Casino Grand (VII)

The ball rested on the edge between two pockets for what felt like an eternity as the crowd held their collective breaths.

On one side of the edge, there was a red pocket with the number twenty seven emblazoned across the top. On the other side, it was the cursed number thirteen.

The ball wobbled a little, before falling over and settling into the counter-clockwise pocket.

"Twenty Seven. Red." A deep voice announced to the accompaniment of raucous cheers and applause.

Another half million dollars in chips slid their way across the felt to join the huge stack belonging to James.

Richard took out a handkerchief from his pocket and surreptitiously wiped his brow, before turning to James with a beseeching look.

"This dealer feels unlucky to me." James commented quietly.

"No more please." James announced, before asking, "Can I buy back my marker?"

The pit boss took away twenty of the chips on the table, before bringing the clipboard back to James and ripping up the check.

"How would you like your winnings Mr S?" The pit boss asked, "We can give it to you in high denomination chips, deposit it into your front money account, or give you a check or cashier's check."

"I'll take a million in a cashier's check, and the rest in chips please. Can you hold the check for me with my backpack at the counter? I think I'll give baccarat a go." James said.

"Of course Mr S. We will have the check waiting for you when you leave later." The pit boss announced as the dealer swept away the colored roulette chips and pushed James four flags and four yellow chips.

James tossed a yellow chip back onto the table.

"A tip for the previous dealer."

Then, James stood up and walked away from the table, leaving the crowd in shock.

"Did he just win a million dollars?"

"Was that a thousand dollar tip?"

"Look at the board. It's all red. I heard he ran a thousand dollars up to a million."

The awed whispers of the crowd followed his footsteps.

A couple of adventurous gamblers sat down at the table and started betting heavily on black, believing that after a run of red, the run of black would follow.

Unfortunately, the roulette wheel had returned to it's original random state.

A few even more adventurous gamblers followed discreetly behind James, hoping to get in early on his next miracle. These gamblers vowed quietly to each other that they would follow his bets no matter what.

James smiled to himself a little.

This was an unforeseen and unintended circumstance, but very welcome. Although he had to limit himself in winning big, but reasonable amounts, the others following behind him would contribute towards the Organization's goal of hurting the casino's bottom line.

All in all, it had been a successful first foray.

The sound of trotting feet behind him brought James out of his reflection.

James turned around, half expecting security guards to escort him out of the premises and inform him that he was no longer a welcome guest.

That would be one of the methods a casino could use to limit it's exposure. Colloquially known as "eighty sixing", a casino could take advantage of the technicality and the law that the casino was private property. In so doing, they could bar entry to certain people, and politely request those unwelcome guests to leave or face the consequences of trespassing.

That was also what James had tried to avoid with his charades the previous week, and by limiting his wins to a nice round million. After all, by sticking to luck-based games and having a history of losing gracefully, he wanted to minimize any suspicion and maximize the odds of the casino believing he would return.

With only one legal identity, being barred would mean a lengthy period on the sidelines. As different joints tended to share information about who they trespassed, a negative outcome here would burn his Sanjay identity forever.

James lifted his head and prepared to meet his fate with stoic silence.

It was only Richard.

"Mr S! Mr S!" Richard panted as he caught up to James.

"Hey Richard, what can I do for you?"

"Mr S, I'm so sorry, but my superiors above have informed me that they believe you're too lucky for them. As a result, they are going to limit the doubling on win exception to a maximum of two times." Richard said.

"That's fine. I don't think I'll get anywhere close to that run again." James acquiesced.

"Also, and I'm very sorry for this, they've said that as you have yet to hit the four hour minimum play requirement in our agreement, the cashier's check will be temporarily held by the casino until the playtime requirement is met."

"No worries Richard. I think that's perfectly fair. Why else do you think I'm heading over to the baccarat table? I'm here to play. If I just wanted money, I'd be working instead." James said, emphasizing the experience from his previous trip.

"That's right Mr S. Thank you for being so reasonable. Please allow me to apologize on behalf of our senior executives. The operations people are on high alert over the last few weeks because of some unrelated matters, and frankly, it's demeaning that they could suspect someone like you." Richard said fawningly.

"High alert?" James asked, suspecting that this probably had to do with the Organization.

"Oh, it's nothing important Mr S. We've had a tip off from our parent company that a group of professional gamblers may come in and try to rip us off. Fortunately, they tend to be an unimaginative bunch and count cards at blackjack. They're actually very easy to spot." Richard explained patiently.

"How terrible! I hate people like that. Those activities make it harder for the rest of us to enjoy our time here. Also, I can't believe there are people who pretend to be professional gamblers. Gambling is a game of luck. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. If you can't handle the swings, then you're in the wrong sport." James said self-righteously.

"Exactly Mr S! Don't worry. I'll make sure you have a great time with us. Also, I've taken the liberty of allowing you to draw upon a credit limit up to the total of the million dollars you have on hold, just in case you need it to meet the four hour requirement. There's no reason you should forfeit such a lucky win like that. Even though the amount may not be very large in the grand scheme of things, it sure will be a story to tell for the ages." Richard said.

"Thank you Richard, I really appreciate your service. That could be very helpful. I might go try to hit an even bigger one at the slot machines after I finish my four hours." James said.

"Of course Mr S! With your luck today, I think it would be a waste if you don't try." Richard encouraged.

James turned around and headed to an empty five hundred dollar baccarat table isolated in the corner of the high limit room.

As he sat down on the last spot and put his chips on the felt, the empty seats to his right were quickly filled by his newly gained throng of adoring fans. They sat and waited silently, patiently, for James to begin betting.

James looked over his shoulder at Richard and asked, "Mind if we start with a new shuffle? I hate coming in and inheriting someone else's luck. The fact that the table is empty means it's bad luck too."

The table oohed and aahed at his wisdom, falling over each other in their efforts to agree.

"Yeah, can we shuffle please?"

"No disagreement from me here."

"Of course Mr S. No problem at all." Richard smiled and nodded quickly as he gestured to the dealer and pit boss.

The pit boss took out eight new decks of cards and placed them in front of the dealer.

With practiced motions, the dealer removed the rest of the deck and slid them into a slot on the table. Then, she unwrapped each of the decks and fanned them out, carefully removing the jokers and checking that every card was present and unmarked.

Finally, the decks were mixed together into the table and shuffled in a slow painstaking process.

Once the cards were assembled into a tall pile, the dealer went around the table offering each of the players an opportunity to cut the stack. Unsurprisingly, the first six seats passed in favor of James.

James picked up the colored cut card and studied the pile carefully.

[ Would you like System to tell you where to cut to maximize the chances of doubling? ]

James thought to himself for a couple of moments, before turning his attention and gaze to the dealer.

As was typical of many high limit rooms, the dealer was an attractive, slightly older, but not yet middle-aged, lady.

James smiled at her and placed the cut card back onto the felt.

"Dealer cut."