Many want to pretend they can gamble for a living, Many men make success from this venture. But at the end of the day, You earn little more than a victory for your pride playing A Dead Mans Game. To those that don't understand this I shall tell you a story of a man who truly fits that title.

For better or for worse.

Chapter One: The one I shouldn't have played with.

Drenan.

A name to which many casinos across the land and seas grew to either fear when heard or rejoice. It was simply a matter of fact which casino manager you questioned about him that led to the answer. If you asked someone like the owner of the Red Rock Casino or the Borgata Hotel Casino or the worst case scenario, you get your head shouted off by the owner of the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

But if you asked a European one, for example Casino de Mallorca, Casino Municipale di Sanremo or even the Casinos de jeux en France, you would get praises about how much money he left there and how often he walked in to the building and left with nothing. For example, the Polish Casino Belsko-Biała's owner stated:

"He made up around 18%-23% of our 2021 year profit. He was only here for 2 months at max. He either had the worst luck in the world or he was just so generous towards us. For some reason I don't think the latter is the case, but for us that matters little, now does it?"

It was usually just dumb luck but it was known that some casinos actually considered banning him, but didn't do as without any evidence of things, such as cheating, it would be discrimination and that could lead to a heavy lawsuit. It was better to have a 50/50 of him taking a lot of money than a 100% through lawsuits which would also damage the casinos reputation. Some tried to ban him for the fact he played since he was 17 with fake ID but in the end decided against the decision.

Drenan was extremely fond of gambling, as the adrenalin from the huge amount of money that can be earned or lost was mesmerizing to him. He tried to gain adrenaline rush from other sources, some gave him a little but most left him unsatisfied. Only hardcore gambling could achieve the state of euphoria which he craved so much.

Even though he was hated by owner's he was vastly liked by both staff and other participants. Even those who lost against him considered him a nice person. He was popular with everyone, unless he just took all of your life savings. If that wasn't the case, most said that he was:

"The perfect picture Of a charismatic gentleman Magnetic and debonair Chivalrous and spirited but when it came to playing, Pray you never cross his path Steal a glance and incite his wrath His dashing demeanor gives way And depravity comes out to play. If that happened, you weren't leaving, unless your pockets were empty like a void or full like a king's treasury."

Power and the money, money and the power he never lacked either, even though he was a strong gambler, he always kept some in his treasury. He might enjoy gambling, but he wasn't that stupid to put up everything that he had. Emergencies can happen and not having money for that when it occurs is a fatal error, which he would rather avoid as much as possible. He wanted the adrenaline, but he didn't want to fuck up everything that he had. He might not have a diploma, but he didn't lack common sense as he was more than aware of how much he could play and how far he could go.

He saw many people begging in front of him to give them their money back. Life savings funds for their children. Funds for their mother's sickness. He saw many people live fall down in front of them with a single, stupid decision. He had morals, but they weren't that high. Some claim that it's unfair to take advantage of someone who's drunk or in a state of depression. Or he just received a pay-check.

He always shrugged these things off. If he wasn't the one who's going to take advantage of them, then someone else is going to do it in the end, why let someone else reap the profits of someone else? He always considers these things foolish. Money is money matters, not where it comes from. Some people judge him for having dirty money, but in his eyes it's perfectly clean, he sees no stains on those green dollars or on the colorful euros. And it's not like he always kept those to himself. He was known to donate it to charity, to the church, to the sick, or to just generate income for the less fortunate people. It kept him at odds with the rest of the people as they saw him as a fair person, even when he took advantage of them. Not like they knew he always laughed when they called him the perfect picture of a charismatic gentleman. He was neither the perfect picture nor a gentleman. But indeed, he was charismatic. He needed that charisma to always get in the pockets of people. To get the most out of them, of course.

He wasn't a good person, but he never cared enough to change. Why change when you can live a life of your choice, but you just have to work for a few people? But that's something that he was fine doing as long as he could get whatever and whenever he wanted. Why help people when they can only blame themselves? Do meet the minimum donation quota to keep an image of a perfect person, and always keep the most for yourself. The more you can play the more You can have fun and the more you can have fun, The least you can care about others.

Walking over people is dirty and should never be done. It's something that even he despised. Or at least despised it when the person had nothing to do with it, walking over people who loved gambling and were addicted to it was just a simple thing to do, as they were to only blame themselves. The greed that they felt, the addiction that they had, they were things that he gladly took away from them if it meant ruining their lives, then so be it. Teaching them a lesson in his eyes with something that he would gladly do to anyone matters not how close he held them or how well he knew them. It is worth noting that he cared less about teaching lessons than he cared about money. It was just something that he told to those who asked him.

