Harrah's casino was actually not that far from Eli's apartment, only 15 minutes on a streetcar. Upon arriving, Eli saw a large building that looked pretty magnificent. The casino was over 150,000 sq ft in size, not as large as those in Vegas, but it was one of the largest landmarks in New Orleans.

The reason he chose this particular casino and not another casino in the area was simple, Trust. He didn't trust other casinos. While they may all be reliable, as far as a casino could be, he still lacked trust in them. However, Harrah's was different in this regard. It was owned by the largest casino chain in the US, Caesar's Entertainment.¹Since vegas sands are more invested in Macao

While the other casinos might be standalone and had lesser regard for their reputation, Caesar's was different in that it was a chain, and every one of its owned casinos reflected and represented the chain's actions and approach. If a chain of this scale tried to pull something off, then many players would be repulsed. That means the casino will lose future profits, something that could prove fatal. That is why chains that big keep a high level of integrity.

If he couldn't trust this chain, then he probably couldn't trust any casino, ever.

Naturally, even if the casino had the highest level of integrity, it will always have a house edge, which is the profit, hence the saying The house always wins. Every person who gambles knows this unless they are completely naive fools. However, even if they know it, people still gamble for the sole chance of what if I win?

Eli's father didn't gamble in this casino. He gambled in one of those shadier ones since he was a drunkard at the time. That was because Harrah's kicked him out and banned him on day one for being drunk.

When Eli entered, the casino seemed a bit empty. It was no wonder, however, considering that it was already mid-January. The holidays have already passed, and there were no major events. While there were a few tourists here and there during this time, most of the people who gambled were locals.

Eli soon walked to the money counter, where a few young cashiers were present. He didn't even need to wait in line, as there was an available cashier. She was as chubby as he was but was also prettier than his ex, although she did look in her late twenties.

When she saw him approach, she gave him a charming and authentic business smile and asked politely, "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Hi, I would like to convert $100 to gaming credits, please."

"Certainly, sir. Do you have a caesar's rewards card?"

"No, I don't."

"I see, in caesar's entertainment chain, all bets are through the card, so you need to issue yourself one. Go to the caesar's rewards machine over there, and get yourself a card. You can also charge your card in that station. If you wish to cash out, you can come over here.

Also, by betting and doing other activities, you can get reward credits and tier credits. You can use reward credits to purchase things in our chain, and tier credits are used to increase your rank, earning you neat perks."

After thanking the cashier, Eli went to the machine and issued himself a card. He needed to show his driving license, phone number, email address and take a photo, but the whole process didn't take too long.

After he charged the card with $100, he went into the gaming pit. Most of the games he saw were slot machines, numbering over a thousand. As for the tables, there were a few dozen at the very least.

The games Eli chose to gamble in were table games, specifically ones that used cards. The reasoning was simple.

Slot machines, while not rigged, had an RNG. The RNG produces a few thousand numbers per second. Each number was a different result. While he could technically predict results with his precognition, he had to be fast enough to act on it, and he was obviously not fast enough.

For table games, roulette and craps were also out of the picture. Roulette was not a fixed game, and the ball could be affected by even a small vibration or timing of the dealer. Craps used dice, and every action he made could affect the result.

On the other hand, card games had predetermined results, coming from a preset amount of cards.

However, he also needed to think about what type of card games were impossible to cheat in. If he truly won in an unstatistical way, the casino might not attribute it to his own luck but cheating.

Blackjack could attribute him to card counting. Poker could attribute him to swapping cards or cameras. Let it ride was also the same.

Pai gow is harder to cheat in, but it is still a target for suspicion for card swapping with a neighbor.

That leaves Baccarat, and in particular, Mini-Baccarat. A game where players can't touch the cards. A game of pure luck. The only way to cheat was to either somehow bribe the dealer, use edge-sorting(Which casinos are wary of and avoid the possibility from happening), or place a hidden camera inside the cardholder. Either method could get you jail time, and few cheaters ever targeted Baccarat for this reason. Even if he un-statistically won in this game, the casino would first suspect the dealer and table and not him.

If he won over a few thousand, he could switch to another table and continue playing. If winning in a single table was suspicious, winning in multiple would be attributed to pure luck, as bribing multiple dealers was incredibly hard. At worst, they will ask him to switch tables.

Naturally, all of these assumptions were in the What If scenario. If he lost the $100, then that's it. He would stop gamble and walk away. He knew when to draw a line.

After walking for a few minutes around the floor, he soon spotted the game tables area. In there, he found three baccarat tables. One normal Baccarat table and two mini-Baccarat tables. Eli naturally went to a mini-Baccarat table.

Now, why didn't he go to the normal Baccarat table instead? Simple. In a normal Baccarat table, he also needed to play as the banker and mix the cards. Naturally, he didn't want that, as it could draw suspicion to himself.

