Barney Vinson's World

People think I make up some of the stories that I write. But working in a casino, I don't have to make up anything. Sooner or later, everything is bound to happen in a casino.

Here's one of the funniest. A dealer, down on his luck, applied for a job at a ritzy Vegas casino. The casino manager hired him to work on the Big Six wheel, a contraption the dealer spins with his hand. The player can bet on 1, 5, 10, 20 or the joker, and get the corresponding payoffs (40 to 1 for the joker) if the wheel lands on his number. It's an old carnival game with a house advantage of 18 percent.

Several days later, the casino manager was checking his profit and loss statement on the various casino games. To his amazement, he noticed that the Big Six was carrying 100 percent! In other words, nobody won anything.

The next day he checked again. The Big Six was still carrying 100 percent.

This went on for almost a week, and by this time the casino manager was getting curious. He decided to watch the game and see why the casino was having such an incredible winning streak. Slipping down to the casino, he watched the new dealer from behind a slot machine.

The dealer would wait until everyone placed their wagers, then stop the wheel with his finger on a losing number. Aghast, the casino manager called the dealer into his office and demanded an explanation.

"Well," the dealer replied, "you were nice enough to give me a job when I needed one. This is just my way of saying thanks."