Lord of the Mysteries (Web Novel)

The core rules of Texas Hold'em were very simple. It was to use two hole cards and five community cards to form a hand with any five-card combination. Whoever had the biggest hand won. And the community cards were dealt in three phases. Three community cards to form "the flop" in the first phase, a fourth community card called "the turn" in the second phase, and a fifth community card called "the river" in the third phase. Each phase allowed players to fold, check, call, or raise. This continued until everyone was done or until one person didn't fold.

Klein fiddled with the chip in his hand as he divined the existence of any lucky instances within the next few rounds. However, he was unable to tell which exact round it was. After all, it was only a quick and simple divination with average effects.

Using this method to play with ordinary people and Low-Sequence Beyonders wouldn't be a problem as long as the correct strategy is used, but it's definitely inadequate against demigods. It's already quite a challenge to defeat a Mid-Sequence Beyonder… Must I close my eyes each round and do a complete dream divination? Heh heh, if that were the case, Dwayne Dantès might end up with the title "Sleeping Gambling God"…Klein sighed inwardly. He continued watching the round play out as he sat by the side. At present, he had already lost a bigblind¹and a smallblind²when it was his turn.

At this moment, Klein noticed one point: The MI9 deputy director, Qonas Kilgor, had lost 20 pounds to Admiral Amyrius.

A successful Bribe… Admiral Amyrius should be able to tell that Qonas is using his powers as a Baron of Corruption, but he might not know that this MI9 deputy director is a demigod… The next round will be interesting… Hehe…

Klein jolted to attention as the new round began. He didn't check his hole cards when the croupier handed him two new ones. Instead, he placed the metal chip he was playing with in his hand onto his hole card, taking on the stance of not planning to look at them.

After two people folded, the stern and old-fashioned Amyrius Rieveldt casually took a look at his hole cards. After counting five pounds worth of chips, he threw it into the middle of the table, having raised the stakes without garnering any surprises.

Another person folded as Macht called. Right on the heels of that, Qonas Kilgor, who had an unyielding personality, raised the stakes, throwing out a total of 20 pounds.

Calvin confirmed his hole cards once again before calling.

After one last person folded, Dwayne Dantès didn't do an actual count. He grabbed a handful of chips and threw it out.

The croupier who was in charge of counting the chips glanced at it before precisely announcing Dwayne's action, "20 pounds. Call."

"I thought it would be 50 pounds. From the looks of it, I'm still not very used to these chips," the white-sideburned Dwayne Dantès with an outstanding temperament said with a laugh.

However, he didn't add on the additional 30 pounds.

At this moment, no one made a move. It was Amyrius Rieveldt's turn again.

This admiral didn't even glance at the remaining players. Picking up five ten-pound chips, he threw them out.

"Another raise."

He didn't show any perturbations in his emotions, acting as though he was ordering a cup of black tea. However, that indescribable sense of dominance and the act of repeatedly raising the stakes pre-flop made the mood at the table freeze.

Such situations often implied that Admiral Amyrius had excellent hole cards. Perhaps they were a pair of Aces or a pair of Kings, or an Ace and King.

Macht decided to fold. Qonas Kilgor rubbed his high nose bridge and glanced around with his dark blue eyes before saying, "Call."

Colonel Calvin confirmed his cards again. After ten seconds of hesitation, he chose to fold.

Dwayne Dantès touched the metal chip on his two hole cards and smiled.

"Call."

After a round of expressing their intentions, there were only three players for the round. Then, the croupier flipped the three community cards in the middle of the table for the flop.

"2♠, 9♥, K♠."

The person who was up first was Admiral Amyrius Rieveldt. He leaned forward slightly and said in a domineering manner, "50 pounds."

He had immediately raised the stakes to 50 pounds!

Macht, Calvin, and company, including those who weren't in the game, felt stifled for some baffling reason.

"…" Qonas Kilgor trembled slightly, but he ultimately grabbed 50 pounds and threw it out.

Dwayne Dantès glanced at the deputy director of MI9. Completely unfazed by the pressure, he said with a smile, "Call."

Upon hearing this, Calvin turned his head and nodded at Dwayne Dantès with his deep blue eyes that resembled a nighttime lake, indicating his approval.

From his point of view, Admiral Amyrius's domineering stance didn't affect a person who came to lose money.

At this moment, the red-vested croupier revealed the fourth card—the turn.

"9♠."

There were three Spades, increasing the chances of a flush tremendously. However, Admiral Amyrius still didn't hesitate. He calmly pushed a stack of chips.

"100 pounds."

Qonas Kilgor's fingers tapped on his hole cards, showing his lack of confidence. But ultimately, he choose to call.

Dwayne Dantès glanced at this deputy director once again and maintained his warm smile.

"Call."

