Shi Li got in the car and found Wang Defa and Ping Ju were also there.
It turned out that the special car picked up not only him, but also two other representatives from the card hall industry.
The interior of the car is spacious and has plenty of seating.
Shi Li greeted the two of them and sat down.
The three of them were still in harmony at this time.
Because according to the rules of the qualifying tournament, a draw will be held before each round to determine opponents and the order of appearance.
There is a protection mechanism for contestants from the same industry, and they will not be drawn as opponents in the first three rounds.
"Director Wang, Coach Shi, this competition depends on your performance."
On the way to the venue, Pingju said to the two with a smile.
He roughly knows his level and feels that it is difficult for him to make it into the top six.
After all, although the card hall industry is directly related to Cube Cards, this does not mean that card players in other industries are weak.
"Haha, it's fine as long as we don't draw together in the last three rounds."
Wang Defa was full of confidence. He waved his hand and raised a flag.
Given his status and level in the city, he would be laughed at if he couldn't even qualify.
The special car drove for half an hour and arrived at the venue belonging to the association.
Shi Li was quite familiar with this venue, as it was where he participated in the Rising Star Comprehensive Competition.
The number of participants in that event was much greater than today.
But in the audience, it was the exact opposite.
Except for the semi-finals and finals of the Rising Stars Tournament, the entire venue was sparsely packed.
Today, as soon as Shi Li entered the venue, he felt the atmosphere of the crowd.
The auditorium was packed.
“It’s a competition that only happens once every few years.”
Pingju looked around the packed auditorium and couldn't help but sigh: "For ordinary people and ordinary poker players, the city tournament is already the biggest tournament."
"Three of you, please go to the contestant room to draw lots."
Under the guidance of the staff, they came to the meeting room.
Representatives of the card hall industry naturally received widespread attention from other players.
"Director Wang, long time no see!"
"Hello, Director Wang."
"Director Wang, please go easy on us later!"
Many people took the initiative to greet Wang Defa.
After all, Wang Defa's status and position in the city's poker circle are obvious.
Many of the players present had even been explained by Wang Defa.
When they heard that Wang Defa was going to participate in this selection, they were all shocked and surprised.
More importantly, isn’t 6 places equivalent to 1 less?
Of course, some people also looked at Shi Li and whispered to each other.
"Have you seen that human boy? I heard he's quite strong."
"He is the second best in the card room industry this time. No one can stop him except Wang Defa."
"So amazing, and looks so young..."
"Oh, don't be deceived by appearances."
"Have you heard about the 1v10 incident at the card show hall?"
"Ah? It's him?"
The voices of those people became louder and louder, while Shi Li and Ping Ju came to the last row of seats and sat down.
"Huh... This atmosphere is not very pleasant."
Shi Li felt that they were almost becoming animals in a zoo, especially Wang Defa, who was surrounded by people greeting him. He was sweating just from shaking hands.
However, he found that there were a few people who remained sitting in their seats without moving.
He doesn't seem to care much.
"Did you find out?"
Following his gaze, Pingju also saw these people.
Shi Li: "What did you find?"
Pingju: "Competitors."
Shi Li: “?”
Ping Ju: "No way, Coach Shi, you didn't even pay attention to today's opponents."
Shi Li: "Didn't they say that the card hall's logistics team would provide us with information about who we were drawn before the game?"
Pingju: “That’s true.”
Shi Li: "Then why bother to find out in advance."
Pingju: "..., what you said makes sense."
However, investigating the opponent in advance is to give yourself a rough idea.
So he simply told Shi Li all the information he had at the moment.
In the city's card circle, or in other words, among the 64 industries in this session, there are 3 recognized leading industries.
The first one, of course, is the card hall industry that engages in work related to cube cards.
In addition, with Wang Defa's participation in this year's competition, he has already been booked as the first person.
Therefore, the card hall industry naturally receives a lot of attention.
The second is the club.
