We arrived in Cebu City at very early in the morning. I said we because I traveled with my mother and my sister with me. I had traveled to this city a hundred times before but mostly alone, and this was the first I traveled with my mom and sister. For a very important reason; my mom was scheduled to have a cataract operation and we cannot entrust her with anyone else. And beside my mom’s health was fragile as she is already 70 years old and was in medication for minor heart disease.

We went directly to our hotel, and after fixing up ourselves and some rest, we proceeded to the hospital. There the doctor was waiting for us. After about an hour of pre-operation procedure, my mother was wheeled to the operating room. The actual surgery took only 30 minutes, but all in all we stayed in the hospital for about three hours. After that we went directly to the mall. There my mom took her rest as she didn’t want to be lonely in the hotel. We eventually got to our hotel at about seven in the evening.

When everything was well, I decided it was time to hit the casino. My mind was into it throughout the duration of the travel, and even before that. Just the thought of going to a place with a casino can make me excited. Because I can’t be in a casino most often, so the prospect of playing tickles my mind. My mom and my sister knew that.

It was about nine in the evening when I arrived. Since I haven’t been in this casino for a while, my eyes were trying to find for any changes that happened when I was away. There was not much change in the entrance area as the decorations where still the same. There were also a few and minor changes in the lobby. I feel I was new to this casino again.

But the inside had some major changes. The casino had now two blackjack tables – an additional table was added in the pit area. (There was only one before located in the exclusive room.) There were also some changes in the arrangement of the tables. There were many gamblers inside, and about 40{0989c6fb5a0d5607144dc359de209f00f3efd60096fb6cc56964b3971e790ff9} of them were foreigners. There were no sign that an employee had remembered me.

I didn’t play immediately – my trademark. I wandered around observing other players, enjoying the ambiance, and snooping what others were up. Then I went to the slots area. I scoured the hall for any Jack or Better video poker machine but I did not find any. All they got were some other kinds of stiff video pokers and plenty of fruits slot machines. So I asked the lady host if they had a Jack or Better video poker machine. Well, she didn’t even know what a “Jack or Better” is. I purchased 200 pesos worth of chips and went looking for any vacant slot machine. I usually don’t play slot but I played it that night to while away time. At about 20 minutes, I felt bored and so I cashed out. I lose a few pesos.

Then I went to blackjack table. There were two foreigners playing – Korean businessmen visiting the city. I sat at the first base. (For non blackjack players, first base is the first chair at the dealer left.) Then I noticed that the dealer tipping system has changed. Before, they got a box that is placed right at the table, and anytime the dealer would receive a tip he would just drop down the tip into the box. But now it was different. The dealers were now bringing wooden boxes individually with them wherever table they would be assigned. Before, they would divide among themselves whatever tip they would have in the box, but this time, it seemed the dealer will get all he got in his box. Hmmm, let me see how this would affect the player perception. I think I did not like it because it encourages dealers to coax players to give tips. The dealer who can coax better will receive bigger tips. Also the dealers will now categorize players as George or stiff and would show indifference to stiffs.

The change in blackjack rules was still in effect, and my memory went back to the time when this casino changed it because of me. There was no inkling that an employee had known me. Maybe because most dealers were new, and so they were not yet there when the rule change took place. These new dealers did not have any idea on the drama that took place between me and the casino before.

I took 3,000 pesos from my wallet and changed it for chips. The minimum limit on the table was 300 pesos, and a maximum of 6,000. In which case, my 3,000 pesos would only last for ten successive losses.

I immediately lost my first four bets. After that the game went see saw for about an hour. And then for the next one hour the casino slowly hammered my money until only 600 pesos were left. But my 600 pesos hold on, and in the next hour it bounced back to 2,000 pesos. And then suddenly it happened, a seven successive wins. I have now fully regained my 3,000 plus a little profit. It was the first time that I saw profit in that evening. But in the succeeding deals my money went into a tailspin and was unable to recover again until I only had 300 pesos left. Then I decided to stop. I give my 300 pesos chips to the dealer as tip. I had played for about 5 hours and was already tired.

To conclude, I would like to remind everyone that no one can win in gambling all the time, even if he uses the correct winning system. What I say in my book “The Samonte Gambling System” is that a gambler will win more than he will lose in extended playing, but absolutely not to win every time he plays. If you lose in some sessions, expect it. The important thing is you keep your losses to a manageable amount.