Editing Kakegurui Trip Fulltext (section)

==Chapter 4, part 5==

I watched the dealer at Yumeko's table perform the riffle shuffle again. He did it almost simultaneously with the dealers on the other tables. For a brief moment, the hall was filled with the oddly pleasant noise of clicking paper.
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As the cards were dealt to the players, the girl seated next to Yumeko spoke. ''"Did I hear that right, you are Yumeko Jabami-san?"''
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Yumeko turned to her and nodded.
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''"I'm a big fan! It's an honor to play with you!"'', the girl continued with her high-pitched, excited voice.
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''"The honor is mine. Let's have a fun game."'' Yumeko replied with a smile.
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The girl squealed. 
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''"Please, place your ante"'', the dealer said.
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In front of each player was large pile of chips. No hands were played yet so everyone's pile was the same at this point. The denominations of each pile added up to a million, reflecting the million Yen entrance fee. 
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In order to not let the tournament drag out, an ante system was used. Before the start of each played hand, all players had to add the ante to the pot. Initially it was 20 thousand, but after some played hands, it doubled to 40 thousand. After some hands, it would double again to 80 thousand, and so forth.
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It was still possible to play carefully, but not for long. If the round kept going, the ante would eventually force any remaining players to bet big.
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The players obeyed and moved one chip towards the center of the table. This was the 'pot', a pile of chips that the player who won the hand would take. In this case, the pot started at 100 thousand.
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''"You may check your hand"'', the dealer continued.
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Everyone cupped their hands and peaked at their cards. Picking them up in a setting like this was a bad idea. There were eyes all around and you'd never know if anyone from the public was passing information to players. The cards remained face down on the table with only the edge of them briefly exposed when the players looked. The hands and body were used to obstruct the line of sight of any onlookers during the peek.
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After peeking, Yumeko removed her hands from the table and sat up straight. A lot of people were looking at her. Some with caution, some with envy or even fear.<br>
She had her usual faint smile, but showed nothing else. She looked like a wax doll or an android. I'm sure she was completely unreadable for anyone. 
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''"Please, discard"'', the dealer commanded.
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In this tournament there was no betting before the discard phase. Each player got rid of any cards they wanted, faced down, as their first move and was dealt replacements. Only then did the mind games start in the betting phase.
In each hand played, the players declare their intention in clockwise order. In the first hand, the player after the dealer goes first. In the second hand, the next player clockwise goes first, and so on.<br>
Players can bet and raise to add chips to the pot. When a player says 'call' instead, it means they are matching the money the others put in but do not wish to increase the bet. There is also the option to 'fold'. This means the player forfeits the hand and doesn't have to add any more chips to the pot. 
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The first player sitting clockwise after the dealer was a guy. He discarded two and so did Yumeko. When taking it at at face value, this was a strong show. Keeping thee cards implies you may have a three-of-kind already.
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Everyone received their replacements and the dealer continued with the same stern but neutral voice. ''"Please, start the betting."''
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The guy first in line reacted immediately. ''"Bet! 200 thousand!"'', he said while staring at Yumeko.
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Betting ten times the ante right off the bat is aggressive play. It was quite a bold move and possibly just a bluff. If you have a really good hand, the last thing you'd want to do is scare the other players away. Rather, slowly luring them in to a big pot is what you'd typically want to go for.
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''"Fold"'', said the next guy in line, sliding his cards towards the dealer. That was probably a wise move. The tournament rules were punishing passive play, but getting reckless so early on was no good either.
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The third player in line was also a guy. ''"I fold too"'', he said with a sigh. 
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This left the initial aggressor, Yumeko and her squealing fan girl in the race for this pot. The aggressor was visibly amused. Things were going his way. His wide grin made that all too obvious. It was exactly the opposite of a poker face. 
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''"I'll raise ya to 300 thousand!"'', Yumeko said loudly, almost like she was singing a tune. She then eagerly pushed the chips forward.
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There were oohs and aahs from the spectators. Yumeko narrowed her eyes and stared at the aggressor intensely. I had seen her like this before but it still shocked me a little. It was both an invitation and a taunt.
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''"Wow! Jabami-san, you're so awesome!"'', the fan girl squealed again. ''"I have to fold, though. Such a shame!"''
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The guy was not that easily defeated. ''"Re-raise! 350 thousand total!"'', he yelled and added another 150 thousand to the 200 thousand stack he had pushed forward earlier. 
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There was only one betting phase per hand in this tournament, but players were allowed to re-raise each other. Two players remained in this hand and the betting would only stop if one of them would call or fold. 
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Yumeko matched him and then added one more chip. ''"Raise. 360 thousand total."''
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10 thousand was the smallest denomination chip available in this tournament. After adding such a large amount to the pot, it was an odd move to raise the minimum.
I understood that this was a mind game. One that was way out of my league. I had no clue if any of them actually had a good hand or not.
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The guy yelled again. ''"Raise to 400 thousand."''
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''"Re-raise. 410 thousand total"'', Yumeko responded immediately, as if she had already decided to do this beforehand.
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The guy must have been thinking that everybody would fold if he would raise so confidently. He would have been right, if not for Yumeko. She was not that easily intimidated. 
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Step by step, the pot was getting bigger and bigger.<br>
The guy was visibly shaken. He was breathing deeply and sweating. He must have felt like he was playing a terrifying game of tag; Wearing himself out to tag his opponent, only to be tagged back immediately and effortlessly.
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He loosened his tie and spoke with a stained voice. ''"Raise, 570 thousand."''
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Yumeko didn't skip a beat. "Raise, 580 thousand." She was staring at him with cool composure and a natural blinking pattern.
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The difference between them was somewhat comical. The other players were watching in bewilderment. The dealer remained professional but briefly showed a faint smile now and then.
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The guy took a deep breath. ''"Okay, I'll do it! I'm going all-in! Show me what you've got, Yumeko Jabami!"'' He avoided eye contact and looked down onto his cards.
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All-in is shorthand for betting all the chips you have. Players are usually forced into this move when their chip count is low. Having someone do it in the first hand played is a rare occurrence. What was this guy thinking? He looked like he was seeking answers. He might find them with the resolution of this hand, which was now imminent.
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Yumeko's shoulder trembled briefly. Even though their eyes weren't meeting, she kept looking at the guy.<br>
''"Hihi... How thrilling it is to throw in everything on the first hand..."'', she said, putting her palms on her chest and looking up. She was blushing and pursed her lips slightly. ''"Let us lose ourselves in the exhilaration! Call!"''
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The pot was now 2,060,000. It was all of Yumeko's and that guy's chips plus the ante from the other three players. It didn't matter in this case if Yumeko said 'all-in' instead of 'call'. The result would have been the same. 
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''"We'll now move on to the showdown. Please flip over your cards"'', the dealer said.
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