Hook, Line & Sinker

I remember the first time I was ever introduced to the seductive world inside a casino. Growing up in suburban Maryland in a family that did not take vacations, I had never been in a casino. My only experiences with gambling of any type was the occasional card game at a buddy's house.

I was out one night a few years back with a group of friends at a local bar. It was a routine evening out for a couple of beers and some fun. Unbeknownst to me, there seemed to have been an ongoing dare within this group of guys that I cought wind of early in the evening but did not understand the full meaning until much later. About a half hour into the beer drinking and crap talking, one of the guys said to us "You guys won't go to AC!" I paid no attention to this because I had no idea what "AC" was but it seemed to stir a little reaction from the other guys. During the course of that evening, that same statement was issued a couple of more times before I had to ask "What's AC?" They told me AC is Atlantic City you Moron. I told them I had never been and they started telling me about some of their past adventures to AC. The night was starting to wind down and now a bunch of the guys had been daring the rest about a trip to AC. When the lights came on to signal last call, there was one final challenge to the group and that was the last straw. A couple of the guys starting yelling "Get the car!" About 20 minutes later, I was on my way for the first time to AC.

The lights were blinding and the casino was scary as hell. There were tons of people at four o'clock in the morning playing all kinds of games I had never heard of or seen. The sounds were so inviting. It looked like a really well lit carnival at first. I followed the group of guys to the army of ATM's to get some money. I followed a couple of the guys that had been here before before I decided to try my hand. The overwhelming favorite among these guys seemed to be black jack. I sat at the table where there were the fewest people. My first time in AC, and I was getting ready to have my first taste of a big time casino! Fifteen minutes later, I was down a little more than two hundred bucks and ready to go home. I had pissed off every player at that table due to my inexperience and had suffered a big hit to my ego. What a lot of fun. I had a great time and it was everything I thought it would be and more. I have been back many times since then and have more fun each time I go.