One of the tables had only one player, a middle-aged man sitting in the middle. The other table had a young couple sitting in it. Eli decided to play in the one with the middle-aged man.

Eli came to the table and sat on the far right chair of the table. The dealer, a young and suave man in his early twenties, gave a handsome smile and asked, "Greeting, sir, are you here to play?"

Eli gave a smile back, "Yeah."

"Certainly, sir. We were just about to start a new session. Please show me your rewards card."

Eli gave the man his card and asked, "What are the table limits here?"

"Minimum bet - $5. Maximum bet - $100." After the dealer inserted the card into a machine, he said, "Currently, you have $100 in your card. How many chips would you like?"

"$100."

The dealer tapped a few buttons into the machine and gave back the card, along with 20 $5 chips. "Here you are, sir."

Eli received the chips and card, "Thanks."

The middle-aged man at the table remained silent throughout the conversation, only staring at the dealer removing the old cards and replacing them with new ones, putting them inside an 8 deck shuffler.

In the meantime, Eli viewed the table in front of him and recalled the rules of baccarat.

After he recalled the rules, he thought about how he should place his bets. In the end, he decided to bet $5 on what he thought will win.

In the meantime, the dealer finished shuffling the cards and announced, "I'm beginning the game. Place your bets."

Eli immediately got into focus and felt for what he thought will win. He had a strong feeling that there would be a player pair and that the banker would win, so he put $5 on each of them.

The middle-aged man, who was apathetic until now, eyed him weirdly but kept silent. Betting on tie or pairs was a very unprofitable bet, as there was an extravagantly large house edge, and especially on the first bet. This labeled Eli as a total rookie in the eyes of both him and the dealer.

After that, the dealer took out two cards and put them face up in the player and another two cards in the banker. There was a six and a three in the banker section, but the player section had an ace and a two. This meant that Eli won the banker bet but lost the pair bet. This means that since he needed to pay a 5% commission, he lost $0.25.

In the next round, he only felt like the player will win. But he lost that bet.

In the third round, he felt like there will be a pair in banker and that the player will win. He won the normal bet but lost the pair bet, earning nothing.

The middle-aged man, who saw Eli's antics, only shook his head. If Eli didn't bet on the pair bets, he would have already earned a bit.

It was on the fourth bet that there was a change. Eli bet on the banker and banker pair. While the banker bet lost, the pair bet actually won! A pair of queens! In this round, Eli won $50, bringing him to 144.75.

The middle-aged man widened his eyes a bit but only thought that it was beginners' luck.

Eli, on the other hand, had a wide smile plastered on his face. He didn't want to smile, but he kept smiling.

It worked! It actually worked! Ok, calm down, Eli, calm down. This could also be attributed to luck.

In the fifth to ninth rounds, Eli lost another $10.25, lowering him to $134.50. However, on the tenth bet, he won a tie bet along with a player bet. He earned $45, bringing him to $179.50.

This trend kept going on, and on, and on. While not as lucky as before, he still won a considerable amount. By the time the session finished with 60 hands, Eli's net worth increased from $100 to $271.25.

If Eli had any doubts before about his precognition, they were all gone now. His feelings were almost in disarray.

Holy shit! In just a single session, I more than doubled my cash pool. W-What will happen if I bet using higher stakes? But... I promised myself... To not bet with more than $5... Maybe... Maybe betting with $10 wouldn't hurt?

When he reached this thought, it started taking root.

Yeah, $10 bets wouldn't hurt... Why not? I will use the money I earned. I'm not losing anything.

While Eli was thinking about those unhealthy thoughts, the middle-aged gambler, as well as the dealer, were staring at Eli as if they just saw Plot Ko Chun.

The house edge on banker bets was 1.06%. This means, for each $100 you bet, the casino earns $1.06 each game. After 60 hands betting $5 bets, if he only bet on the banker, he would lose $3.18 on average. However, that was only if he bet a single time each game on the banker. What Eli did was to bet two times on average each game. He always bet on either banker or player and sometimes bet on the tie and pair bets. Sometimes even both.

Normally, Eli should have lost around $40 from all those bets, but not only did he not lose anything, he actually won $179.50. This was not statistically normal.

The middle-aged man thought to himself.

This is bullshit. This guy here is obviously a rookie, yet he actually managed to score so much cash. Is he cheating? Is he colluding with the dealer? Maybe I should ride on it, then. I can probably make up for my losses today or even more.

While the middle-aged man had some suspicion of foul play, the dealer was almost certain that no foul play was in place.

