Larry Seeley's Blog, page 3
March 11, 2012
Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, Santa Fe, NM
March 11, 12, & 13
5:00 – 7:30 PM
Meet the author, Larry Seeley
Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino
30 Buffalo Thunder Trail
Sant Fe, NM, 87506
(505) 455-5555
First 250 people each night receive a free, signed copy of Larry's newest Jack Sloan thriller, 17 Degrees North.
March 6, 2012
Cities of Gold Casino, Pojoaque, NM
Meet the author, Larry Seeley
Cities of Gold Casino – Pojoaque, NM
10 Cities of Gold Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87506
(800) 455-3313
March 4, 5, & 6
5:00 – 7:30 PM
First 250 people each night receive a free, signed copy of Larry's newest Jack Sloan thriller, 17 Degrees North.
March 5, 2012
Jack Sloan Returns in Ripping New Thriller, 17 Degrees North
Author Larry Seeley Revisits Casino-Infused Southwest In 17 Degrees North – the Explosive Follow-Up to Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves
March 1, 2012 – Seventeen degrees three minutes north—the latitude of the border that separates Juarez, Mexico from El Paso, Texas—for all practical purposes, one city with two souls. This is the gritty backdrop of the new Jack Sloan thriller from author Larry Seeley, 17 Degrees North.
Seeley, a former gaming industry CEO and professional blackjack player, first introduced readers to good-guy-with-a-past protagonist Jack Sloan in the 2010 award-winning mystery/suspense novel, Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves. Now, Sloan returns in this crisply paced follow-up, the second book of an expected trilogy.
17 Degrees North follows a trail between Juarez and Santa Fe, with stops along the way in El Paso and Phoenix. The story begins and ends in the barrancos of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains north of Santa Fe, with Jack's fateful discovery of a mysterious satchel full of cash. Jack tells his wife Darlene about his find, and they're quickly drawn into the most dangerous mystery of their lives.
Readers soon discover that the money is tied to the kidnapping/murder of Robert Pendleton, a prominent New York hedge fund manager taken hostage in Juarez then killed in New Mexico. The U.S. and Mexican authorities working together to solve the case know something doesn't fit, but they'll need Jack to find out what. Pendleton's beautiful wife is also connected, but how remains as much of a mystery as what a man like Pendleton was doing in a place like Juarez in the first place. With five hundred million dollars missing from Pendleton's hedge fund, there's plenty of interest in Pendleton's life and death.
Meanwhile, the background beat goes on as the relentless killer seeks to reclaim the satchel of cash Jack found. Corpses are stashed along his bloody trail through the southwest, and his skill as a tracker and hunter of men leave law enforcement bewildered.
Love, greed, and betrayal propel 17 Degrees North at a quickening pace, and It comes to a shocking end that will have Seeley's growing legion of fans clamoring for the third book in the series, Bridge of Americas, arriving late 2012.
About Larry Seeley
Larry Seeley is the ex-CEO of the world's largest privately-owned training company, the former CEO of the gaming firm that built the first Native casino in Maritime Canada, and a former professional blackjack player. He and his wife, Katie, live twenty miles north of Santa Fe in a high desert valley bounded on the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and on the west by the Jemez range. There they care for several chickens, nine cats, and four dogs on their secluded rancho. Katie is active in finding foster and adoptive homes for lost and abandoned pets. Larry spends his time writing the third novel in the Jack Sloan series, Bridge of the Americas.
An army veteran, Larry speaks, reads and writes fluent Arabic. Among his many vocations, he considers building a Native casino in New Brunswick, Canada among the most educational. Con artists and swindlers swarmed Native casinos in the early days, and learning to deal with them and discovering whom you could trust and who had a knife at your back gave Seeley a distinct edge in deciphering people—and a decided advantage in character creation and development.
