Chapter 2 Cheating at Rummy

• I used to think the world beyond my little town would be full of excitement.
• When I finally left and arrived in the city, I realized everything felt just the same.
• Sure, there were more neon lights, taller buildings, and busier streets packed with cars, but the essence didn't change.
• When I left, Friday gave me one hundred bucks for the trip.
• Friday had money; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to have fun with so many women.
• He only gave me a hundred because ...
• "Money is everywhere out there. Women? They're all over the place. If you want them, go find them yourself."
• The problem was, I didn't know where to look.
• I live in Oreledo, an old city in Nheron, a place that rose during the gold rush but has long since faded into obscurity.
• Luckily, with Macvale nearby and Nheron's rather liberal laws on prostitution, the entertainment industry here had boomed. The place was packed with clubs and casinos.
• My goal was Macvale. My opponent? The real king of gambling. And a king has his pride—only a select few ever get to sit at his table.
• To even earn a seat, I needed to make a name for myself.
• My first stop was this city, Oreledo.
• I was going to become the card master here, and then challenge Macvale itself!
• First, I needed to stay low. Before you can defend yourself, showing off your gambling skills will only get you noticed—and make others rich. Friday always told me this.
• So, I found myself a job at Cosmos Club, a high-end entertainment venue in Nheron. These places cater to all kinds of adult entertainment—drinking, gambling, strip shows, and spas. I worked in the spa section, responsible for supplying the necessary amenities.
• Of course, not for the women's area.
• I had been working there for about six months.
• One afternoon, after finishing my shift, Carl Houston, my supervisor, called me over and asked me to take a fruit platter up to Scarlett Bell's office on the sixth floor.
• Scarlett was the club's manager. She was a young Aucrian woman in her mid-twenties.
• I vividly recall being astounded by her beauty the first time I saw her.
• She was beautiful, far more attractive than any of the hookers Friday had ever been with.
• She was about 5'7", with the kind of pale, smooth skin Aucrian women were known for, and not a hair in sight on her bare arms or legs—completely different from the Ardsea women I'd seen before.
• And those legs—they were long, slender, and practically glowing.
• She would enchant any man who laid eyes on her.
• When I knocked on the door, fruit platter in hand, Scarlett was in the adjoining room playing Rummy.
• Rummy was a gambling game that originated from Chuisal. It was a blend of strategy, entertainment, and social interaction.
• The staff at Cosmos knew how much Scarlett and her Aucrian friends loved it.
• Whenever they had some free time, they would play a few rounds upstairs.
• Even the people around them had picked up on the game, and many men jumped at the chance to play, hoping to catch Scarlett's attention.
• "Ms. Bell, here's the fruit platter you ordered," I said as I placed it on the table, preparing to leave.
• "Wait a minute," Scarlett called out.
• She gestured to the teapot and said, "Change the tea and brew it fresh. Use the imported box from Chuisal under my desk."
• I went ahead and boiled the water.
• While waiting, I stood nearby and watched them play the game.
• What they're playing is a high-stakes version of Rummy—each point is worth a hundred dollars.
• Don't underestimate that hundred dollars. In a single round of Rummy, it's not uncommon for the winner to score dozens of points. By the end of a game, players can easily be up or down by tens of thousands.
• From where I was standing, I could see Scarlett's cards, as well as those of the woman sitting next to her.
• This woman was also Aucrian, about the same age as Scarlett, but with a very different vibe.
• She was attractive but wore heavy makeup and a low-cut black top that exposed a large area of her chest.
• After watching for a bit, something felt off.
• At first, I thought it was just a casual game among friends.
• Then, I noticed that the woman in black and the man across from her were working together.
• They were cheating, and not very cleverly at that.
• It was one of the oldest tricks in the book—using hand signals to request cards.
• In this round, the woman in black won with a pure hand made up entirely of sets.
