Chapter 427: Chapter 428: All In, 152 Million, Mantis and Cicada

At the poker table, as the dealer’s voice fell, Mrs. Hanover was the first to reveal her cards, followed closely by Luo An, with Brenekoff revealing his last.

Mrs. Hanover had the lowest hand, Luo An’s cards were next, and Brenekoff’s were the highest.

Brenekoff, holding the highest hand, glanced at Luo An, cracked a slight smile, and collected the Thirty Million Dollars worth of chips from the center of the table.

“… xN

Perna curled her lip and muttered under her breath upon seeing this, urging the dealer to quickly start the next game.

Mrs. Hanover glanced at Luo An with a slight frown and shifted her position.

Luo An’s breathing changed subtly as he looked at Brenekoff and once again lifted his glass for a sip.

Several games quickly ended, and at this point, Perna had almost lost all of her newly acquired 12 million in chips, and Mrs. Hanover’s 27 million wasn’t faring much better.

Unlike Perna, who was visibly anxious and restless, Mrs. Hanover showed no change in her demeanor; she yawned, requested a glass of French Pernod from the bar waiter, and lazily watched the other two at the table.

By now, Brenekoff had 65 million in chips in front of him, while Luo An’s combined chips totaled 54 million. All the money lost by everyone in the game had ended up in the hands of these two.

A new round of the game began, the dealer dealt two cards to each of the four players, and after the third betting round, the dealer revealed the fourth community card. She looked up at the four players and stated calmly:

“The pot is now 14 million, please place your bets.”

Perna thought for a moment, then chose not to bet:

“Check.”

Mrs. Hanover also decided not to bet:

“Check.”

Brenekoff and Luo An made the same decision, exchanging glances and both choosing to check.

“Everyone checks, there are still four players in this round.”

As usual, the dealer repeated her statement, then laid out the fifth community card, saying:

“Fifth betting round begins, please place your bets.”

Perna furrowed her brow, picked up her two hole cards to look, hesitated for a few seconds, then pushed out five stacks of chips:

“Betting, five million.”

The dealer repeated Perna’s bet, then looked towards Mrs. Hanover. Mrs. Hanover pondered for a moment, then pushed all eight stacks of chips in front of her forward:

“All in, eight million.”

“All in, eight million, the pot is at 27 million.”

The dealer repeated Mrs. Hanover’s decision, then turned to face Brenekoff:

“Please place your bet.”

Brenekoff, who had been staring at Luo An across from him, let out a chuckle, then pushed forward ten stacks of chips:

“Raise, ten million.”

“The pot is 37 million.”

The dealer looked towards Luo An:

“Please place your bet.”

Luo An ignored the dealer, his eyes fixed on Brenekoff sitting opposite him. After pondering for a while, he suddenly grinned, drained his glass in one gulp, and pushed all his chips forward:

“Fifty million, all in.”

Wow–

Seeing Luo An’s move, the crowd around the gambling table was instantly abuzz, and a buzz of murmurs rose all at once.

Vincent, who had already left the table, stood up, and Caroline, sitting at the bar, became restless too, her face changing as she turned her gaze to the poker table.

“Fifty million, all in.”

The dealer repeated Luo An’s bet, then turned to look at Perna:

“Are you going to call?”

Perna was a bit confused, glanced down at her own cards, then looked at Luo An with a smile, and after a few seconds of silence, she gritted her teeth and pushed all her remaining chips forward:

“Five million, calling, all in!”

Mrs. Hanover went all-in, Luo An went all-in, Perna went all-in; a huge stack of chips had accumulated in the center of the poker table, and all eyes present turned to Brenekoff.

Brenekoff had chosen to call in the previous round, and never expected Luo An to go all-in; in an instant, he couldn’t tell whether Luo An was bluffing or truly had the confidence.

Brenekoff’s pale blue eyes were fixedly watching Luo An’s every move, who was sitting opposite to him. Luo An remained indifferent to the other’s gaze, with a light smile on his face, and in turn, kept a close watch on Brenekoff.

At this moment, the air in the room was incredibly quiet, everyone was waiting for Brenekoff’s decision.

After a long silence, Brenekoff suddenly chuckled and pushed all his chips forward:

“65 million, calling, all in!”

“65 million, calling, all in. The pot is now 120 million.”

As the dealer’s voice fell, the audience surrounding the gambling table sucked in a breath of air.

There was still more than half a month before 2006, and the chips on the table represented a true sum of 120 million Euros, a considerably large number; many companies in Europe didn’t even have that much in market value at the time.

The dealer was accustomed to the big scene and remained very calm:

“Gentlemen, ladies, please reveal your hands.”

Around the poker table, a crowd of onlookers tiptoed and stretched their necks, trying to get a clear view of the four players’ hands. Caroline didn’t look at the poker table like them, but instead turned and looked down at her own glass, as if the slice of lemon in it was more interesting, though her knuckles white with grip showed her mood was far from calm.

On the poker table, Mrs. Hanover took a deep glance at Luo An, no words wasted, and was the first to flip over her two cards; they could just form a flush with the five community cards.

Seeing this, Perna laughed and immediately pushed her two hole cards to the dealer, who turned them over and stated in a measured tone:

“Three 8s, a pair of Js, a full house, beating the flush.”

Perna raised her head, her eyes brimming with laughter, looking towards Luo An and Brenekoff, who chuckled and pushed his cards to the dealer.

The dealer opened the two cards, arranged and combined them with the five cards on the table, and declared in a composed voice:

“Three Js, a pair of 10s, a bigger full house.”

Perna’s eyes widened instantly at this development, while Brenekoff paid her no attention, merely glancing at the audience around him before spreading his hands towards Luo An with a light smile: It’s your turn.

The smile slowly vanished from Luo An’s face, and Mrs. Hanover’s brows furrowed at the sight, while Caroline at the bar still hadn’t turned back, but the hand holding her glass clenched even tighter.

The air in the entire room was deadly quiet, and the spectators didn’t dare to breathe, seeing that Luo An had no smile on his face, various thoughts and expressions suddenly crossed their faces.

After a few seconds of silence, Luo An looked around and suddenly laughed, handing his cards to the dealer.

The dealer opened the two cards and combined them with the five community cards on the table, announcing in a steady tone:

“7, 8, 9, 10, J, all in spades, a straight flush, beating the full house.”

“Jesus!”

“How is that possible?”

“Straight flush?!”

The onlookers witnessing this were all wide-eyed, exclaiming in surprise, while Caroline at the bar’s edge took a sharp breath and relaxed, turning around to regain her usual haughty demeanor.

At the poker table, Brenekoff coldly stared at Luo An for a few seconds, said nothing, and got up to leave the table.

Perna slammed the table fiercely and gave Luo An an evil glare before storming out of the room following him; Mrs. Hanover, interestedly, observed Luo An for a moment before she too left the poker table and walked out.

“Well played.”

Caroline walked at a leisurely pace to Luo An’s side, handed him a glass, praised him in a sentence, then glanced at their large stack of chips on the table with a gleam in her eyes, and asked in a low voice:

“What do we do next?”

“My original plan was to make contact with Brenekoff alone after the game ended.”

Watching the guests gradually exit the room, a flicker of cunning passed through Luo An’s eyes as he smirked softly:

“But now, this plan needs a quick change, this room is full of talent… Let’s wait a few minutes, after the mantis and the cicada are done with their antics, then we’ll enter the scene.”

Caroline: “???”