chsdbacks Chapter 170 The Card of Transformation
Chapter 170 The Card of Transformation
Chapter 180 The Ditto Card
There is a well-known exaggerated analogy: when human ancestors first picked up bone clubs from the ground to use as tools, they were only one step away from piloting spaceships and roaming in space.
Leaving aside the question of whether the more skilled Marowak, adept at using bone clubs, will one day inherit the torch of civilization and follow in humanity's footsteps to the stars… this romantic metaphor actually offers some inspiration—
Once an intelligent being has mastered effective ways to improve itself, whether it can ultimately succeed is only a matter of time.
.
Splash, splash, splash.
In the early hours of the morning, on the ninth deck of the Royal Union, Vio, who had been battling it out all night on the gambling ship, waved his arms and shoved over a mountain of chips of various colors, flashing a cold, wintery smile at the dealer in front of him—
"All in," the old man said, raising his eyebrows proudly.
"My bet is placed, Mr. Dealer, please deal the cards."
Stud Poker, originally the name of a poker game, later came to mean "all in," which means betting all your chips on the outcome of the next game, a scenario most loved by people in casinos.
"Mr. Vio, this is the first time tonight that you've bet all your chips on the table, aside from the one you borrowed at the beginning. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Amidst the scattered chips like trash, the ninth-floor casino manager, his back already soaked with sweat, finally mustered his courage. Ignoring the stern gazes of the audience, he cautiously descended the tiered stands and approached the old man, interrupting Vio's confident aura of victory—
"The game is ever-changing, and a single misstep can lead to certain doom. Our casino is willing to offer an excellent guest like you the opportunity to back out. Even if you disembark now, you can still receive a staggering bonus of 5 billion Alliance Coins. There is no need to risk losing everything in the next round of gambling—you can simply give up this round."
Despite his lack of confidence, the casino manager maintained a facade of composure and tried to persuade this formidable guest to leave the table.
"risk?"
Vio narrowed his eyes, feigning hesitation to create a certain atmosphere. The sages of the Plasma Cluster seemed to relish such manipulative tactics.
As expected, boos and jeers gradually rose from the surrounding crowd, and the casino manager, surrounded by enemies, became even paler.
"As long as you're alive, you have to take risks, Mr. Casino Manager."
The old man then spoke leisurely: "Everyone has a 1 in 3000 chance of being in a car accident every day, a 1 in 600,000 chance of being hit by lightning, and a 1 in 75 million chance of dying from an asteroid impact—compared to such slim probability events, the dealer's next card is much more real... and much easier to predict."
At this point, Vio extended his wrinkled index finger and pointed to the blackboard behind him, which had been carried up nine layers along with it. It was now filled with intricate mathematical formulas, resembling a primeval forest.
After boarding the Royal United, the old man began to tirelessly add new content to the blackboard, much like a math teacher giving a basic lesson to his students.
Among the mathematical symbols he wrote down, there were no records of Vio's own card counting; a mathematical master like him could have easily done that in his head. The notes he wrote down were all pure gambling principles, card game probability models simplified into mathematical equations.
Vio generously shared his legendary card-counting skills, a hallmark of the casino world, with everyone present. Once gamblers mastered these techniques, they became invincible at the gambling table—in fact, many guests on the Royal Union who had only attended half of Vio's lecture had already returned to the game.
To the casino's relief, these individuals were clearly no match for the legendary casino players who dominated the field. Although their winning percentage had improved slightly, they were still only able to break even with the house. However, if these customers were allowed to continue practicing, this delicate balance of income and expenditure would crumble.
But there are priorities, and the real crisis that's pressing right now is the card game the old man is playing—
"If you could understand the formulas I wrote down and have recorded the past hands at this table, you would understand my current odds of winning..."
Vio stroked the cuffs of his purple robe, completely ignoring the livid faces of the casino staff in front of him, and shook his head to reject the casino manager's offer.
A new round of gambling began under the old man's stubborn insistence. The players, who should have been extremely nervous, kept babbling on and on—after the previous gambling games, everyone knew that this was not a self-deceiving act of feigned composure, but a display of unwavering confidence.
On the ninth deck of the gambling cruise ship, Mr. Vio's 21st blackjack game officially began.
Yes, Vio is still playing blackjack; he's been playing blackjack all night.
From the first to the ninth floor of the gambling cruise ship, the betting chips have grown from a few to a mountain, and the gambling environment has changed from a noisy lobby to a grand stage resembling an opera house. This casino legend, proficient in mathematics and logic, continues to play the same game over and over again.
