15/7/2008 - THE SPADES HALL OF FAME
This most extraordinary hand was observed during the Playoff Rounds in the Zone for the Las Vegas Grand Prix Qualifier (February 1999). West opened with a Nil bid, which had a very high percentage probability. The only risk was the spade nine; however, the low spots offered excellent discarding opportunities. North came in with a very sound bid of five (especially after the Nil call). East decided to go for the win with a three bid, as he calculated that 130 points would be sufficient. South took the safety of a three bid of his own. (Bidding any higher than four would have been inane!) It was quite obvious that a set of the Nil was in order, as the East bid appeared to be a sure thing. It came down to a very tense ending, and East, with victory in his grasp fumbled the ball at the goal line!
West led the diamond six to East’s King and South’s seven. The diamond Ace now appeared, and it was followed by the nine, Jack and the spade seven (ruff) by North. The Ace of hearts was cashed, as East played the deuce, and South dropped the King. West’s heart suit was safe, and he happily threw the seven. The four of hearts fetched South’s Queen, as East and West pitched low spot cards. Now South dropped the nine of clubs on the table, as West followed with the four, while North played the King, and East deposited the five. The Ace of clubs drew the eight, the seven (completing the “high-low” signal), and the Queen from a very happy West.
The club ten was covered by the Jack, as South ruffed with the spade King — a very farsighted play. The diamond Queen was a logical choice, as West had to play low, and North trumped rather extravagantly with the Ace of spades. (East discarded a low heart). The six of clubs drew another heart discard from East, as South ruffed with the trump Queen and West tossed his last club. The ten of diamonds extracted West’s last spot card, and North trumped with his spade ten, which forced an underuff by East. (The spade Jack had to be saved for possible protection for his partner.) This fascinating position had been reached:
The innocent-looking layout has a devilish trap. Do you see the danger after North leads any heart? In any case here is what happened:
The heart Jack was correctly trumped with the spade four. Had East ruffed high, South would have ditched his eight of trump, transposing to the actual outcome. Now South properly released the diamond eight, as West was forced to play the trump two. East found himself at the crossroads and decided that the natural play of spade Jack was quite irresistible. After all, who could have argued with logic? He later said that he was afraid that the lead of the five might have pinned a trick on his partner — but he did not analyze the actual possibilities. Had West held the NINE and EIGHT of trump, the hand was lost anyway; If South actually held the NINE and EIGHT of trump, then it did not matter which card he (East) led. Therefore, the scenario of these two specific trump DIVIDED between the West and South hands had to be considered. Since it was obvious that West would not have bid Nil with a suspect spade suit, he had to hold reasonably safe trump and the SIX was probably in his hand as well. Thus the Jack would allow South to unload his high spade!
It is truly amazing how much analysis can be wrung out of this seemingly basic position!
Therefore, the unusual lead of the spade five was clearly indicated. (Then the Jack picks up the nine at the end.) The five forces the eight from South, and allows West to unblock his six. Reverse the nine and eight, and if South holds the nine, this permits West to discard his eightspot.
The premature lead of the Jack is the”kiss of death” to West, as it smothers both the nine and eight and promotes the lowly six to a winner!
Poor East! He worked so hard — only to become an unexpected ally to North and South — and helped to break his partner’s Nil! Did he “crack” under the pressure? Perhaps his impulse to make the “text” play can be forgiven. After all, would you have led the FIVE in the critical position?
I hope that you have enjoyed this book, and improved your game. I want to thank the many contributors of ideas, suggestions, and material for the Revised Edition. If you have any comments or want to inquire about the Tournaments and the National Card Players’ Organization, please contact me at this e-mail address: heartsmoon@aol.com. Good luck at your next online or live Tournament!
