Barney Vinson's World

The following question was worth $250,000 on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

On which two card suits are the one-eyed jacks displayed?

1. Spades and diamonds
2. Spades and hearts
3. Clubs and diamonds
4. Hearts and clubs

The answer is at the end of this column. By the way, don't feel bad if you don't know the answer. I didn't get it right, either, and neither did any of the blackjack supervisors where I work.

* * *

The parents of a Las Vegas baccarat dealer owned a small Chinese restaurant in one of the city's suburbs. The dishwasher had just quit, so their son agreed to help out by washing dishes when his baccarat shift ended at the casino.

After work, the son parked his white Cadillac convertible in front of the restaurant. As patrons idly watched, he stripped off his tuxedo jacket and strolled toward the dishwashing equipment.

One of the patrons approached the owner. "If that dishwasher ever quits," he said, "I would like to apply for his job."

* * *

In the days before sophisticated surveillance equipment, a Reno casino owner used to spy on the help through a small hole drilled in the ceiling. One day he spotted his bartender take a silver dollar from a customer and flip it into the air.

"Heads I keep it," the bartender said. "Tails, and it goes in the cash register."

The casino owner smiled as the coin landed on tails, then gasped in horror as the bartender dropped it back into his pocket.

"Put that dollar in the cash register," the owner screamed from above. "I won it fair and square!"

The answer to the $250,000 question is: (B) Spades and hearts.