A. I. Evolution: The Coming of Christopher

Chapter 21

The next morning arrived, and after throwing a few things into my travel case, I called a cab to take me to the airport so that the fees for parking my car did not threaten to break me. I was in a hurry that morning to get to the airport, so I stopped in the lounge to have a hearty breakfast before catching my plane. The flight was only a little over three hours, so I arrived almost at the same time of day that I had left. This, of course, left me time to get something more to eat, after I had checked into my room, and before I searched out a game that I could enter with the money I had available to play with.

The Hyatt had a dining room that was second to none, and their steak was huge to say the least. I smiled through the whole meal as I stuffed myself with as much as I could eat, knowing that when I started playing later in the day, the extra energy would enable me to read my fellow players and relieve them of their money the same way I had at Sam's.

It was now about two in the afternoon and I was anxious to get started, so I went down to the lower street level floor of the Hyatt's Casino. I strolled past the rows upon rows of one-arm bandits. I had never been even close to a place like this before and was feeling a little overwhelmed by the serious feelings coming from the stone-faced people pouring their life savings into the slots, hoping to make that big win that would give their life meaning again. The ones that did not make it, left with empty pockets and shattered dreams. It got so bad that I had to mentally block their feelings from dragging me down.

I passed all those and headed for the tables at the back where the sharply dressed dealers played twenty-one with their clients spread out around the half circle table. I sat down, not quite knowing what to do next. The dealer smiled at me, probably thinking he had another rookie to drain some money from. "How much do you want to spend on chips for the game, Sir?"

I look around at the three other players already sitting, waiting for me to decide so the game could continue again. "I think about a thousand would be a nice start."

The other three sit up a little straighter at the new money being set out for them to relieve me of. I smile at them and ask what the rules are for the game. This makes the others smile even more at my obvious sincerity of not really knowing how the game is played.

The young dealer nods his head and slides some chips across the table to me as I count out ten hundred-dollar bills for him. "Well, it is very simple. I deal out the cards as you ask for them, and the person who gets closest to twenty-one without going over wins the hand."

"That seems easy enough," I say, as I gather up my chips.

The young man looks around the table. "Are we ready to start again?"

He gets nods from the other three and smoothly slides the cards across the table to each of us. He stops when all of us have two cards and stands up straight waiting for the bidding to start as each of us look at our cards that are face down. I can't see the cards as they are dealt, and I have a moment of apprehension, till I focus my attention on the others and feel their response to the cards. It is harder than in the basement at Sam's on Saturday, but I manage to slowly get the upper hand, increasing my small pile of chips by at least double the original amount.

Soon after that, two of the players left to eat or play other tables, and it was just me and one other left. I then managed to increase my winnings till I had about two thousand five hundred in chips, which is when the last player left the table. The dealer smiled as he looked to me and said, "you look like someone who likes to play for larger stakes than here on the main floor. I have heard about a game set to start at seven tonight up on the top floor of the hotel. The entrance fee is twenty thousand and there is one space available at the table of eight players. If you are interested, I can set it up for you?"