Gambling in Las Vegas

My name might be Lucky, but I definitely am not lucky. I thought to myself as I face planted into the pavement.

“That's enough for you, pal. You're permanently banned.” A muscular security guard wearing a black suit and tie reprimanded me just before the set of glass automatic doors, which led into one of the highest end casinos in Las Vegas, slammed shut behind me.

“Aw, come on! You're banning me just because I had a minor meltdown.” …I may have also tried to tip over a slot machine or two after losing my last dollar, but after all the money these casinos have taken from me over the past 24 hours, I think it was perfectly justified.

The security guard continued glaring at me from the other side of the glass door, as he held a walkie talkie up to his mouth. It was obvious that he was prepared to call in backup if I refused to leave the premises.

I let out a sigh, as I stood up and dusted myself off. “I guess that's one way to end my Las Vegas trip.” Not wanting to add more to my misfortunes by getting arrested, I started my way back toward the strip…

Just the night before, I couldn't help but stare in awe at the lights in this city. Now it was like they were mocking me. Like some cruel joke, the giant LCD sphere across the street displayed a giant laughing face at the exact moment I walked past it.

“I knew I should have gone to Dubai instead.” I shook my head, dragging my feet down the sidewalk with no particular place to go.

My parents really did have high hopes for me since the day I was born, so much so, that they named me Lucky. To be perfectly honest, prior to this trip, I did too. Considering I went so far as dropping out of college and pulling every last dollar from my savings account to fly out to Vegas on my 21st birthday, I truly thought I was destined to hit it big...

And yet here I was penniless, bruised up, and barefoot. I even went as far as pawning my luggage, phone, and even my own clothing at that famous pawn shop from that one reality TV show. At the moment, the only possessions I had to my name were the clothes on my back, which consisted of a white T-Shirt that read, “Kaiser’s Palace Casino and Resort”, and a pair of gray sweat pants with a poker chip printed on the hip. Both of which were free gifts I got for signing up for a casino players card.

“Looks like I'm hitchhiking back to Wiscon-.” My murmurs of self-pity to myself were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a car horn.

“Get out of the road, dumbass!” the driver of the vehicle shouted at me.

By just the skin of my teeth, I managed to dive off to the side, just narrowly avoiding getting run over by a box truck. I was in such deep thought, I had unintentionally wandered into the middle of the street on the sketchy side of Las Vegas.

Quickly, I got to the other side of the road where I inhaled a deep breath, as I leaned against a brick wall. “I need to get out of this city before-...” I paused mid-thought, as my already short attention span was suddenly distracted by a foul odor coming from a filthy disgusting trash can, which sat directly in front of me on the edge of the sidewalk. That, though, wasn't what caught my eye. Laying on the ground beside it was a tiny green and white crumpled up slip of paper.

Is that what I think it is?

Walking over to it, I picked it up and unraveled it. Nearly jumping for joy, I held up a one hundred dollar bill covered in bird crap. “This must be a sign!” I exclaimed out loud. A few bystanders that were nearby stared at me like I was a crazy person… and maybe I was. All I knew was I was about to win everything back and some.

🎰🎰🎰

The pink light from the neon sign that sat before me filled my red eyes, as child-like excitement overcame me. The name of this casino was “The Final Spin”. Admittedly, I knew nothing about this casino. I only picked it based on my gut feeling. The area it was in was definitely not one of the better parts of Las Vegas, but at the moment, winning was the only thing that mattered.

“Rev up those slots!” I declared, as I walked through the entrance into the cigarette smoke filled gambling hall.

To my surprise, there was no security guard up front checking for identification. Not that I particularly cared. The inside of the casino itself was fairly old and didn't appear to be all that well maintained. All the slots were the old school three reel kind.

As I looked around, it was eerily quiet. It was immediately apparent that I was the only patron in the place. There weren't even any dealers stationed at any of the card tables. Only the roulette table had a spinner station at it.

“Well, that makes things easy.” I shrugged as I took a seat at the roulette table. I laid my dirty bill out on the table. “Let me get a single one hundred dollar chip, my good man.”

The spinner was a pale old man with sunken cheeks. On his head were a handful of thin gray strands of hair. He was dressed in a black dress shirt with a pink vest over it and a pink bow tie. He remained silent as he dragged my hundred dollar bill toward him. Not even bothering to check if the money was counterfeit, he slid me my singular chip.

“Would you care for a complimentary beverage?” A raspy voice that made me jump spoke over my shoulder.

I turned around, revealing an old lady dressed in a revealing silver sparkly feathered showgirl outfit that definitely wasn't meant for someone of her age to be wearing. She held out a platter with a plastic cup containing a clear liquid.

“Uh… thanks.” I hesitantly grabbed it. Bringing it up to my lips, I took a sip. It really didn't have much of a taste at all, in fact I was fairly certain that it was just tap water. Turning my attention back to the roulette wheel, I placed my chip down onto green zero. “I'm going big or going home!” I confidently declared.

Once again there was no response from the spinner. With his frail hand, he gave the roulette wheel a spin, which ended up being fairly weak. He then proceeded to take a white ball and tossed it so it would spin around the rim of the abnormally slow moving roulette wheel.

“Come on…” I leaned closer, watching the ball with anticipation, as butterflies danced around in my stomach.

As the ball moved closer to the center of the wheel it bounced in and out of a series of black and red slots until finally resting on… green zero.

“Yes! That's $3500-!”

Just as I excitedly threw my arms up and opened my mouth to cheer, the room began to violently shake like an earthquake. The ball in the wheel was suddenly flung out and managed to shoot into my mouth, lodging itself in the back of my throat.

In a panic, I attempted to cry out for help. The spinner just stood motionless, watching as the air was cut off from my windpipe. I tried ramming my chest against the table to no avail. My vision became cloudy, followed by me falling to my knees. I tried my hardest to cry out, but it was pointless.

I guess my luck can get even worse… Sorry mom and dad, looks like I couldn't live up to my name.

As that final thought crossed my mind, my vision went black, as all consciousness faded from me…