My experiences are quite extensive. I've gambled in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Monaco, and all over Europe and the United States. I know how the games are played and how to win (most of the time). Here are a few of the strange experiences I've had through the years.

3 Card Monte
One of my first experiences with gambling was on the street in Indianapolis. There was a kid in my school that liked to try his hand at "3 card monte" out in the school-yard. He'd sit on the ground with 3 cards, lay them out, show you an ace, and say "Find the ace and you win". I'm sure you know how the game is played! Anyways he had everyone in my neighourhood beat, and would often walk home with $10 or $20 a day. Not bad for a youngster. I had watched his technique for a long time, because I knew there was something up with this kid. After a few weeks of observing, I noticed that he was palming the ace in one of his hands, and therefore eliminating any chance you have of winning. I decided to sit down with him to try his game...I sat down, put $20 on the ground, and said "Lets go". He started to shuffle the cards around as he did, and then he stopped. "Where's the card my friend?" he said. "In your right hand" I said...you should have seen the look on his face. He was stunned and didn't know what to do. There was a brief moment of tension before he picked up his cards and ran away. I picked up my $20 and the $2 that had fallen out of his pocket.

Treasure Island Mishap
Although this story isn't related directly to gambling, I think it was the result of bad gambling...I was at the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas last year, and was watching one of their almost hourly shows outside of the casino. They have these big ships that sail out and fight each other, old-school pirate style. Anyways, there was a gentleman right up against the railing that was looking very distraut. Once the show started, he seemed somewhat antsy and uncomfortable. To make a long story short, the man hopped over the railing and into the water located below! I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish, but security took care of him and made sure he didn't do it again.

Venetian Pai-Gow Poker
I was at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas in August of this year. While there, I played a lot of Blackjack, but on my last day I decided to play a game called Pai-Gow Poker. A very fun game with some enticing odds, I was really enjoying myself. About half an hour into my play, a young girl came and sat down beside me. She was wearing ragged jeans and a t-shirt, and didn't look like much of a high-roller. None the less, she opened her purse and pulled out $10,000 and slapped it on the table. I was quite shocked and simply stared at her. She played for about an hour with all of us at the table and lost her $10,000. I'm not sure if she was really a high-roller, or if that was her life savings, but it just goes to show never judge a book by its cover.

I think that is a good start for now don't you think? If you have a story you think is worthy of this page, please email me and I will review it!

~Gary Hibbert

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