BOOK INFORMATION:
Title: 17 Degrees North
Author: Larry Seeley
Publisher: Take It To the Limit Publications
Pub Date: March 2012
ISBN: 978-1-617-50672-7
Available on:
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Apple iBookstore
Sony Reader Store
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rich Fahle
734-355-4364
rich@astralroad.com
PHONE
Cities of Gold Casino, Pojoaque, NM
Meet the author, Larry Seeley
Cities of Gold Casino – Pojoaque, NM
10 Cities of Gold Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87506
(800) 455-3313
March 4, 5, & 6
5:00 – 7:30 PM
First 250 people each night receive a free, signed copy of Larry's newest Jack Sloan thriller, 17 Degrees North.
March 4, 2012
Cities of Gold Casino, Pojoaque, NM
Meet the author, Larry Seeley
Cities of Gold Casino – Pojoaque, NM
10 Cities of Gold Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87506
(800) 455-3313
March 4, 5, & 6
5:00 – 7:30 PM
First 250 people each night receive a free, signed copy of Larry's newest Jack Sloan thriller, 17 Degrees North.
February 21, 2012
Excerpt: 17 Degrees North
Following is an excerpt from 17 Degrees North, the second book in the Jack Sloan series.
Chapter 3: Lights Out
Do the dead dream?
The blasts from two shotguns echoed through the pitch-black night. I heard the buzz of pellets over my head when I hit the ground, and a warm trickle flowed from my scalp across my right cheek. Muzzle flashes showed the direction of the shots.
I lifted my head and wriggled my chest into the earth, then propped my Glock with both hands, aiming for the pinpoints of light, and squeezed off a full clip. Grunts told me they struck home. I reloaded and stood.
I ran in the general direction of the shooters. Two large shapes loomed in my path. I stopped, aimed, and put five into the taller one on the right, but it didn't faze him. He grinned and kept coming. The rest of the clip went into his head, but by now, he was two feet in front of me with no signs of damage. One clip left. I jammed it home and emptied it into the zombies who had begun to wrap their arms around me.
Someone shouted my name, and I looked down. I lay on a slab and could see the yellow toe tag secured by a wire. "Sloan, Jack, Male, Caucasian." Then I felt hands on my face and the person was no longer shouting.
"Jack, Jack. Wake up."
A soft voice.
"Where am I?"
"The hospital. Thank god, you're awake. We were so worried."
Darlene stood next to me, her face and voice raw. I looked up and saw a fluorescent light and an IV filled with an opaque fluid. The trail of tubes led to my right arm where a needle rested in a vein.
"Why?"
"You and Sapphire had just crossed the river when a branch blew off a tree and hit you."
"When?" My throat felt parched, my voice squeaky.
"Two days ago. You've been out ever since. The doctor says you have a concussion.
"The bag. A mail pouch. Where is it?"
"In the barn with your saddle and other gear. Who cares?"
"Sapphire?"
"In her stall with oats and water. I knew you'd be pissed if I didn't take care of her first. I drove myself to the hospital."
"Who's taking care of the other animals?"
"Ray Green, the guy down the road."
I nodded, but it hurt.
"When can I go home?" I said.
"You just woke up after being unconscious for forty-eight hours, and you want to leave? Are you crazy?"
I saw a flash of anger illuminate her exhausted-looking face.
"I have to get home. Call the doctor, and ask him. Please?"
She threw her hands in the air, stomped from the room, and turned right. I reckoned she was headed for the nurses' station. I hoped so. I needed to take care of what I'd found, and to do that, I had to get home.
* * *
Two days later, I sat at my project table surrounded by guns. I still had a headache and the abrasions on my forehead itched. Darlene came in from the office she used for working on her romance novels.
"Jack, what in the hell are you doing?"
I'd received the requisite sympathy for the past couple days, but Darlene was pissed. She'd wanted me to stay another day in the hospital. I knew her well enough to let her fume and not start an argument.
"They need cleaning," I said. "Look at this barrel." I held the spotless unit up for her to see, knowing she wouldn't bother to look.
"You cleaned them last week, cowboy."
I pretended not to hear the worry in her voice. The 'cowboy' reference was an inside joke and meant to be light-hearted, but I sensed the tension that roiled beneath the surface.
