The gambling game began, and Liangliang was assigned to the dealer's side as a croupier responsible for paying out the meal tickets. He had often come to Huangjiaping to buy things and was familiar with the rules of Pai Gow.
Yang Jian, however, was encountering this for the first time and had no idea what the red and white circular pips on the dominoes meant.
Since this place was originally a chess and card room and a video arcade, it was always crowded. As soon as the casino opened, a large circle of people, three layers deep, formed around the tables. Most of the spectators were construction workers, along with some people speaking the local dialect.
Yang Jian and Lu Feng had to retreat to the edge of the crowd, standing on a stool to get a better view from above.
The dealer was a man in his thirties. He spread all thirty-two black dominoes flat on the table, pip-side down. Then, just like playing Mahjong, he used both hands to push the dominoes around, shuffling their positions.
He then stacked the dominoes into two layers, arranged in a row. Next, he tossed two dice onto the table. Based on the dice roll, he took four dominoes for himself. Finally, he dealt the remaining dominoes to seven other gamblers seated in fixed positions, from left to right. These seven positions were called the "player" positions, and each player received four dominoes, similar to the setup in Mahjong.
These four dominoes were for the seven players to combine, while the gamblers standing around could only bet alongside these seven players.
These standing gamblers could choose to bet on one player consistently or bet on the other six players simultaneously, with no restrictions.
All seven players competed against the dealer in terms of hand strength. The specific gameplay involved dividing the four dominoes into two pairs, with each pair being compared sequentially. The first comparison was called the "head" and the second was called the "tail."
If both the head and tail were stronger than the dealer's, it was a win. If the head was stronger but the tail was weaker, or vice versa, it was a draw. If both were weaker, it was a loss.
Therefore, how the four dominoes were combined required a certain amount of skill and wisdom.
Yang Jian understood the rules of winning and losing, but he didn't know how to recognize the pips on the dominoes. He only heard the dealer mentioning "Heavenly Pair," "Earthly Pair," and other terms, which left him completely confused.
"Lu Feng, do you understand this Pai Gow?"
Yang Jian had been watching for half an hour and still couldn't figure out how the ranks of the dominoes were determined.
"Of course, I do. Some people play this where I'm from, but not many, mostly just the elderly."
"Then tell me, how are the ranks of these dominoes determined? I don't even recognize the cards."
"Alright, let me explain. There are thirty-two dominoes in total, and you can see the pips on them. The two highest-ranking pairs are the 'Two-Four' and the 'One-Two,' collectively known as the 'Supreme.'
Then come the pairs, called 'Civil Pairs,' which also have varying ranks. Starting from the highest, there's the 'Heavenly Pair,' which totals twelve points, consisting of six red pips and six white pips.
Next is the 'Earthly Pair,' two points, two red pips.
The 'Human Pair,' eight points, two sets of four red pips.
The 'Harmony Pair,' four points, one red pip and three white pips.
The 'Plum Blossom,' ten points, two sets of five white pips.
The 'Long Three,' six points, two sets of three white pips.
The 'Bench,' four points, two sets of two white pips.
The 'Axe,' eleven points, one white five pip and one white six pip.
The 'Red Head,' ten points, one four red pip and one six white pip.
The 'Great Demon,' seven points, one red one pip and six white six pips.
The 'Small Demon,' six points, one red one pip and one white five pip.
Then there are the 'Mixed Pairs,' starting with the 'Mixed Nine,' which can be a 'Four-Five-Nine' or a 'Three-Six-Nine.'
The 'Mixed Eight,' which can be a 'Two-Six-Eight' or a 'Three-Five-Eight.'
The 'Mixed Seven,' which can be a 'Two-Five-Seven' or a 'Three-Four-Seven.'
The 'Mixed Five,' which can be a 'One-Four-Five' or a 'Two-Three-Five.'
Following that are the 'Heaven and Earth Combinations.' The Heavenly Pair combined with a nine is called 'Heavenly Nine,' also known as 'Heavenly King.'