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12/6/2008 - Initiation
If you're a fraction of a second late, the whole thing is blown. Make sure that your purple backup chips are correctly placed in your rack as you're claiming. You put them there as soon as you hit the table. While you're claiming, you keep looking at me. I'll be where you can easily spot me. As long as I'm chinning you, you continue claiming. If during the claim I put my finger to my nose, you abandon the claim, pick the move off the layout, take the backup chips out of the rack, and get out of there. When you leave, you leave aggressively, not like a wimp. You want to give them the impression that you're coming back, not running out of the casino. While you're walking away from the table, you maintain a steady pace. You walk rapidly but you don't run. I'll be following you. If the situation deteriorates and I want you to quicken the pace, you'll hear me shout 'Chester.' That's just a name we use to indicate serious steam in the casino and you really have to get out of there fast. If you hear me shout 'Gallo,' you run out of the casino, and I mean as fast as you can, because you're now in their sights and they're coming after you. Once you get out of the casino, you go to the emergency meeting place, which will never be in a casino. If ever grabbed up, you say nothing, not one wordabsolutef.y nothing. You don't try to talk your way out of it; you don't lie. You just keep your mouth shut. If they call Gaming and have you arrested, then you're arrested. Opening your mouth can only make the situation worse." Joe paused for a split second to let all that sink in. Then he said significantly, "I think you know all that al ready."
He really wore me out, but I knew it was necessary. There W no room for fuckups, and I knew that my first claim would be the 'difficult. I would have to be a tiger, like Joe said, and at the be calm when necessary. I respected the way Joe drilled drills. The precision involved was like a military operation. no such thing as an inconsequential mistake.
joe wanted to cover one last phase of the craps move: the bet- back.
After you get paid," he said, "you bet back $205, two black ",the a red on top. Win or lose, you leave the table and head meeting place outside the casino. That bet-back will make ',gets easier what has just happened. They'll think it weird 'd bet a red chip on top of two purples, but doing it a second top of two blacks will make them think you're just the kind roller who likes to cap his big bets with a red chip, like a
'superstitious quirk. If I'm giving you a nose after you get paid, you bet back at all. You just say, 'Thank you very much,' and you . Sometimes steam comes down after they pay."
when he was finished going over the move, Joe asked if I had questions.
"Just one," I said. "Why me?"
"Because Duke and Jerry are both burned out as claimers," Joe erred matter-of-factly. "I needed someone else, so I chose you." I accepted Joe's answer warily. Time would tell.
Friday night Duke and Jerry were back in town without the girlhoods. Just before midnight, after a rapid meeting in Joe's apian ment, the four of us went into the MGM Grand, where I'd claim my past post on a craps table. I wore a nice-looking light gray suit in bought with some of the profits from the baccarat score. Joe teed me to wear his diamond-studded gold watch and one of his "amends rings to enhance my appearance as a high roller. I felt funny, ing so but, of course, complied. Everyone else dressed with casual Strip elegance.
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7/6/2008 - EVALUATING YOUR HAND
Novice players are always advised to review the trick taking possibilities of their hands before proceeding with bidding. In the game of Bridge, we count losers in suit contracts and winners in “no trump” contracts. However, Spades has no dummy hand and two separate bids which are combined to produce a contract. Therefore, you are pretty much on your own. Logic and common sense are absolutely essential. As you become more experienced you will develop an appreciation for finer bidding techniques. 
You have an advantage when you are bidding in third or fourth position, as the preceding bids provide you with information. First or second bids require a bit more effort to evaluate your hand. Many bidding techniques were reviewed previously. Let us now look at a rather instructive hand:
The bidding is a bit on the conservative side, for the most part. North opens with a two, although many players would make a three bid here. East’s bid of one is safe: however I would not argue if he tried a two. South is on target with his call of four. West has a decent four bid, but his balanced distribution and uncertainty about the location of trump Ace are a slight cause for concern.
a. If West was desperate for a four bid, he has an approximate 50 % chance of success.
b. East has a borderline two bid, but asking for a trump trick is very ambitious.
c. As for South, he has excellent hope for four tricks and even has reasonable play for five tricks.
The actual play of the hand is really immaterial; however, we will review it for instructional purposes.
