The Conspiracy, Part 5: Vegas

Not again.

I looked at the machine.  Then I looked at my beer.  The beer was full.  In fact, it was my first one of the day.  And at my age, you don't start drinking in Vegas until at least lunchtime.

But the machine was my concern.

You wouldn't expect someone to be concerned about a video poker machine that was displaying a royal flush.  But the fact that it was the third one of the weekend, brought me pause.  Like maybe I was passed out in my hotel room and this had all been a dream.

"Sir, sir.  Are you all right?"  I looked up to see the attendant with a nametag that read "Mutt" and a wad full of cash.

"Yes, I'm fine.  Just surprised at my luck, I guess.  Your name is really 'Mutt"?"

"No sir.  It's actually Matt.  The tag got stuck in the wash and I guess the top of it the "a" got scratched off.  Are you having a good weekend in the City of Lost Wages?"

Ok, even I had heard that one before.

"Yes, a little too good."

"Well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth..." (I had heard that one too...this guy was a cliché machine) "take the money and run."

Good advice.  But it wasn't making me feel any better.  There is a certain balance to a bettor's life.  When life sucks, a bettor will usually see an uptick on the gambling side.  If life is going well, rest assured, the bettor will pay for it.  Literally.  Case in point--my first trip to a Vegas video poker bar last year, after negotiating crutches and a torn calf clear across the casino, resulted in a $1,300 progressive jackpot.  As the line in Ocean's 11 goes "in your hotel, there's always someone watching".  The Eye in the Sky saw me, had sympathy and evened the score.

This, however, this was different.  No bad luck led to this so it was either coming or something had already happened.  Something of which I was unaware.

"And that's $900, and a clean $1,000" the attendant said as he finished counting.  "Oh, and here's a dinner for two at our exclusive steakhouse".  I looked at the card.  It read "Eat Well.  Visit Tough to Chew steakhouse on the strip side of the casino."

Interesting selling point.  Tough steaks?  Was that a joke?

"I can assure you the steaks are fine.  The place is steeped in irony."

Irony that can't chew a steak, apparently.

"Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No, thank you."

"Well, my name is Matt if there is anything else you need."

We covered that.  I was getting annoyed.  Really annoyed.  Which was ridiculous when someone just handed you a grand.  I tipped Matt $20 and walked away.

Las Vegas has always brought out my suspicious side.  Not paranoid--suspicious.  Paranoid implies everyone is out to get you.  In Las Vegas, you need to come to town already suspicious.  That means your antenna is always up.  Not everyone tells the truth--and not everyone wants something.  But the answer lies in-between and for that you need to be ready.

I was ready...I just wasn't sure what I was facing.

TO BE CONTINUED