I scouted a few casinos, looking for one with a low stakes roulette table, finally settling on the once famous, but seen better days, El Cortez and it's $2 minimum bet tables. When the day came to finally go try some gambling, and with only a few days left in the city, I battled the smokey atmosphere and the rude croupiers to slowly build a $120 lead. All the time, free drinks are offered, to get you to think less clearly, and this was just the cheap tables. Many accept the drinks of course, but the more serious take only soft drinks. I didn't accept any. I wanted to see what would happen on the table without being distracted. At one stage when I was the lone punter, the croupier began to spin the ball faster and faster between rounds, to try to put me off my train of though. Sometimes they play fast, other times they go overly slow. It's all a tactic to throw you off whatever rhythm you may have. At one stage, the croupier looked at me astonished I had not placed a bet before she span the ball. Again, trying to put me on edge.
"Too quick", I replied, and she promptly gave up and handed over to another worker. I was surprised they use this tactic for such small amounts of money, but the El Cortez, rough around the edges, out-dated inside and out, and somewhat off the main strip, has it's margins. Winning $70 took a few hours. With higher stakes perhaps it would have been worth it, but then again, perhaps not. I'm reliably told that the only game in which the punter has a % chance of winning is Blackjack. Or something. Maybe next time. Most of the other casinos I enquired at had minimum bet limits of $10.
I put the $70 to good use. It covered the $65 parking fine I received a week or so later.
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