North led the King of clubs as East played the Jack and South played the three.* North continued with the Queen of clubs and South once again played low. Thus, South was deprived of his Ace as the club suit was duplicated. It is generally bad advice to take away a short trick from partner. This may have the effect of setting up a free trick for the opponents and having your partner distrust you. Now, North shifted to the Jack of diamonds and East took his Ace with South and West following low. East continued with his diamond ten, and South immediately cashed the King and the Queen with everyone following. Now the eight of hearts was played as West rose with the Ace. The King of hearts was played and South trumped with his three of spades. Once again, a sure trick evaporated from someone’s hand — in this case West’s hand. South now played the Ace of clubs and North mistakenly ruffed low with the five as East scored an unexpected ten of spades. Another heart was played by East (a spade shift would have been better since it was known that South was trumping hearts); thus South scored another trump ruff. The Ace of Spades was now cashed and South exited with another small club as North ruffed with the Jack of spades. The spade eight was played and West scored his King and Queen. The rest of the hand was basically irrelevant as the bag count at that time was not a factor. Thus, everyone made their bid, although the play was a bit ragged.
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29/2/2008 - FAQ
I am talking about Frequently Asked Questions many newbie comes to me with many different questions on casino games as they know that I have been in this for many years. Here I want to tell you about FAQ.
I've received thousands of queries over the years regarding do's and don'ts in blackjack, the best plays to make, strange situations that occur, questions regarding odds and strategies, and of course, about my background and personal experiences at the game. Below, I'm including a sampling of the more popular and interesting questions, and hopefully, questions you would want to ask about the game of blackjack will be answered here.
Stay tuned to our web site, www.cardozapub.com; sometime in the future we will be publishing a free gambling magazine with lots more questions and articles on blackjack and all the games. You can also see the catalog of books we publish here.
Let's now get to the questions.
What is the basic strategy?
When players and authors refer to the "Basic Strategy," we're talking about the correct strategy to pursue knowing only three cards, your two hole cards and the dealer's up card. This book shows you the correct basic strategy for the game of blackjack wherever it is played.
• What is the best place to sit at the blackjack table? I have heard that the last player to receive the cards, the one at the dealer -s right is the most profitable position.
The seat you're referring to is called "third base," as opposed to "first base", the seat to the dealer's left which receives card first. The third basemen gets to see all the cards played by the other players before he makes his strategy decision, as opposed to the first base position which must act before other players have received their cards. While the third base position is often better for card counters in a single deck game, in a multiple deck game, that advantage becomes insignificant. For the Basic Strategy player, all positions are equal, no one spot has any edge over any other one.
• Am I allowed to split tens and is it a good play?
Not only can you split tens, but you can split any two ten-valued cards! For example, you can split a jack and a queen, a ten and a king, or any other "pair" of ten valued cards. However, while the rules permit these plays, they are never good moves for the basic strategy player.
• I have heard it is really hard to count cards, that a player must be a genius. Is that so?
That's going too far. Card counters aren't necessarily even smart people, though they certainly are smart players. Card counting is fairly simple, so simple in fact that just about anyone can learn how to count cards in under one hour. It's that simple.
It is a mistaken notion that card counters memorize every card in the deck as it is played. Nothing is further from the truth. Card counting is actually a system of keeping track of one set of cards against another. All a player needs to do to "count cards" is to memorize just one number in his or her head. Counters do not memorize every card played as most players think; in fact, very few people on earth could actually do that. You would really need a great memory to manage that feat.
There are different levels of card counting skills, but the basic skills needed to gain an edge over the casino, which anyone can do, can be learned and put to use after one practice session. It's that basic. The Cardoza School of Blackjack Home Instruction Course takes players through different skill levels, with the first level immediately providing the player with a mathematical advantage over the casino. More advanced levels increase that edge by giving the player more skills, but in reality, a player that wanted an edge without working too hard at the game would have a mathematical winning edge with just the first level.
The simplicity of counting cards really comes as a shock to just about everyone I have taught. My students can never get over it when I have them counting cards within one hour, and playing casino blackjack with an advantage the very next.
