The Best of Times

5 December 2024

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: We have been playing in the casinos for over thirty years.

ABBY: Yikes!

CINDY: Where’d the time go?

ABBY: As you get older it seems to go faster.

CINDY: Miles per hour, I guess. When you are one years old, time is slow. A year is your entire life. When you are 30 you are going 30 miles per hour. And 60? And 70? You get the picture. Light speed. At 80 years old, a year is merely one-eightieth of your life. It is fast.

ABBY: Now, I’m depressed.

CINDY: We have a long way to go before we are 80.

ABBY: Whew!

CINDY: We’ve had some good times in the casinos. Very good times.

ABBY: A few bad ones too.

CINDY: What’s the first best run that you had? Doesn’t matter the game. Your earliest hot period?

ABBY: At the end of my first year, I think that was my first really hot streak. Las Vegas. Remember when the Aladdin would give you a free ace when you cashed in? I remember someone gave me his ace. He said something like, “I don’t need no free ace!” And he flipped it to me and now I had two aces.

CINDY: I am sure that guy was drunk. Or stupid. Or drunk and stupid.

ABBY: I had a new dealer and she said I could split them. I think that was a mistake but heck I split them. I got two tens! And off I went. I had a tremendous session.

CINDY: How’d the drunk and stupid guy do?

ABBY: I don’t think so good. He left the table pretty soon.

CINDY: So, that kicked in a winning streak for you?

ABBY: The whole trip. Yes. I was in Vegas for four days and I won each and every day. Some days not so much but I still won. I may have had a couple of losing sessions but overall, well, it was a spectacular four days.

CINDY: Those are the days that were you a fish, you’d be hooked.

ABBY: I know your good first run too. You had a two-dayer.

CINDY: I was in Atlantic City and blackjack in some casinos was four decks. Not that it mattered because I could never count cards but still, the game seemed so much more reasonable. The rules were the good old rules. I was just learning to play craps too – a woman at the craps tables!

ABBY: Oh, the old guys in those days got upset – some of them – when a woman played the game.

CINDY: It was double odds then, yes?

ABBY: Yes.

CINDY: I decided somewhere on day one that I would shoot the dice. I couldn’t be worse than some of those men, right?

ABBY: And?

CINDY: I sevened-out fast each of the first two times I got the dice and I decided to head over to the blackjack tables. Some of the old guys applauded when I left. That’s when I caught fire. At first it was just me versus the dealer. The casino allowed surrender too. Everything fell into place. Every move I made worked. I won almost all of my double downs and splits. I got more blackjacks than ever before. The chips piled high. I stayed at that table for three hours before I took my first break.

ABBY: And day two?

CINDY: I tried craps again but I really didn’t win much but my rolls were a little better. Also, the guys at the table were pleasant. Back to blackjack and, not as good as day one, but I still won a lot.

ABBY: So, you were hooked after that?

CINDY: Totally.