The only way to cheat in Mini-Baccarat is to either bribe the dealer, me, in some way, and that is obviously impossible. Also, I am using a card shuffler, so bribing me is useless. The other way is to install a hidden camera or audio device in the cardholder. However, that is also improbable, as the entire floor is monitored 24/7, and the tables are checked regularly. He can't be using edge-sorting since he didn't touch the cards, and I use a new deck in each new session. As for card counting? Bullshit! Even if he did somehow manage to calculate everything, it's impossible to earn so much. At most, his projected income should be in a few dollars at most. This guy must have the god of luck smiling on him. Either that, or he is just that good of a cheater.

In either case, the amount that Eli earned right now could barely scratch the casino, and he knew that Eli's luck shouldn't last long, assuming he wasn't cheating.

After the dealer switched the cards again and shuffled, no new gamblers came to the table. A new session started.

This time, Eli bet $10 on each bet. The middle-aged man next to him placed $10 bets on all the normal bets Eli placed.

After 30 more hands, Eli won another $168, and the middle-aged man earned $80. The dealer finally decided that something was wrong and pressed an emergency button under the table. The emergency button was to alert the pit boss.

 

 

The pit boss, an old yet friendly-looking man, was currently dealing a game at a blackjack table casually when he suddenly had the alert. He paused the game at his table and checked the statistics with a quick scan. When he saw the statistics, his mind almost went blank!

Some random guy increased his money from $100 to $447.50 in just 93 hands?! And some guy that was losing until now is betting on what he is betting, and even covered his losses?! Bullshit! That is mini-Baccarat! That means it's either the dealer is bribed or the table is rigged. But the dealer was the one to notify me, and he's using a shuffler, so I can probably rule him out.

The pit boss thought for a bit and then decided on what to do.

He called the dealer at Eli's table through an earpiece and said, "Finish the session and then close the table for maintenance. I will send someone to check your table. Compensate the two gamblers with 1,000 reward credits."

The reason why he did this was simple. He still didn't know if there was any foul play at hand. If there was foul play, then the gambler will be sued. If there was no foul play, he needed to make sure that the gamblers would not be unsatisfied. Their casino belonged to caesar's entertainment, one of the largest gambling companies in the world. Reputation was by far more important to them than a few hundred dollars.

 

 

After the dealer received the order, he continued another 27 sessions, earning Eli another $160.50 and the middle-aged gambler $72.50.

After the session was over, and Eli and the middle-aged gambler were happy with their gains, the dealer suddenly announced, "Sir's, thank you for playing at this table. I'm afraid, however, that we will need to perform some maintenance on the table. Please, accept 1,000 reward credits as compensation."

Eli and the gambler didn't expect such good treatment and happily accepted it. Eli and the gambler each tipped the dealer. Both Eli and the gambler tipped the dealer $20 each, making the dealer happy, and then they got up from the table.

Eli, who now had $608 with him, wondered what he should gamble on next.

Do I continue to gamble on Baccarat?

He glanced at the other baccarat table, which now had 4 players.

Nah, too crowded... Besides, they will copy me like that gambler from earlier. Hm... Blackjack, maybe? Hm... Possible. Actually, now that I think about it, they won't suspect me for anything as long as I keep switching tables each session. They are using continuous card shufflers, so they won't suspect me of card counting. Also, I won't need to worry about other gamblers copying me. There are even a few empty tables. Alright, let's try it.

Having decided on what to do, Eli went and sat down at one of the empty blackjack tables. The dealer, an overweight woman that looked 35-40 wearing thick makeup, looked a bit bored while she was playing with her phone. When she saw Eli sitting down at her table, a business smile emerged as she said, "Hello, sir. Are you joining this table?"

Before Eli answered, he asked, "Is this a 3-2 table or a 6-5 table?"

"6-5. Are you interested in joining the table?"

Eli handed over his rewards card, "Yeah. $500, please."

After the dealer inserted his card into a machine and confirmed the transaction, she gave Eli chips.

In the meantime, Eli recalled the rules of blackjack.

After Eli recalled the rules, Eli reviewed his idea.

I picked a CSM table and even one with a 6-5 rule. Even if the casino wanted to suspect me for anything, it cant. It knows that if I played fairly and won under these conditions and it still bans me, it would ruin their reputation to the floor. A chain as large as Caesar's entertainment would never risk that unless I win millions.

As Eli was thinking about this, the dealer called him, "Place your bet, sir."

Eli immediately got focused and tried to predict a result. To his dismay, he felt a chaotic storm of positivity and negativity. He then realized his error.

Shit! I forgot that CSM has an RNG. I can predict things if they are predetermined, but I can't do that if they are not!

The female dealer got a bit annoyed and reminded again, "Please place your bet, sir."

Eli felt pressured, and he knew he screwed up a bit.

What do I do? Do I fold and quit? But that would be a bit weird and suspicious. If only precognition could run on a subconscious level and do things for me instead...

Just as he thought about it, suddenly, his body started to move all on its own. He took $20 tokens and placed them on the table.