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6/2/2008 - Promotions
Casino games are very much popular now days as compared to olden days thanks to the promotions that are going on to promote all the casino games that are in offering.
The best coupon I ever found was in a fun book given out free to customers at the Lady Luck Casino in Vegas. Most coupons were only marginally worthwhile, but one offered a free insurance bet for one hand. It was probably a mistake by marketing, but the coupon had no maximum amount printed on it. So if you strategically waited for a big bet opportunity, you could use the coupon instead of your own money-a strong enough edge to get me sifting through garbage cans looking for extra fun books.
SIDE BETS
Every now and then some bright bulb in كازينو marketing thinks of a new angle for an old game. Blackjack has seen a number of these during the past two decades, and often they come in the form of side bets. Some of the more recent innovations are Super Sevens, Lucky Ladies, Royal Match, Over/Under 13, and Red/Black.
The trick lies in figuring out which (if any) of these are potentially profitable and which will always favor the house, regardless of the strategy. Most of the time when a new game is introduced, like Spanish 21 or 6-5 blackjack, there is no realistic way to win. How• ever, occasionally a juicy opportunity slips through the cracks and makes it to the tables. One of these was Double Exposure, a game. in which the house won 'on all ties, but compensated by allowing players to see the normally hidden dealer's hole card. This was a very strong game to count, but eventually they modified the rules (after being pounded by me and a number of other experts).
BLACKJACK PROMOTIONS
Perhaps the most popular (and simplest to beat) promotion is when a casino pays 2 to 1 instead of 3 to 2 on blackjacks. This deal is usually restricted to a very short time frame, but the edge is so strong that flocks of eager card counters always show up whenever it is offered. The advantage for this promotion is normally close to 2 percent, and you don't even have to count to beat the game. Basic strategy alone is sufficient to win.
If you hear about a casino offering one of these deals, you need to do two things. First, make sure it is actually 2 to 1 on all blackjacks. It is much more common for a casino to offer this deal only on suited blackjacks, which greatly reduces the edge, making it only marginally better than a normal game. If it is indeed the real McCoy, the second thing you need to do is get on the phone and call me, because I love free money.
UNUSUAL RULES
Quirky rules are not only hard to play; they can also be hard to evaluate. A small casino in Wend over once allowed players to split any 16s (e.g., 9-7 or 10-6). At first glance, this variation didn't appear overly valuable, but Stanford Wong intuitively saw its potential and calculated that the bizarre rule actually yielded a hefty 1.2 percent advantage. I didn't play that game because the maximum bet was only $50. However, sometimes casinos offer great rules with higher limits.
My personal all-time favorite was when the Ramada Express offered a couple of promotions each month to draw more traffic to their dying casino. Most of those were virtually worthless (like' three 7s paid an extra $25), but one particular promotion caught my attention. Any five-card hand was an automatic winner. This yielded a monster 1.4 percent edge and was even better than the Korean five-card rule. I beat them for $22,400 on the first day of the promotion. It was supposed to run again later in the month; in- stead, they quickly shut it down after just a few hands when the same smiling faces showed up at the blackjack tables.
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14/1/2008 - "Mathemetical Odds Of Casino"
Winning and losing doesn’t matter when you are playing a game in a sportsman spirit. If you are playing the game in a sportsman spirit even if you lose you have the satisfaction that you have played the game in a right manner as now a days some people are adopting unfair way for just winning the game that is just wrong .
The mathematical odds against rolling a 7 before repeating the point are the same as the payoff odds, giving the casino a zero advantage. Of course, the casino still has an edge on the original don’t pass or don’t come wager.
In most casinos the odds portion of the bet will be off if you have an active come bet working during a new come-out. This is not true for a don’t come bet—the entire bet is working all the time. It can keep working because there is no conflict. Both the pass-line bettors and the don’t come bettors hope for a 7 on the next come-out.
