Chapter 601: The Ferrari Knight

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Li Du laughed, "I"m joking. Alright, tell me where this genius is from?"

Hans chuckled, "Still laughing? Great, I"ll tell you about it and hopefully you"ll still be able to laugh after you make sense of the situation."

Everyone knew that in gambling, one would usually lose as many as nine out of ten rounds. As a result, many people ended up bankrupt. However, there were some who could possibly win nine times out of those ten rounds. That, of course, did not include Li Du who would predictably score a perfect ten.

Some people were naturally sensitive to numerals. After they had undergone higher level education in mathematics and psychology, they would become experts in gambling.

These people really existed. Instead of resorting to trickery, they used the rules to their advantage, and secured their wins through deduction as well as memorization of the cards.

Based on the casinos" regulations, if gamblers were to make use of trickery to win money, bankers could then use force to recoup these monies and punish the gamblers. But what if all the gamblers did was use their brains to win? They also developed a way to deal with this—by establis.h.i.+ng a "Hall of Fame."

There were many halls of fame for the various sports internationally: the NFL Hall of Fame, the NBA Halls of Fame, the FIBA Hall of Fame, and so on. All the superstars of the respective sports would naturally be included.

Included in Las Vegas" Hall of Fame were the superstars in gambling. However, once one"s name had been listed in the Hall of Fame, it was as good as being blacklisted—one was not allowed to set foot in any casino in the future.

This was something the casinos could practice, but their reason for doing it was rather unconvincing – which was that the casino was a private property, and hence had the right to refuse some people from entering.

Blackjack was a popular gambling game, and most suitable for mathematical geniuses to challenge their abilities. As early as half a century ago, mathematicians had realized this was the only gambling game that they could defeat the dealer in simply by using theory.

In 1961, two renowned professors from the Ma.s.sachusetts Inst.i.tute of Technology, Edward Thorpe and Claude Shannon, were the first to come up with the idea of sneaking into the casino with a wearable computer and using the computing to beat the odds.

Of course, it was considered trickery to use a computer, except that the technology was way too modern for that era, and the casino did not know of it.

However, the computing hardware was poor quality, and hardly reliable. It would often run into issues—resulting in both wins and losses for the two men.

Through the wins, Edward Thorpe had observed the possibility of using probability and mathematics to defeat the dealer. Hence, he focused on the theory behind Blackjack and launched a strategy for the game.

In 1962, he wrote his first bestseller, "Beat the Dealer." This was the book that had formed the foundation for Blackjack theory and opened the doors to the new era of mathematical geniuses outwitting dealers.

Small Boy Kim was one of these mathematical geniuses. He was also a psychology expert. The combination of mathematics with psychology had helped him succeed in all his gambling endeavors.

This expert had been born in Madison, Wisconsin. At the age of 18 when he was barely grown up and only a rookie, he had won his first World Champion t.i.tle at an official poker champions.h.i.+p.

Thereafter, Kim had made more than 20 appearances in the finals of various international poker champions.h.i.+p leagues and had won more than four million US dollars in cash, creating a tsunami in the international gambling scene.

However, because he was so young the Las Vegas casinos had been initially spared of his torment. Unfortunately, with the pa.s.sing of time, he had finally reached 21 years old.

The day he had turned 21 years old, he came to Las Vegas and entered one of the biggest casinos, the Paragon Casino Hotel. He then pocketed 600,000 US dollars before leaving.

As the story went, that night, he"d won all the Blackjack games he"d played, without losing a single game.

After he"d left the casino, Las Vegas immediately listed him in the Hall of Fame. A few of the bigger casinos then joined forces to rope in retired FBI agents to trail him and prevent him from visiting again.

As to why they hadn"t listed him in the Hall of Fame previously, it was because according to regulations, those who hadn"t entered the casinos before could not be listed—this was to entice patrons to visit.

Secondly, many dealers had thought that he was only all talk and wanted to challenge him.

But within a night, the entire group of dealers had been defeated and there was no one else who would dare challenge him to another game of Blackjack.

Hans said, "Has it been ten years since he turned 21 years old? I haven"t heard of him since. I actually thought he"d been killed off by the casinos."

The Playboy shook his head and replied, "No, Small Boy Kim is an intelligent chap. He made sure he got famous upon making his debut, so the casinos would not deal with him for fear of the consequences. No casino would dare to harm such a famous person—this is America after all."

"Then why has there been no more news about him?" Hans asked, puzzled.

The Playboy explained, "It"s because he has been here in Las Vegas all along. Several casinos here have been putting him on a pedestal, as a commander of sorts for the Blackjack games. He can spend at will, as well as wine and dine at their expense."

As they spoke, they walked into the casino. A lean, white, middle-aged man spotted them from a distance. While he was expressionless, there was a chilling look in his eyes.

G.o.dzilla glanced at him, and whispered, "This guy"s a bad*ss. I"ve met such people before. They are all cold-blooded murderers."

Li Du said, "In the face of life or death, who would be the mightier between you both?"

"With a weapon in hand, he"d kill me. If unarmed, I could kill him," G.o.dzilla said.

The Playboy glanced at G.o.dzilla in surprise; he knew the ident.i.ty and ability of this middle-aged man. He was also well-aware of G.o.dzilla"s temperament, as someone who wouldn"t overstate his ability.

Since G.o.dzilla thought that he could kill the other man unarmed, then he would have to rea.s.sess G.o.dzilla"s fighting power. He seemed to have underestimated this mellow and quiet Mexican man.

The middle-aged man led the way, and they took the elevator to the top level.

It was also a casino, surrounded by one-way gla.s.s walls overlooking the scenery from the top.

A few gaming tables had been placed at the center—Texas Holdem Poker, Dice, Blackjack, et cetera—most of the trending games could be found there.

A blonde man who looked about thirty-something years of age saw them and laughed loudly. "Akkalou, my good brother. You"re finally back. I thought you had escaped just now."

This man was very good-looking and suave. With his chiseled face structure, jewel-like blue eyes and his well-fitting tailored suit, he emitted a manly charm from head to toe.

The Playboy laughed, "Where could I have escaped to? I only went to get myself some a.s.sistance."

The man looked at Li Du earnestly. "This oriental-looking friend is Chinese? Are you not going to introduce us?"

"No need to," the Playboy said decisively. "You guys won"t be friends anyway."

The man ignored him and stretched his hand out to Li Du in a friendly manner. Introducing himself, he said, "I"m Alessandro Ferrari, my friends call me Knight. You can call me that too."