He wasn't necessarily popular enough for him to make usual appearances in major headlines, but he was well known enough in their gambling community. When he went to places where he often got interviewed by some people. Once he was interviewed by the newspapers, once by a youtuber and a few times by the police. Anyone who was interested in his ways of making gods of money, then losing it suddenly and repeating this process. It was like a phoenix. He always fell down, but he always got up. No one knows how he did it. But no one really cared enough to ask him how he did this. They were fine with him doing things. Of course, as long as those things weren't criminal, illegal or something along these lines. to be fair to him he never went out of his way to illegally gamble, never really accepted offers such as sexual favours, drugs or human organs when people ran out of money to offer.

He always played fair and accepted defeat when it came to that he was more willing to accept it than most of his counterparts. It was becoming a common occurrence for when he entered the casino, all gazes fell, felt upon him as he magnetically called them upon himself. He had no need of even saying words the second he entered all visions were on him. It was almost natural.

More often than not, the managers called for reinforcements and other guards, not necessarily for him, but because of his opponents. When people lose a lot of money, they tend to be, well, slightly aggressive. You see, there were a few times when things got heated and also got out of hand. For example, broken nose, bruises, scratches. Nothing that a few shots of alcohol and an ice pack couldn't fix. But for the sake of keeping prestige and face the casinos had to increase their security. This rather annoyed the owners as it meant more budget fixes, because spending that much on security can be, well, programmatic considering the amount of money they want to make, but it also served them as a lesson to know that well, money brings the worst out of people. They weren't happy, but they had to swallow it. Not like they could have done anything else.

This could have gone on for quite a long time, but things didn't necessarily develop to our protagonist's favor. Or did it? Depends on what you consider a good development.

It was a quiet and fateful night. Quite a bright summer night. The air was still hot that the night was still bright. Everything was nice. Drenan stood at his villa's window; He had a glass of wine with a few ice cubes in his hands. He just returned from a big "vacation" at the Adriatic Sea, mostly in Croatia. He was happy with the business outcome as he not only managed to secure a small little mansion in Sicily, Italy a few thousand dollars and euros. But also managed to get a quite nice house in Alexandria, Egypt. This pleased him as he quite enjoyed that hot air. But he mostly was happy because these things sold like candy. Both houses were of fine state. This meant that he could also ask for quite a nice price on these things. More money, but you might also keep them. Who knows? He enjoyed his last time in Sicily. But he also likes Egypt, he enjoys both of them. He thinks to himself. Maybe he should keep them. It doesn't cost that much to keep them up and he could also rent them out. Or just use them the next time he gets some big action, with these things, everyone knows that these things are worth quite a lot.

The thoughts raced through his mind, but he decided to ignore them for this fateful night. He has no need to think about this right now. When time comes, he may decide what course of action he will take but right now, a cool glass of wine will suffice. Maybe he will go down to the bar to get some well deserved action as well. Who knows? He might as well stay here and rest.

He takes a small sip from his drink. He stares into the dark night. The night was beautiful. The stars in the sky were dancing like they were small little fairies. The moon was shining brightly upon all that it could reach. A beautiful view, especially when you're high on drugs. A small little ecstasy wouldn't hurt anyone, now, would it? He wouldn't be a high gambler if he wasn't into a bit of drugs as well, now, would he? It wasn't anything major, but it was still enough for him to feel a little bit of happiness and the extra bit of life. The thing was slowly losing its effect as he took it while he was still on his plane back to England.

Turns around and makes his way to a small map in the middle of his room. Punches all over it and begins to look for a new direction. New place he could make quite a bit of money or and a name. He carefully looks up every single major city on the map and simply thinks. Sting, sting stings before coming to the conclusion that he could possibly make some money somewhere where he wasn't before. Maybe Shanghai, maybe Tokyo. He wasn't necessarily well known in the Far East as he wasn't really keen on going there. But he was no fool. If money was calling out to him and dancing blindly in front of him,there was no one to refuse to take her hand and make some money. The state would also be nice considering that Asia is extremely populated and he could rent out that house or apartment or anything he could get his hands on for an extremely high price for an extreme amount of people.

"Yes, yes. The Far East. I haven't been there in ages. Only once to be precise. Could make a good amount of money there before people realize that I'm a professional. This amount of money could be extremely beneficial. Both short and long term. Ah. Let's see when the next flight to Nanjing will be. Or should it be Beijing? Nagasaki? Hiroshima? Seoul? There's so many decisions that I could make."

Drenan said as he rubbed his chin. Real money could be made there swiftly.

