The week passed in a frenzy as James spent his time scouring the edges of the internet for information.
Not about the games themselves, however. His system would be able to handle all of that.
James was searching for information about casino operations. In particular, how casinos track gamblers across games and determine whether or not a gambler was "cheating".
---
These methods fell into several buckets.
First, loyalty card tracking. Most casual gamblers, whether they bet five dollars a hand or five hundred thousand dollars a hand, would sign up for a player's club membership. This allowed the casino to track the play of their customers, and reward losing gamblers with perks such as free rooms, food, or even free money to play with. It also let casino executives see who was winning more than expected, and identify problem customers that way.
Of course, there was a flip side to the tracking. Since almost all of the harmless sheep signed up for the players cards, any player who came in and started betting or winning wildly would then be an obvious wolf.
Second, eyes in the sky. Casinos around the world had moved from physical pathways above the tables to electronic surveillance. Although you could no longer see casino security peering down at you, be assured that every corner of the gambling floor, every inch of the gambling tables, and every individual is being tracked through a myriad network of tastefully hidden cameras.
With the advent of technology letting casino operations store and analyze huge amounts of video data, problem customers could be identified in real-time, and even post-mortem. Worse still, casino executives would be able to identify not only the problem gambler, but also all of his or her associates and in so doing, eliminate the present and future threats to their business.
Finally, information sharing. Gone were the good old days where a seasoned professional could walk into a casino, shear them for a good amount of wool, and walk across the street to a second casino and repeat. Back in the days, even if you were caught once, you could sneak your way back a couple of times, or just visit any one of the many other casinos that would still welcome your business.
Today, casinos are owned by large holding companies, and different chains would exchange information about suspicious individuals in real-time. Get burned at one casino, and you would be burned at all of them.
Phil and the others would be mostly indifferent to all of this - after all, they had a endless pool of identities to choose from. Besides, with their distinct features and reputation as professional gamblers for the Organization, it was unlikely that they would be able to deal significant amounts of damage before measures were taken.
That did not hold true for James. He was a fresh face, and most crucially, held only one identity.
With his research done, James had to come up with a plan. He would not settle for scratching the enemy. James was going to slay the entire beast.
---
Finally, the weekend rolled around.
"Hey Phil, what's the name of the place we're hitting tonight?" James sent.
"It's the Casino Grand. You planning to go by yourself instead of coming with the rest of us?" Phil responded quickly.
"Yeah, the Beemer needs to be driven, or it'll go to pieces." James responded with an excuse.
"Fair enough. Remember, since this is your first time, don't worry about anything, just go and familiarize yourself. You can do the real damage next week." Phil encouraged.
"Got it. I'll keep a low profile and just putz around tonight then." James texted.
---
A ninety minute drive later, James found a large, ostentatious, neon-lit structure sitting in the middle of dark empty fields.
This was Casino Grand.
Due to the local state laws, casinos were not allowed to be situated or conduct operations anywhere within the state. However, there was one glaring exemption. Native territories were considered sovereign land, and the state laws didn't apply there. Hence, casinos would partner with native communities to build and situate their operations there, and in so doing, skirt the state laws.
That was why a monstrous monument to the excess of mankind could be found shooting up like a weed from the middle of the peaceful, fertile grasslands.
Of course, James didn't care. Just as how the buildings resembled a particular obscene gesture, James was going to give the bird to these enemies of the Organization. Not just a small, normal bird. James was going to give them the entire turkey.
James walked into the front lobby, and made a beeline for the registration counter.
"Hello sir, would you like to sign up for a player's card?" A young female voice asked.
"Yes please." James said.
"And is this your first time here with us?"
"Yes it is."
"I'll just need a driver's license or other form of identification sir."
"Here you go." James said.
"Thank you, Mr Sanjay. Welcome to the Casino Grand. As a new member of our player's club, you qualify for our special promotion."
"Oh, that's great! What's the promotion?" James asked with an enthusiastic smile on his face.
"If you lose more than a hundred dollars tonight, and we hope you'll win, you'll qualify to spin our prize wheel on any of those player's card machines for a chance to win up to 100 times the amount back!" The service staff said, pointing to a boxy looking machine next to the counter.
"Wow! That's a great promotion." James said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.
"Of course Mr Sanjay, thank you for joining us at the Grand today, and we hope you have a great time!"
James walked away from the counter, fingering his brand new player's card. It had his name embossed against a blue background, signifying he was a player at the bottom level of the privileges. As players wagered and lost more, they could be upgraded to higher and higher levels, each with their own corresponding perks.
James had read that the most valuable players could get almost anything they wanted from the casino. Free food, free drinks, free rooms, even free flights and holidays.
Four floors under his feet, a bored security officer glanced casually at the camera before turning his attention back to his phone. This was just another gambler.
James nodded to himself. Part one of his plan was complete.
---
James walked around the casino floor, observing the action. The floor was split into slot machine space and table games on about a seventy-thirty ratio. The machines ranged from cheap penny machines that let players bet with units of a cent, but required at least eighty units to play, all the way up to hundred dollar units.
That made a ton of sense to James. Slot machines were cheap, had very predictable outcomes for the casinos, and didn't require rotating shifts of staff to deal cards and collect bets. Slots also let players bet as fast as they could press the button, meaning that players would go through many more bets per hour than at a table. It was also impossible to cheat a slot machine.
At least, impossible for a normal person.
James had also discovered that casinos loved slot players. A slot player consistently betting five to ten dollars a spin was worth more to the casino than a blackjack or other table game player betting twenty times more at a hundred to two hundred dollars.
After all, each spin would take seconds at most, and a slot player could get up to six hundred spins per hour. Compared to most table games that had at most sixty hands an hour, the ten times factor was a huge deal.
Next, the house edge. Most slot machines had house edges of up to ten percent or higher. Compared to blackjack and other table games at about a couple of percentage points, the five and ten times factor combined to a fifty times higher return for the casino.
The table games also varied in denomination. James saw mostly five to twenty five dollar tables, with the lower limit tables packed to the seams with young and old. The twenty five dollar tables had a couple of better dressed professional looking players. The sole hundred dollar table that James saw was cold and lonely, with the assigned dealer staring into the distance with a professionally distant smile.
James put his hand into his pocket and caressed the flags within. Although they were convenient to carry around, they now made his choice very perilous.
Despite all of his efforts to maintain anonymity and look harmless, casinos knew that most casual gamblers did not walk around with tens of thousands of dollars in chips in their pocket. Especially chips that came from big name Las Vegas properties such as Aria, Bellagio, or Wynn.
James sighed to himself. He could only pretend to be a bored high roller visiting a local casino for the first time.