Maybe 8 or 9 years ago I was making a lap around the advantage slots in downtown Reno. I walked in the Center Street side of the Club Cal-Neva. At the bar sat Al, Downtown Ray and a few other hustlers. But their backs were to bar. They were looking at the $5 Cherry Pie. It was the old style pie where you had to fill the whole thing and the bonus was from 20 to 200 coins. From where I was standing it looked to be about 4 to go to get the bonus and whatever was in the basket. There was a person sitting on the stool at the Pie but his back was to the machine. He must be busted I thought, or he would be spinning it off.
I walked up to the bar to ask Al and Ray what was going on.
"Hay, guys, whats goin' on here" I asked. About that time Nick The Sick came around from behind a bank of machines with a little old lady. "Oh, my God!" I said and we all busted out laughing.
"How many has he been through?" I asked.
"She's the third" Al said. I grabbed a seat.
Nicholas, better known as Nick The Sick, was in Reno....and up to his old tricks. Hustlers, well, we kind of have our own jargon. If drugs are someone's thing then we say that person has a "problem." If a person is a compulsive gambler then we say that person is "sick." Nicholas was both. A crackhead and a compulsive gambler.
"Excuse me, Sir" Nick said to his agent in the Cherry Pie seat. "Are you playing this machine?"
"No" the agent said and got up.
Nick got the little old lady to sit down and put a bill in the machine. Nick grabbed a stool and sat close beside her. The Pie was 4 to go with 29 coins in the basket.
"This machine is hot right now" Nick said to the lady. "It's best to bet two coins." She started playing then asked "What's that?" as she looked up at the LED screen at the top of the machine. "Oh, that's nothing" Nick said. "It's just one of those fancy things they put on machines to attract attention." The lady went back to playing and when a Cherry landed in the screen Nick went "Look!" while he pointed at the paytable on the bottom of the machine. "You almost hit the cherries!" The lady looked down and didn't see the 2 Cherries up on the LED screen fly around and land in the basket. Nick kept repeating that process when a cherry landed in the screen.
Finally, a Cherry landed in the right position. Nick did his "Look!" act again and the lady didn't see the 2 cherries fly around and land in the pie, knocking it down to 2 to go. Then he pointed at the cherry in the screen and said "Usually, when a cherry lands there, the machine can go a little cold, so it's best right now to bet just one coin." The lady diligently complied and started betting just one coin. Nick didn't want her to bet two coins because if a cherry landed in the right position she would take off the bonus and the basket. His object was to get the pie down to one to go.
The lady finally ran out of credits and said "Thats it, no more." Nick led her around the bank of machines while his agent plopped back down in front of the cherry pie to insure no other hustler got the play. The pie was 2 to go with 37 in the basket.
A few minutes later Nick appeared with another victim, er, little old lady. He got her to bet just one coin and used the same distraction tactics on her. When she caught the cherry in the right position he did the "Look!" routine then immediately reached across her and hit the cashout button. The lady was actually 5 coins up at the time. Nick placed the coins in a bucket for her and she kissed him on the cheek as they walked away. The agent came back to the machine put a $100 bill in and spun the play off. 41 coins in the basket plus a 60 coin bonus.
We had all sat at the bar watching the show while laughing and joking and telling Nick the Sick stories. A little while later Nick walked up to say Hi.
"Heat, Nick!" Downtown Ray whispered. Nick turned around to see the Security Guard headed his way. "See you guys!" Nick said as he hit the Center Street door.
