“OhGod.” Kaden shoved pasta into his mouth as if he was trying to stop himself saying something.
“Have you ever gambled?” Joe asked.
Kaden chewed, swallowed and sighed. “I’ve never bet on a horse, never bought a lottery ticket, or a ticket to win one of those impressive houses they show on TV. Ihavebeen to a casino with my friends. We had a fifty-pound limit. Three out of five of us lost all their money. One came out with fifty pounds. That was me, because I only bet twenty-five and told myself if I got back to fifty, I’d stop. Euan came out twenty ahead. We had fun, but it wasn’t an evening we repeated. There’s a small, systematic statistical advantage built into every casino game, which means the house wins in the long run.”
“But…”
“It’s not a way to earn money.”
They went back and forth. Joe was earnest and logical, Kaden increasingly incredulous. Casinos. Statistics. Skill versus luck. Addiction. Rules. Limits. Kaden objected. Joe persisted. He understood all the points Kaden was making, but that was because he didn’t know what Joe could do.
“I understand that roulette and slot machines are governed by chance but poker and blackjack need skill and strategy,” Joe said.
“And luck! Can you play poker or blackjack?”
“It doesn’t seem difficult.”
Kaden laughed. “Right.”
“I can’t see any other way to make money. I’m good at chess, but I can’t play in a tournament until I’ve been here for a year. I can’t play poker online because I need a credit card and I’m not allowed to use the card that’s coming in the post to gamble online.”
“You can’t go into a casino without ID.”
“Which is coming.”
“And you need money.”
“Yes, but I’ll make more money. There’s no rule against me gambling. And if I’m careful, I can beat the house at the right games. Not always. But enough.”
“I don’t have money I can afford to lose.”
“I won’t lose. Not overall.”
Kaden sighed. “That’s what everyone thinks.” Kaden studied him for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll ask if the others want to go again. You can see what it’s like, what the games are like and the people who play. Maybe you need to see how easy it is to lose. Gambling’s addictive. It destroys lives. I don’t want that to happen to you …or me.”
“I won’t let it.”
But Joe could tell that Kaden wasn’t convinced.
“Tell you what,” Kaden said. “Why don’t I set up an account in my name and you can play online? Just promise me you won’t go over the limit I set.”
“I won’t.”
“One hour and you stop. Then I want the account closed and the cookies deleted, because I don’t need gambling ads haunting me for the rest of my life.”
“Okay. I won’t let you down.”
“That’s what everyone says right before they do something stupid,” Kaden muttered, setting it up anyway. “This site offersa fifty-pound signing bonus, which sounds good but just shows how much they expect you to lose, and I’ll give you a hundred pounds. While you’re doing that, I’ll make notes for a fossil hunting article. And I know which of us is the most likely to make money.”
Exactly one hour later, Joe closed the laptop and crossed his arms behind his head.
Kaden looked up from his phone. “Got it out of your system?”
Joe was working very hard not to smile.
“Did you lose it all?”
Joe pressed his lips together.
