The insides of the casino were just as impressive as the outsides. The ceiling was entirely carved telling a story about an ancient hero that, for what Edric knew, had saved the place from being completely destroyed long ago. That hero was, unsurprisingly, a Farben. His great-great-great-great grandpa to be more specific.
It was quite a story, one that it would be left for later for suspense.
He was distracted by the hundreds of thousands of slot machines. Everywhere he looked it seemed a new one would appear and each time a person was on it, in general an older person. Rich fools that liked to throw money away.
'Really, why did people like these things?' It was clearly a coup, so clearly that makes him want to vomit from pure disgust. 'What a cursed place.'
Rachel and Raquel though, looked at everything with great curiosity. Their eyes sparkled while looking at all those shining lights, oranges, berries, pineapple, all spinning at fast speed. They didn't even notice the complex art on top of their heads.
"What's all of that?" Raquel asked.
"Nothing good, just ignore it." Tina responded, almost covering her eyes to avoid any contamination these cursed machines could cause in the poor little girl.
Their destination wasn't on this floor though. This one was only the entrance, hence the reason they didn't even need it to go through an inspection to enter.
Edric led the way as he could, slow but steady. His cane moved with the precision of who knew the way by head and soon enough they could already see the stairs and the small blockade.
The guard that stayed stationary in front scanned Edric up and down when he got close, giving a special attention to his leg.
"Name?" he asked.
"Mark Jivialy."
"WIll you fall if you raise your arms?"
"I sure hope not," he said, raising his arms, managing to find his balance.
The metal detector beeped a few times while going through his buttons, but the guard didn't react.
"You are good to go."
He lifted the table barrier that was blocking the way and Edric stepped inside. Tina was next, but when the guard saw the girls he raised a hand.
"No kids allowed."
Edric raised an eyebrow. He had frequented this place ever since he was fourteen and, while that wasn't close to the girls' age, he never knew this rule existed.
Tina looked at the girls at her side, then at Edric.
"I guess there is no other way…" she grabbed her bag and threw it at him. "Don't lose all our money! Or I will kill you."
Edric almost stumbled while trying to catch it.
For a few moments he couldn't believe what was happening. He really was holding Tina's bag in his hands, for the first time nonetheless. Not only that, but without Tina at his side he could gamble all he wanted…as long he doesn't lose it.
"Leave it with me, I will whip this damn worm hole!"
He walked up the stairs with a happy smile on his face, almost humming.
The second floor was no less impressive than the first one, with the same impressive and grand architecture. Yet, there was a big difference, and that was the noise. It was almost like Edric had been teleported to another dimension.
While the first floor was loud and bright, this one was silent, almost shady. Poker tables stayed at the sides, some within the wall with only a curtain separating them.
Although Edric had played poker a few times in the past, he wasn't really fond of it. The idea of getting other people's money wasn't really appetizing for him, besides, the accretional luck factor has always bothered him.
Somehow his luck didn't exist in that game, always coming with trash hands and folding more than he actually played.
The center was where he thrived.
Roulette,Blackjack, Baccarat, Braps, Wheel of fortune, and even Pool, all of it were starched across the entire hall. All of them were full.
He had ventured himself into these other games before, with the solo exception of Pool, for obvious reasons. Although he couldn't say that he liked them, he also didn't have a problem with them. They were cash grabbers, sure, but at least it wasn't slot machines.
Dodging many people that walked around, he eventually got to the front counter.
A woman with short brown hair and gentle eyes smiled at him when she saw him.
"Good evening, Sir. How can I help you?"
Edric reached into the bag, testing his theory. If he simply imagined what he wanted and it was inside, his hand would find it. To his surprise, it worked. He pulled out a small, purple credit card.
"200 Reais in chips, please." He said with a smile, handing her the card.
The woman took the card without saying anything and hovered over a card reader. Rejected.
The woman looked back at Edric with a forced smile.
"Sorry, Sir. It seemed like it got rejected."
"What?!" He knew they were poor, but not THAT poor. "Try it for 100." That was the minimum accepted.
The machine beeped.
"Ok, everything is in order." She gave him back the card and reached for under the counter, taking a single red chip and giving it to him. "Have fun!"
Edric nodded and stepped away, but his previous smile was gone. It seemed like someone had thrown a cold bucket over him.
'Tina…'
He didn't know when, but at some point the woman must have whipped his account and transferred the little money they had to another. Leaving him with only 100 Reais to bet. That was insulting. Doesn't she know how tables work? He could lose in the first hand and everything would be over.
'Couldn't that be considered treason? It is my money…tecnhically.'
He spinned the chip between his fingers while he walked, looking around the tables.
Choosing a table also was a skill in blackjack. Let me teach you a thing or two.
First, never choose a table that's 6:5. What does that mean? In a pretty simple way, you will lose money, like, a lot of money. While in a normal game of 3:2 the house has an 0.5% of an edge over the player, in a 6:5 that goes up to 2%. That sure sounds little, but it actually isn't.
If you bet 5 Reais in a 3:2, one can expect to lose about 2.50 Reais, while in a 6:5 table, one can expect to lose about 9.5 Reais. And that number would only increase the more one bet. In Edric's case, since he only has a 100 Reais chip, he would lose about 150 Reais.
Of course, all those numbers were in about an hour, not exactly numbers. Not only that, but that 'rule' only applies to people who use Perfect Basic Strategy, which was Edric's case.
So he avoided those like a plague.
Second, Free bet blackjack, those ones are atrocious. In this version of blackjack the player was allowed to split their hand and double for "free". But of course, there was a caught and a simple, wicked one. If the house busts by one, the player loses. Weird, right?
He avoided those too.
And one wouldn't even believe what's the third table, 6:5 Free bet.
Exactly, not satisfied with those two abominations, people had to go and say: "Hey, why not combine the two and create a true abomination?" And somehow, someone thought that was a great idea. And it was, for the house.
But anyway, which table was the best? Which table Edric was looking for and, by coincidence, someone had just freed a space for him.
A good and traditional 3:2 game.
Seating on the last free chair in that table, Edric looked at his side. The round was still going, with an old man with greasy hair and a cigar in his mouth with a two tens; a perfect twenty.
"Stand," he said, his voice calm.
Looking at the chips, in his table he was betting 3,000 Reais in one go. The dealer had an ace and when he turned the upside down card: A ten. Blackjack.
"Unlucky." The woman at the old man's side said.
She had long, silk black hair that covered her left eye. In her mouth, a cigar, the same brand as the old man. She had already busted before Edric even sat down.
'Seems that this table is having bad luck.' Hopefully he was about to change that.
Now that he wasn't playing anymore, the old man looked at his side, only now realizing the previous guy had left and a new one had appeared. And a young one on top of that.
"Hey, I thought they didn't let kids inside," he said.
"And they don't," Edric said, grinning. "Thankfully I am not a little kid."
He placed the 100 Reais chip on the table.
"But you sure bet like one." The man laughed.
"Don't bully a kid, you fool. Don't you know that brings bad luck?" The woman said at his side.
Edric ignored the man, soon enough he wouldn't be saying that.