The city has a well-developed service industry, employing a huge number of people.
But there are actually very few people in this club line.
There are a total of 8 clubs in the city, including 1 large and 7 small ones.
The bigger one is naturally the one Shi Li often goes to.
I heard that the club didn't even hold internal trials this time.
Since no one from the other seven clubs participated, the club owner simply waved his hand and nominated three people.
However, even so, the club remains a strong contender in every session.
"Do you see that robot over there?"
While introducing, Pingju pointed to the contestant sitting in the corner at the other end.
"This guy... is a little weird."
Shi Li looked in the direction where he was pointed and frowned slightly.
The other party was a fully silver humanoid robot, a rather uncommon appearance.
After all, the machine race is a large race, and humanoid machines are everywhere on the streets.
But I always feel that this contestant's figure is a bit erratic.
“Because it’s not just any robot.”
"But... the Youyou Mechanical Clan."
"Oh? There is such a race?"
Shi Li raised his eyebrows. This was indeed quite unexpected .
"The club's new manager for the past two years, hehe, da da, da da."
"...Can I complain about this name?"
"Alas, you can't understand the art of naming of the mechanical race."
Pingju waved his hand and introduced it.
Different from the mechanical tribes that Shi Li met in Kuang Kuang City, this manager Hehe Dada Dahao is good at the Youyou deck.
According to his ranking, this manager Hehe Dada Dahao is at least in the top five in overall strength in the selection competition.
At this time, the manager seemed to notice the gazes of the two people and turned to look over.
Then he took off his mechanical head and waved it towards them.
"Is it demonstrating to us? Something like 'What are you looking at? If you keep looking, I'll rip your heads off.'"
Shi Li tried to interpret the other person's body language.
"What are you talking about?"
Pingju said he was thinking too much.
This behavior is equivalent to the hat-taking ceremony of humans in the mechanical race, and can be regarded as a greeting.
This shows that the manager of Hehe Dada Dahao is quite nice.
"I see."
After getting the explanation, he nodded and gave the other party a middle finger.
"Shi Li, it's been a long time."
Just then, a beautiful figure stood in front of him.
This is a young and tall girl from the Winged People tribe who has wings instead of hands.
"You are...Jing...Jingyu."
Shi Li pondered for a few seconds and slapped his head.
"Qingyu, it's Qingyu!"
Qingyu put his hands on his hips, a little annoyed.
"I'm looking forward to meeting you at the tryouts."
Ever since she lost in the Rising Star Comprehensive Tournament, she has been thinking about seeking revenge on Shi Li in a formal public tournament.
I'm coming here now just to declare war.
"I lost to you last time because I didn't use the strongest deck!"
"And I am different now than I was before!"
"Just wait and see, huh!"
After saying this, Qingyu turned around and left.
“…”
Looking at the other person's leaving back, Shi Li shook his head.
Although this guy has a pair of non-human bird-wing arms, he is generally very close to humans and belongs to the humanoid race.
The humanoids were not eligible to live in his villa, which was reassuring.
"Coach Shi, do you know her?"
Pingju came over at this time.
"It's not like we know each other."
Shi Li briefly introduced the process.
"Really? I didn't expect you two had this kind of connection."
"This Miss Qingyu is indeed a rising star that the association has been actively cultivating in recent years."
After listening, Pingju nodded.
The last remaining of the three leading industries in the city is the Cube Brand Association.
Needless to say, the status of the Cube Card Association in the circle is very important.
If the many card halls in this city are just an association, then the Cube Card Association is a whole.
The competition in previous city competitions mainly took place between the three leading industries, among which the Cube Card Association had the best historical results, even the card halls could not compare with it.
"The leader among this year's association players is Miss Qingyu, a young poker player of level 17."
"Oh? Level 17?"
Shi Li himself was only LV13, but he didn't expect that the other party was already LV17, upgrading faster than himself.
It must be krypton.
"Because the player's talent is so strong, Miss Qingyu's deck is formed very quickly."