"You need to start practice-shooting again," I said.
I saw the tiny twitch of her head. She hadn't handled her gun since the night she used it to defend herself. She didn't answer, only turned and headed toward the stairs leading to the downstairs pool area. I remained at the rough work table and concentrated on my task. Nice going, Jack, maybe you can come up with another way to irritate her.
I thought about the hospital dream. It wasn't the first time. Darlene and I had both seen a therapist after the attack on our rancho three years ago. He said it was PTSD, a common reaction to what we'd gone through. Mine showed itself in regular nightmares where I fired my weapon with no effect. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop the people who shot at us. After a year, the images faded, and I felt normal—at least my version of it. Darlene claimed the same results, but I know that Abraham, the man she'd killed, still haunted her.
The ghosts never left me, but I didn't talk about it, and neither did she. Maybe a mistake. I'm living testament to the burden of guilt that settles on a moral person who's committed an immoral act. Taking a life, no matter the circumstance, transcends a person's boundaries and changes one forever. So it must be with Darlene.
Find out more about 17 Degrees North.
February 3, 2012
Elvis in the Hallway
Once upon a time…
My buddy and I were big-time gamblers in Vegas. When we visited, we often stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton (no longer affiliated with the hotel chain). In those days, they boasted "Sky Villas" located on top of the building. They were the top of the line, creme de la creme, accommodations in the town. The casino comped us for our play, but if you wanted to rent one, you needed to be prepared to cough up as much as twenty-five grand a night.
Here's an excerpt from ehow.com that describes them: The most expensive Vegas suites are the Sky Villas at the Hilton. The largest is the Verona Sky Villa with over 15,400 square feet of living space and a sculpted observation deck. Featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, this small palace boasts a private outdoor pool and garden, Italian marble floors and hand-painted ceilings.
You can read more about the most expensive suites at hotels in Las Vegas here.
When Elvis lived in Vegas, he inhabited a Sky Villa. Rumor has it that his ghost still walks the halls. There are four bedrooms in the Verona Villa, and it's a long walk from the living and dining rooms and the bar to the sleeping area. One night after I had gone to bed and fallen asleep, the door to my room opened. I sat up and asked who was there, but got no response.
I rose from bed and walked to the hallway. I heard a noise from an empty bedroom and went in, but nothing. As I walked back toward my room, a cold breeze blew down the hundred-foot hallway, and I heard faint musical sounds that might have been "Love Me Tender". My only option was to decide it was Elvis' ghost, and there was nothing I could do about it. I climbed back into bed and fell back into dreams, but now they were populated by rock and roll music, peanut butter, and visions of huge screaming crowds.
True story. I don't believe that ghosts walk the earth, but this experience almost changed my mind.
January 9, 2012
How to Play Video Poker (In Vegas or Anywhere Else)
You may have played a lot of video poker and read many books on the subject. Good for you.
That's the best way to start learning about the game. With the exception of blackjack when a player counts the cards, video poker can be the best game in the house. But like anything else, you must know what you're doing.
I was sitting at a five dollar machine a couple of months ago, and a woman sat down next to me and inserted a five dollar bill in the bill acceptor. She turned to me and said, "How do you play this machine?"
Not feeling particularly chivalrous, I looked at her and told her to, "buy a book". She tapped a few buttons, nothing happened, and she cashed out and left. I could have told her a five dollar machine wants you to bet twenty-five dollars a hand, but I didn't. The woman was like so many video poker players—she didn't have a clue.
There are lots of stories passed back and forth about these strange machines among those who don't understand gambling. Hopefully, what I set forth below will help you gain some insight into a game in which you may be throwing away hundreds of dollars with little chance of winning. Good luck and good playing.
The casino is screwing the players. First, let me dispel the greatest myth about video poker—that casinos can change the payout when they think they are allowing too many jackpots. The only way to affect payouts is by altering the "Pay Table." If, for example, a machine pays out forty-five credits for a full house, the casino can reduce that to forty and the machine will surrender fewer credits.
