Stories From the Road: The High Roller

[Tobin S.]

Gambling can bring out the worst in people. It can also be a hell of a lot of fun.

I was at the Sky City casino near Grants, New Mexico yesterday. I had pulled in the night before at about the end of my 11 hour driving shift. I didn't really plan it that way, that's just the way it worked out. I guess I could have stopped a few miles short and stayed at a truck stop, but I did feel like doing a little gambling. It had been about 5 years since I had stepped foot inside a casino. I have a theory about self-employed people being susceptible to gambling problems. To be in business for yourself you have to be willing to take risks. I think self-employed people get a thrill out of taking risks. I know I do, and nothing gets my heart pumping like a double down on a blackjack table other than buying a new semi.

There was a time when I would hurt myself in a casino. The first time I ever got the gambling fever I went through $1500 over the course of a couple of days. That's a lot of money to a trucker. I went through a couple of $1000 hits after that before I learned to control myself, and like I said, it had been a long time since I had walked into a casino. Now when I go in there, I'll just play blackjack, which has an element of skill to it. That being said, even blackjack is mostly about luck when you come down to it. You have to know how to play your cards, but you have no control over the cards you get. That's where the luck comes in.

Sky City is a reservation casino and they have a lot of Native American customers. And being in New Mexico, they also have a lot of Latino customers. I'd say about 80% of the people in there when I was there fell into one of those two categories. The rest were Asian, white, or black. Why does that matter? Well, it doesn't to me, but I need to say that to give you an example of how gambling can bring out the ugly side of people.

There was a white trucker in there who was gambling at a table close to me. He wasn't doing very well and he was being loud and boisterous about it. Then he started talking to an Asian guy there at the same table about the last receiving dock he went to and the trouble he'd had there getting unloaded. He said there were some Mexican guys working the dock, and then said in a voice loud enough that probably about 20 people around him could hear, "I walked up to one of them motherfuckers and said, 'Listen here you fucking (derogatory slang for Mexican), get over there and unload my fucking truck!.'"

That guy was probably a dumbass to begin with, but I don't think that he ordinarily would have insulted about 10 or 15 people in such a manner, including Geraldo the pit boss, if he hadn't been losing his ass at that blackjack table. Geraldo didn't say anything to him, but I took a look at him and I could see by the expression on his face that he was shocked by the guy's amazing display of assholery. There were a couple of Latino guys playing at the table I was at and they were talking to each other in Spanish heatedly and pointing at the guy, no doubt cussing him. There was no alcohol on the premises. That guy said that shit stone cold sober.

When you gamble you have to be prepared to lose because the odds are usually against you, especially in a casino. So you have to have an amount of money in mind that you can handle parting with before you go gambling and not exceed that amount, or else you'll hurt yourself and you might get ugly like that stupid trucker.

I like to see the high rollers at the casinos. It's just as exciting for me to watch them play as it is for me to gamble, and along came one to the table I was playing at. He walked right up there a plunked down a stack of twenties about 6 inches thick. It turned out to be $5000. He took it $4500 in black chips ($100 a piece) and $500 in green chips ($25 a piece). My heart started pumping and I decided to stay in, even though I was ahead and planning on getting up, just to play with the guy.

He started out playing three hands, the maximum allowed, at $25 per hand. I thought that was kind of a wimpy way to start out considering that the guy must have been a high roller to come in for 5 grand. I watched him play for about 10 hands and the most he bet for the 3 hands combined in any one deal was $300. Most of the time he was pushing green chips out there. Then the dealer hit two blackjacks in a row and the guy got up. I thought he was just going to a different table, but he went over to the cashier and cashed in his chips. The dealer at my table estimated the guy was ahead $100 when he got up. What a dud. It's like having to sneeze real bad but it won't come out. I wanted to see some action. I really don't know why the guy did that unless he just wanted to make a scene and get some attention.

Oh, how did I do? I came in for $100 and had $350 in chips in front of me at one point, but cashed out at $200. I'd won about as much as the high roller.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Tobin!

What a great story! I love the sly kick at the end...

Your story-telling skills are growing...I love how you pace this one and let it unfold ...

Keep 'em coming!

You high roller, you...;-)

[Tobin S.]

2. Thanks, Peggy. Time to hit the road so I'll check in here later on tonight

I appreciate the compliment. :)

[EOTE]

3. The real skill in Blackjack comes from counting cards.

Yes, you have to rely on luck with regard to the cards that you get. However, if you're good at counting cards, and you wait until the dealer gets close to the end of his decks, then you'll have a good idea whether or not you'll be getting good cards. And when you do, that's when you step up the bets. It's hard to make money this way, but it can be done.

[Tobin S.]

4. Most casinos use 6 or 8 decks at their blackjack tables

I don't know about you, but that's makes things pretty much impossible for me as far as counting cards goes unless I just count one type of card like aces. I might be able to do it at a place that only uses one or two decks.

[EOTE]

6. I can do two decks reasonably well.

My dad can do more than 4. I'm guessing if he practiced a lot, he could be very good at it. He swore off gambling a long time ago, but I'm guessing he could make a killing if he tried. But yes, 6+ decks would pretty much remove any advantage card counting. What's even worse is I know that a number of casinos will reshuffle the deck when there's around 1 deck remaining. That seems unfair to me.

[femmocrat]

5. I love reading these, Tobin!

Thank you! :hi:

[Tobin S.]

8. Thank you!

I love you reading these things, too. :hi:

[kimi]

7. Keep em coming Tobin

I do enjoy your stories.

You have a way with words. :)

[Tobin S.]

9. I will, kimi

And thanks. You guys are my test market. One day I'm going to tie all these stories together somehow and make a book out of them. Until then, I have you guys. You guys see the first drafts, btw. After I've been away from the stories for a while I go back and edit them. I posted this story this morning and when I went back and re-read it I could see it needed a few things changed and I've already done that to my saved copy.

[trof]

10. I went to the Indian casino an hour from us for the first time.

They have 'bingo' machines only, Alabama state law.
They're confusing as hell, at least for me.
I came out about $45 to the good and I still don't quite understand how.
:shrug:

[Tobin S.]

11. Any time you walk out of a casino with more money than you came in with

you did good. Most people don't.

Most people play video machines and slots at the casinos. Whatever you do, don't take up Texas Hold 'Em unless you have a lot of money available to learn the game. I'm talking about that stuff they show on TV. I stay away from that unless I'm playing for fun online.