Editing Kakegurui Trip Fulltext (section)

==Chapter 4, part 4==

One of the casino halls had been rearranged. There were now 25 tables placed in the middle with space around them for the spectators. A barrier draped with a red cloth clearly indicated how close the public was allowed to approach the action in the center. Because the size of the hall was limited and the expected number of spectators large, everything was set up pretty tightly. You could approach the table of your choice fairly closely.
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The tables were rounded but had an indentation on one side. This allowed the dealer to stand in a place where everything was within reach. The dealer spot on the outer tables was turned towards the public. Onlookers had a better view of the players' faces this way.
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I expected that the tournament would be more of a guys thing. This turned out not to be the case. A quick look gave the impression that there were just as many girls seated. The dealers, all dressed in the black Kansankai uniform, were standing ready at their table.
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''"Yumeko!"'', I yelled when saw where she was.
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''"Hey, Suzui-san!"'' She waved and smiled. Her long black hair was draped over her chair. 
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''"I'm rooting for you! Give it your best shot!"'', I yelled again.
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''"I will!"'', she replied, raising her fist to shoulder height.
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Unexpectedly, my yelling raised a stir in the crowd. ''"Dude, did you just say 'Yumeko'?!" "Hey guys, Jabami is playing!" "Wait, what? I'm gonna place a bet right now!"''
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Ah yes, of course. Yumeko is famous when it comes to gambling. Or infamous, depending on who you ask. The other players at her table caught on too. One was holding his head in his hands, cursing his bad luck.
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It suddenly became less crowded around me. People were off to sneak in a last second bet before the round started. It occurred to me that Mary wasn't here. Whatever it was she was doing, she had no time to come in here to cheer Yumeko on, leaving me a loner in the crowd. 
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The tables had the typical casino bright green felt finish. The textile made it easy to pick things up from the surface and the visual contrast it created made it easy to spot all the cards and chips.
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On each table was a card shuffle machine. I watched how the dealer at Yumeko's table used it. He dropped in a deck and waited a few seconds as the machine hummed. The deck popped out again. It was like a complicated toaster. 
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With fluid moves, the dealer took the deck and preformed a riffle shuffle. It's a quick manual way to shuffle cards. The deck is first split in two, then the halves are fanned onto each other so that the corners overlap.
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It was for practice, or perhaps the dealer wanted to give the players a demonstration. There might be suspicion of foul play if there was only a manual or only an automatic shuffle. However, with both performed, one after the other, it was safer to assume the card arrangement ended up as random at it could be.<br>
The dealer has several unopened decks on hand so he could swap in a pristine one from time to time. The setup looked fair and professional.
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---
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Mary and Yumeko played one hand of this same game before coming to the island. A pledge of obedience for the duration of the summer camp was at stake. 
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Both girls were remarkably lucky. Mary was confident with her three-of-a-kind but was beaten by Yumeko's full house. I was wondering if Yumeko was cheating but it seemed too far fetched. I was the dealer after all, so I should have spotted something if there was foul play.<br>
It seems Yumeko is just naturally fortunate, but I always get the feeling she is up to something sneaky. 
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All players were at their seat and the dealers were waiting for the go sign. The spectators noticed that action was imminent and lowered their voices.
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There was Kifune's voice again. She spoke on the intercom.<br>
''"Honored guests, the Ryouran Island Summer Camp Poker Tournament starts now! Dealers, please proceed."''
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A brand new deck was dropped into the card shuffler at every table. 
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