It was getting late, and the tourist crowd had departed from the casino — leaving only hand-core gamblers. Usually about this time, I stick with whatever table I find myself at — after an evening of wandering around. Today, it was roulette.
Now roulette is a game which at first seems impossible to beat. Some gambling games are like that, but most seem to require some important decision — such as whether or not to hit in blackjack. With roulette, it appears that wherever one bets — or even if one bets at all — that you will break even at best. It turns out that on American roulette — with two zeros — the bank clears about five and a half dollars on every hundred bet, while European casinos only take three and a half on every hundred because of one less zero.
I’ve always believed in ESP, and I don’t know if that’s entirely it, but some nights — it seems a gambler can’t lose. Tonight was one of those nights, and I was that gambler.
I had some in with two-hundred dollars (a week’s paycheck) and already, I had more than four-hundred fifty dollars profit in addition to my original two-hundred. (This would make up for some weeks when I lost), By gambler’s ethics, I ought to have quit right there — but I felt lucky, and I’ve always been partial to roulette.
I was so confident that I made a bet of 50 dollars on red before my usual preliminary gaging of the tendencies of the wheel that night. It came up 24 black. That’s pretty much the way it went until it had lost down to my original two hundred — and then some. Again, if were playing the game, the way it was supposed be, I should have stopped. But I didn’t.
I put the last of my money — one hundred and seventy five dollars — on 9 red. It wasn’t until he was starting up the wheel that I realized what I had done.
I was looking to snatch it off, but got one of those feelings that I would be extremely upset if it did come up. So I left it there, and sweated it out. The ball went round and round until it met the wheel, reversed direction, and went around again.
I know what you’re thinking. That 9 red did come up, and he walked away a rich man. Well you’re wrong. It came up 7 red, and I lost it all — and ended up here on Skid Row with all the other losers in some walk of life or another. I’ve never won a bet since then, and I don’t think I ever will.
Want to bet?