Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Finally, I open a door leading to a small space with a heavy kitchen table in the middle and cabinets which look full of dish ware. To the right is said auxiliary kitchen, and to the left is another doorway. Ah ha, I must be in the butler’s pantry, which is a room that a server uses to make final touches to the food and drink before it’s presented. Perfect.
Gently, I pull open the door to the high rollers room, and there it is. It’s a luxe space which is large, but not over-sized. It’s double height with a second-floor gallery on top, where men go to relax when the game’s not on. A huge chandelier hangs from the ceiling, throwing sparkles in the dim gloom. Luxe carpeting covers the floor, and of course, in the center is a table with a flocked red surface surrounded by high-top chairs. But I know these aren’t regular chairs. These are special ergonomic chairs designed to look as if they’re made of wood, but in fact they’re constructed from a special synthetic material to provide the utmost back support and leg relief. After all, the casino wants to make money, and keeping a billionaire at the table for as long as humanly possible ensures that the dough keeps rolling in.
Quickly, I steal into the room, my heels soundless on the plush carpeting. A smile comes over my face as I pull a laser measuring tool from my bag and begin taking the dimensions of the space. Most laser measurers look like a walkie-talkie, but this is a special one that’s about the size of a large pen. It’s handy and compact, and I nod with satisfaction as a red beam shoots out from the end to stop on the other side of the room. Perfect. The space is sixty-one and a half feet on this side, give or take a bit. The pointers are accurate to about an eighth of an inch, so I’m in good hands, although I’ll have to circle a bit to get multiple measurements, seeing that the space is a bit oddly shaped.
But there’s a reason for my detailed analysis, and it’s because I like to get the lay of the land before sitting down for a serious game of cards. In poker, spatial awareness matters more than you think, and even something as innocuous as a mirror, or a particularly bright light, can throw a player off his game. For me, it’s of the utmost important to get familiarized with my surroundings before the game starts. Like a golfer, I always try to know the terrain, and to understand the topography of where I’ll be before actually placing any bets. It’s a comfort thing, and as a professional, there’s real money on the table. Losing isn’t an option.
Quickly, I move about the room, taking multiple measurements while logging them into my phone. A particularly sparkly crystal chandelier located above a mini-bar catches my eye, and I frown. Again, unwanted light can get in a player’s eye during the game, and distract him or her from the intensity of the situation. Hmm. Not great.
The chandelier isn’t too far up and I reach up to ping one of the crystals with a finger. To my surprise, it drops from its setting and rolls onto the ground.
“Oh shit!” I exclaim in a hushed whisper before getting to my knees to pick it up. But then, another sparkly gem drops onto my head before falling to the floor, and then another. What is going on? Is it raining crystals?
I look up with confusion and see that one of the wire chandelier’s arms has come loose, and as a result, the gems are literally slipping off the iron rod. Another crystal comes plinking down as I kneel on the carpeted floor, hitting me on the cheek this time, and I blink as it rolls on the ground, brilliant with internal fire.
That’s when an alarm goes off in my head. Crystals are beautiful, but they’re generally a bit cloudy and often very white in color. But when I pick up the new gem and hold it up to my eye, the rock flashes and burns, as if lit from within. Could it be...? No way. I squint with confusion because I’m no gemologist but this doesn’t look like crystal to me – it could be a diamond.
The thought makes me sit back on my heels. How is that even possible? Why would there be a diamond chandelier in the Degas? Who even makes diamond chandeliers to begin with? I can imagine Napoleon ordering a luxe chandelier to hang in the Palace of Versailles for his love Josephine, but I can’t imagine that a Vegas hotel would be at the same level. What in the world is going on?