• She had her left thumb tucked under, and her right hand rested on the edge of the cards, eyes locked on the pile.
• The man across from her kept glancing at her hand, his gaze shifting nervously.
• Midway through the round, he discarded a joker, and the woman immediately snatched it up.
• At this point, I thought, could this really be just a coincidence?
• But even after she picked up the card, the signals continued. Her left thumb stayed tucked, and her right hand barely moved.
• I started piecing it together in my mind. If they were cheating, she must be waiting for another joker.
• Sure enough, a couple of turns later, the man discarded a joker.
• The woman in black melded her cards and quickly won by completing her hand.
• She won the round with 24 points.
• Scarlett and the other players each lost 2,400 dollars.
• There are countless ways to cheat at Rummy.
• Some involve conversation with a cue such as, "Let me tell you something important."
• An 'important point' could be a cue where they need a card from a specific suit, like a card showing a certain pattern.
• Alternatively, the cue could have been that someone is a real beginner—a newbie—which meant they might be looking for an Ace.
• The most common method is to use subtle hand signals, like this woman and the man were doing.
• They were signaling with their fingers, passing coded messages.
• I knew for sure they were cheating, but I didn't know what their relationship with Scarlett was, so I couldn't exactly call them out.
• When I finished making the tea and was about to leave, the man across from Scarlett got a phone call.
• It was a short conversation, and as soon as he hung up, he said, "Sorry, guys, I've got to go. My kid's sick. We'll play another time. Not my day anyway, lost over ten grand."
• As soon as he left, the woman in black began to complain.
• "Scarlett, what kind of people are you inviting here? He just leaves in the middle of the game! Yeah, right, sick kid. He's just a sore loser. I haven't even had my fun yet."
• Scarlett casually played with the cards in front of her. She smiled and said, "Kelsey, we all lost except you. And you complain that you haven't had fun yet. How much more do you want to win?"
• Kelsey Mack quickly counted her winnings, pouting as she said, "Not even 30 thousand yet. Scarlett, get someone else in here. I just want to play a few more rounds."
• When Scarlett called her Kelsey, it rang a bell. After some thought, I finally remembered her identity.
• Kelsey was a well-known socialite in Oreledo. She was a middleman who had connections to all sorts of high-profile people.
• Kelsey introduced many of the high rollers at Cosmos, explaining why she and Scarlett were on good terms.
• With no other options, Scarlett glanced at her phone's contact list, unsure who else to call at this hour.
• She then turned her gaze to me as I was pouring tea.
• Scarlett asked, "Saturn, you know how to play Rummy, right? Come join us for a few rounds."
• I didn't expect Scarlett to ask me, but I quickly responded, "I do, but you guys play with stakes that are way too high for me."
• Truth be told, with my years of gambling experience, I could've walked into that game without a penny and still won easily.
• Still, I had to downplay my abilities. That's what Friday drilled into me. He said a good gambler knows how to stay under the radar, never giving others a reason to suspect them until it's time to strike.
• "Don't worry, you'll play with my money. If you win, you keep it. If you lose, I'll cover it."
• Scarlett tossed a stack of bills—ten thousand dollars—onto the seat across from her.
• "Sit here and play with us," she said.
• I didn't argue further and took the seat across from Scarlett.
• Back in 2000, we didn't have automatic card shufflers. Everything was done manually, which made it easier to cheat.
• Not that it would've mattered if we did have shufflers—cheating was possible either way.
• As we shuffled the cards, Kelsey playfully ran her fingers across my hand and teased, "Well, aren't you young? Tell me, do you have a girlfriend? Still a virgin?"
• She laughed right after she teased me, as did Scarlett and the other man.
• I remained expressionless and focused on arranging my cards.
• When practicing Rummy strategies, the first thing Friday asked me to do was, while arranging my cards, I had to remember the cards I was dealt and keep track of any cards the others revealed during their turns. That way, even without cheating, I could still maintain a very high win rate.