Casino Grand (VIII)
"Dealer cut?" A surprised voice emanated from behind him.
It was Richard, of course.
James turned around in his seat and smiled at Richard.
"Why not? If I'm truly lucky, then it doesn't matter if the dealer cuts the cards, and I'm going to win anyway. If I'm not, then it doesn't matter if I change the order of the deck because I'll lose regardless. Finally, since your superiors are so worried about professional gamblers, I'll let the dealer cut the deck. That way, win or lose, I never touched the deck." James explained.
Richard sighed to himself. He was sure this was James' way of politely expressing his discontent with the situation. After all, James was surely an honest gambler. Only an honest gambler would come in and play roulette, baccarat, and slots. Any one with half a brain knew that these games were impossible to beat. Yet, despite all of this, the desk riding executives had seen fit to renege on a prior agreement. Richard knew that if he didn't handle the situation correctly, he and the Casino Grand would risk losing a huge player.
"Hold on." Richard instructed the dealer, before turning to James.
"There's no need for that James. You are not in any suspicion whatsoever. Please, don't let our previous discussion impact your play or your opinion on our casino. All I want is for you to have a good time. Win or lose, there will always be another chance." Richard said nervously.
James gave Richard a polite smile. "Thank you for that Richard. However, once the decision is made, it is made. We can neither tempt nor spit upon lady luck. Dealer cut please."
Inwardly, James was ecstatic. His plan was working, and his identity was clear.
The dealer casually placed the colored card into the middle of the stack, and cut the deck, before loading the deck into an opaque black plastic device.
Then, she dealt out the first card face up.
"Jack." She announced, before burning the next eleven cards face down.
Once all of the niceties were observed, she swept her hand around the table and said, "Place your bets please."
Do you need me to activate Peek and look at the cards myself, or are you able to instruct me on what to bet? James mentally asked his system.
[ Actually, plastic is my worst enemy. It's the one material through which System cannot look through. System is afraid you're on your own here. ]
What!? James exclaimed mentally, before looking around quickly to make sure that didn't accidentally slip out of his mouth.
[ System is just kidding. Of course System can instruct you on what to bet. ]
James cursed to himself inwardly. With another three and a half hours left to put in at the tables, that could have seriously messed up his plans.
[ A joke! A joke! System was just joking. If System can look through a gun, of course System can look through a lousy plastic card holder. Start with Tie. ]
James placed a thousand dollar bet on tie, and a thousand dollar bet on the banker. Around the table, the rest of the players followed suit, with some placing the maximum bet on both.
Richard let out an audible swallow. If James continued being lucky, the casino would be in for a world of pain today. Worst still, there would be no suspicion of collusion and no chance of any retaliatory action. Richard recognized most of the gamblers at these table. These were some of the most profitable players that the casino had managed to hook over the past year.
The dealer dealt out two hands of two hands, before sliding the banker's cards over to James.
Even though he knew the outcome, he had to make it look good for the cameras. James pointed to the player's cards and said, "Both."
The dealer turned them over to reveal two picture cards.
"Zero for the player." She announced.
With a laugh, James flipped the cards over. They were also both picture cards.
"Zero for the banker. A card to the player." The dealer announced, before turning over another picture card.
"Player has zero. A card to the banker." The dealer said before sliding a card to James face down once more.
The other players on the table were smiling by now. With their bets on banker and tie, they were in a no-lose situation. If James turned over a face card, they would win the eight to one payout on tie. If James turned over any other card, they would at worst break even.
"Picture! Monkey! Picture! Monkey!" They cheered as James tossed the card over. It wasn't a face card, but it was a ten.
"Banker has zero. Tie." The dealer announced, before paying off the winning wagers.
Richard palmed his face - of all the outcomes for the casino, the tie was the worst one. Although the standard house edge for the tie bet was the highest, it also had the biggest payout among the standard baccarat bets. Only the bonus bets would potentially pay off more.
If Mr S. continued doubling and hitting on the tie bets, the losses would be higher on baccarat than on roulette.
Before Richard could take any action, James reached out and pulled back his chips before studiously looking at the baccarat screen. To a casual observer, it would look like he had merely been lucky and was now studying the board for inspiration.
James sneaked a peek at Richard out of the corner of his eye, and upon seeing an expression of relief, let loose a malicious chuckle inside his head.
Of course I'm going to pull my bet back. I'm going to bet slowly and win slowly, losing a couple of hands here and there. How else am I going to hit the four hour mark before I take you for another million? James thought to himself.
James consulted his system once more, before placing five thousand on banker. Around the table, the rest of the players followed suit, and the dealer sent the cards out once more.
"Player Natural Eight." She announced.
James folded back the sides of the cards quickly before flicking them back towards the dealer.
The dealer laid the cards out in their assigned slots. King. Nine.
"Banker Natural Nine. Banker Wins." The dealer announced once more.
Again, the table erupted in cheers.
James pulled back his chips once more, before placing the minimum bet on the Banker. The other high rollers at the table sensed his hesitance and elected to skip the hand, with a couple placing small bets on the Player instead.
This time, the Player won with a score of Seven against Two.
To Richard's horror, this pattern continued. James would win a couple of big bets before placing a smaller bet and losing it. Even worse, the other players on the table had started to cotton on to his betting strategy, following James when the big bets were placed, and playing against James when he placed the small bets.
---
Almost four hours later...
The stack of chips in front of James had grown steadily over the past shoes, and had changed in color from the standard yellow thousand dollar chips, to the five thousand dollar flags, and finally the twenty-five thousand dollar cranberries.
Around the table, stacks of high value chips dominated the felt. Gamblers stood four to five deep behind the seated players, fighting against each other to place back bets and beseeching the seated lucky few to give up their spaces for others to have a turn.
Inside the pit area, a security crew stood guard over a chip cart. The dealer's chips had been refilled multiple times over the past hour alone, and the black hundred dollar chips and purple five hundred dollar chips had been removed or consolidated into a single stack in favor of the cranberries.
Richard was still standing behind James' chair, but he had been joined by multiple other suits who were watching the scene in horror.
Other than invoking the trespassing law, which they were still loathe to do, there was no other course of action available. In fact, James' winnings were small and reasonable compared to the rest of the table. He had just crossed the million dollar line, as evidenced by the two stacks of cranberries in front of him, while the rest of the players combined were several times ahead of him.
Richard scratched his head for the umpteenth time that evening. He just couldn't make sense of it. Mr S had steadfastly refused to even cut the cards, had not complained despite multiple dealer and deck changes, and had continued to make steady and even losing bets. There was no other logical explanation - it just had to be the world's record run of luck.
Richard's vision turned to the rest of the players - even if he had wanted to trespass Mr S, the other players at the table represented the absolute cream of the crop that the casino had to offer. Each of these gamblers had played and lost multiple millions of dollars over the years, and he was sure that any adverse action would lead to the collapse of the casino's high limit gaming.
James took back his latest winning chips and turned back to Richard.
"That should be the four hour mark yes?"
Richard stared mutely at James.
"If not, I'm happy to continue until the casino believes I've met that requirement."