Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

Chris MacBeth · (03-02-2016)

Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chris, Ted and Dave have made a quick trip from San Diego for a night of gambling. You would have thought they could have waited for the weekend when Chris is back here with the XWF but no Ted and Dave were insistent.

[Image: planet-hollywood-1_C.jpg?1348520763]

Ted and Dave are sat at a blackjack table in the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. Neither of them are doing particularly well but in fairness they don't give a shit, there high and not playing at all conservatively. It's like they don't understand the word hold. Chris is sat between them a lot more of a calculated player unlike his two heavily stoned pals. Chris' history of card counting back at the casino's in he UK had obviously not travelled to the states, there was never a big deal about it made back home anyway, the day he was caught he wasn't taken into a back room and beaten, he didn't have his fingers broken, there was no trouble with the police, he was simply escorted out of the casino and his membership was revoked so he couldn't return.

It was during his time as Halliday's number two that that Chris had become big into he gambling game. He would head down to the tracks with Halliday to bet on the dogs, they would be at Ascot and Cheltenham races throwing there wealth around. Macbeth never had any real big wins at these sort of events and in truth there's sort of event were not his favourite way to spend a day out, he just humoured Halliday who loved it.

When it came to the gambling Chris was much more of a card shark. He had weekly poker matches set up on a Friday night in his mansion. Halliday would be there, along with a few others from the Halliday empire including Halliday's brother Sullivan. The younger of the two brothers was a lot quieter and a lot less involved in the goings on that the other was into on a day to day basis. He was a tall slim man, in no way a fighter, he was good with numbers. Halliday used him as his accountant and that was as far as Sullivan wanted to get involved with the he Halliday business empire. There is no blood on my hands Sullivan would say to us when we would tease him about being a bad guy. In truth he really was a good guy but he had a particular skill that could be deemed if put into practice as doing a bad thing, that skill... Counting cards.

They used to play blackjack on these Friday night games but Sullivan would always win, They could never workout why. Turns out the sly little dog was doing his trick he picked up when backpacking across Europe as a younger man, he never would explain the story of how he learned these particular skills, just that he met a guy in a coffee shop in Amsterdam and they became friends and backpacked together for a while. Yes Sullivan later admitted the card counting to the rest of the group, his brother was not happy kicking him out of the group, telling him he isn't allowed to play anymore, Chris though saw Sullivan's skills as an opportunity, an opportunity to make himself his own cash without Halliday's input, to get himself out from under Halliday's control. Alfie Halliday, yes had been good for Macbeth after the ordeal with the demon Nightmare but it was starting to feel a little similar, The demon Nightmare had a hold over Macbeth and it was getting that way with Halliday. The nice houses, cars and women are great, they came with the money Chris was earning while work with Halliday but Chris couldn't shake the feeling that one wrong move and Halliday could just as easy take it all away. If Macbeth could make his own cash he would feel so dependent and indebted to Halliday.

So Chris had set up some secret meetings with Sully, you could call them training, He wanted Sully to teach him all he knew about counting cards and cheating the system. Sully was the type of guy that didn't have many people you could call friends so it was easy for Chris to persuade him to share his secret, Sullivan was just happy to have the company. All he had in his life was a wife that he knew cheated on him constantly and his two son who he adores.

Can you smell Shit? Oh it's Peter Gilmour

Can anyone else smell shit?

No don't worry you haven't stepped in some freshly laid dog turd, it's just the crap that just pored out of the

fuck wit Peter "I lost my virginity to my vacuum cleaner" Gilmour's mouth.

Sorry I mean "The Killing Machine". Ha Ha Ha don't make me laugh you piece of shit cling on caught in the ass hair of Donald Trump. I think you meant Cling film machine, I can just imagine you shat alone in your house cling film wrapped around your body helping you sweat that fucking weight off so suddenly. Fuck you... Pete, Fuck you... Oh and Fuck Justin Bieber too... He does suck. He sucks eve harder than that vacuum cleaner wrapped tight around your little fella, why the fuck you used Henry Hoover rather than Hetty I'll never know, it seems your a little bit fucking weird even for Hoover fucking standards.

