The Unexpected

4 July 2024

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: There are moments in the casino when everything just works perfectly. Just the way you always dreamed everything would work. Just the way you wished everything would work.

ABBY: These moments are not ones you actually plan because they are truly luck based…

CINDY: Meaning you don’t know when they are coming. If they are coming to you in any way, shape or form.

ABBY: Sadly, no. You don’t. You wish for them – just about every casino player wishes for them but few ever get them or at least get them to stay. And some players blow them completely.

CINDY: Yes, they sure do. And that must be the worst possible feeling.

ABBY: We have both been lucky as we have both had these sterling moments. And! We haven’t blown them either. We have savored them.

CINDY: Indeed, yes.

ABBY: So, what were our moments of pure joy?

CINDY: In time order, okay?

ABBY: You first.

CINDY: Delighted. This occurred in the late 1990s. I was playing for a couple of years, mostly blackjack and some craps. Small stakes, nothing that would frighten me to lose.

ABBY: Key saying. “Nothing that would frighten me to lose.” Keep that in mind when you gamble. Sage advice.

CINDY: I was at a blackjack table playing perfect basic strategy and I won a few hands in a row. Now, I know the following you should do but I parleyed my bet. I don’t know why I did that but I did. Parleying is not a good idea at blackjack but I was feeling pretty good at that time. And so I violated the rule.

ABBY: Yes, you did.

CINDY: I won the next two hands and I thought: Should I parley again? Well, I did and I lost. Okay, okay, I lost a lot of money on that hand but I had won a few parleys in a row.

I started betting the normal amount and I couldn’t lose. Well, let me take that back. I could lose a hand or two but I had it in my mind that if I lost three in a row I’d quit. Or I would quit if I lost three out of five hands. I was, in a real sense, playing with my emotions. I did expect to lose after a while. It took a long while and I finally did lose.

I also won a lot and I mean a lot of money!

ABBY: My turn. Mine was roulette. I just put a bet down and wham! I won right away. Now, the roulette win on the double-zero (0, 00) wheel pays 35 to 1. So I won a big amount – $350! So, I made another bet, same $10, and I won again. I was now up $700! Back-to-back wins on roulette are very rare but I now put up $20. I lost but I figured I’d put up another $20 – I mean, what the heck? I won that one!

Holy mackerel! So, I decided I’d go through 30 spins of the wheel at $20 each which would be $600 – and then that would be that. I don’t think I lost more than a few times and I won again and a few more spins and I won again.

I stayed at that wheel for about an hour and then I lost 30 spins and you know what? I quit. That was the most successful time I ever had at roulette.

CINDY: And, my friends, this is my story.

ABBY: And my story.