Neon Chips and Doughnuts

I’ll never forget the time I walked past a blackjack table and noticed two new and amazing sights.  A man was playing head’s up against the dealer with bright, neon orange and neon yellow chips.  The oranges were $10,000 chips and the yellows were $5000.  I’ve handled a few $1000 chips in my day, but never a higher denomination.  The player was surrounded by the dealer, the pit boss, the casino manager, and two security guards.  If you had seen the way the man was dressed, and how his hair was combed, you’d think he was a school bus driver in a poor neighborhood.  Besides having more than $300,000 in chips at the table, the man also had a dozen chocolate doughnuts on a platter along with a carafe of coffee.  Apparently, it was a special VIP comp from the casino.  I never got any doughnuts for playing.  In fact, I think food had been  prohibited in the table games area.  The pit boss and I were on a first name basis, and had been for over a year.  I walked up close to the high stakes game, “Hey, Frank, I never get any doughnuts.  What’s up with that?”  Frank sternly asked me to leave the area.  The two-faced sunuvabitch acted like he didn’t know me.  For a second, I thought about doing a grab and dash at the table.  Not for the neon-colored chips—for a doughnut.