At this point in time, he had yet to see his hole cards, making Calvin somewhat worried. He believed that such an act was going overboard—a clear act of throwing money away. It wasn't something Admiral Amyrius, who was relatively conservative, might find acceptable.

At this moment, the red-vested croupier revealed the final card—the river:

"2♣."

As such, the community cards took form:

"2♠, 9♥, K♠, 9♠, 2♣."

"200 pounds." Admiral Amyrius pushed a pile of metal chips in with an extremely domineering attitude.

Qonas Kilgor took a deep breath before pushing two stacks of chips.

"500 pounds."

This amount of money was half of his purported annual salary.

Is he trying to bluff?Calvin and Macht exchanged looks, believing that Brigadier General Kilgor had made it too obvious, making it easy to see through him.

One had to know that when playing Texas Hold'em, apart from doing risk management and probability calculations, it also involved psychological battles most of the time. Be it in terms of body language, expression, or the style used for raises, they made it easy to expose one's hidden cards.

Of course, good players could also use these details to deliberately misdirect their opponents.

Dwayne Dantès sized up Qonas Kilgor before he laughed. Then, like the previous few times, he said, "Call."

Amyrius raised his hands, prepared to push all his remaining chips, to pressure his opponents into folding.

At this moment, he suddenly paused. His deadpan expression wore a look of solemnity.

After a few seconds of silence, he calmly said, "Call."

At this point, the hole cards could be revealed to compare each person's hand.

Admiral Amyrius flipped his card first. It was an A♠ and 10♠. It formed a flush with the 2♠, K♠, and 9♠. It was a rather high-ranking hand, with the only ones bigger than it being a full house, four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush.

"It's your turn," Amyrius then urged Qonas.

Qonas first flipped open a single card—K♦. It made two pairs with the K and 9 from the community cards.

Following that, he picked up his second hole card. At that moment, the remaining poker cards at the red-vested croupier's end blurred.

Pa!

The hole card was flipped open, revealing itself: "9♣!"

"What?" Macht and company exclaimed, hardly believing their eyes.

This meant that Qonas Kilgor had obtained a full house—nines over kings!

It was bigger than a flush!

"Sorry about that. Full house," Qonas looked at Amyrius and said with a smile.

Then, he turned to look at Dwayne Dantès.

"You can reveal your cards."

"I'm also very curious as to what my cards are." Dwayne Dantès smiled. He picked up the metal chip that he had placed down on his cards and very casually flipped the two hole cards.

"Eh…"

"What?"

…

Calvin and company rubbed their eyes.

Dwayne Dantès's hole cards were a very weak pair: "2♥, 2♦."

There happened to be a very small pair in the community cards: "2♠, 2♣."

They formed a four of a kind—the smallest rank when it came to four of a kind, but it was higher ranked than all the full houses!

"Praise the Lady!" Dwayne Dantès drew the crimson moon across his chest in pleasant surprise, looking as though he had never expected it.

"An interesting round." Amyrius was taken aback for a moment before he gently clapped.

Qonas Kilgor gave Dwayne Dantès a deep look and said with a laughing sigh, "I never expected the final winner to be you."

Klein wiped the smile from his face as he inwardly grumbled,It's only right that I win over the two of you. On the one hand, Admiral Amyrius enjoys pressuring others and doesn't really rely on his Beyonder powers to cheat. As for you, you placed your focus and Beyonder powers on Admiral Amyrius; thus, ignoring me. On the other hand, the one playing cards with you is actually named Winner Enuni.

Without even looking at his hole cards, it was obvious that he was relying solely on luck!

At the moment he placed his chip on the hole cards, Klein had already swapped positions with Enuni as they switched faces with each other!

Although Colonel Calvin had gotten him to deliberately lose 1,000 pounds, Klein decided to win a killing after he saw Qonas Kilgor.

This wasn't because he couldn't bear to part with the money; instead, his main motive was to garner the attention of this MI9 demigod. He wanted to get familiar with him and build relationships!

Only by doing this could Klein have an opportunity to obtain intelligence from Qonas Kilgor and even carry out an assault on him. After all, he was a demigod. To deal with him in Backlund required sufficient care and caution. He would rather give up an operation if he lacked the confidence to guarantee a kill or lure him away from Backlund. Otherwise, he was bound to expose himself, ending up being surrounded by demigods and even angels in Backlund.

In the subsequent rounds, Klein won and lost different rounds. In the end, not only did he keep his 1,000 pounds in chips, but he had even won nearly an additional 1,000 pounds. During this process, Calvin had gestured to Dwayne Dantès to lose, but he was left stupefied by the latter's ridiculous good luck that left him undefeatable.

After the game came to an end, a person walked over to Dwayne Dantès with a smile—Qonas Kilgor.

1 "big blind" is equal to the minimum bet.

2 The "small blind" is normally half the big blind.