Hangin with the Mafia!!
You know how I got that list of clubs...well last night I wanted to get my groove on. So I caught a taksi or taxi or really I just hitched a ride with the first car that knew where Club Arena was. I had no idea - I only knew the name.
OK - DUMB MOVE
Well, I negotiated with the driver down to 10 Krup's, the local currency, and jumped in. He made a good show of driving me around several blocks and dropped me off about 2 blocks from where we started.
NOT QUITE VEGAS
So I walk in wearing jeans, a t-shirt that says "I Love Party Girls" with a big red heart in the middle and a red striped button up shirt over it. I didn't want any "extra" attention tonight ;).
Nobody told me it was a casino, so my first inclination was to move on. A lot of the casinos are just holes, but I heard that oh so familiar thump upstairs. So I payed the "entrance" and went in. I dumped my sweater ASAP, and serially downed a couple vodka tonics while I checked out this scene.
The casino is downstairs, and the club is upstairs. The sunken dancefloor is flanked by two bars and a ton of nice booths. Of course they are all reserved. There is a huge stage in front of the dancefloor with a red leather retro couch in the middle. Behind the almost naked dancing Ukrainian girls is this huge screen with some strange club video going. Every 3rd song they rotate.
Around the bar I can hear broken english everywhere. Anyway, I traded off dancing and conversing until about 3am, when the dancefloor basically emptied.
A LITTLE BLACKJACK ANYONE?
I couldn't let it go, could I? There was one blackjack table, and the min/max bet card read 5/100. So I thought, "that's about $1 to $20 a hand." Very low stakes, right? You can't buy in at the table. You have to go to the change booth. Don't worry - I'm going somewhere with this :)
I handed them what I had in my wallet - about 200 local, and they handed me some chips. I looked at the chips when I got to the table and what??? I had just 50 in chips. When I got back to the change booth they explained that the chips are denominated in dollars. So I reached into my special stash and pulled out my last 300 local. If I was going down, I was going down hard :)
WINNING CAN'T BE BAD
Every table has some old guy in a black suit with an 18 year old next to him, including mine. I started betting $25 - American. Everyone is betting minimum. And you know the drill - I'm up...I'm down. I'm betting $25 then $50 then $75 a hand. And eventually I got about $2000 in front of me. Its about 4am, and I can't quite leave well enough alone.
ENTER GUIDO
You know that actor that ends up in every mafia movie - even Analyze This? He is really fat; he has lumps all over his face. Anyway, a guy who looks just like him and his skinny friend sit down at the table when I've got about $250 in front of me. I lost a lot!! We do introductions, and bullshit as we play.
By this time I'm pulling my regular blackjack bit. I'm bullshitting with the dealer and monitor - every table has one. Usually some eye candy, but not always. And our fortunes are intertwined. The one skinny guy and I start winning. He starts saying stuff like, "let's take all their money." And of course I am down with that. 4am becomes 5am, and 5am becomes 6am, and I've been betting 3 hands at $100 a hand.
WHERE'D EVERYBODY GO?
I look up, and the place is dead. I can only see tables with dealers and monitors. The pit boss comes by, and she wants all our chips. It seems that they need to count all the money and chips once a night. The skinny guy is loudly discussing how he does not want to leave. At some point he says, "You hungry? Want some sushi?" I haven't exactly had the greatest luck with sushi in this part of the world, but of course I say yes. Did I have a choice?
SUSHI FOR THREE
Skinny guy grabs my chips (I get a little nervous), and hands it to the pit boss who counts out a little over $2100. She runs away and back and hands me a wadd of $100 bills. Nice. Off to the little sushi corner. Guido is back, and this other guy in a black suit over a black t-shirt (code for mafia I think - like black mercedes) shows too. I think this guy manages the place, and everyone is chummy. The conversation is way over my head, so I just eat. Sushi is good and I kept ordering!!
At some point I look up from my plate, and all the dealers are looking our way. Are they waiting for us or hoping we'll leave. It isn't vegas - I don't think this place is open all night. Hmm.
READY FOR BED
So the skinny guy keeps prodding me - I have to play. He won't play without me. I am sooo tired. Its gotta be 7am by now. There is no check (they actually brought that black wallet with nothing in it), so we head for the table. I changed just $200 and agreed with myself that I would not change any more. Oh - and for some reason we could change at the table now - weird. Well I lost the $200 in short order. I pleaded my exhaustion and walked out into sunlight, leaving guido and company behind.
With a big smile and a pocket full a hundreds I went home. Boy that rock of a bed never felt so good.
2 Comments:
Once again the voice of doom (caution). Good thing you left in the daylight. Leaving at night, I give ya 5 to 3 ya get your a__ rolled. You are living a charmed life my friend. Enjoy the party while it's on. At least you didn't try to take pics, although I would like to have seen some. Especially the big ugly guy, I could have gotten him a role in a movie here.
Tell Guido I said Wassup he is my boy
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