A Machiavellian Decision.

I suppose some wags will say that I ought not fleece Ray for every penny he puts up for wager, but after a bit of thinking I think I will. The good man certainly does not need the money, flush as he is after all those record deals and that bit with selling the first extant piece of pornography for a half billion dollars. The little chips and dust I gather during our games represent a rather insignificant rounding error in the monthly compounding of his interest. And, should I not be remunerated for the thousands of hours I spent learning the game? Perhaps I will see myself as an honest craftsman in this situation. An artisan, perhaps, creating victory after perfect victory, for the collector.

I have a call in to him regarding a possible game this evening, and have been dreamily leafing through the aforementioned duPont Registry Austin-Healey spread. A red Bug-Eye Sprite with a fetching tan tonneau seems to be looking right at me, its headlights following me no matter where in the room I go.