The win percentage is factory-installed. It's true that Native and other private casinos have their machines set at a lower win percentage (I know of one large Native casino whose machines are set at eighty-three percent). It's also true that Vegas casinos have the highest win percentages—around ninety-five percent. With respect to Native casinos, you can probably get access to the compact signed between the Tribe and the State which specifies the minimum payout allowed. In the case of the casino with eighty-three percent, the compact specifies a minimum of eighty percent.
"Win percentage" refers to the amount returned to the player for each dollar played. A machine set at ninety-five percent returns ninety-five cents of every dollar played, with one huge caveat—it all depends on the pay table, and these vary not only from casino to casino, but from game to game on the same machine. One other factor is the natural odds of hitting a particular hand. The lesson from this is to always check the table and only play at machines that give nine-to five odds or better for a full house on a standard poker game.
"Exotic" games such as "Aces, Faces, Double-Double Bonus" include arcane hands in the payout calculation (as they should). But it's much more difficult to get four aces with a "kicker" (the fifth card being a jack, queen, or king) than it is to get four aces.
Four aces without a kicker may pay eight hundred credits stand-alone, and two thousand with a kicker, but the odds of adding the kicker are a little over four to one, and the payout is two and one half to one. Think about it.
So how can the player win? If you're serious about video poker, the first thing you need to do is read a book—either on-line or in paper. This article is not about specific play strategies, it's about behavior. Once you understand basic strategies, you can apply these behavioral rules to win at video poker. By combining what you learn in a book with a few basic rules, it's possible to elevate the average payout to one hundred and one percent, or higher. Not a great edge, but enough. Here are some good tips:
1. Perks. They are important. Always play in a casino that award perks, such as playing points, etc. It's free money, and if you use it right, it will increase your percentage. You don't have to be a math wizard to understand that free money is good.
2. Bankroll management. The greatest single difference between winners and losers in any gambling game. Everyone has the same "luck". I know it doesn't seem that way, but it's true. Winners are referred to as "lucky", but they should be called "intelligent". Here's an example:
I play either ten or twenty-five dollars a hand, depending on where I am and the size of my bankroll. Size of bankroll essentially means, "How much can I afford to risk?" Consider the amount needed to live and play the next day, and you should be able to come to a conclusion about the amount you want to play.
If I sit down at a machine and hit a large jackpot in short order, I quit and go home. No ifs, ands, or buts. Let's say I have one hundred dollars in a machine and I hit a four thousand dollar jackpot. I collect my winnings and play off whatever's left of the hundred. Machines are prone to kick out more than one winner, so I like to check it out. I don't put more money into the machine. I QUIT. I allocate twenty-five percent of my winnings to my next playing session. If I go to the casino and lose that money, I QUIT. And so on and so on.
I've read many gambling books that say you can't win by quitting, but that's not true. If you simply return the next session and throw the money back in, you can't win, but if you practice sound money management, you will come out ahead by quitting when you win. That the game never ends is true. If you're a gambler, one session doesn't constitute a career, nor do five or ten. The game lasts all your playing life. Your wins and losses will be totaled at the end, but not by you.
3. Not all machines are created equal. Video poker machines keep track of "money in" and "money out", and award jackpots accordingly. Machines that get little play are less likely to kick out a jackpot. Do not sit at a machine and pump in money. If it looks bad, it probably is. Move, move, and move some more.
When I play, I risk a specific amount in a machine. If it doesn't look promising, I move on, etc., etc., etc. I have many hours experience with machines, and I can determine with a reasonable accuracy whether the machine is likely to hit a good hand (four of a kind or better) within a reasonable play period. Sometimes I'm dead wrong, and I end up putting money into a machine that looks promising but never pays out. If you sit at a machine and you double your money and never hit a big hand, play it until you can cash out for your original investment and move on. If you get stubborn or lose your temper, the machine wins.
4. Please, please, please, know what you're doing. I was waiting for a jackpot payout and watching the lady next to me play a deuces wild game on a dollar machine. She was dealt ace, ace, deuce, four, nine. She held ace, ace, deuce, four. I asked her why, and she said, "I hoped to get a full house."
