Went to the casino this week with my friends Anar, Sahar, and Jess. I took $200 from the ATM, telling myself I’d be okay if I lost it all. Anar sat down first, with $100, at a $15 table. He lost $45 in about ten minutes. Told me that he was done, that he had to get up early for work, that I should play quickly so we could go home.

So I took the $200 to a $50 table. Lost the first hand. But then I got a blackjack, which paid 3:2. $75, in other words. Then I got another blackjack. Then another. I’ve never had three blackjacks in a row. You stand a 1 in 20 chance of getting a blackjack on any given hand, meaning the odds of getting three in a row are 1 in 8,000.

I took my $200 up to $1,000. And then the pit boss came over and started acting real friendly. Gave my friends and me comps to the fruit and cheese buffet. (Which was awful, by the way. 2 different bland tasting, unrecognizable cheeses and fruit possibly from a can…) I took the $1,000 down to $675. And then I got up to go.

“You all done?”

It was the pit boss.

“Yes,” I said. “All done.”

“You sure? You don’t want to live dangerously?”

I couldn’t believe it. Are casino employees even allowed to directly, verbally encourage people to gamble more? Is there some kind of law against this? Should there be? I was pretty upset.

But you can only be so upset after you win $475…