving, picked up the deck of cards, shuffled them skillfully, and then dealt three cards each to itself and Qin Yao.
"Golden Flower... Fu Chen mentioned it before, but I didn't remember many details...
"Luckily, detailed rules and a card type chart are here."
Using her only movable right hand, Qin Yao picked up her three cards to check them while looking at the card type chart on the right wall.
The three cards were: a 7 of hearts, a 9 of clubs, and a King of hearts.
"This... doesn't seem to form any hand?" Qin Yao repeatedly compared the cards in her hand with the chart, reluctantly admitting with some disappointment.
Golden Flower is quite a simple and crude poker game; each person has three cards, and they compare their hand types to decide the winner.
Among them: Leopard (three cards of the same number) ＞ Straight Flush ＞ Flush ＞ Straight ＞ Pair ＞ Single Card. Single card Ace is the largest, 2 is the smallest. But a 2, 3, 5 of different suits ＞ Leopard.
However, the 'Blood Poker' game they were playing at the moment was actually a 'simplified version of Golden Flower'; the original rules of open and blind bets, card comparison, and hand limits had been removed.
Under these new rules, after the deal, everyone could look at their cards; there was no distinction between open bets and blind bets (betting without looking at cards), and there was no player selection for card comparison.
Everyone only needed to perform the actions of raising, calling, or folding in sequence.
When only one player chooses to raise, and the others all call without raising further, the cards are revealed automatically, and the player with the largest hand takes all.
When 2, 3, 5 and Leopard appear at the same time, 2, 3, 5 wins alone; in all other situations, 2, 3, 5 is the smallest.
It must be said that this set of rules is much more friendly to those who don't often play cards than the usual rules.
Qin Yao looked at the mechanical arm opposite her, and according to the game rules, it was now time for both sides to place the ante.
However, a shocking scene happened: the mechanical arm actually drew another card from the deck!
At this moment, the mechanical arm held four cards, and it selected three from them as its own hand. Then, an indistinct electronic voice came from the speaker again.
[Please place your ante, and choose to raise, call, or fold in sequence.]
"Wait, why do you have an extra card?"
Qin Yao's question didn't receive any response.
She looked once more at the game rules and found that there was indeed a line explaining this situation, but it was in small print and easy to overlook.
[During the gamble with the 'Chips Exchange Machine,' the 'Chips Exchange Machine' will always be the banker, always act first, and can draw an extra card to build its hand from four cards.]
"This is unfair!"
Qin Yao clenched the cards in her hand. Although she wasn't very good at calculating specific probabilities, even a primary school student could guess that with such game rules, her chances of winning would be significantly reduced.
This was not a luck game with a 50-50 winning chance!
But Qin Yao still had no choice; she could only continue this almost certainly lost game.
For the 'Chips Exchange Machine,' its chips were unlimited. The mechanical arm took a chip with the smallest denomination from the mountain of chips on the other side and placed it in the betting area on the table.
500, this was the chip with the smallest denomination, as well as the default ante when betting against the Chips Exchange Machine.
Qin Yao had no choice but to take a 500 chip from her own meager collection and place it in the betting area.
[The banker chooses to raise.]
As the prompt sounded again, the mechanical arm placed another 500 denomination chip in the betting area.
According to the usual rules, the banker should be the last to bet, but in this game, the 'Chips Exchange Machine' was always the banker and always acted first.
Now it was Qin Yao's turn; she only had three choices: raise, call, or fold.
A raise had to be in units of at least 500.
Qin Yao had already placed a 500 ante, while the opponent had raised the chips to 1,000.
So, if Qin Yao wanted to raise, she would have to throw in another 1,000 chips; to call, she would have to throw in 500; folding meant admitting defeat directly.
"I choose... to call and reveal the cards."
Qin Yao finally made up her mind, taking another 500 chip and carefully placing it in the betting area.
Raising was not a wise choice. The 'Chips Exchange Machine' could draw an extra card, making its chances of winning far greater than a player's;
folding would minimize her loss, losing only 500 chips, but it also meant both hands would be taken directly, without knowing if her hand was big or small.
So, ultimately, Qin Yao decided to call. Although it cost her an additional 500 chips, at least she could lose knowing she had tried.
Besides, what if she won?
Although the opponent's extra card significantly increased its probability of winning, it wouldn't be 100%?
Qin Yao subconsciously felt that gambling on this probability with 500 chips wasn't too bad.
However, as both hands were revealed, Qin Yao's hope dwindled.
The opponent's hand was a pair of 6s, while her King high scattered cards undoubtedly lost.
Seeing her two 500 chips taken away by the mechanical arm made Qin Yao feel a pang of pain.
This equaled a whole thousand, enough to buy at least two weeks' worth of food from the community vending machine.
The mechanical arm took away the cards and chips.
Then, it took out a new deck of cards from inside the table, opened them, shuffled them, and dealt once again.
Qin Yao had exchanged a total of 20,000 chips, so she needed to gamble at least two rounds.
Just as in the last game, the mechanical arm dealt the cards and raised first.
Qin Yao faced the same dilemma as before: call or fold?
Looking at her hand, Qin Yao felt disappointed because it was another Queen high scattered hand, slightly smaller than the King high scattered hand she had last time.
But after a moment's thought, Qin Yao still took out another 500 chip and placed the bet.
"Call and reveal the cards."
Not revealing the cards and admitting defeat made her very unwilling; she wanted to see it through.
However, this loss was even more severe, as the Chips Exchange Machine's hand was a pair of Jacks.
Qin Yao instantly felt deflated; losing two rounds with no suspense at all left her with no fighting spirit.
"Beep."
A green button on the right-hand side lit up, with the words [Exit] written on it.
After completing the minimum number of required rounds, this button would light up.
Of course, Qin Yao could choose not to press it and continue gambling. According to the game rules, exchanging 20,000 chips allowed her to play up to 40 rounds with the Chips Exchange Machine.
But evidently, Qin Yao didn't want to stay a second longer.
She almost couldn't wait to press it, and the next moment, a series of "clack" sounds occurred, unlocking all the mechanisms binding her.
Qin Yao hurriedly stood up from the iron chair, turned around, and pushed the cramped compartment door.
The door was locked, but Qin Yao quickly found the latch and opened it.
Then she suddenly realized something, turned back, and grabbed the remaining chips in her hand.