Other players think they are playing poker. I've heard questions like, "who do you have to beat?" A video poker game is no more than a slot machine with choices. That makes it better than a device where all you do is pull the handle, and in some cases, worse. If you make bad choices, you give the house an even greater edge.
Knowledge will enable you to better the odds, and perhaps even go home with money in your pocket. That's the measuring stick in gambling. I keep track of every casino visit and every session. I know how I stand, and sometimes, it's not pretty. The hardest thing to do in gambling is to deal with losing. Dealing with winning is easy—it makes you happy, but losing a hundred dollars is twice as bad as winning a hundred dollars is good. You can't let it get you down.
If you become mired in spiraling gambling losses, you must quit. It's more addictive than booze or coke, and can be a lot more expensive. If you don't know where you stand, you won't be able to deal with your losses, either financially or psychologically. Never chase losses. Take it like an adult and take a break. I've learned that lesson the hard way.
Good luck and good playing. May you hit a royal flush every day of your life.
January 1, 2012
How to Play Craps in Las Vegas (Or Any Other Casino)
One of my other claims to fame is as a gambler. My partner and I were the most successful craps players in Vegas history. We ended up banned from every casino except Caesar's Palace and the Hilton (and eventually the Hilton fell into line). Our winning streak ran from 1999 to 2003 and involved millions of dollars. Of course, when we started to lose, we were let back in.
Craps is a simple game that requires complex play and money management. Don't be dissuaded by the craps table and the myriad of bets it offers. If you play correctly, you only need to know about two betting areas—the Pass Line and the Come.
Craps offers the best basic odds of any casino game, but the house still holds the edge. The only game offering an advantage over the house is blackjack using professional strategy, card counting, and betting techniques. I've done it and won, but it's not what you would call 'fun'. Craps, on the other hand, can be wildly stimulating and has the potential to produce big wins.
The house edge in craps is 1.4% of you bet 'Do' and 1.2% if you bet 'Don't". The difference in odds is miniscule and hardly atones for the psychological trauma of betting against the other players at the table. I'm not capable of it, so I always play 'Do'. 'Do' means you bet that the shooter makes his/her 'Point". 'Don't' means the opposite. For the sake of this article, I'll assume your interests are compatible with mine, and you intend to bet 'Do'.
Some basic rules:
NEVER bet the 'propositions'. These are the betting areas scattered across the table, concentrated in the center. They include the 'hard ways', 'Yo', the 'Horn' and various other combinations of wagers designed to entice you into losing your money. The best of these give the house a 5% advantage. You don't want to know the worst.
ALWAYS be aware of your bankroll and bet accordingly. You don't want to run out of chips in the middle of a betting sequence, plus, you can't plot your money management strategy if you don't know how much you're holding.
TIP the dealers. At the optimum point in your 'run', you'll have a dozen bets riding on each throw of the dice. A good dealer will help you keep track of bets and payoffs. Dice can move at a dizzying pace, so keep on your toes, and let the dealers know that you know they have to make a living too.
ABSTAIN from vices. Booze or drugs can induce euphoria that will in turn, induce you to make wild bets and/or mistakes. The opposite sex can be a distraction you don't need. Concentration at the tables is a must. Save playtime for later after you've socked away a big win.
Assume you are coming to the table at the start of a game. The dice will 'come out'. That means a player will roll them. You want to have your first bet down before they come out. That bet will be placed on the Pass Line. For the purposes of this article, assume a $10 flat bet in all cases. A 'flat bet' in craps is one that pays even odds. You bet $10, and if you win, you are paid $10, plus the $10 you bet.
The dice are thrown. If the result is a seven or eleven, you win your pass line bet. Two, three, or twelve, and you lose. Any other number becomes the 'Point'. The point is the number the shooter must throw before throwing a seven in order for you to win your bet.