When laying odds, the amount you are allowed to bet depends on how much you may win, and that depends on the point. For instance, if you made a $10 don’t pass or don’t come bet at a full double odds table, you can lay $30 in order to win $25 for a point of 6 or 8. The rule used by the casino is that the most you can lay is the amount you would win if you took the limit on a pass bet. If you have trouble with this, the dealer will be glad to help you figure it out.
Consequently, for the same odds multiple, the amount a don’t bettor is allowed to lie is always larger than the amount a pass bettor is allowed to take. This results in a stronger reduction of the combined house edge when a don’t bettor lays odds, as the following chart shows.
The house edge calculation, of course, is based on the actual amount of money risked, not on the odds multiplier.
SPECIAL NOTE ON THE HOUSE EDGE
Granted, knowing the exact house edge down to the second decimal is not that important to the player, but you may have noticed in the above chart that the house edge percentages for don’t wagers are different than those published in most other gambling books. The inconsistencies in the house edge for don’t bet has two aspects to it. The first concerns the basic don’t wager without odds, which can be calculated in two ways. One way does not count ties (the push on the 12) and gives a value of 1.40%. The second way counts ties as a money bet (since money is at risk) and gives a result of 1.36%, which is the value used here. See the chart on next page.
The second aspect involves the house edge calculation for the combined don’t wager and laying odds. The explanation and mathematical proof is beyond the scope of this chapter, however, if you are really interested, you can find it in my book, Beat the Craps Table.
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19/12/2007 - FUNDAMENTALS OF PLAY
I want all the casino players to move on with the latest fundamentals of playing online casino game, playing casino can be the part of a housewife, a teenage kid or an office going person who can play and have pleasurable time with casino.
Split: Whenever you are dealt a pair, you have the option of splitting the cards into two separate hands. Indicate this to the dealer by placing a second wager alongside your original bet. It must be for the same amount as the original bet. Before acting on your signal, the dealer may ask if you intend to double or split. With a pair of fives, for instance, most dealers know that splitting is not good strategy, but doubling may be appropriate.
When it is clear that you are splitting, the dealer will give you two more cards, one on each of your original cards, so that you are now playing two hands of two cards each. In most casinos, if you are splitting aces (which is always recommended), those two are the only cards you will get. For all other pairs, you may hit each of the hands as many times as you wish.
Resplit: If, when you split a pair, one or both of the cards you get from the dealer are the same rank as the original pair, you may split again. This is called replanting. For instance, if you split a pair of eights and get another eight, you can respite into three hands. In Spanish 21, you may split cards of the same rank up to four times.
Surrender: If you don’t like what you see when you are dealt the first two cards, you may surrender (fold) your hand and forfeit half of your bet. If you decide to surrender, simply tell the dealer that you are surrendering and she will take half of your bet and toss your cards into the discard tray. Once you take the first hit, you lose this option. You also lose it if the dealer has a natural, in which case you lose your entire bet. Surrender is not offered in Atlantic City. In other jurisdictions, the availability of surrender varies from casino to casino.
Insurance: If the dealer’s up card is an ace, the dealer will call out, “Insurance,” and you are offered the opportunity to place an insurance side bet. You do this by putting up to half the amount of your original bet on the layout area marked: Insurance pays 2 to 1. If, after peeking at the down card, the dealer turns up a natural, any insurance bets are paid off at 2 to 1 odds. If the dealer does not have a natural, the insurance side bet is lost. From a player’s strategy standpoint, this is not a good wager.
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17/12/2007 - PLAYING IN THE CASINO
TIPPING
 Let me say at the outset that I don’t believe in tipping unless a service has been rendered in an efficient and pleasant manner. In a casino, tipping is never required. You are in total control as to when, where, and how much to tip.
In a restaurant, the tipping situation is well defined. The 15 to 20% tip has become so standardized that many patrons leave 15 or 20% whether the service was good, bad, or mediocre. In a casino, however, there are large gray areas—so much so that many people over-tip when tipping isn’t even indicated.