According to his calculations, blackjack is the most advantageous game for gamblers in casinos. By memorizing cards and strategically placing bets, players have a base win rate of 50.1% against the house—a terrifying number in casinos, even higher than the success rate of Pokémon using the "Protect" move repeatedly.
A certain formula, like a hibernating bear in a cave, brazenly occupies the very center of the blackboard—
F = (bp - q) / b.
Where p is the win rate, q is the odds, and b is the profit/loss ratio—the F calculated from this is the optimal betting ratio.
People were amazed to see that even in the most unfavorable hands, the old man would at least place a chip, and whenever he placed a small bet, the game would become a tightrope walk; while when he placed a large bet, it was often a sure victory for the player. Of course, there were wins and losses, but Vio's chips steadily increased round after round.
After each round of gambling, Vio can recalculate the probabilities of the remaining cards based on the cards already drawn. After repeated operations, the originally chaotic deck will become clear.
"For your casino, using a mechanical shuffling device is a complete mistake. Even the most complex pseudo-random algorithm can be cracked."
Looking at the cards being dealt and the dealer's revealed cards, the old man became increasingly spirited—
"Now, based on the formula deduced from the blackboard marked H3, I have completely mastered your shuffling patterns. This means that in this round of gambling, every card the dealer draws is an open card for me—there is a 100% probability that my next hand will form a perfect hand of 21, while the dealer is destined to choose a more dignified way to lose between continuing to draw cards and self-destructing or drawing a hand of lower value than mine."
Just like in a two-variable equation, once the first variable is substituted into the formula, the second variable will also be revealed. As the old man thoroughly understood the deck of cards, he also began to calculate the shuffling mechanism—and this was the time to obtain the result.
.
"This old man also looks arrogant."
In a spectator section with a good view outside the gambling table, the Psychic-type Gym Leader from Kanto curled his lip in dissatisfaction and said to the person next to him—
"Hey, King of Blueberries, if you let Vio keep gambling, your casino will go bankrupt soon, won't it? Do you need me, a superpowered person, to help you turn things around?"
Vio's flamboyant behavior displeased Naz, who, unusually, showed mercy and offered to help. However, a long time passed without any response to the actress's suggestion.
The casino owner turned around and saw that the casino's owner, Yueju, was staring intently at the blackboard behind Vio. He had found a notebook somewhere and was writing formulas with great speed, his face showing the same excitement as any other gambler.
Natsume immediately facepalmed—she had almost forgotten that the man next to her, the King of Blueberries, was the most fervent and obsessed gambler in the casino. Compared to the onlookers, he was the one most fascinated by Vio's formula.
Suddenly, Lingju let out a long sigh and wrote a number heavily on the manuscript paper in her hand—
"The dealer's next hand is a 3, which is no match for the player's 21-point hand... It's truly amazing mathematical magic. I thought that using the high-low card counting method was the limit of this casino legend's skills, but I didn't expect that he could even deduce the pseudo-random algorithm of the gambling table - indeed, the old fox is still the spicier."
Then, Lanju shook her head at Sabrina: "The reason this ship is able to attract a constant stream of guests is because of our absolute fairness within the rules. If we deliberately target guests to minimize losses, then what's the difference between us and a con artist who puts a Ditto card in a deck of cards?"
"The Ditto Card?" Upon hearing this strange term, the Kanto Gym Leader immediately became curious.
“This is an ancient cheating technique I heard about from your hometown, the Kanto region,” the Evil King explained.
"It refers to turning Ditto into a playing card and mixing it into the deck. When someone draws a card, the trainer can use subtle actions to hint at it, thus turning it into the card with the desired value. In this way, the Ditto trainer can freely control the outcome of the bet at will."
“You can use the same technique when gambling with coins,” said Yueju with a wink and a smile.
"However, this kind of cheating technique is completely ineffective against someone like Vio who is skilled at card counting. He can predict the next card using mathematical methods, so it's impossible for him not to realize the trick. The Ditto card will be exposed in an instant. Casinos do not reject cheating techniques, but the premise is that they must not be discovered by anyone. Blatant cheating is tantamount to ruining one's own reputation."
"I see." Natsume also looked enlightened, understanding why Cranberry had done nothing.
"Even if I could use my superpowers to shuffle the cards under the gambling table for you, Vio would immediately realize that it was done by a superpowered person. At that time, he only needs to send out a Psychic-type Pokémon to check the psychic fluctuations in the vicinity to prove his correctness."
"exactly."
The moment the evil king finished speaking, the audience erupted in cheers. They saw the cards in Vio's hand: a 10 and an Ace, making a perfect 21.
The dealer, with a dark expression, flipped over the dealer's face-down card.
At these three points, the bookmaker suffered a crushing defeat.