A Bao was slightly taken aback when Yang Jian brought up the topic of cheating.
"Little Yang, you're a shareholder of the casino, so I won't hide it from you. As long as there's a casino, there's cheating, especially with electronic gambling games. They're basically set up in advance, ensuring the casino makes a profit.
Baccarat can also be rigged, but it's rare. Most major casinos don't cheat because there's no need. They're already making exorbitant profits.
The ones who truly cheat are the professional dealers who book entire sections of the casino. They're like your mainland 'emperor companies.' They only rent one or a few rooms and are responsible for their own profits and losses; the casino just collects rent from them.
Because their games are fewer, their probability of losing money is relatively higher. If they don't cheat, they'll lose money."
"How exactly do they cheat? Is it the dealer using sleight of hand, or is there something wrong with the shoe?"
Although Yang Jian had been involved in casinos for over two years, he couldn't figure out how poker cards drawn in order from the shoe could be rigged. The dealers mostly touched the cards with just one finger, making sleight of hand unlikely.
A Bao smiled. "Dealers aren't cheaters. Those who can use sleight of hand have some talent; not everyone can be a cheater. There are tens of thousands of dealers in casinos across the city. How much would it cost to train so many cheaters? And so many people couldn't keep a secret.
The real cheating involves this black shoe and the poker cards. The poker cards here are not the ordinary ones you can buy anywhere on the market.
Every casino has custom professional poker cards. Each card has an electronic chip inside, and the shoe has a device to identify the electronic chips. Controlled by a backend computer, the dealer can control the outcome of every game."
Yang Jian still didn't understand. "Are you saying someone in the backend controls the games and thus manipulates the wins and losses?"
"It's not that complicated. Actually, the most crucial part of the cheating is these chips."
"Chips? What do chips have to do with cheating?"
"These chips also contain electronic devices. Every time a player bets, the dealer reminds them to place their chips in the designated area.
This is because the designated area has an electronic identification device that accurately recognizes the amount of each player's bet and quickly feeds it to the backend computer for analysis.
The computer then issues instructions to the shoe to switch poker cards according to the dealer's wishes. So, whoever the dealer wants to win, wins; whoever they want to lose, loses."
A Bao's explanation left Yang Jian dumbfounded. This was all high-tech; how could gamblers ever win?
"Brother Bao, what about the equipment in our casino?"
Before Yang Jian could finish, A Bao waved him off.
"Little Yang, see no evil, speak no evil. Just knowing this situation is enough. As a shareholder, you just wait for your dividends. Master wouldn't invest hundreds of millions of dollars in this casino if it were a losing business."
A Bao said this obviously mindful of the security guards on duty. This involved the casino's core secrets and couldn't be leaked.
Yang Jian immediately understood. "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Bao. I never liked playing cards anyway, and I'll be even more afraid to touch them in the future."
"Exactly, not gambling is winning. Trying to get rich through gambling is pure fantasy. The entire casino city's net income from casinos exceeds two hundred billion annually, with tens of billions in taxes. The high welfare for hundreds of thousands of people comes from casinos. How many people actually make money?"
"Brother Bao, our casino is currently using Hong Kong dollars. How do we receive our dividends? We don't have to exchange them ourselves, do we?"
This was a question Yang Jian had wanted to ask Bai Zheng for a long time. However, since it wasn't time for dividends yet, he felt it might seem greedy to ask now, especially since he hadn't invested a single penny as a shareholder.
"Don't worry. Our company has a very professional team operating the casino's finances in the backend. Whether it's converting Hong Kong dollars or laundering the casino's money, there are professional personnel handling it. The dividends that reach your shareholder accounts will be converted at the latest exchange rate and will be legal and compliant."
This reassured Yang Jian. When he ran a casino on Xunsi River, it involved laundering casino money. The amounts were relatively small, and it was disguised as template transactions. Laundering a few million yuan wasn't a big problem.
The flow of funds here was likely in the billions. Without proper money laundering preparations, the casino wouldn't last long. Even without police intervention, the economic management departments could freeze the funds.
The casino was orderly, and no unexpected incidents occurred. The bosses were quite well-behaved, perhaps it was their first time at this particular establishment. They were all gentlemanly, even tipping the servers with small chips for their service.
As time passed, more people entered and exited the casino, and more private rooms were booked.
By eleven o'clock at night, the video showed twenty private rooms were hosting gambling games. Yang Jian had been on duty for over ten hours and found no security risks. He greeted the night shift guard, A Nan, and prepared to go home to rest.
He took one last look at the surveillance video before turning to leave and suddenly saw Meng Meiyun appear on the screen in one of the rooms.
Yang Jian watched curiously for a while. He noticed Meng Meiyun with four young, scantily clad girls, standing behind several gamblers.
Soon, a gambler turned around, looked at each of the girls, and then pointed to the one in the middle.
Meng Meiyun then left with the other three girls, while the chosen girl went into the adjacent lounge alone.
"Holy crap, Brother Jian, your old classmate is working as a madam here?"
A Nan also noticed this scene and specifically switched the room to the big screen. He saw the gambler enter the lounge and close the door. There was no surveillance in the lounge, so they didn't know what was happening inside.
"Madam" is a term used in entertainment venues for the supervisor of hostesses. In ancient times, they were called "laobao," or more colloquially, the owner or pimp of a flesh trade business.
Having frequented nightclubs a few times, Yang Jian naturally understood that Meng Meiyun was providing services according to the guest's request.
"It's normal. She ran a nightclub on Fenghuang Street and has resources in that area. Zheng is her godfather, and the demand here is even greater, so she naturally wouldn't miss out on this business."
"That's great, Brother Jian. Say hello to your old classmate and introduce us to some pretty girls, with a discount on the price."
A Nan and his companions had often visited nightclubs on Xunsi River and continued to frequent establishments on Fenghuang Street, having a strong demand.
Only Yang Jian couldn't let go of Lu Yao. Even though he sometimes had physical urges, he didn't want to betray his lover. He subconsciously believed that he would eventually end up with Lu Yao.
Another important reason was that he dared not go to nightclubs. If the police conducted a raid, his identity as a wanted criminal would be exposed.
Therefore, since his escape, he had become abstinent.