When it comes to casino dealers, the terminology changes so that a tip becomes a toke. Something many people are unaware of is that if you give a dealer a generous toke, that toke will be shared with other dealers on that shift. To comply with IRS regulations, the tokes are usually pooled and taxes withheld by the casino before the remaining money is divided among the other dealers. So your big toke is first taxed and then the balance is split up evenly between all the dealers in that pit.
Since tipping is strictly optional, why would you toke dealers? As employees of the casino, you would expect them to look out for the interest of the casino before they look out for yours. Actually, most dealers look out for your interest first, letting the pit supervisors take care of the casino. They do this because they earn a relatively low base wage and are heavily dependent on tokes from satisfied customers.
Expert and professional card players toke dealers for good will and for extraordinary services. These services might include dealing a deck down further than usual to benefit a card counter or might be in the form of subtle hints on whether or not to take a hit. In other words, they toke because the dealer actually helped them to win money.
The pros aren’t the only players who benefit from toking, however. Novice players need all the help they can get. Thus, if you are a newbie, toking a dealer early on will demonstrate that you are not a stiff, and will usually insure you of getting good advice. I would also toke a dealer after a run of good luck, but only if she was pleasant and helpful and I enjoyed playing at her table. Toking often pays for itself, especially if the dealer gives you some helpful advice or points out a betting mistake that would have cost you money.
Some people wonder if they should tip the employee who is paying them their winnings at a slot machine. If the amount is only a few hundred dollars, I would avoid tipping because you are probably only recouping what you have already lost. For a jackpot payout of $1000 or more, a tip is customary even if you lost more than that earlier.
The other service provider that you encounter while playing at a table or a machine is the cocktail waitress. This is a no-brainer. You normally tip her a dollar or so per drink, depending on her efficiency and the complexity of the drink you order. If you are playing at a $25 table, tip at least two dollars if you don’t want to look like a cheapskate.
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17/10/2007 - Strategies For Betting At Casino
BETTING STRATEGY
Whenever you begin losing, however, go back to taking only single odds. Never chase your losses! Any time the shooter craps out, make another minimum pass-line wager.
The Conservative Strategy is a fine betting system that is used by many smart and experienced players. If this strategy is comfortable for you, you should stick with it rather than advance to more complex and riskier strategies. Should you want to advance, be sure that you have developed enough experience at the tables that keeping track of your bets has become second nature.
EXAMPLE OF CONSERVATIVE STRATEGY
Action: Make a $15 pass-line wager just before a new come-out.
Come-out roll is a 7. This is a pass, so the hand is over, and all pass bets win. You win $15.
Action: Make another $15 pass-line wager.
Come-out roll is a 10. A point of 10 is established.
Action: (1) Take single odds of $15 on your pass bet and (2) make a $15 come wager.
First point phase roll is a 5. A point of 5 is established for the come bet. Your pass bet is unaffected.
Action: Take single odds of $16 on your come bet. (Because the point is 5, the odds bet should be an even number.)
Second point roll is a 3. Although this is craps, your pass and come bets are unaffected.
Third point roll is a 10. The shooter makes her point, the hand is over, and all pass bets win. You win $15 on your pass bet and $30 on your odds bet (which paid 2 to 1), for a total of $45. Your net gain is $60. Your come bet is unaffected and is still working.
Action: Make a new $15 pass-line wager
Come-out roll is a 7. This is a win for your pass bet and a seven- out for your come bet. The hand is over. You win $15 on your pass bet and lose $15 on your come bet. The odds portion of your come bet is returned to you because it was automatically turned off during the come-out. Since this roll was a wash, your net gain remains at $60.
Action: Make another $15 pass-line wager.
Come-out roll is a 4. A point of 4 is established.
Action: (1) Take single odds of $15 on your pass bet and (2) make a $15 come wager.
First point roll is a 10. A point of 10 is established for your come bet. Your pass bet is unaffected.
Action: Take single odds of $15 on your come bet.
Second point roll is a 10. The point is made for your come bet, and your pass bet is unaffected. You win $15 on your come bet plus $30 on the odds portion (which paid 2 to 1), for a total of $45.
Your net gain is $105.
