So as I mentioned in a previous thread, I used to frequent a small casino in Germany that was run by the Italian mob. They actually had a heavy steel door with one of those little sliding things that opens at eye level so they can look out and see who is at the door. There was actually 4 of these places that I knew of within 30 mins drive of where I lived.

As far as I know, the only thing illegal about these places was that there was some limit as to how much they were allowed to let you bet and they...well..they exceeded the limit on a regular basis.

This particular "casino" had 2 blackjack tables, one roulette wheel, a bar and a cashier window. Thats it. It was about the size of a 7-11.

They played the games differently than us. In blackjack, everyone was dealt their 1st card then the dealer got his 1st card face up. Then every got their 2nd card but the dealler wasnt delat his 2nd card until after everyone finished playing their hands.

So there was a little bit of added skill for the guy sitting to the far left seat because he could affect the dealers 2nd card. All cards were dealt face up so the guy on the left could get an idea of what tyoe of card should be coming next.

But the most interesting thing was the roulette. The roulette wheel didnt turn. The "wheel" was shaped like a normal roulette wheel but it was stationary and only the ball moved. There also wasnt any of those little things on the wheel that would hit the ball and make it jump out of its path like a standard roulette wheel.

So the ball would be spun quickly and would go flying around and around but as it slowed down it would work its way towards the center of the "wheel" and would slowly get closer and closer to the dropping into the number slot. There were a couple lines drawn on the wheel. After the ball passed the last line there were no more bets.

This is hard to explain, but the ball doesnt travel in a circle. As it slows down, it makes a more eliptical pattern as it dips down and then back up, down and back up and eventually dips down far enough to fall into a number slot.

I made an absolute killing at this game. Some nights I could read the ball and some nights I couldnt but when I was on, I was DEAD on. The ball would dip down and as it touched the last line, (when it was on) it would fall a number slot that cooresponded with where it touched the line. (The numbers were in order on the wheel) In other words, if it touched the line at number 19, it would hit number 23, or on the exact other side of the wheel from 23.

I would play 2 or 3 numbers on each side of 23 and you wouldnt believe how often it would fall right into 23 (or 22 or 24). I have no idea how these other morons in their $1000 Italian suits couldnt figure this out, but they never did.

There were nights were I would hit the exact number 5 times in a row. There were nights when i went to the casino with no money and a regular would give me money to play so he could bet on my numbers. I would throw a 5 chip out there and immedialtley 100s would hit the table right behind me.

I was actually banned from 2 of the 4 casinos nearby for winning too much money. Remember these were tiny operations. They acted like I was some sort of card counter or something.
There were also times when i had to call a couple friends to come up there and go to my car with me because I had too much money in my pockets and there were some unsavor charactors in there.

Othere night, the ball just seem to fall in random slots and I couldnt hit anything, but on those night i hardly bet anything. The times the ball hit where i thought it would, it would keep hitting it multiple times.

I was a poor soldier back then so I wasnt betting much money but still saved $10,000s from winnings. Good times.

Awesome story, you should do the "well", would be extremely entertaining, just limit it to no questions about classified type stuff.