Another Way To Win at Gambling

On Saturday, old (and I mean OLD) gal-pal Randi and I zipped down to Morongo (near Palm Springs) for a 24-hour bout of slots, craps, and 3-card poker. (By the way, yep. You read that right. Two Randies--one with an I, one with a Y. Randy times two. Randy squared. And in high school, we hung out with two Andies to add to the confusion.)

Anyway, so we checked in around 2, dumped our stuff in the room (Kudos, Morongo! Nice decor!), fed our starving bodies, then headed to the casino. First, being the seasoned gamblers that we are, we stopped to get "players cards," then we wandered over to the slots. I showed Randi the new "Deal or No Deal" machines and we lost a couple bucks.

Decided it was time for a cocktail and some video poker, so we made our way to the bar. Randi offered to spring for the first round, so I concentrated on my poker game.

Then she uttered a sound of dismay.

"My wallet," she said, pawing through her voluminous purse. "I don't have my wallet."

Of course, I didn't believe her. "It's there. Keep looking." I went back to my game.

"No, it's not here."

This was starting to look serious. I disengaged from my poker machine, we got our drinks, and retraced our steps to Deal or No Deal.

No deal.

"You must have left it at the place we got our cards," I said, hopefully.

Again, no deal. They told us to check with security.

Her question, laced with pleaful panic, met with twinkling eyes and grins. "You had about two dollars in it, right?"

Ha Ha.

Bottom line. Some angel turned Randi's wallet in with all money, I.D., and credit cards intact.

So, like I said. There are more ways to win at gambling than actually playing a game.