Casinos offer 'odds' on points. Normal odds are 3, 4,& 5. What that means is that you can place another bet behind your pass line bet, and if you win, you will be paid according to the odds. Remember, the pass line bet is 'flat'—you get paid even odds for winning. The odds bet—the one behind the line—is the best bet in the casino because it pays you according to the true odds of the point being thrown.
3, 4, & 5 means this: you may place three times your original bet behind the line if the point is a four or ten; four times your original bet if the point is a five or nine; and five times if the point is a six or eight. Here's an example:
The shooter throws a six on the come out. The six is the point he/she must throw before a seven appears. The true odds are 6-5. If you have $10 on the pass line, and you have placed five times that or $50 behind the line, you will win $70 if the point is 'made'. $10 even odds for your flat bet and $60 at 6-5 for your odds bet. The payout is the same for all points. If a four or ten is the point, you win $10 for your flat bet and $60, or 2-1 on $30 for your odds bet.
When you understand the foregoing, you understand the game of craps. Now for the second phase—the Come bet.
There is a large section in the middle of either end of a craps table with Come written across it. Come means the same as Pass. The only difference is that Come works on every throw of the dice.
After you've made your pass line bet and taken the odds and before the dice are thrown again, you will bet $10 on the Come. The same rules apply. If the shooter throws a seven or eleven, you win the Come bet. A two, three, or twelve, you lose. Any other number becomes a second point for you.
Let's say the point is six, and the shooter rolls an eight. The dealer will move your $10 come bet to the eight and you will place $50 on top of it (an odds bet). Now you have the six and eight covered. If either appears before a seven, you win. The object of craps is for the shooter to roll numbers—4,5,6,8,9,10, and for you to have all of them covered. Every time a number is thrown, you either capture it with your Come bet or win a wager. ALWAYS keep a come bet. When you win, the dealer will say "off and on". That means you are paid off, but are still on the number. The dealer won't move all your chips, but simply pay you $70.
Dealers and other players may give you advice to limit the number of Come bets you place until 'you see how the table is running'. Don't listen to them. Play with absolute discipline and do not vary your strategy. It the table is running cold, leave and find another.
Now for the 'how do I win part?'.
The seven is your enemy. The more that appear on a table, the more your chances of losing. If you get in the enviable position of having all the numbers covered with a flat bet and odds, and the shooter rolls a seven, you lose everything except your come bet. If the shooter rolls a seven on the come out, it's a different story.
The dealer shoots a six and makes his/her point. The dealer pays you $70 for your pass line bet and moves your come bet to the six. The dealer may ask you for odds on the six—if not, put them out and ask him to put the odds on top of the six flat bet. Now the shooter comes out and rolls a seven. You lose all your flat bets, but the odds are automatically 'off' on the come out and your odds money is returned to you.
My partner and I used to keep our odds on all the time. During the period when we ran hot, it was a good bet, but on a normal table, I'd leave them off on the come out. Even though the odds of losing are exactly the same on the come out, it may be the only opportunity to recover all your odds bets before the inevitable craps occurs.
Everything I've told you so far is objective. It's the right way to play craps. Winning or losing is subjective. If you played as I've laid it out, you would lose 1.4% of your money over the long haul. Here's how you can alter those odds:
No matter what anyone tells you, craps tables are cyclical. The true odds of a seven appearing are once every six throws. But remember, those odds are the same each time the dice are thrown. It's always one out of six. Sometimes, sevens stay away for long periods of time. That's when you win. Sometimes they come up as soon as you get a point established, and that's when you lose. I watched a shooter throw eleven sevens in a row once. Anything can happen.
That's what makes your betting system work for you. Your losses are limited to one unit (flat plus odds) for every throw of the dice. However, if you hit a 'run'—that is several numbers in a row without a seven appearing, you will win your flat bet, plus the odds, on every throw. The best roll I ever saw was fifty-six consecutive numbers without a seven—either on a regular roll or come out. I won a lot of money.
When a table is running with numbers, press your bets. When shooters are crapping out (throwing sevens) after one, two or a few rolls, get out. The only weapon you have that the casino doesn't is the choice to play. They're open for business. You, on the other hand, can leave a table, a casino, or a city and go someplace else where the dice are hotter. Most players don't consider the simple fact that the game goes on forever. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. In Vegas, they're always cranking.