For the time being, he decided that going down to the casino that was near his mansion would be quite nice. After all, it was almost midnight. This is the time when striking is the wisest. Most professional experts already left, and the young and the fools are the ones that left. It's quite easy to gain some money out of people who do not know how much value money actually has, or just drunk or just want adrenaline like he wants some. But unlike them, he actually knows how to do it professionally, with the smallest amount of risk. He chuckled at the idea of making even more money, but he suddenly realized that unlike in, well, Croatia, people aren't necessarily rich enough to put up stuff like their own homes and he won't really find any one worthy of his time.

But right now, this was the better option because he had literally nothing to do. He could have gotten some rest and gone to bed, but why would he do that when money can be made? He was no stranger to doing odd things in odd hours for some money. After all, money and the power, power and the money, these two things run the world like a machine. The more he could gain from either of these over both in some cases, the more he can relax and the more she can enjoy. After all, when he reaches a certain amount of money, homes and businesses, he can just simply lay back and relax.

He could do this right now and live until the age of 180 without having to work a single day in his life. But then what would he donate to charity and to his children? After all, he still had to keep up an image of a charismatic gentleman and he prefers to give his children a bit of an edge when it comes to starting life. Being a good father would be important later on if you wanted his children to take over his businesses that he got from gambling. Finding a woman who would marry him out of love and not out of wanting his money would be hard, but he could always just marry someone who wants his money and nothing else. There's no shame in it now, is there?

Drenan took another sip from his drink. Yes, he made up his mind. He's going to check out. The new casino that opened. What was its name again? It was something unnecessarily long. Yes, now he remembers. Brimstone Restaurant, Hotel and Casino. An odd name for something like this. But who was he to judge? Something like that. As long as it gave him his money. He had no care for what its name was. He dumped his remaining glass of wine, placed it on the table and made his way out. He picked up his wallet, inside of it, he had his ID and a good amount of cash with him. After all, he was going into a casino. He had a need for both of those things.

He exited his front door. He looked around, only to see the street lights brightening the dark streets. It wasn't necessary, as dark like it was before, As the summer was slowly starting to finally show its ugly head, the heat was still bearable as. The nights were becoming shorter and shorter and it was becoming less and less dark. The more visibility he was granted each night made it easier to spot everything. But it was also kind. Unneeded as he lived in a quite nice place, which granted him a lot of Street lights at night.

Drenan began walking down the street to the casino. It wasn't far so he didn't have to walk a lot. He will have to pass a few banks that are located near the casino, for obvious reasons. Take as much advantage of someone as humanly possible, eh? He wasn't going to judge, they too had to hit ends meet and feed themselves and their family.

Drenan's eyes meet the beauty of the casino. It was on the other side of the street, so he could get an even better view at it. It was running in fire orange and red colours, the whole thing was a giant. It was easily the size of the white house, if not larger. He had no idea that something of this size could fly under his radar, but now. He finally met it. He was going to make sure that he gets the most out of this little encounter. Drenan smiled. Maybe this day would be even better than he already thought it would be. He crossed the street. Step by step, robust. With a single idea in mind; make as big of a bang as he could and walk away with so much money that even he would feel bad taking it.

The casino was not very busy on this particular night. Even he was surprised by the lack of other people in it. The huge glass windows were of great use so he could already size up his opponents even before entering it. He looked around for people who were drunk, tired or just extremely young, like himself. Sadly, he seemingly ran out of the luck that he had for today, as nothing particular caught his eyes. Nothing that could be easily exploited for him and his personal gain. He could try placing himself as a bait, imposing as someone who's extremely young and extremely rich, gaining some attention and pulling some people in.

He could be the perfect bait as he didn't seem like he would know anything about gambling, let alone the world of the money he was putting up. That little dirty trick could work for him. He smiled and entered the building. He walked up to the casino cashier and placed £5000 in-front of him. She looked up, nodded and opened the register, placing the money in it.

"What chips would you like to receive your money in?"

She asks as she picks up the container containing the chips.

"I would like 45 black ones (They value £100 each) and 20 green ones (value £25 each)"

She nods and places the chips in front of him. He picks them up and places them in his pockets. He looks around for an empty table, and when he spots one, he makes his way there. He sits down and orders a simple drink. Shot of whiskey would feel nice after the cold wine. He didn't have to wait for long for either the drink or for some much-needed attention. Not soon. Not long after he placed his bat down on the chair, some people walked up to him. By some it refers to three individuals.

Three older gentlemen sat down in front of him, seemingly.

