High Roller Dan

So now we're really going out of order. Oh well. Let's hop into the "way back machine" and zip back to last Friday, shall we? Y'know...the episode I described as requiring a security escort?

We arrived at the Island View Resort and Casino in Gulport, Mississippi around 2 o'clock in the afternoon and promptly sat our butts down at a Texas Hold 'Em table with dealer George, then Vicki, then George, then Vicki...well, you get the picture. We were there AWHILE. Meanwhile, Marty was building a rendition of the twin towers with chips and Ann wasn't doing so shabby herself. Uh, me? I'd have been better off just forking my cash over to Marty and Ann.

Whatever.

We finally left the table (after Marty got us food comps!) and looked for something else to play. Hm. What do we see but a crap table with a $5 minimum? (Just our style.) Only problem--it was packed. And trust me, there's nothing more intimidating then squeezing in between a bunch of tall men who are singularly focused on winning the big bucks. (Being blonde and female doesn't count in this instance!) Anyway, Marty convinced us to elbow our way in, then left to do "his thing"--whatever that turned out to be--I never really heard.

We placed our meager $5 bets, and I glanced down at the shooter--a guy at the opposite end of the table with only a couple of chips in his rack. Suddenly, a man two spaces down from me throws the shooter some chips. "You need some money in that rack," he tells him.

All-righty then. We gots us a TIPPER.

I put him about forty. He had one of those weak, receding chins, and bleached blond surfer hair. Flowered shirt and khaki shorts. And mucho de $1000 ($1000!) chips in front of him.

This could get interesting!!

It came time for me to shoot the dice. I had a pretty good run going, but various people kept stopping by to distract Surfer Dude (who's name turned out to be Dan). Then...I dunno...I guess I hit our point or something, 'cuz suddenly, he flipped me a $100 chip. I made a faint stab at politely refusing before shoving that sucker into my rack. Another time, he sent two stacks of fives over.

Ann shot next. Same thing, except he shoveled more chips at her. Maybe her run was longer. Maybe he liked her better. (Pout, pout) I felt righteously gypped.

About eight o'clock, Marty stopped by to gather us up for those comped dinners, but when he saw what was going on, he joined us instead. Yep, we completely BYPASSED dinner.

Anyway, the rest is history. We each shot a couple more times over the next several hours with the same result. At one point, after Marty had the dice for a particularly long time, I heard Dan mutter, "I just won $30,000 on that guy's roll." No WONDER he was tipping us!!

Finally, Dan the Man called it a night. And so did we. Uh, after all, it was about 4 a.m.

And all that cash weighing us down was adding to the weariness...