Casino Grand (III)
James stood up and stretched lazily.
Over the course of the last three hours, he had managed to slowly lose just under ten thousand dollars - the full amount of "fun money" that Phil had given him.
The pit boss hurried over to his side and asked obsequiously, "Is there anything I can help you with, Mr S?"
"No, I think I'm done for the night," James said, "It looks like lady luck is not on my side tonight."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Mr S. Maybe we can interest you in something to eat at our restaurants, or I can arrange a suite for you if you'd like to stay the night? It would be our pleasure of course."
"Not tonight. Maybe I'll come back with more ammo next week." James responded.
"Of course Mr S. You are always welcome here at the Casino Grand. If you do decide to stay with us, please do us the courtesy of letting Richard know. We'll do our best to accommodate you."
James smiled and nodded politely, while inwardly celebrating. In addition to setting up his cover story as an itinerant rich gambler who played for fun, he had gotten the casino to invite him back.
Now, when he took them for a big sum of money next week, they would excuse it as merely the vagaries of luck, confident that he would return and give them another shot at his wallet.
"Oh, there's a couple of things George. I'd like to give the machines a try. Could you convert my leftover chips for me? Also, is there a player's card machine where I can give the new player promo a shot?" James asked.
"Of course Mr S. I'll have the cashier issue a slot machine voucher that you can use at any of our machines. Also, I can take care of that for you here."
James passed over his player's card and leftover chips, before sitting back down and sipping on his fourth drink of the night.
"Thank you Mr S. Here is a slot machine voucher for a thousand dollars. We are pleased to inform you that you have won an additional thousand dollars in slot free play from the new player promotion. Simply insert your player's card into your slot machine and you will be able to draw upon the free play."
"That's great news. Thank you George." James said.
"Anything for our best players Mr S. Thank you again for your patronage, and we hope to welcome you back here again."
James finished the rest of his drink before getting up from the table once more and walking through the corridor out to the slot machines.
Behind him, Phil and the rest of the gang were still studiously trying to beat the blackjack game without any luck.
---
I wonder if my system is able to impact slot machines, James thought to himself, as he wandered around the slot area.
[ Yes. Those machines are nothing compared to God of Gamblers System. If System could not rig a simple machine, then System does not deserve the title. What System is saying is that System can help you manipulate the pseudo random number generators and generate any outcome you want from the machines. ]
Will I be required to conduct additional sacrifices in order to power that manipulation? James inwardly asked his system.
[ No. The offerings thus far are sufficient for this purpose. Unless, of course, you want to. ]
Another piece of the plan fell into place. If James had simply won at blackjack, or any other skill related games, it would be easy to suspect him of being a professional and enact countermeasures. However, if all of his winnings came from luck based games, including the supposedly unbreakable slot machines, then it would be impossible for the casino to stop him.
James sat down in front of a high limit slot machine and put in both his card and his voucher.
After a brief moment, the machine lit up with a series of lights, and announced on a small screen that both the free play and credits had been accepted.
Unlike the newer machines, which had gimmicks such as "Wheel of Fortune", "Top Dollar", or other commercial tie-ins with popular properties, James had picked a simple three reel machine.
This machine took in a maximum bet of two credits at twenty five dollars a credit, and had only a single pay line in the middle of the screen. A winning combination of symbols had to touch the pay line in order to count, and there were no fancy bells or whistles. If James hit three triple red sevens on the pay line, the machine would offer a maximum payout of twenty thousand credits.
There were also other smaller payouts for matching symbols of bar, double bar, triple bar, and single red sevens, ranging from forty, eighty, one hundred and twenty credits, and four hundred credits respectively. A set of mixed bar symbols would pay twenty credits, and finally, a single cherry on any reel would return the original bet, with two cherries paying four credits, and three cherries paying ten credits.
As far as slot machines went, this was amongst the simplest.
Other mechanical machines sometimes offered a bonus bet triggered when a special symbol hit the pay line, wild symbols that could be used in place of other symbols, or jackpots that increased over time as players lost. There were also video slot machines that used software to emulate the slot reels and offered free games and other perks.
James picked this machine for a simple reason. It was the most basic amongst the mechanical machines, and hence the machine that the casino would believe would be the most resistant to any form of interference.
After all, when he started hitting jackpots for half a million dollars a pop, he wanted to be sure that there was no doubt in the casino's mind as to the reason why.
Luck.
[ Should we start being lucky now? System can crack this machine without breaking a sweat or blinking an eye. If you are looking down on System by picking something simple, you do not have to worry. System can break any machine. ]
No, James mentally told his system. We want to be unlucky today. Today is all about building the right profile and the right image. The foundation we lay today will pay dividends in the future.
[ That's boring. ]
Do you have a better idea? James asked his system mentally. The goal here is not to take them for a small hit, it's to come back and take them for as much as we can, while they watch on from the sides and encourage us.
[ Actually, System does have a better idea. System suggests you win a big prize today, and then lose it all back immediately. The history of playing back your winnings will reassure the casino and encourage them to let you continue gambling. ]
James paused in his tracks. Surprisingly, that was actually a really good idea for once.
[ System is the God System for a reason. ]
Alright then, James thought to himself once more, let's hit a big win early and then play it all back. Not the jackpot, but maybe the single red sevens.
[ Easy. Just press the button. System will set things up so you win on the tenth spin. ]
James looked up at the machine in front of him once more, before giving it a gentle caress on the side and pressing the spin button.
---
Above, the eyes in the sky watched his every movement. It was not a common occasion for a big fish gambler to stroll into a casino, and the casino operations executives were eager to follow his movements.
Upon seeing the caress, one of the managers could not help but let loose a snort.
"Even the high rollers believe in treating a machine right." He said with a chuckle, before turning his head back to look at the screens showing Phil's group.
"It's a shame he's not in for more. If he whaled tonight, we may be in for a good bonus this quarter." Another manager said with a laugh.
---
The first spin came up empty, with no symbols on the pay line.
The second spin came up with a single cherry, winning James his two credits back.
The third spin came close, with two bars on the pay line, but the final reel showing a bar just above the pay line.
The fourth spin was anti-climatic, with a blank symbol arriving on the earliest reel before the next two showed matching bars.
The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth spin were similarly losing spins.
The tenth spin, however, was special.
Three red sevens lined up from left to right. Bright lights and loud music started flashing from the machine, attracting congratulatory messages from the other gamblers around him.
On the small screen below the reels, a blinking red message could be seen.
"Jackpot. Hand pay: $10,000. Please call attendant."