That brings me to money management—the real key to winning at any gambling enterprise, but most especially, craps. Know the depth of your pockets. If you are willing to invest $100 in a craps game and you get $100 ahead, play with caution and don't dip into your winnings. I've always used the maxim that the amount of my expected winnings will usually not exceed the amount of my bankroll. And if you lose your bankroll, quit and fight another day. Craps is not like blackjack. When you're winning at a blackjack table based on using sound strategy, card counting, and money management, stick it out until you pass out. A hot table is a treasure.
That's not to say a hot craps table isn't equal in value, but my experience is that the dice will run hot for a while, cold for a while, then—maybe—heat back up again. Rarely do two shooters in a row have gigantic runs. So don't be a plunger, and if you win, don't stand there like a dummy and pump it all back in. Cash your chips and take a walk. You can always come back and play again.
And you never know who is going to get hot. I remember standing at a craps table in the Rio in Vegas when a young couple walked up and stood to watch. He finally got his nerve up and bought a hundred dollars worth of chips, placed $5 on the pass line in front of his woman, and asked her to throw the dice. I was coasting, playing moderately, and winning a little, so the table had not been cold (otherwise, I'd have been long gone). She took the dice and started throwing. Forty-five minutes later, she crapped out after winning about $20. I had forty-two thousand in front of me. I gave the dealer a $500 chip, and asked him to send it down to the couple. I tipped the dealers and cashed out for a little over forty grand. It was just one of those days.
You can go on horrendous losing streaks when every table in the joint is conspiring against you. The only answer is to stop playing. Go drop some money in video poker or go to the bar, but don't fight the tables. Scout them and watch. You'll know a hot table by the number of chips the players have in front of them—don't pay attention to the cheering—it's usually reserved for somebody throwing a hard eight. Chips in the rack are the tip-off. If everyone looks prosperous, the table is holding its own, and you need to muscle your way in.
Win or lose like a gentleman or lady. It's only a game, and it's only money. Don't make an ass of yourself and don't cry on the dealers' shoulders. Be generous when you win and civil when you lose. Have fun. Craps is the most exciting game out there. Keep it fun and exciting with your participation. Next time you come to play, the dealers will remember you and help you out. It's well worth it.
Larry Seeley, is the author of the award-winning mystery/suspense novel, Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves (April 2010), and the upcoming sequel, 17 Degrees North. He lives twenty miles north of Santa Fe in a high desert valley bounded on the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and on the west by the Jemez range.
December 27, 2011
A Conversation with Larry Seeley
Larry Seeley sits down to answer a few questions about the success of Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, his upcoming novels, 17 Degrees North and Bridge to Americas, his career in the gaming business, and life on his Santa Fe ranch.
Your main character, Jack Sloan, is involved in the casino and gaming industries, a world you know very well., having spent a good portion of your professional life in the casino business. What drew you to the gambling business?
I grew up gambling. When my uncles came back from the war, they spent a lot of time at our house teaching me to play cards and taking my pennies. My dad ran a punchboard company, and I traveled with him every summer. We'd drive around the Midwest dropping off merchandise, eating hamburgers, and meeting his business associates. Interesting people. A guy named Nick the Greek put my dad out of business.
In addition to building and running casinos, you were also quite a gambler yourself. How did your gambling philosophy compare to your business philosophy?
When I gamble, I push the envelope, but always with the certain knowledge the game can turn against me. When it does, I back off and come back another day. Same with business, although I found through hard experience that it's easier to win at the dice table than the boardroom table.
The casino business can be cutthroat and vicious, as your books certainly portray. How did you know who to trust?
That's easy-nobody. I'm a trusting person by nature. It helps me live a happier and more productive life to include other people. I learned to do this and still view every transaction as not legitimate until proven to be so. On the other hand, I believe in revenge.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Have you always been a storyteller?