"In this selection, her overall ability can rank in the top three."
Pingju held up three fingers.
If Shi Li remembered correctly, the opponent's player's talent seemed to be inspired by some card.
The kind that can transform any card into a specified card.
As Pingju said, with the help of such talents, players can develop quickly in the early stages.
And it is very easy to put together a complete set, or even a deck of 10 identical cards.
This deck should be quite powerful for PVE.
Similarly, PVP is not weak either.
"Of course, others may not think so for the time being, but in my opinion, Coach Shi, you are also among the top three."
Pingju added.
"Don't mention it. I really want to try playing poker with her."
Shi Li didn't care about the ranking or anything like that. He touched his chin and looked interested.
After waiting for a while, all the contestants finally arrived.
Then everyone started drawing lots.
Shi Li drew the 80th game, which was relatively late.
Today is the first day of the qualifiers, and only the first round will be played, which means 192 people and a total of 96 games.
Every 4 games are carried out simultaneously in a wave, so he is naturally very far behind in the 80th game.
After drawing lots, the contestants went their separate ways.
You can choose to wait in the comfortable lounge, or go to the auditorium to experience a more lively atmosphere.
Shi Li’s choice was to go to the audience seats.
Because the idlers including Mushroom Saegu and his group who arrived at the scene on their own had already launched a series of life-threatening calls against him.
However, before he could leave the meeting room, he was stopped by the staff.
"Teacher Shi, please follow me."
"?"
…
In the audience, Mosaicgu put down the phone, looking confused.
"That guy Shi Li hung up the phone."
It reports to the straw men next to it.
"Are you going missing at this time?"
Ah Qing holds up a sign.
"Never mind him, let's watch, damn."
The straw man sipped his bucket of milk tea and didn't care.
"Master, don't you think it's embarrassing to be with us, so you don't come?"
Slime even had a special hairstyle today.
To be more precise, it is a head shape because it has no hair.
"If nothing else, you are really embarrassing right now."
Mushroom looked at Slime's new head shape and was like a defender.
Good morning, everyone.
[I am today’s host, Zhu Chichi]
At this time, the host's voice was heard from the public speaker in the venue.
As expected, the level of this selection contest is higher than the Rising Star Comprehensive Competition, and there have been hosts since the first round.
[Today we are honored to have a guest]
【Come, please say hello to everyone】
[…Hello everyone, I’m Shi, the coach of the show card hall]
"Fuck!"
"Mushroom!"
"Master-father!"
Hearing this voice, Yigu, Yicao, Yishi exclaimed on the spot.
"No wonder he didn't come. He went to the commentary desk to play."
Ah Qing raised the sign in sudden realization.
[Coach Shi is the champion of this year’s Rising Star Comprehensive Competition]
[Also participated in this year's selection competition]
[I believe some loyal viewers are familiar with him]
Let us welcome Coach Shi again.
[All the poker games this morning will be explained by me and Coach Shi]
[Now let’s take a look at the list of 8 players in the first match]
[Table No. 1, Qingyu VS Akuba]
【Table No. 2, ……】
【Table No. 3, ……】
【Table No. 4, ……】
[Coach Shi, what do you think of these 8 players? 】
After announcing the list, Zhu Chichi CUE Shi Li.
Shi Li: [These eight contestants... have one thing in common]
Zhu Chichi: [Oh? Coach Shi, what unique insights do you have?]
Shi Li: [I don’t know any of them]
Zhu Chichi: [……]
Zhu Chichi: [Hahaha, I didn’t expect Coach Shi to be such a joker]
Zhu Chichi: [If I remember correctly, you competed with Qingyu in the Rising Stars Comprehensive Tournament a few months ago.]
Shi Li: [Indeed, Qingyu's deck should be very strong]
Shi Li: [The association arranged her to play in the first match, probably to give today’s match a good start]
Shi Li: [Huh? Why are you stepping on me?]
