At 5:30 p.m., McEvoy and I take a break from the game and retire to the adjacent Keno lounge for a postmortem. Despite the day's ups and downs, I'm now ahead by a little bit. (After two full days of play, I'll wind up $100 for the better.) More important, much of the game's mystery has evaporated: Even when players unveil better hands than I've anticipated, the cards don't come as a complete shock. "You play a patient, controlled game," McEvoy tells me. Indeed, McEvoy himself typically brings just two hands per hour to the final round of betting. Clearly, he has converted me to his style of play.
"On the downside, though, when you do bet, I can put you on a specific hand," he says. "You need to be deceptive occasionally, to put in bets when you really shouldn't."
Overall, McEvoy seems pleased with the degree to which I've absorbed his teachings. He heads off to dinner, and I return to the $5-and-$10 game, confident that I can keep things under control. For the next 20 minutes, I stay away from bad hands. I bide my time. Then I make a flush. I slow-play Bulldog to keep him in the game. He seems to have closed a straight and is leading the betting, not suspecting that I have a superior hand. At this moment, I realize that there most definitely is a sucker at the table - and this time, it's not me.
Coordinates: $32 for a double room in the older section of the hotel; $45 to $60 for a double room in the new tower. (The author recommends the new tower.) Binion's Horseshoe Hotel and Casino, 800-622-6468
Michael Kaplan (mkap@interport.net),a frequent contributor to Fast Company, also writes for SmartMoney and GQ.
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