The stories I told as a child were mostly fibs to my mother, but they were good ones. I started reading at a young age and worked hard in the fields to make money to buy books. When I was about eight, I started buying westerns and gradually evolved to Hemingway. I read four or five books a week for years. My dream was to be a writer, but women always got in the way (my obsession with them). I kept getting married, had a few children, was forced to earn money, etc. etc. I didn't have the time to write until I was about sixty-seven. I haven't stopped since.
Your first book, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves, was very successful, winning awards and gaining fans right out of the gate. What do you think it is about Jack Sloan and your stories that your readers love so much?
Jack thinks about and does things they'd like to do, but will never have the opportunity. I suspect most of my readers have conventional morals. Jack doesn't. He's honorable and true, but likes to walk the edge. Readers can live vicariously through him.
Who are the writers that you've admired and been inspired by?
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Heller, Capote, James Thurber, James Crumley, Mark Helprin, James Lee Burke, Larry McMurtry, Harper Lee. Bruce Catton, John D. McDonald, Carl Hiassen, Dennis Lehane, Louie L'Amour, and many others.
Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves is set amidst the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost range of the Rocky Mountains. The location itself is almost it's own character in the books, in a manner reminiscent of the late Tony Hillerman. You live in these mountains yourself. What attracted you to this area?
The smell. We came to this area on vacation many times before we bought our house in 2006. We liked the people, the town of Santa Fe, the culture, and the remoteness, but most of all, I love the smell of pinion. We were able to afford a 140-year old adobe that we rehabilitated, along with a little land. It gives us space to raise our animals and sufficient isolation from the human race that we can now appreciate some characteristics of our fellow humans.
The writing life is solitary, quiet – a far cry from the casino lifestyle. How do you like this phase of your life as compared to your previous lives in the hustle and flow of the gaming industry?
Sometimes I miss it, but there's no comparison in terms of peacefulness and tranquility. Plus, I don't have many opportunities to get into trouble. My wife and I worked at the same company for several years, and it was exciting to see it grow into a powerhouse in the educational industry, but those days are long gone. We're both happier and more content on our rancho than we were in the big-time.
Animals play an important role in your life. Can you tell us a little bit about the animals at your ranch?
All the usual pets people have in their homes—we just happen to house many of them. Four dogs-Jem, Atticus, Izzy, and Luca. Izzy is an Italian Greyhound we received from my youngest son. She is a true pain in the ass. The others are boys and they're pretty good-sized. Each runs about eighty-five pounds. They have the run of our place which is surrounded by coyote fence, and during the day, they can travel to the river and surrounding environs. Lots of freedom. They're good dogs. Great watching the place, but they'd never attack or bite a human or another animal unless told to do so.
Nine cats. We had Scout, but a coyote got her. The others are Dill, Nicola, Talia, Calpurnia, Robbie, Berto, Lena, Sarah, and Boo. We named lots of the pets after characters in Mockingbird. The other cat we lost was Jack. He was one-eyed from birth and had twenty-six toes. Everyone loved him and he lived for twenty years. We miss him.
We had a dozen chickens, but Alexander, the seventeen pound rooster who ruled the place, died unexpectedly. We don't know the cause, but he wasn't eaten, so no critter to blame. Maybe he froze to death or had a heart attack from tending to his many duties. KT has names for her girls. They crank out lots of eggs, and she keeps our friends supplied.
As a follow up to Gypsies, you're releasing another Jack Sloan story, 17 Degrees North, in February. What's the significance of 17 Degrees North?
17.4 degrees North is the latitude that separates Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. It's the line that the cartels are not supposed to cross, but, of course, they do. The story concerns a kidnapping in Juarez and a ransom payout in New Mexico. Money and sex are big motivators, but there's a cast of new characters, both good and evil, that make it interesting. The ending may surprise everyone.
You're putting the finishing touches on a third Jack Sloan novel, Bridge to Americas. How many Jack Sloan books can your fans expect?
Provided I survive long enough, I'll do at least one more Jack Sloan, but I intend to crank out a novel a year until I punch my ticket to hell.
