Okay, so Masaka was supposed to slip the 5 of Hearts into Phoenix's pocket then deal him him a fixed hand of 3 Aces. What I don't get is where she got the 5 of Hearts from and how it would have affected Phoenix's game. Also, if he placed the 5 of Hearts that he found in his pocket inside a grape juice bottle then how did he get dealt a hand of 2 Aces and not 3? Was the 5 of Hearts in his pocket some kind of signal to Masaka to deal him a fixed hand of 3 Aces?

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The idea was that Masaka would deal Kagerou 2 aces, and Phoenix 3--making 5 aces, which would be an obvious sign of cheating. That way, when Kagerou demanded to search Phoenix and found the 5 of hearts, it would look like Phoenix had been dealt a bad card, but switched it with an ace he had on him. It would implicate Phoenix as having cheated.

Phoenix discovered the 5 ahead of time so that he couldn't be accused of having extra cards on him.

Though...I don't remember if they explain why it is that Masaka ended up giving Kagerou the extra ace, other than she simply screwed up. Which is why he beat her up.

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Oh! That makes sense now. Thanks, Croik!

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