Chapter 124: The Great Casino Reveal

Gambling is always a scam.

In reality, every single chip in a casino contains an RFID chip. The betting areas on the table serve as sensors. Before the dealer deals the cards, they require all players to place their bets. Once the bets are set, the data—how much is on the banker, how much on the player, including side bets like pairs or ties—is secretly transmitted to a computer. The computer instantly calculates the outcome most favorable to the house and then signals the automatic shuffler to produce the corresponding sequence of cards.

Simply put, if more money is bet on the banker, the computer makes the player win; if more is bet on the player, it makes the banker win. If the bets are balanced, it can even force a tie.

Of course, if it were that simple, the pattern would be too obvious. Casinos operate on a cycle. Large casinos even group several tables together, using integrated calculations and fuzzy logic to manipulate the win rate. While ensuring the house wins the majority of the time, they allow players to win occasionally. This involves psychological manipulation: creating a big winner from time to time to stimulate gambling desires, or letting someone who has lost everything get a small win to lure them into falling even deeper.

While large supermarkets are still researching how to use RFID tags for the Internet of Things, casinos have long since implemented this concept. Operators not only use the chips to track data and manipulate outcomes but also manage their finances effortlessly, knowing exactly which tables have the highest turnover and which games are most popular.

If one looks at the gambling industry with enough reason, the conclusion is inevitable: casinos are inherently predatory. The profit model of a neighborhood mahjong parlor cannot sustain the high costs of a professional operation while generating massive wealth. Therefore, the manipulation of games is a certainty. Gambling is a scam.

The restricted work areas, the inaccessible shufflers, the hollowed-out tables—the result is clear. The data is transmitted via wireless signals. Old Wai’s casino was not particularly large, and the signals could be intercepted from outside. The rest was simple. Xiaocheng hacked into the casino’s control system and mirrored the remote control terminal onto his phone. As long as he was within signal range, he could dictate the outcome of every hand. And so, what seemed like a fairy tale became reality.

Since Xiaocheng could not communicate with the people inside in real-time, they had to agree on specific betting patterns beforehand. However, he wasn't the only one who knew the "Banker-Player-Player" routine.

For the final hand, Xiaocheng leaned against the wall and sent the command to the terminal: "Pair!"

Deafening shouts erupted from the building, audible through several walls, as if they were about to blow the roof off.

One should not linger in a place of ill repute. Xiaocheng had approached the farmhouse under the cover of night to manipulate the game; every extra second meant more risk. Seven rounds were more than enough for his team to make a killing.

He had discussed it with Yang: if one person walked out of a casino with a million, they would be targeted, but if ten people did it, the situation would be different.

Walking straight from the courtyard wall to the road, a beat-up Santana was waiting with the engine running. Even if a lookout saw him, they would assume he was just a man stopping by the wall to relieve himself—a common occurrence in the countryside.

Inside the car, Wang Yang looked equally anxious. As soon as Xiaocheng sat in the passenger seat, he asked impatiently, "How did it go? Did you pull it off?"

Xiaocheng looked at him with an amused expression and teased, "The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuch is. You're just the driver; why are you so worked up?"

Wang Yang, not daring to offend Xiaocheng, offered a sycophantic smile. "Brother, I'm just concerned. If we make this money and invest in a business, don't I have a stake in it too?"

Xiaocheng didn't have the heart to tease him further and replied concisely, "It’s done."

"So... can we win a million?"

Xiaocheng smiled. "If Kang Long and his crew follow instructions, it should be no less than two million."

"Holy crap! Two million!" Wang Yang nearly jumped out of his seat. Two million! That’s over a hundred pounds of cash! It could crush a man to death! His monthly salary was only 2,500—that’s 30,000 a year. If he relied on his salary, he wouldn't see that much money even by retirement! Two million! That would be enough for a down payment on a house in Beijing, even outside the Sixth Ring Road!

"Wipe the drool off your chin and drive. We’re going to the restaurant."

Although Wang Yang was four years older than Xiaocheng, in this moment, Xiaocheng was the undisputed leader. The car started moving slowly. Wang Yang muttered, "Actually, you should have let me go inside. You could control it from outside, and I could have taken a share too. If one person takes 300,000, and I had gone in, that would be 2.3 million!"

Xiaocheng leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. "Everything must be done in moderation. I estimated the scale of this casino. If the foot traffic and turnover are what I think, they make about 100,000 to 200,000 a day. Their total cash flow shouldn't exceed 2.5 million. Our take of two million, plus what the others won, is enough to wipe them out for a month. Casinos don't keep that much cash on hand; even if you went inside, there wouldn't be enough money to cash out."

Wang Yang was confused. "Xiaocheng, that place seemed pretty professional. They said bank transfers were an option. Why didn't you take that?"

Xiaocheng curled his lip. "A bank transfer for gambling debts? Are you afraid the police won't catch you? Did I not tell you the police would be there around 8:30?"

Wang Yang stuck out his tongue. He hadn't thought that far ahead. It seemed he wasn't cut out to be a leader.

"But... Xiaocheng, shouldn't we be waiting there? Let them take their money home individually and then meet at the restaurant..." He left the rest unsaid, implying: what if someone kept the money for themselves or just ran off?

"Lohan, Kang Long, Nezha... those are all brothers you introduced to me. You don't trust them?"

Wang Yang hesitated. "Friends are friends, but you never know what's in a man's heart. I think Lohan is fine, and Nezha’s family has money, so he shouldn't be greedy. But that kid Kang Long? Hard to say. And those guys you met at the chess stand? I've never dealt with them."

Xiaocheng sighed inwardly. It wasn't that he didn't want to use people he trusted, but aside from Yang Liushan and Lu Qi, he didn't really have any friends.

He decided to use this as a screening process. Those who brought the money back could be brothers and partners; those who ran off with the cash would be weeded out, preventing a festering wound from becoming a fatal infection later.

Money is just an external possession. If two million could buy him the knowledge of who he could trust, it was money well spent.

More importantly, it wasn't his money anyway.