Experts at this game, or at least they knew what they were doing. They most likely thought of him as some easy prey to prey on end to make some quick cash on. But little did they know he was no stranger to this game or to this play-style. If you're around their mid 40s to 50s, one of them had already had some Right hears as he was beginning to both bold and remaining of his hair. Lines were turning white. It was necessary. Whiter snow was like most other people apart. It will most likely reach one point when it will be.

"What a magnificently splendid evening we have here. Right, kid? Right, friends?"

The one in the middle Asks seemingly the oldest and the one with the most experience of the three gentlemen.

"Indeed, this is a magnificent night to be out here, gaining some money and playing a game with some fine people. I hope my youthful face doesn't make you guys think that I go down easily. I might lack the necessary age to be considered a professional, but that doesn't mean that I will go down without a fight. If you are three fine gentlemen. If you are fine with that fact, then I do believe you can call over someone who will place the cards for us. I think that your silence is an agreement, isn't it? Now let us begin this splendid night with a splendid game, shall we?

Drenan said, trying to make himself sound like someone young and naive. The more these three think they have an easy game the harder and more sufficiently they will fall when he plays his cards well.

The three-man nodded and put up their hands to catch the attention of an employee. An employee walked over and placed some cards in front of himself. He slowly, I'd up every single one of them before looking at. The cards in front of him, he slowly began to shuffle; otherwise, He slowly looked around to other places of the casino. He didn't really seem like he cared that much about this round; he most likely felt like it's going to be over swiftly. As the employee most likely knew the three gentlemen from encounters before when someone randomly walked up to the casino and looked that young, he most likely assumed that he had no experience with cards or gambling. Drenan knew this and was aware of the fact that it would lead to a bit of attention if he managed to beat these old assholes. If it would be the good attention or the bad one, he had no idea of.

"Very well. Let us begin our Poker match, Shall we? "

The old man said as he placed himself firmly on his chair.

Drenan nodded.

Employees began to place cards in front of everyone. One by one. It was kind of unfair considering that he was playing a 3 vs 1, but he liked some challenges and that confidence might be their downfall. Thinking that the trio would certainly beat someone like him. Little did they know he wasn't necessarily stupid.

As the cards were being placed in front of every single one of them, he reached into his pocket and placed the chips out onto the table. The waitress finally arrived with his shot of whiskey. He smiled at her, thanked her and gave her five pounds of a tip. Had to keep a good face up now, did he? He began. He drank his shot and realized that a single one shot will not suffice for this night. Once again, he raised his hand to get the attention of a waiter or waitress. The same waitress, from before, walked up to him and Drenan told her that he would like a full bottle of whiskey. The waitress nodded and went back to the bar.

He now returned his view to the cards, which had been finally placed in front of him. he looked at the cards and simply froze in fear he had to give them the idea that he had no way of hiding his reactions and emotions that he had no such thing as a poker face and as he had horrible cards and he would be just bluffing. In reality, his cards were very good. He could make a few things work with these cards. He had to just deceive them. He just had to play them like an instrument. And the first step was to give them one simple state of advantage. Or at-least make them believe that.

"So, when did you guys start gambling? No offense but I believe that someone of this age has seen most of what gambling can offer. If that's the case would you care to tell me what was your biggest jackpot you hit?"

Drenan asked, trying to strike a casual conversation while he threw 5 black chips on the table. I little while showing little care of the money. Fooling them could be done easily if he manages to play his cards well. Literally and figuratively.

"I started at the age of 14 with a few friends, including these two who are sitting at either of my sides. It was nothing crazy or incredible but it was fun. Then as time passed I started doing it competitively while earning a huge amount of cash and property. It was an adventure which I refused to let go of. Even after almost thirty-five years, I still do this more often than one would or could imagine. This is the life that is worth living, nothing else. I would rather lose everything than to give it up."

The man said as he slowly placed his own chips on the table, followed by his two friends. They took their time, which was a problem for Drenan as he relied on speed to leave them no idea to figure out his tactic or at worst case, who he is. If that would happen, they not only would get up and leave while they can, they would also spill the beans for other players or/and to the manager. This would be disastrous as he had a much greater chance to win when no one had expectations towards him and only see a rich douchebag whom they can make a lot of money from.

"Interesting. So you know a thing or two about how to have a great win rate and how to read people, ye? If that's the case, this match becomes a bit unfair."

Drenan said as he placed twenty-five black chips on the table, then crossed his arms and smiled.

One of the men threw his cards in and got up from his chair. He didn't seem to like the idea of putting up that much money. Most likely wasn't a high gambler but that also meant that he had no good cards. One down, two to go.

