After watching for about an hour, Yang Jian finally recognized all the dominoes and basically understood how to play Pai Gow.
The combination of four tiles required skill; the head tile had to be smaller than the tail tile. If reversed, it was a losing hand.
If the head and tail tiles couldn't form two large point values, one would generally keep a large pair to aim for a draw. For example, if a hand was three, eight, nine, and ten, to aim for a draw, three and eight would be combined as the head tile, making one point, and nine and ten as the tail tile, making nine points. This offered a high chance of a draw.
If the hand aimed to win, three and ten would be combined as the head tile, and eight and nine as the tail tile, which had a certain probability of winning.
In such situations, players would typically observe the dealer's demeanor. If the dealer combined their tiles smoothly, it indicated a good hand, and the gamblers would aim for a draw, keeping the nine-point tile for the tail.
If the dealer appeared conflicted, gamblers would bet that the dealer's hand was not good, forming a three-point head tile and a seven-point tail tile.
This was essentially a game of psychological warfare, depending on whether the dealer could perform.
As Lu Feng had said, the house advantage of the dealer winning ties was significant and frequently occurred in gambling, increasing the dealer's win rate.
In over an hour of gambling, the dealer had not lost all bets, but they had swept the table three times, demonstrating a substantial advantage. This boosted Yang Jian's confidence in wanting to be the dealer and win cash.
Due to the busyness of the construction site, Yang Jian couldn't stay there for long. After watching for over an hour, he greeted Lu Feng and Huang Hua and returned to the site.
As soon as he entered the construction site gate, he ran into his cousin Liu Yong.
"Er Jian, I heard Manager Chen say you're planning to open a barbecue restaurant and use the canteen to cash out meal tickets?"
Liu Yong was close with Manager Chen and naturally well-informed.
Yang Jian had no intention of hiding it from his cousin: "Brother Yong, I'm not opening a barbecue restaurant. I'm partnering with Huang Hua to open a casino. I can't borrow any more money from home, so I have to find this way to get cash. Otherwise, our funds won't last until the end of the year."
"Open a casino? Does it require investment?"
"Not for now. The initial expenses were covered by the Huang brothers. My job is to convert the meal tickets earned from the casino into cash, so I've negotiated with the canteen and the main cafeteria, and they've agreed."
"That's great. With such a large construction site, a casino is sure to make money. How about this, I'll talk to Manager Chen again and have him collect all the meal tickets earned from the casino. Anyway, these meal tickets can be returned to the power plant, and the project department won't incur any losses."
Yang Jian was a bit surprised by his cousin's support: "But Manager Chen only agreed to cash out ten thousand yuan for us each month. Can you get him to give us more?"
"No problem, leave this to me. With my relationship with him, we can cash out at least half of the earnings each month. This will relieve our financial pressure."
"Brother, the meal tickets we earn aren't just mine. Half of the cashed-out money has to go to the Huang brothers."
"It's fine. We'll use this money for now. We can just give it to him all at once when the funds are allocated at the end of the year."
Liu Yong seemed to have been drinking again at noon, making grand promises.
Yang Jian frowned: "Brother, just by taking a cut from the casino, we won't earn much. I want to be the dealer. This way, we can get cash faster. Don't you have eighty thousand yuan on hand? Lend it to me for a while."
Liu Yong's expression tensed for a moment but quickly returned to normal: "Hey, Er Jian, being a dealer has risks. Just guard the casino well. The money from the cuts should be enough for the construction site's operations. Besides, I need to be ready to deal with local workers demanding cash at any time. If they cause a stoppage, I'll have no way to handle it. I can't let you gamble it away at the casino."
"Alright, I'll head to the site then."
Yang Jian understood that his cousin was seeking stability and that he genuinely couldn't be without cash. He would have to find another way to be the dealer.
"Wait a minute, I have something else to tell you. According to Manager Chen, his niece Chen Xiaoli has a good impression of you, and Manager Chen wants to set you two up. What do you think of Xiaoli?"
"She's alright, a good person."
"Then I'll talk to Manager Chen and confirm your relationship. We'll arrange for the parents of both families to meet when you go home for the New Year."
Yang Jian quickly stopped him: "No, no, no, let's talk about this after the New Year. We're in a rush to meet the construction deadline. We need to finish the basement to ground level before the end of the year, otherwise, the client's funding will be difficult to secure. With so much work, how can I have time for romance? Plus, I have to manage the casino, so I'll have even less energy."
"Alright, I'll go and talk to them first, and we'll finalize it after the New Year."
Yang Jian couldn't find any more excuses to refuse, so he turned to head to the construction site. After taking a couple of steps, he turned back.
"Brother Yong, my three brothers who came with me will focus on the casino from now on. How about calling Xiao Chao over to guard the warehouse?"
"Sure, I'll call Xiao Chao and Yong Li over now, and let Liang Liang and the others focus on earning money at the casino."
Liu Yong was in high spirits. He hadn't expected Yang Jian to be able to open a casino in this foreign land. Although this place was remote, the economy was developing well, and the local people had money. Coupled with such a large construction site and thousands of workers, opening a casino would surely bring in a fortune daily.
With the casino as a support, the construction site's funding would be secured. If they could get through this difficult year, and complete two more building sections next year, they would have millions in income, and he would truly be a big boss.
The casino had a night shift. Yang Jian didn't go. He needed to study and obtain the Grade 2 Constructor qualification certificate. He asked San Pang to observe and prepare for being the dealer.
At eleven o'clock at night, Liang Liang, Lu Feng, and San Pang returned happily and gathered in Yang Jian's room to report. Liu Yong might have also gone to the casino and came with them.
Liang Liang placed a large pile of meal tickets and over three thousand yuan in cash in front of Yang Jian.
"Brother Jian, there are three thousand yuan worth of meal tickets here. Huang Hua has over five thousand yuan worth of meal tickets, which we'll keep as capital for tomorrow. The cash you've received is three thousand two hundred."
"Did we take out eight thousand yuan in meal ticket cuts today?"
"No, the meal ticket cuts were only over three thousand. Emperor won over five thousand yuan in meal tickets, but he only accepted cash, so we exchanged it for him with cash. That's why you only received three thousand yuan in cash."
"That's good. We've received this much cash on the first day. Here, each of you take four hundred."
Yang Jian picked up the cash, ready to distribute their wages. All the money earned was due to their efforts.
"No need, Brother Jian. Huang Hua has already paid us five hundred. He said we are both experienced gamblers in the casino. I lose money faster than their people. Brother Feng is imposing; with one roar from him, no one in the casino dares to cause trouble. Huang Qiao even admires Brother Feng and asked him to move in with him."
Liang Liang said, taking out the five hundred yuan he had already received and waving it in front of his eyes. He felt that Yang Jian was his benefactor; wherever he went with him, he could make a lot of money.
Helping him with betting at Xunsi River, he earned more in ten days than he did in two months at Hao Ge's establishment.
Betting at Nanhu Farm, he earned eighty to ninety thousand in a few months, and his family was using this money to buy a house in the county seat.
He thought he would only get a fixed salary here, but unexpectedly, someone asked Yang Jian to open a casino, and his income was about to skyrocket again. From now on, he would follow Yang Jian wholeheartedly.