'He went to another casino up the boardwalk,' I found myself telling the stranger at the bar, 'he thinks I'm bad luck, and he always goes somewhere else to gamble.'
'You? Bad luck? I'd hate to see what good luck looks like,' he joked.
His name was Tony and I had found myself at the casino bar with him after I'd spent all my money at the slots. He was taking a break from a dry spell he'd said and was looking to regroup later. Tony appeared to be about 15 or 20 years older than my almost 30, with a shaven head and graying mustache and beard. I put his height at 6' even and his weight around 240 without even realizing I was sizing him up. Muscle covered with fat, but still looking like he could handle himself.
'Well Cassie, I'm about due for another drink, can I get you another of whatever you're having?' he asked.
'Thanks Tony, why not? But get me something else, I'm tired of appletini's.'
Ordinarily I don't enjoy being talked up at the casino bars while my husband is off, but Tony seemed different. For one he seemed a little embarrassed the first time I saw him staring at my tits, and for two he actually managed to staring again. It's nothing I hold against a man, they can't help it I know, but it does get old. So it was refreshing when he blushed a little and stammered his greeting. No, there was something just a little bit out of the ordinary about him, and as I'd run through the money I'd set aside for that day anyway, I didn't mind sharing some conversation at the bar with a decent enough guy.
Our conversation drifted from my husbands opinion of me as being bad luck (and in his defense it's an opinion we shared) to his business trip, to some of the other topics two strangers find themselves discussing. Before we knew it two hours (and four or five strong drinks) had passed and Tony began 'feeling the itch' to get back to the table.
I told him good luck and gave him a quick hug as he departed, oddly feeling just a little disappointed he was leaving. As I began walking toward the elevators I heard my name and when I looked saw Tony shuffling up behind me.
'I'm sorry Cassie, but I just can't help but feeling as though I need something to change my luck. If you're not too tired would you mind putting that theory of yours to the test? I've had enough bad luck that a little more might actually turn things in my favor!'
Agreeing even before I'd thought it over, Tony and I walked towards the Blackjack tables. Tony was married too, and even though neither of our spouses were around it didn't feel weird. He felt like an old friend, someone from college I hadn't seen in many years, but someone who fell right back into the groove. In the back of my head I was almost glad Ronnie had gone off on his own so I had the opportunity to meet my new friend.
As we approached the table I felt a few eyes on me. Probably a mix of my slightly unsteady walk (too many drinks!) and my slightly tight clothes. The clothes themselves didn't make me stand out in the casino, but most of the people in this area were guys who hadn't moved in several hours, and a 30 y/o 5' asian girl with big boobs walking with a 50 y/o 6' black man is going to turn a few heads anywhere.
Tony started off slowly at the table, but soon was picking up steam, and after about an hour was $1500 up overall. When guy sitting next to him cashed out he plunked down $500 in chips and demanded I play for a bit. The servers had kept the drinks coming, and as I was feeling it I agreed if only to sit down for a bit. Almost before knowing what was going on we both doubled our money as the dealer bust nearly every hand. I went up or down a bit after that, but Tony was hot. After another hour or so he'd gone up $8000 more, leaving him about $10k up including my winnings, which were really his.
'Fuck, Cassie, I need to quit while I'm ahead. Or at least take a break, it's almost midnight and I need to stretch these old legs a bit.' he ecstatically said. A guard escorted him to cash in his chips, and he asked them to hold most of it for him overnight. We made our way back to the bar, a little less crowded at this hour, but still far from empty.
Three drinks later and Tony was wrapping up an exciting recount of his biggest hand to the table next to ours; a split which went to four hands and resulted in the dealer busting. As exciting as the night had been, I couldn't help but yawn constantly as it was all catching up to me.
Tony noticed and offered to walk me to the elevator, which I accepted. I needed someone to lean on to help steady me. Once there he asked if I'd like to get lunch with him the following day, his treat, but I declined. He grabbed a brochure off the wall and scribbled his room number on it for me, encouraging me to call if I changed my mind and I turned to hit my floor number.
'Oh jeez! Cassie hang on, I almost forgot!' he exclaimed as he removed his wad of cash from his pocket. 'Here's your $500, and little more for being such a bad luck charm!'
I laughed and said, 'Tony that was all your money, I can't take any of that,' but he insisted trying to push it on me. It was at that point the elevator next to ours opened, and an elderly couple got off. They paused when they saw us, the lady made a comment we couldn't hear, and they both gave us a harsh look before walking past. As they did I could only hear her say 'hussy!'
We both laughed as the realization of what we looked like hit us both, and he finally relented. 'Ok hon, but please give me a call and at least let me treat you and your husband to lunch - I owe you big time!'
Ronnie got back to the room just a little after me, and too tired to do more than quickly tell me how much he was down, we both fell asleep. The next morning we rolled out of bed around 10am and I was looking forward to doing some shopping, or walking the boardwalk. Unfortunately, Ronnie was looking to get an early start of things to make up his losses. I couldn't really blame him, we both knew this was his time away and something he really enjoyed, but it did irritate me a bit that he wouldn't hang out with me at all. On his way out the door he grabbed the brochure from the night before and said 'here this looks fun, why don't you pick yourself up a new swim suit and hit the pool.'
I took a closer look at the brochure and saw it was advertising the grand opening of a new pool area, complete with poolside tables and a bar, along with several private hot tub cabana's. Across the top was scrawled Tony's room #, and I thought 'why not?'
I called the room and instead was forwarded to the desk. When I told the clerk what had happened he told me Mr. Smith had taken a different room, and connected me. A second later the phone began to ring and Tony answered.
'Hi Tony, it's Cassie, from last night?' I tentatively said, half expecting him not to remember me.
'Cassie! How are you? I was just thinking about getting something to eat, will you two join me? Please I'd love for you both to come,' he said all in a rush.