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"Are those machines in the... shape... of…?
He grins. "Of the number nine?"
I stare at him open mouthed. "That's brilliant."
In Chinese culture, the number 9 is lucky. And Asian people like to enjoy their gambling with a healthy dose of superstition.
He jogs down the stairs into the still empty game room, and closes his eyes. "Kiki, can you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"Close your eyes."
I do as he says and stand in the silence for a moment.
"Can you hear the sound of the roulette wheel being spun, the pill racing along the edge before it bounces on the number, the machine beeping away, coins clinking as they fall into the winners’ buckets. The cheers and laughs of big winners!"
I peek out of one eye to see a smile spread wide across his face, his arms up in the air as if the cards he's been dealt show Black Jack.
"Can you?" he asks again.
I don't, but I come over and pat him gently on the shoulder, “I know you do, and that's what is going to set this place above the rest.”
His eyes flutter open, and when he looks at me, it's with such intensity that my feet itch to flee. But they don't. I just stay and stare back at him.
"Wanna see the VIP room?" he finally says. "It's where most of your employees will work but we'll need some players for the main gaming room as well, if that's okay with you."
"Absolutely, we can put the training ladies out here."
I'm led through an almost invisible door near what appears to be the row of cashiers, and to another hidden elevator.
A sly smile covers his face when the elevator doors open and he takes my hand to push through a velvet curtain and into a gambler's paradise.
And my breath is taken away.
"Wow."
This room, unlike the other one which is still completely empty, is almost fully set up. With the highest end tables surrounded by chairs and stools that must've cost a thousand dollars apiece. I run my finger along the edge of one of the poker tables. “BBO?” I ask, naming one of most luxurious gaming table brands.
The grin I get tickles me. “You know your tables.”
“This mahogany finish is one of my favorites. So nice to play on. But I don’t recognize this design.’
“That’s because it’s custom.”
“You have expensive taste, Mr. Baxter.”
To the side along one wall sits a full bar already stocked with every top shelf liqueur I can name.
"Other than our three other VIP rooms, this is our VVIP room.”
“Ah yes, your Very, Very Important Players.”
He nods. “Whales. Cash in is a minimum of five million U.S. dollars. We will have ten poker tables, serving ten players on each. Depending on how busy we are, we'll have at least one prop player on each table. We will also have three Black Jack tables, one Baccarat, one craps table and two roulette games running. The other rooms have the same amount of tables as well."
I walk over to one of the tables, settling on the stool, and run my fingers over the plush lining. I couldn't hear the sound in the main game room, but I can hear them here. It's quieter, the sound of ice melting and clinking in glasses, the shuffling of cards and rearranging of chips. The soft banter and trash talk, the dropping of bets into the pot. This is my arena. And while I'm playing poker, I am a puppet master.
"What do you think?" he asks, as he watches me look around the room.
