Casino

Aces High, or so they called him, sat at the poker table, gently lifting the corners of his cards to check the suits and numbers. He had a crazy win streak. It wasn't perfect. He lost nearly every time he came in. But not so much that he couldn't turn a profit.

He was well dressed, a sign of his winnings. A sharp, well cared for suit with a pair of red and black A's as cufflinks. Not exactly subtle, but they weren't a pair of cards like some of the other big winners wore, and he liked the way they looked. He kept his hair trimmed and his face clean shaven, and he frequently had to shake off the ladies. They played up his looks, but he knew the real reason they flirted.

He was also one of the few patrons who neither drank nor smoked. When asked, he would ask in return if said person drank or smoked themselves. They would invariably answer yes - they wouldn't ask otherwise. He would then ask if they won very often. They would pause, and look at themselves, and then at him. They wouldn't have any further questions.

He watched his opponent's gauging their emotions and reactions. Everyone had their poker face. Some were better than others. Some broke under certain circumstances. Playing the game was as much about knowing your opponents as it was about knowing your cards. Being able to predict what they might have, counting the cards in the deck to know what would be available and would not be, and playing mind games on those with weaker perception and memory to make them give up what might have been far superior cards.

That was why he didn't drink. He needed his mind to be sharp. That was also why he played the cards, and not the slots. You couldn't trip out the slots.

Besides. Beating the table meant taking other people's money. Beating the slots meant taking the casino's money. And if he took the casino's money, where would he go to play cards?

Aces was getting towards his last game of the night. He'd made a nice profit, but he wasn't tired of playing yet, and he had a safety net to fall back on. He could relax. Stop counting quite as heavily. Stop reading quite as hard. A lot of people tried to take advantage of him during this time, and he did usually lose a few rounds, but he never let anyone goad him into playing too far. He played out the part of the game that made it so exciting. The luck.

Another player tried to push his own luck, and went all in. Aces chuckled to himself, shaking his head, and folded. The player's face fell. He had wanted that nice pile of coins Aces was holding on to and thought he could get his paws on it. He knew Aces had a good hand. Possibly the best one on the board. He was willing to take the chance at losing for all of that money by calling him out directly. But Aces called him right back. He watched from the comfort of his place as the man lost, and forfeited the small wealth he had managed to accumulate.

After that, Aces called. He backed out and cashed in, taking home a nice paycheck. He stopped in with the owner to pay his respects before he left. They had become good friends. They helped each other stay in business. People came to face off with Aces. They'd end up playing the slots, even if Aces didn't, and so everyone benefitted.

Well. Everyone on the casino's side.