While the dealer smiled and started to distribute the cards, Eli was shocked!

What the fuck just happened? Did my body move all on its own?! I even bet $20! Did... Did precognition do this?

As Eli was shocked, he got a 13, while the dealer got a king face-up. Eli, who memorized basic blackjack strategy, wanted to hit. However, contrary to his expectations, his body forced him to stand!

WTF?! Is precognition trying to make me lose now?!

The female dealer immediately labeled Eli a rookie when she saw that move. Not showing her hint of disdain on her face, she flipped the card that was face down. To her surprise, it was a 2. She drew another card, and to her astonishment, she drew a queen!

The dealer is bust!

Beginners luck. She thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Eli was astonished.

I actually won that?! Holy shit... Maybe I should let my precognition do the job for me and see how it goes?

On the next hand, precognition only placed $10. The minimum bet.

What he got was a 9. Precognition hit twice, and it busted.

On the third, it placed $20. He got a blackjack and received $24.

After this went on for 30 rounds, the female dealer started to sweat. Eli, the gambler in front of her, won $312 using only 10 and 20 dollar bets. There was no order in how he gambled, no reason. Heck, he even threw basic strategy out of the window. He only bet what he felt like betting at that very moment. He even used a hit once when he had a 20 and even won! In her 17 years career as a dealer, she has never seen something this absurd.

Am I seeing the god of luck incarnate? Does he somehow know the cards before I draw them? Impossible! I'm using a CSM! Even the dealer himself cant mess with this, let alone the gambler... I must be overthinking things.

Meanwhile, Eli was thinking about his recent discovery.

Apparently, there is a random number generator inside the CSM. Each time I want to make a guess actively, I would likely lose. However, when I let my precognition take control, I can subconsciously make my probability go higher! It's like I can turn my body into an automatic machine. A few thousand RNG per second? Fuck that! I can bypass it with precognition! Hm... I think I will call it Auto-Pilot. Now then, let's see if I can control it a bit. Raise the $20 bets to $30 bets. Keep the bad bets at $10.

As if listening to Eli's command, instead of placing a $20 bet, it placed a $30 bet next. Although he lost this hand in the end, it proved that it listened to his input!

A small smile formed on Eli's lips, weirding out the dealer.

Interesting, and most importantly, convenient. Auto-Pilot will do the rest for me while I act as a passenger. If I want some variety, I can simply ask, and it would follow. As expected from an EX grade skill... Or that is what I would like to say, but I don't know how powerful they are relative to lower-grade skills. Oh well, let's play some more.

Eli then proceeded to gamble on 29 more $30 bets, earning him another $452. By this point, the dealer was horrified!

What the actual fuck?! I can tell that there is no sleight of hand or foul play. The cards are not marked since I personally used new stacks this morning, and I am using a CSM, so he can't be counting cards. Even if he was, would counting cards earn him this much in just 60 hands? Fuck no! Also, he was doing bullshit tactics all the game. Is the CSM rigged? I must inform the pit boss!

She then pressed the emergency button under the table.

 

 

 

The old pit boss was currently sitting in the security room. With him sat the young dealer, as well as a technician. They were currently observing footage of both the game and the table of the last 48 hours.

The old pit boss currently had a deep frown on his already wrinkled face. He already confirmed that the dealer was as innocent as can be. Also, he confirmed that Elijah White, the gambler at the table, also didn't make any suspicious moves. There were no card counting tactics either. The only way that this guy could get an edge over the casino was to rig the shuffling machine. However, from the footage, he confirmed that the table was not rigged. The technician also confirmed it. This meant only one thing.

"This is authentic luck. There was no cheating, just luck, but it can always happen." The old pit boss concluded. The old pit boss was actually a veteran card counter. After 30 years of cheating casinos, he settled down and was now a pit boss at Harrah's. Using the skills he nurtured, he managed to catch many cheaters red-handed. He could tell that this was a lucky but clean play.

The young dealer didn't question the old pit boss. The old pit boss was the one who taught him the ropes, and he also experienced first-hand what happened.

Just then, the old pit boss suddenly received another emergency alert from one of the dealers. Frowning, he checked it in the terminal of the security room and was shocked to find that it was the same player. He was winning again, but this time, in a blackjack table with incredibly unfavorable conditions.

He couldn't help but say out loud, "What in god's name is this? $774 in just 63 games using 10, 20, and 30 dollar bets? And it's even on a CSM 6-5 table?! You're kidding me! No cheater can pull shit like that off! Unless he rigged the shuffling machine, that is..."

The young dealer frowned as well when he checked the statistics, "Sir, look at his plays. There are no tactics involved at all. He is playing chaotically without even using basic strategy!"

The old pit boss also scanned it with squinted eyes when he saw that as well, "Yeah, something fishy is going on... You go back to your table. I will handle this personally."