December 24th, 1999,Christmas Eve for most people, but for one poor slob at the Flamingo, it was Doomsday. A ONE-DOLLAR bet. or rather, a lack of it, cost him $250,000.

The Flamingo dealer contemplated calling in on Christmas Eve, he had a wife and two kids, and would rather be with them than a bunch of losers that had nowhere better to spend their Christmas Eve than a Las Vegas casino. Besides, it's usually pretty quiet the day's surrounding Christmas. But the face of Vegas was changing, and there were no more quiet weekends, and Christmas was coming on a Friday this year anyways. So knowing better, he dressed for work and would just hope for an early out.

Ed Fornack didn't exactly fit the looser bracket. He was a stockbroker that made his money from high tech stocks and was just starting to accumulate some real wealth. He lived in Cincinnati Ohio and this was his first trip to Las Vegas. He flew in on Wednesday morning, Dec.22rd and got a room at the Flamingo Hilton on the strip. He had money to spend and he spent it freely, from champagne room service to an expensive escort provided by the help of a friendly bellman who still remembered what a $100 tip really was for, and it wasn't for carrying two suitcases (now they all have handles and wheels anyways).By Thursday night he was a pro at all the games, Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, he even learned Pai Gow and Let it Ride, and lost a considerable amount at each one, which he just assumed was his tuition fee for learning the games. Now he was drinking expensive scotch, he was getting loud and cocky at the tables, he had learned all the games just enough that he felt confident at all of them, and with the combination of all of that, throw in the fact that he wasn't tipping anyone, and he had just enough credits to now enter the LOOSER bracket. And he let everyone on every table he sat at know that he was celebrating his new status as a TOTAL LOOSER. And then came JUSTICE in the name of CARIBBEAN STUD POKER.

He was buzzed, he was loud and obnoxious, but he was spending money so the shift boss gave him some room. Security stood by, but he wasn't too bad, and besides, he still had money left in his pocket, they wouldn't throw him out as long as he still had a bankroll. He saw the Caribbean Stud Poker table and said "I never tried this, teach me how" the dealer who had just missed his early out that night, and just wasn't ready for this guy, told him "It's just stud poker against the house" he put up $500 and bought all $25 chips, when the dealer reminded him he might want dollars to bet in the slot for the Royal Flush jackpot which had climbed steadily for the last two years, and stood at $250,000."I don't want no fucking dollars, I don't need no fucking dollars, I don't use no fucking dollars" the dealer unimpressed and disgusted that he had to deal to this guy just said "yes sir" but inside I assure you he was saying "YES YES YES YES" which in plain English to all of you means "I hope ya lose every fuckin' dime ya got, ya piece of shit"

Justice was served. The cocktail waitress brought him a double Crown Royale which he took off the tray and told her "I'll catch ya later honey" which meant she was getting stiffed, the dealer noticed but couldn't say anything, and she just said "thank you" and walked away hoping he'd choke on the drink or swallow a shard of glass. The dealer dealt the cards. He placed $25 on the Ante and $50 on the bet telling the dealer "I don't look at the cards, just deal 'em." The dealer laid the five cards on the layout in front of the player, and five cards, one face up, in front of himself. On the first hand Mr. Fornack had a pair of eights, and the dealer had a pair of threes, he paid him the $75 and put the red deck in the shuffle machine as he took out the blue deck. He left the ante and bet up, and took the $75 and slapped them in his stack of green chips "Right here baby, that's where they belong."

The dealer laid the next five cards in front of Fornack and the five in front of himself and turned up an Ace as his open card. Fornack turned the hand over and flipped it face up, the 10,Q, K of clubs spread open first, the Ace was black also, his hands were shaking. He spread the cards slightly, revealing the Jack of clubs. Now he was scared, for once he was quiet. The floor man looked over as he spread the last card, the Ace of Clubs, for a Royal Flush.

He turned pale, he was shaking now, he looked up at the large sign over the table which read in green, red, and white lights $250,000.00 He looked at the dealer and said "I don't believe it, Oh my god, I just won a quarter of a million bucks!! The dealer looked at the empty slot, the light that wasn't on, he knew he hadn't played the dollar and was waiting to tell him, he was going to enjoy this. He still had his hand face down on the table. He turned to Fornack and said "Sir, I told you to put the dollar in the slot didn't I? Didn't I tell you to bet the dollar?" "The dollar, what fucking dollar?" "The dollar bet that gets you in for the jackpot sir, you didn't put the dollar up, you don't win anything." he held his face still as long as he could but couldn't help but smile.

"And if I don't have an Ace, King or higher, you don't win the 100-1 on the back bet either, that's another five thousand dollars" he turned his cards over when he said that, he had an Ace on top, but the next four cards couldn't manage a pair of anything let alone a king of anything. The dealer took a $25 chip out of the rack, and said "Sir, you just lost TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY FOUR THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (the $250,000+ $5,000 he would have gotten if the dealer qualified with an ace/king or higher) because you were TOO CHEAP TO BET THE DOLLAR."

And with that, the dealer laid the lone $25 chip next to the ANTE and clapped out to leave the game." YOU PIECE OF SHIT..IT'S YOUR FAULT I LOST THAT, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!" and with that he grabbed his Crown Royale and gave the dealer an instant wash and rinse with twenty five year old scotch, as security ran over with the wave of the hand of the shift boss, the dealer licked his hand and said to the player "Hey asshole, ya wasted good scotch," and security grabbed him under the armpits and dragged him out screaming and kicking.

The dealer wiped his face, and the shift boss told him "You had enough, you earned the early out." and with that, he went home and spent a nice, quiet and uneventful Christmas Eve with his family. We don't know what happened to Ed Fornack.

-Kenny Pearlman