October 12, 2005

The Gambler

Last night I stayed in Shreveport, as I had a deposition here this morning I had to attend. I stayed at the Horseshoe Casino, as I got a cheap room rate and the hotel is very nice for the price. After hanging out in the room for a while, I decided to head downstairs to the casino to do some gambling.

I hadn't been in a casino in quite a while, and being homeless and all, didn't plan to gamble much. I walked around the room and played some 25 cent slot machines, not really winning much. I then saw an empty blackjack table with a $5 minimum bet, which is my gambling limit. I sat down, plunked my $20 down on the table and didn't get up until two hours later, when I walked away with $62.50.

Casinos always overwhelm me, which I think is one of the things the folks who run the casinos are hoping for. I know there are lots of rules that the dealers and pit bosses have to follow, and I don't know a one of them. Casinos are like Wal Mart -- they are huge buildings with no clocks or windows and they hire overly friendly people who know far more about what's going on inside than you do.

Knowing as little as I do, I get easily weirded out by things that happen, mostly because I don't really know what's "normal" for a casino. Last night was no exception. I was playing away at my table, talking to my table mates and taking their (quite good, as it turns out) advice, when a man walked up behind me. He was a skinny Asian guy whose first language wasn't English. He stood right next to me, brushing up against my arm at times, and took great interest in my hands. He would give me advice, all of which was good. I thought he was just hanging out watching the tables because he didn't want to spend any of his own money, but I was wrong. At one point, he encouraged me to double my usual $5 bet to $10, something I never do. I did it, and when I got an 11, he encouraged me to double down. He was so persuasive and it happened so fast I barely knew what I was doing, but I did it. The dealer went bust and I was incredulous when I won. He then wanted me to keep betting $10, but I was reluctant. He then said, "Here, I have money" and threw a $20 in my lap.

Since I'm not a stripper, I can't say I've ever had men literally throwing money at me. This was a first. I gave the money back to the guy and said, "I can't take your money". He was insistent at first, but then realized I was ignoring him and was playing blackjack instead, so he wandered away. The guy sitting next to me said, "Was that a friend of yours?" and I said, "No, I've never seen him before in my life." He said, "You're kidding!" and I said, "No. This is really weird. Who goes around throwing money at people?" The dealer then said, "It happens. It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen sometimes. People do it for different reasons. Sometimes they....." and she trailed off. The pit boss then came up to talk to her about something, and I never did figure out the explanation for this strange behavior. Can any gamblers out there shed any light on it?

Posted by Kitty at October 12, 2005 10:37 AM

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