The Earthly Pair combined with a nine is called 'Earthly Nine,' also known as 'Earthly King.'
The Heavenly Pair combined with an eight is called 'Heavenly Bar.'
The Earthly Pair combined with an eight is called 'Earthly Bar.'
The Heavenly Pair combined with a 'Two-Five-Seven' is called 'Heavenly High Nine.'
The Earthly Pair combined with a 'One-Six-Seven' is called 'Earthly High Nine.'
Finally, there are the 'Miscellaneous Pairs,' which are combinations other than the Civil Pairs and Heaven and Earth Combinations mentioned above. The calculation involves summing the pips and subtracting multiples of ten. The highest remaining value is nine. For example, the Heavenly Pair and the Earthly Pair add up to eighteen points. After subtracting ten, it becomes eight points. The Great Demon and the Small Demon add up to thirteen points. After subtracting ten, it becomes three points, which is less than eight."
Although Yang Jian felt a bit dizzy after Lu Feng's explanation, he could roughly identify the dominoes by combining it with the ones on the gambling table.
"Lu Feng, if a player's hand is the same as the dealer's, who wins?"
Yang Jian thought of this question.
"The dealer wins. That's the dealer's only advantage."
"Then being the dealer is quite risky. It's not as good as playing dice as the Emperor, where at least one number only wins and never loses."
"Not at all. While it might seem like playing dice as the Emperor has a higher win rate, in Pai Gow, the situation where the player's hand is the same as the dealer's happens frequently, giving the dealer a significant advantage. Also, the commission here is lower, only five hundred for every ten thousand."
Lu Feng, being experienced in casinos, quickly understood the standard commission rates.
Yang Jian also noticed that the croupiers, whether handling meal tickets or cash, followed the standard of five hundred for every ten thousand. It was clear that the dealer for the day was a professional, ensuring a stable profit for Yang Jian and Huang Hua.
The number of people betting with meal tickets was significantly higher than those betting with cash, with a minimum bet of ten.
Since the meal tickets came in denominations of one, two, five, and ten, and were color-coded – white for one, blue for two, yellow for five, and red for ten – they were easy to distinguish. Therefore, the one, two, and five yuan tickets were bundled into stacks of ten with rubber bands for easier betting.
Most workers bet thirty or fifty yuan. A smaller number bet two hundred or three hundred yuan. They bundled their ten yuan meal tickets into bundles of one hundred with rubber bands, and when betting, they would lay down two or three bundles, which was quite eye-catching.
Although the workers' bets were small, there were many of them. Each round, the table was covered with colorful paper meal tickets.
These meal tickets were uniformly produced by the power plant, made of three layers of differently colored paper pressed and joined together, possessing certain anti-counterfeiting features and bearing the power plant's steel stamp, making them difficult for ordinary people to forge.
Those betting with cash were mostly local villagers, along with a few construction site managers. Although they were fewer in number, their bets were generally larger, starting from five hundred yuan and going up to four or five thousand yuan.
The Pai Gow games also had table limits. Each of the seven betting positions had a total bet limit of ten thousand yuan, which primarily depended on the dealer's capital. With more money, the limit could be twenty thousand or even a hundred thousand.
As more people joined the gambling, Liangliang became overwhelmed. Huang Hua assigned another person to help him.
Lu Feng, due to his large build and imposing presence, was assigned by Huang Hua to maintain order in the casino.
The casino's lively atmosphere on its opening day exceeded Yang Jian's expectations. It turned out that people who enjoyed gambling were everywhere. The thousands of workers on the construction site, coming from all corners of the country, seemed to have a common vice of gambling.
Furthermore, the entertainment options on the construction site were very limited. Besides watching videos and playing cards or billiards, due to the different work schedules of various trades, a large number of workers had free time every day. This led to a constant flow of people in the video arcade and chess and card rooms, making the casino's prosperity inevitable.