Day 3 Part Deux: Lose a little. WIN BIG! Ask Me How.
Stay tuned for THE highlight of our trip (WIN BIG!). But first:
Lose a little.
As we are trying to leave Binion’s Gamblin’ Hall we are accosted by a sweaty, desperate-looking “Texan”, who is rocking the standard-issue trucker hat and a belt buckle big enough to have a complete sentence drop-forged on it:
“Boy am I glad to see someone from Texas I saw that t-shirt and man I was so relieved whew we are a long way from home brother where ya’ll from I’m from Spivey it’s right outside Odessa, Houston, you know, near Nacogdoches man Austin huh ye’ah ya’ll must be horns fans HOOK EM! Tech? Oh I won’t hold it against you Oh your girlfriend I git it hey I need some help you know what a serpentine belt is? My truck busted the serpentine belt and the tow truck lady says i have to give her 133 bucks before she’ll fix it you see my truck out there (pointing to crowd of people outside) well you can’t see it from here exactly but hey i got a hunnert (quickly shows fat wallet with acrumpled-up-looking 100 showing) I just need 33 more I will find a way to pay you back I just need some help brother could you help a brother from Texas I swear on a stack of the good books I’m on the level—” (paraphrased)
Me (stunned): “why can’t you just pay with a credit card?”
Serpentine Belt Guy: “ITS AT SAM’S TOWN!” (Sam’s Town is 15 min away in Boulder)
After a longish moment, I (wanting to get to our next destination) said to Chris and Chad: ” Let’s just each give him 10 bucks real quick…” We do, quickly, in cash and chips.
Serpentine Belt Guy: “Thanks a million man HOW WILL I PAY YOU BACK?…….pass it on? I’ll pass it on brother. I’ll pass it on. As god as my witness. Now where do I cash this in (he seemed to really not know)? THANK YOU…”
Then he disappeared faster than Rush’s newly-filled hillbilly heroin script (OK that was below the belt. Addiction is a disease). And at about 12:55 with a warm feeling of having helped a fellow Texan out of a jam we took off for the Golden Nugget for the 1am poker tournament, the last one of the night. As we arrived, bought into the tourney and moved toward our assigned seats my patting-myself-on-the-back feeling started to morph into a punching-myself-in-the-gut feeling. Which, with a little philosophical effort, evolved into a feeling of appreciation. Here’s why:
Chad, Chris and I had just witnessed and been snookered by what is known as the “short con“. I first started getting that queasy feeling when it occurred to me the hundred-dollar bill looked photocopied. From a sales perspective, every word he spewed at us was designed to overcome objections, mostly before we had a chance to raise them. Probably saw us each color up upwards of $100 in chips at the THEB table. Saw that Chad had Texas gear on. Saw we were moving fast with a purpose. He asked for the perfect amount of money: 10 each. Not too much, just enough for us to do a quick good deed for a Texan & move on. Honestly I say us but it was ME who really fell for it hook, line and sinker and got the other guys to pony up. Maybe he sensed that I was a born softy, a guy who usually gives change to panhandlers who look like they could really use it, really not caring if its for a Bud or a Big Mac. Plus as mentioned previously we were trying to keep it between the Karmic ditches, keep the Vegas mojo on the upswing, maintain the spirit of abundance. Oh, and of course lucky for SPG we hadn’t come across this scam before.
In other words: Me = “Tailor-made Rube.”
Think Lindsay Crouse in this:
DIGRESSION: That stellar early David Mamet effort is probably my favorite of his. Stands tall next to these others I love: Spartan, Winslow Boy, State & Main, Glengarry, and his scripts for The Verdict, Ronin, and to a lesser extent The Untouchables. That list doesn’t include stage work.
To break it down for you: Serpentine Belt Guy was a true professional at the top of his game. He worked in “my-car-broke-down” short con like other artists might work in oils or clay. A true master.
, brother. Spend it well. You got me (us).
_______________________
WIN BIG!
