Being invincible is so lonely.
Roll five ones with five dice?
William couldn't help but laugh; for him, this was just too easy.
He put his hand on the dice cup and abruptly lifted it. The five dice flew into the air. The bar's lighting wasn't very bright at the moment, and Maria couldn't even see clearly how he caught the five dice.
But this act of tossing the dice looked impressive even if she didn't understand how it was done!
He must have practiced it!
Maria stared intently at the dice cup in William's hand until he placed it on the table.
"Five ones?" Maria's eyebrows raised, incredulous.
William extended his hand, motioning for her to uncover the dice herself, smiling silently.
Maria curiously opened the dice cup, and when she saw what lay before her, she raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking at William.
What William had rolled was not just five ones.
The five dice were neatly stacked into a column, with the top one clearly showing a one.
Maria took the dice down one by one; they were all ones, no mistake!
Such a skill might sound simple, but in reality, even Maria, who had run a bar for many years, had never seen it before.
If she had, it was only in movies and magic shows.
"This is ridiculous!"
A handsome young man nearby stared at the dice in amazement, exclaiming, "Maria, where did you find this godlike guy?"
"Nicholas, can you do this?" Maria asked the handsome young man.
Nicholas's head shook like a rattle drum: "If I were this good, I wouldn't be getting knocked out every night." After saying this, his eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to William.
"Do you still take apprentices?" Nicholas realized that if he had this skill, he could rule the nightlife.
"No!" William refused decisively, though he accepted the cigarette, "But, if you want to learn, I can teach you."
"Really?" Nicholas was beyond excited, lighting his lighter and leaning over, "My name's Nicholas Perez, just call me Nicholas."
"Alright." William took a drag on the cigarette. Fifty years ago, there were cigarettes, and William had even tried opium, but these things meant little to him.
After all, substances like nicotine and opium had no effect on his nerves, so there was no such thing as addiction.
"Don't get too excited just yet." Maria quickly called them to order, saying, "William, can you roll five sixes for me now, stacked up just like before?"
William picked up the dice cup, gave his wrist a flick, and the dice fell into the cup. With a light shake, he uncovered the dice cup, and the five dice were again stacked in a column.
"My God... how is this even possible?" Nicholas's eyes were practically popping out of his head. He had initially thought he'd take this opportunity to learn a bit.
But William had merely shaken his wrist, and the five sixes had stacked up. How could he learn that?
Should he mimic William's movement or his facial expression?
Maria's mouth hung open, and she couldn't help but break into a silly grin.
She had struck gold!
This time, she really had struck gold!
"Maria, are you still doubling my salary as you said earlier?" William wasn't interested in money handed to him, but earning money himself was a different matter.
"Of course." Maria said decisively, "As long as you work hard and can really drink as you claim, a base salary of six thousand dollars, plus commissions on drinks, and with good performance, earning twenty thousand dollars a month is easy."
"That's acceptable." William had some understanding of modern prices; a pound of rice was only a couple of dollars, high-quality beef in New York was about forty dollars per pound. Earning twenty thousand a month would have been considered a high income even fifty years ago.
"Alright, Nicholas, you'll take William with you tonight to join me and my group of girlfriends," Maria said to Nicholas. "Nicholas, teach him the things you guys usually play; he doesn't know how to yet."
Nicholas was somewhat puzzled. He had just seen William's performance with the dice and thought he was a master who frequented the nightlife, so it was unexpected that Maria would ask him to guide William.
"You're William, right? Ever played Texas Hold'em?" Nicholas asked William.
William honestly shook his head.
Nicholas took a deep breath and briefly explained the rules to him.
"Don't worry, the rules are quite simple. Let me explain them slowly to you. First, each player receives two private cards that no one else can see. Now, some 'blind bets' need to be placed. There are a small blind and a big blind just to the left of the dealer. Don't be nervous; these are just initial bets to start the game. Next, we have four betting stages. At the beginning, you can choose to call, raise or fold. In the second stage, we place three community cards face up on the table, then bet again. A card is added in the third and fourth stages, with a bet after each card. The goal now is to form the best five-card hand using your two private cards and any three of the five community cards. Finally, we reveal the private cards to see who has the best hand. If you're worried about forgetting the card rankings, don't worry. Sounds a bit complicated? No problem, we can take it slow and learn as we play. Are you ready? Let's try playing a hand!"
After a round...
Nicholas was taken aback, "Not bad luck, huh? You won the first game; let's try again."
William smiled, thinking that this little game was a bit too simple.
Not to mention intuition, just with his observational and memory skills, as long as he didn't want to lose, there was no chance of losing.
They played twenty consecutive hands, and Nicholas's mental state was already shattered.
"Maria, are you sure he really doesn't know how to play?"
There were not many customers in the pub at the moment, and Nicholas called out loudly, genuinely questioning his life choices.
"I've lost twenty hands," Nicholas said, looking at Maria with a face of utter despair. "He's clearly playing the fool."
Maria was also astonished. Winning twenty consecutive hands in Texas Hold'em was very rare, at least she had never seen it happen in all her years.
"You guys play something else."
Nicholas reluctantly said, "Then Beer Pong!"
William looked at him.
"Don't tell me you don't know how to play again!" Nicholas was glad they were just playing for fun earlier; otherwise, losing twenty consecutive rounds meant he wouldn't have to work that night.
William nodded again, "Really don't know!"
Nicholas once again explained the rules to him.
Ten minutes later...
Nicholas and Maria sat opposite William, staring at him blankly.
Nicholas had lost thirty-five consecutive rounds, and Maria had lost twenty-one.
Both were stunned.
"We play darts!" Nicholas explained the rules of darts to William, emphasizing that the triple 20 is the highest scoring spot.
After three rounds, they stopped playing.
William could hit the triple 20 spot accurately every time. What's the point of playing then?
Maria finally realized that when it comes to small games, William is simply unbeatable.
"William, let me tell you, you're great at playing these games, but you can't play like this," Maria said, having fully realized William's capabilities. "If you keep winning when you play with customers, they won't have a gaming experience. You have to lose one out of three or one out of four rounds; at least you have to lose sometimes. Also, if a customer loses three times in a row, you have to accompany them with a drink."
If William continued to be invincible when playing with customers, who would dare to challenge him after playing once?