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A Harvest Story BY RICHARD “REGGIE” GUMMER
SOME PEOPLE HAVE COMPULSIONS TO GAMBLE, SOME TO AMASS FORTUNES AND OTHER’S, THEY JUST LIKE TO WRITE STORIES; YEAH, THAT WOULD BE ME. I WAS NEVER VERY GOOD AT IT ; BUT I HAVE DONE IT OVER THE YEARS JUST THE SAME.
IF ANY OF YOU WANT ANY INSIDE INFORMATION ON ANY CASINO THAT I’VE BEEN TO, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO TELL YOU WHAT I CAN.
REGGIE
I made it up to Bishop yesterday and the Wanaaha finally had the new chips on the tables.
But first I stopped off at Vons Supermarket for some snacks and, seeing the men's room there, decided to utilize it. All fine until I tried to zip up my jeans and leave. The zipper got stuck! I tugged a bit but past experience with jeans told me I would break the zipper before I got it undone. Sooooo . . . I was wearing a long-tailed shirt and just let that flap down over my fly, and out I went to the Wanaaha a few blocks up Route 395. Hoping the Indians wouldn't notice anything amiss.
Got in okay, passed the Covid thermometer scan, and went right to the tables. Only two of the six tables were in use. Now, I had to make this as inconspicuous as possible, remember. At the blackjack table, this dude in black clothing and a big black hat was buying-in. $1,000 worth of chips to be exact! He was throwing C-notes all over the table, apparently he was a regular high-roller there. So the card dealer was counting and stacking the bills and piling up chips for the guy - $100 and $25, mostly, with a stack of $5 chips too. And . . . in a flash the Pit Boss was overseeing everything, and the Gaming Manager, and pretty much everyone else around the tables. Maybe the Indian Chief, too, for all I knew.
Guy asks me if I wanted to buy any chips from him! But I said I was mainly after $1 and 50¢ chips, to which he just astonished. Why would anyone bother with those paltry amounts?
I said, "You must feel lucky today," to which he replied, "Luck has nothing to do with it, pal. It's skill!"
Finally the dealer is finished with this big order and turns his attention to me. I figure I have a better-than-even chance of getting a goodly supply of chips, and I was right - ended up with a stack of $1 and 50¢ chips, a few $5 chips and a $25 too as the dealer didn't feel like "breaking down" my $100 bill any further.
My jeans pockets bulging, it was time to check out the slot machines. Chose one of the Zeus games - figured it would be fairly quiet and unobtrusive. Next thing, I hit two fists holding lightning bolts. But you need three fists to trigger the jackpot bonus. What happens? Another column of icons slowly moves down and a third fist settles onto my screen. Bonus! I'm awarded 13 free spins while the machine starts playing loud Greek music and yelling "ZZZOOOOOOSSSS" I mean, the entire casino heard it, everyone started looking my way. Filled up a bunch of squares with Zeus icons and the machine awards a jackpot while making more ruckus. People are laughing, Indians are laughing, Security come over to join the fun. While I say, "Ssshhhhh! Quiet down, Zeus!" Finally I collect my $180 jackpot and hobble to the cashier. Get the moolah and have to get out of the casino while holding my trousers up. Made it to the truck just in time and unloaded all the chips.
I went back to try another slot game or two - hit another jackpot of lower amount. Tried the other card table to get a few more $5 chips . . . it was a Texas Hold'em game and I tried to buy $30 worth of fives - one of the players "challenged" that it was a $50 buy-in table, so I tossed down another $20, the dealer handed me ten red chips - I picked them up and walked off. Mr. Fussy Player just looked amazed. As I left, I saw the Guy in the Black Hat sill seated at the blackjack table - don't know how he did using his "skill" but he had enough chips to last awhile.
J. Eric Freedner
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