[Image: Henry-and-Hetty-mini-toy-vacuum-cleaners...e9a2c6.jpg]

[Image: Henry-and-Hetty-mini-toy-vacuum-cleaners...e9a2c6.jpg]

Much more stronger, faster... Yeah Ok Kanye, you maybe a bigger guy than me, but I can tell you what, the only thing fast about you will be your bowel movements when my foot is up your ass on Wednesday Night. Yes you are a 3 time Hart Champion and yes you have defeated all challengers but there is one difference within the XWF now and that is that I am back bitch, and as the legendary Bob Dylan once said... The times they are a'changin. So if it's your title around my waist of Vinnie Lane's title it doesn't matter Macbeth is here, I hope you are fucking ready for it you boring little bitch.

P. Fucking. S

How the fuck do you expect to win on Wednesday Night with your tongue stuck so far up Alexis Riots tight little asshole. Not that I blame you... One word... Fit ... Two more words... As Fuck!

JUST SAYING!!!!

Back to the story

A few months of these meetings past and Chris had picked up the skill quite quickly, in fact Sullivan was quite shocked by how Chris had managed to learn the secret of card counting and was already able to put it into practice. First he started using the technique in the mostly friendly games he hosted at his home with Halliday and the others, it did begin to annoy Halliday that Chris seemed to be winning more often than not but it didn't cross his mind that Chris had been working with Sully to learn the technique as his brother and his number 2 have never really interacted that all except at these card nights. Eventually though the nights ended and Chris began to put his new skills to a test in casinos around the country.

It all came unstuck though one Friday night. He and Sullivan had travelled down the M40 to Coventry to take the Ricoh Arena Casino for what they could. It was a great night in the casino there was an Elvis tribute act performing in the bar a couple of stag do's going on, one of these stag do's had the drag dressed in full Elvis jump suit with what looked like shit smeared down his backside a toilet seat around his neck and some sort of cuddly toy burger in his hand, all alluding to the fact that Elvis possibly died on the toilet eating a burger. It was a sight to behold.

Chris and Sullivan were racking it in, a crowd had began to form around there table as on lookers cheered them on, nobody had a clue they were working a system. Sullivan was doing the counting on this night and just betting steady, he would then signal Chris with a range of secret hand gestures, coughs or sayings etc then Chris would bet accordingly it was a fool proof scheme. Well it would be if the author Ben Mezrich hadn't been among the crowd watching.

Ben had written such books as Accidental Billionaires, Ugly Americans and more importantly In this instance, Bring Down The House and Breaking Vegas. The later two were based on true events of groups of students who took Las Vegas for millions counting cards in a similar scheme to what Sully and Chris were using. Ben had spoke to the real counters that the story was based on and had learned the techniques used, and stood looking at these two English chaps winning all this money it wasn't hard for him to notice a very similar pattern of play to what he had learned and witnessed when researching his book.

This was the beginning of the end for Chris and Sully's career as card counters, yes they had been successful and made plenty of money for themselves but they could have accounted for Ben being in the casino that night, and also getting very drunk accidentally first exposing there game plan to the leggy blonde in a short skirt and tight top he had been chasing all night. She happened to be the manager of the casino's daughter. Of course trying to impress her rich daddy into buying her another car she quickly went and spiller the beans, explained everything that Ben had told her.

It wasn't long before a couple of security guards came down and collard Chris and Sully, it could be worse though, you hear the stories of broken fingers or worse, no all the cash they had earned that night was confiscated and they were escorted off the premises.

Oh well they had a good run while it lasted.

Back in Vegas - Present Day

Chris Macbeth had been concentrating so hard on counting he hadn't noticed that Ted and Dave had both got up from the table and disappeared, so he finishes his hand collects up his chips and heads off to cash them in then find his buddies.

Last time they wandered off on a trip to Vegas he found them in the middle of a drug fueled orgy with Elton John and Celine Dion...

Crazy times.

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Counting / Do you smell shit?
Author	Message