{"id":28865,"date":"2021-08-16T05:52:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T10:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=28865"},"modified":"2021-08-16T10:01:35","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T15:01:35","slug":"coincidence-or-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/coincidence-or-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"R. Paul Wilson On: Coincidence Or Magic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In an earlier article I discussed how seemingly impossible bad beats<\/a> can actually happen at the card table and how an inexperienced player might actually be suspicious of a crazy hand where four aces are beaten by a royal flush; whereas seasoned pros would simply add it to their back catalogue of crazy hands they\u2019ve witnessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, a\ncheater would avoid such \u2018Hollywood\u2019 endings and engineer more subtle\nsituations but in real life and in real card games, the seemingly impossible\nhappens all the time at tables all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That being\nsaid, if it happens twice in one night, I\u2019d suggest finding another game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gambling on\nanything forces the participants to pay attention to the outcome and notice\nwhen unusual or unlikely events take place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same number can come up several times in a row on a completely legitimate roulette<\/a> table purely by chance but try explaining that to the players, the dealers, the managers or the owners who will almost certainly tear down the rotor and oil every cog before putting it back on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To better\nunderstand just how often seemingly impossible coincidences happen, I\u2019d like to\nshare a couple of personal stories to illustrate how circumstances can converge\nto create something almost magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following\nstory is 100% true and proves (at least to me) that anything is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometime in\nthe early 2000s, I was traveling around the United States giving lectures about\ndeception, sleight of hand and magic. I took the opportunity to see the\ncountry, drive from place to place and get to know America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I traveled,\nI was a slave to internet cafes or friends\u2019 computers in order to keep up with\nemails since at that time, I had no laptop and pocket devices such as\nBlackberries were new and prohibitively expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My trip ended\nin Las Vegas where I was to attend a magicians\u2019 convention being held at the\nRio shortly after Penn and Teller had taken up residence there. I arrived a few\ndays early and met a friend from Scotland who was staying at the Sahara where\nwe shared a room for a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The day before\nthe convention, we had planned to visit a friend who showed us his collection\nof gambling and cheating paraphernalia during the day while at night, my\nScottish friend had a ticket to see \u201cO\u201d at the Bellagio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did not have\na ticket but had plans to meet friends Mike and Lisa Close for dinner at the\nbuffet but when we met them, I found they were sick and had decided not to stay\nfor dinner and because I was hard to contact (I had no US cell phone either)\nthey felt obliged to come and tell me in person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, they\nwere both at the tail end of a bad flu and when they headed back home, I was\nsuddenly alone in Las Vegas with nothing to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a\nfamiliar situation to many people who\u2019ve spent time in Vegas and some stories\nend much worse than this one (perhaps in a motel bathtub missing a kidney) but\nwhile I was now on my own, I knew that a short taxi ride away I could find a\nhotel filled with fellow magicians, many of whom I knew well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At that time,\nI\u2019d never been to the Rio so was curious to check it out since we\u2019d be moving\nthere for the convention the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arriving at\nthe hotel, I quickly navigated the gaming the floor on the lookout for familiar\nfaces and at the bar, spotted someone I knew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We chatted for\nabout 20 minutes before his girlfriend arrived and I realised they were on\ntheir only night together before the convention and I should probably leave\nthem to enjoy their own company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alone again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was almost\nnine o\u2019clock so I decided that I would find the convention centre before\nheading back to the Sahara for an early night since the rest of the week was\nguaranteed to be crazy-busy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From the\ncasino, the convention centre is reached via a long hallway and about halfway\ndown that hallway I saw a good friend smoking a cigarette. <\/p>\n\n\n\nPay Attention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Penn & Teller Coincidence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n