The Waitress finally returned with the bottle of whiskey and placed it next to Drenan's cards. Drenan smiled at the waitress and poured himself a cup and downed it. It was a nice one, imported from either Spain or from one of the south American countries. That's all he could tell from the Spanish letters on the cover of the drink.

His moment of thinking was interrupted by a cough. He looked up and noticed that the two other men had already placed their chips on the table and were waiting for him to do so too. Drenan smiled once again and placed his remaining chips on the table. That led to the other friend to look at his friend, stand up, wish him good luck and make his way to the casino's bar. He too seemed like he didn't really want to lose everything he had for a small chance to double or triple that. The man grunted in annoyance as he most likely didn't expect him to make such bald moves or that his friends would leave him like that. Perhaps both.

He reached inside his pocket and placed one hundred brown chips (£5000 each)in-front of himself. The man smiled before standing up from his chair and walked over to Drenan. Drenan placed his hand firmly on his cards.

"Well, we both know that you CANNOT put up this much into the table, can you? I see you walked into this Casino and you didn't get out of a car or a bus. That means you live close by. How about this? You can either put up your house or leave with empty pockets. We have a lawyer here, he can prove if the paper has any power, if you think that you signing it wouldn't mean that I can't take it. So, What will you choose?"

The old man asked as he slipped a piece of paper in-front of Drenan.

"By acknowledging and signing this paper, in the case that I(the person signing this paper) loses this game/round I hereby declare that the winner of this round/game may take possession of my home and do with it as he pleases and seems fit. I may not sue, report or do anything against the new owner, as it would be both futile, as this piece of paper is both legal and accepted, it would result in me(the person who signs this piece of paper.) being banned from all legal casino(s). This piece of paper was made by the Brimstone Restaurant, Hotel and Casino. "

Name:

Address of the home/Property:

Phone number:

Insurance number:

Credit card information:

In the case of the home not being in the Person's full possession, please write here the owners name, phone number and address:

Drenan's eyes went over the paper slowly and carefully. He knew this man was seriously doubting his capabilities. Just like he wanted him to do. Drenan took out a tissue and rubbed his forehead with it, trying to act like he was nervous and as a result, sweating. He had an act to still play and it would be a shame to lose it right at this moment. He looked at the employee who shuffled the cards and was ensuring fair play between them. He slowly shook his head, trying to turn Drenan away from making a stupid decision but it was a now or never moment and he wasn't going to back down

He looked up at the man before nodding to him. The man took out a pen and handed it to Drenan, who slowly wrote it, while shaking a bit. Just a bit extra, so that he can ensure that he took the bait, fully.

The man's eyes were widening as Drenan signed the paper. Drenan finished the paper and the details, but before he handed the paper over, he saw that the man himself also signed the paper. It was logical, as he was the other person who was playing for the house. That's when he saw the man's name:

Schweizer Jürgen Hans

Drenan smiled. Now he knew the name of this person.

He handed the paper over to Schweizer, who eagerly took it. He made his way back to his seat and sat down. He looked at Drenan and smiled.

"My friend, you are truly someone who I like. Your young play-style will surely bring you money, but I must let you know that there are times when even the best can suffer horrendous defeat. I truly hope that this lesson may serve you as a warning from the danger of gambling. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."

The man said as a sinister smile grew on his old face. He turned his cards around, revealing a straight flush. The man stood up to reach for the chips but as he did Drenan coughed loudly. The man stopped and looked up at him, with a confused look. Then, with one of pure terror and fear. It was now Drenan who was wielding that smile. Drenan turned his cards, one by one.

Ace

King

Queen

Jack

and a ten

All in the same suit

"Royal Flush." The employee said as he looked at the old man

"You lost. Please stand up and leave the table while the winner collects his reward."

The man fell out of his chair and fell onto the ground. His eyes were starting to fill with tears and began making weird noises.

"Call an ambulance, think we are having either a heart attack or a stroke"

The employee said as he rushed to the man to help him. Drenan calmly walked over the other side of the table, ripped the paper into bits, but keeping the one with his credit card details, then took his hard earned chips.

He slowly made his way to the Casino cashier and placed his chips in front of her, with the piece of paper with his card details. Drenan gave the cashier a smile before turning around and beginning to walk to the door.

"I want it on my credit card by tomorrow. Do not be late."

He said as he exited the casino and walked home. The casino was huge, but it had one major flaw. Had no security cameras. In the chaos no one noticed him smuggling the bottle of whiskey out with himself.

He entered his home, threw himself in-front of a huge TV and drank that whiskey until he was knocked out by it. He slept like a baby, a not so innocent baby.