Action: Make a new $15 come bet.
Third point roll is a 7. This is a seven-out for the pass bet and a win for your come bet. The hand is ended and the shooter loses possession of the dice. You lose your $15 pass bet as well as the $15 odds portion, and you win your $15 come bet, for a net loss of $15. Your net gain dropped to $90.
Action: Make a $15 pass-line wager.
Come-out roll is an 8. A point of 8 is established.
Action: (1) Take single odds of $15 on your pass bet and (2) make a $15 come wager.
First point roll is a 6. A point of 6 is established for your com.e bet, Your pass bet is unaffected.
Action: Take single odds of $15 on your come bet.
Third point roll is an 8. The shooter makes her point, the hand is over, and all pass bets win. You win $15 on your pass bet plus $18 on the odds portion (which paid 6 to 5), for a total of $33. Your net gain is now $123. Your come bet is unaffected and is still working.
Action: Make a new $15 pass-line wager
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6/10/2007 - Chocolate Chip Cookie
When I played in casino I faces many good and bad experience related with that game and now I want share it with all of my friends that’s why I told this to all of you.
When graduating to the ten-o-one move with two chocolates being switched in, the bet-backs increased along with it. The first one would be $2,100, the fallow-ups $1,100', again with a single black chip on top.
Pat won the first six-hundred-dollar bet and lost the next two, then left the table after receiving Cecil's business card and comp for a party 'Of four to the show. Cecil and the dealer chatted a few minutes about Pat, but there was a mention of his bets. And that's just it-they talked about him, not his bets, which is what made Pat the greatest of all time. When he beat you, his incredible personality took your mind off it. You didn't know you just got beat, and if you did, you might-at least more with him than anyone else I'd known-forgive and forget. Watching him work, I understood quickly why everyone he had ripped off at the village clambakes returned voluntarily at get ripped off agama. With Pat there was a stopping in the keno pit after every move.
As soon as he was finished at one table, the trail started up again as he led me and Balls through the pits looking for the next. If, along the way, he wanted to pass me off excess chips or needed more blacks because he'd last a few hands in a row, we'd make the exchange furtively en route. Ta describes what happened the rest of that fight night at Caesars, the word that comes to mind is "rampage." That's exactly how Pat went through its casino. He sat down, bet, moved, claimed, chitchatted, laughed, stoked the dealer, got back up, stopped off at Cleopatra's or another casino lounge for a beer, tugged on his ear to let us know he was ready again, and found the next table. After the fourth fifty-an had been paid, Pat signaled me that he wanted to go outside and get a little air.
We were in front of Caesars in the warm night breeze, standing on the porch by the imposing marble-white statue of Julius Caesar near the intersection 'Of the Strip and Flamingo Road. Pat had a glass filled with beer in his hand, Balls the cigarette in his.
"How’d I drain', Johnny?" Pat asked cockily.
"Johnny," Pat continued as he wavered around the statue, "you remember that food in Atlantic City?" He started exaggeratedly shifting his head from side to side as though he were looking for somebody. "I can't seem to find him. Do you know what happened to him, Johnny? Do you know where the food is hiding?"
Pat was putting on a little sideshow for me and Balls outside Caesars, and we loved it. The more he went into his routine, the more we laughed. The guy was gifted. I thought he really could have been a movie star. I told Balls as Pat was twirling around the statue saluting Julius that it was too bad I hadn't run into him fifteen years earlier. Balls gave one of his agreeing nods.
"You know what, Johnny," Pat said, downing his drink, ''I'm getting sick looking at both you guys. Don't you think it's time we went back in there and paid Julius another little visit?" He put his glass down on the ledge of the statue, looked up and saluted Julius a final time, then led us back inside the casino. Balls and I followed behind, cracking up. To think that only three weeks earlier Pat hadn't even known that casino past posting existed. Now he was leading us through the world's greatest casino, doing the biggest blackjack moves ever as if he were picking dandelions from his front lawn. I was having so much fun watching Pat I hardly thought about counting the money.
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