Is it Gambling If You Have a Strategy?

I was looking at myself in the mirror, adjusting my bow tie and suit. On the table beside me were 34 gold coins, 28 silver coins, and 11 bronze coins. Andres and I continued pulling the Three Card Monte scam in different areas of the city.

It took me a few nights to do all the math for BlackJack, but I persevered through.

I was nervous about tonight. Card counting isn't a guaranteed win. In fact, you lose around half the time. The chances of me losing all my money were low, but there was a chance.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. My nerves have not calmed down in the slightest, but what can you do? I put on a false smile to cope better and grabbed my coins. I began walking down to the lobby.

When I walked outside and reached the bottom stairs, I looked over to Andres' room. Their lights were off and I saw three figures on the bed. It warmed my heart to see him and his brothers like that. He didn't really talk about his past with me, but he grew up poor and without his parents. I took it upon myself to become his financial adviser.

I shook my head and continued walking to the lobby. The attendant wasn't at the desk; instead, there was a sign that said to ring the bell. I continued into the game room. Immediately, all eyes were drawn to me.

A lot of the people there were buffed-up hunters. I was the black sheep among this crowd. It felt like when you were put into a group project where everyone else was friends and you didn't know them.

All of them were staring at me for a minute before they all started bursting into laughter. "Hahaha, who invited the Zephyr pipsqueak?"

I ignored them as I walked over to the table. The game hadn't started yet, so I didn't have to wait until they reshuffled. They still stared at me and made comments, but I continued to ignore them.

After all seven seats were filled, I placed the minimum bet.

"Come on kid, use more of your dad's money." One of the hunters said.

"A bit of friendly advice. There's a time to bet high. The beginning isn't the time." I told him, trying to sound vague. Writing this now, I'm cringing a little.

The dealer began distributing the cards. He went around the table, and two of the hunters before me busted, and the other one was at 19. The dealer had an 8. I had a Queen and 6.

"Hit," I told the dealer as the hunters laughed even more.

"Kid, you shouldn't be giving advice when you're making a mistake like that." The hunter that got 19 told me.

The dealer handed me a card. The 2 of Spades.

"Stand," I told the dealer.

"Hmph, beginner's luck." One of the players who busted said. The other player agreed with him.

I began to calculate the count. It's easier to do it after most people receive their hands as opposed to doing it when the dealer puts down a card. The count was positive 1 by the end of the round. The dealer revealed a 3 and got a 6 bringing his total to 17.

And that pretty much describes what happened all the rounds. Sometimes, I made a decision that seemed illogical but was mathematically correct and got bullied. This continued until the count got high, positive 12.

By this time, the other players were drained, but I was still around the same amount I started at. However, since the count got high, I began to bet more aggressively. This was my first time betting on a gold coin.

I got two 9s against the dealer's 8.

"Split," I told him as I put down another gold coin. He dealt more cards to me, giving me 9 Ace and 9 3.

"Double on the 9 and 3. Stand on the 9 Ace" I said, placing another gold coin down. My heart was pumping. If I got a 10, Jack, Queen, or King, I'd lose two gold coins. A higher count meant that there were more of those cards in the deck.

It felt like slow-mo as the dealer took the card from the deck and slowly flipped it over to me. It was still blocked until he flipped it over. It was an Ace.

That wasn't what I was expecting, but it would give me another heart attack. "Hit again," I told him as my heart began pumping again.

The reveal was still in slow motion, but when the card finally turned, it was an 8!

"Blackjack!" The dealer announced as they dealt themselves their own cards. They got 19, winning me two gold coins and 5 silver coins. This was worth about three hours of Three Card Monte.

"How is this brat winning?!" One of the hunters said, frustrated as they sipped their beer. He looked at his pile of cash and mine. This made his eye twitch as he saw how much money he lost and how much money I won.

A few games later, they shuffled the deck. I continued playing for the next few hours and profited 5 more gold coins, 9 silver, and 16 bronze. The other players by this point had dwindled down to only a few silver or bronze.

"Last hand." The dealer announced. The players watched me place 4 bronze for my bet. They took it as a sign of a good hand and the person who was annoyed at me all night had gone all in.

I got a 9 and a 4 against the dealer's 13. "Stand," I said when it was my turn. Everyone rolled their eyes. The dealer dealt everyone else's hand. At the end of the round, the dealer had blackjack.

I put all my coins in a bag and began walking away.

"Pipsqueak! Where do you think you're going?" The hunter yelled out.

"Where do you think?" I responded sassily.

"You made me lose all my money!" He said, walking towards me. I began speed-walking away, but his buddies blocked the exit.

"It was you that bet your money and it was you that kept busting," I said. My mind was too exhausted from keeping track of the game for hours. I wasn't aware of things around me so I didn't predict what was about to happen.

"You took all the good cards." He said, getting closer.

"I don't think you understand how BlackJack works," I responded tiredly. That's when I saw a blur of something, then a strong pain in my rib.

"Argh!" I groaned out. I put my money in my pocket and took out my sword.

He noticed how I was holding my sword. "Heh! Not only is he a disappointment, kids a leftie!" The hunter laughed. "Come on, give me your best shot."

A rather crude plan came into my mind. I charged him and swung towards his stomach. He easily dodged it, grabbed my wrist, and punched me in the chest. It made me go backward, and I clutched my chest in pain. I fell on my foot, landing on it at a weird angle. My vision started to become dark and I almost passed out.

But I was next to the dealer, who was trembling. I vomited blood on the floor, quickly slipping my bag into the dealer's pocket. And as I did that, I blacked out.

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I woke up, staring at the roof. It was a room in the motel, but it looked different from my roof. I moved up and the pain in my chest flared.

"Arghh! Fuck!" I yelled out. My suit jacket and vest were off, leaving only my white dress shirt stained with blood. I lifted it up and saw that my chest was red and felt tender. My ribs were broken.

Every breath was painful, but it was better than being dead. There also wasn't a lot of swelling, so probably no internal bleeding.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I began surveying the room with my eyes. The beds were messy, and there were bowls on a table. On my left was my sword and baggie of coins. I took a count of how much I had left, and thankfully all of them were still there.

The door suddenly opened and I saw the three Angelo brothers walk in.

"Oh shit, you're awake," Andres said. "What did you do yesterday?"

"I got the shit beat out of me by a grown man," I grumbled, wincing from the pain.

"What he means is why," Sergio added, shaking his head.

"He's mad he lost all his money and blamed me." I summarized, laying back down on the bed.

"Well, good news for you, they're banned," Andres said, poking my chest.

"Wait, banned? That doesn-The hell was that for?!" I yelped out in the middle of my question.

"Just checking how bad it is, wimp," Andres smirked, poking again. I just closed my eyes because it hurt too much to move.

"Thank you guys for helping me," I said after a while. "I'll be out of your hair when I can walk."

"Well, you helped me make a ton of money, so I'd say we're even," Andres told me. After I heard those words, I began to fade into unconsciousness.

The last thing I heard was from Sergio. "You know Andres, I think he's the first noble that isn't a piece of shit. He actually respects us."