I’ve been to Las Vegas once when I was a young man. I played Texas Hold’em my first night there, and finally walked away from the poker table with an extra $200 in my pocket.
Right before I left the casino, I decided it would be a good idea to bolster my profits at the craps table. After about fifteen minutes, my hard-won earnings had dwindled down considerably. Finally, it was my turn to roll, and I wagered the last of my chips. I rolled a two – an outcome that is also known as snake eyes because the two dots just kind of stare upward from the table like beady little eyes. The odds of that outcome are 1/36, and it results in a loss for the shooter.
Oh well. Easy come, easy go. I went outside onto the main drag, and a guy I didn’t know walked right up to me and said, “See that?”
“See what?” I had to ask.
He pointed in an upward direction and said, “You can tell how your luck’s gonna go if you watch the sky at night. It’s my night tonight.” He took a $100 chip from the Bellagio out of his pocket and held it up. “That’s all the money I got left in the world.”
“Maybe you should just cash it in and buy some groceries,” I suggested.
“It’s too late for that. I’m gonna let it all ride tonight,” he said as he walked away.
“Huh,” I said, looking up into the night sky. All I could see was a neon haze.
I made it a point to look for that guy whenever I was out on the Strip, but I never saw him again. Sometimes I still wonder how his luck turned out that night. I imagine it didn’t turn out well, but you never know. Anyway, I wrote a haiku about the experience. Enjoy.
fortunes coalesce
in the gaudy neon haze
snake eyes pierce my soul
The Hawk Squawks 