Shi Li: [Oh, the contestants’ matches are all randomly drawn. The association definitely does not have any behind-the-scenes manipulation.]
Shi Li: [What matters is fairness and justice. Is it okay for me to say this? ]
Zhu Chichi: [Ahahahaha! Next, let’s go to a commercial! ]
When the microphone was cut off and the commercials started playing, Zhu Chichi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Coach Shi, there are some things you can't say publicly."
“We are broadcasting this live.”
She gave Shi Li a wry smile.
"Sorry, I didn't know how to do it the first time."
Shi Li also realized that he seemed too casual just now.
But there was nothing he could do. He was really not mentally prepared for this.
I guess it was arranged by Secretary He. He didn't even tell me in advance. I guess he just wanted to see me make a fool of myself.
Who knows, that guy might be laughing somewhere right now.
Just as Shi Li expected, at this moment in a VIP box, the management of Wang Defa Card Hall, Xiu Pai Hall and Local Balance Card Hall gathered together.
"Xiao He, this is what you arranged, right?"
Wang Defa asked Secretary He with a smile.
"Yes, it has actually been arranged a long time ago."
"But he didn't ask, so I didn't tell him."
Secretary He was holding a cup of coffee with a triumphant smile on his face.
At the same time, there is also relief.
Generally speaking, if you don't have some influence in the industry, you are not qualified to get on the commentary platform.
Even though Shi Li was the previous Rising Star Comprehensive Competition champion, he was not qualified.
The fact that the organizer took the initiative to extend the invitation a few days ago shows that the influence of their card show hall has been greatly improved recently and has been recognized.
If Shi Li explains it well, it might increase the popularity of the card show hall.
[The game is over, Qingyu wins]
Just as they were thinking this, everyone suddenly heard Shi Li say this.
They looked at the big screen, which was showing the match between Qingyu, the player at table No. 1.
However, the game had just begun, and both sides had just revealed the first row of cards and scene cards, so why was it announced to be over?
【ah ?】
Obviously, Zhu Chichi on the other end was also stunned, and for a moment he didn't even know how to respond.
It's right that you are optimistic about contestant Qingyu, but there's no need to be so decisive from the beginning.
This is a 9+1 game, and the advantages and disadvantages in the early stage cannot fully represent the direction of the game.
What's more, they had just unveiled the plaque and hadn't even moved yet.
Is it too early to draw such a conclusion?
[I have heard that Coach Shi is a great poker player and is widely recognized in the industry]
「You said this right at the beginning. You must have noticed something.」
[Is it because there are some big flaws in the four cards revealed by contestant Akubba? ]
[Or is there some secret hidden in these four cards of Qingyu? ]
[Please ask Coach Shi to analyze it for us so that we can learn from it]
However, Zhu Chichi reacted quickly.
After hearing what she said, the audience quieted down and listened attentively.
At the same time, he followed her words and looked carefully at the cards of both sides.
To be honest, none of them noticed anything unusual.
I even feel that Akubba's cards are more solid, and it looks like he should be able to gain some small advantages in this round.
Therefore, Shi Li’s conclusion made everyone even more curious.
What mystery did he see that so many other eyes failed to notice that led him to come to such a conclusion?
[cough cough]
So I heard Shi Li clear his throat and then said casually.
[No basis, just intuition]
"..." xN
【……】
[Ahahaha! I finally understood it! ]
[Coach Shi is trying to liven up the atmosphere! ]
[You are such an interesting poker player! ]
Such remarks are obviously unconvincing.
While Zhu Chichi was saving the situation, he was secretly groaning in his heart.
At this time, it is not my turn to evaluate or question the coach's card-playing level, but he is definitely not a qualified commentary partner.
It looks like I'm going to suffer this morning.
However, neither Zhu Chichi nor the audience present would have expected that Shi Li was just beginning.
The rest of the morning's commentary will go in a strange direction.
And Shi Li will also make a name for himself in a way outside the poker table.