“We’re on a mission from God.” Elwood Blues

I’m not a gambler. The last few times I’ve been to Las Vegas was for concerts and I didn’t even put a quarter in a slot machine. That being said, I’ve wanted to gamble at Monte Carlo’s Grand Casino ever since I was a kid when I saw the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy inadvertently wins piles of money playing roulette and nearly “breaks the bank.”

Last month my family and I were on a three week vacation, driving the French and Italian Riviera, and we stopped for one night in Monaco. This would be my chance to complete my bucket list goal of “Gambling in the Grand Casino.” I learned from a friend about a semi-private back room they have at the casino where the locals and high-rollers play. The room has a dress code, an admission fee, and you have to show your passport to get in, “but is more of the James Bond kind of experience you‘re looking for,” my friend told me.

It was October 12th, and after a day of sight-seeing and celebrating my son’s birthday with a birthday dinner over-looking the famed harbor, my wife took the boys back to the hotel, and like any good father with a bucket list, I went to the casino.

I entered the semi-private gaming room, and stood at the bar nursing my 18 Euro ($24) cocktail and soaking in the room’s vibe. Collagen-lipped women chatted at the long marble bar while their older husbands sat at nearby roulette tables dropping dozens of hundred Euro chips on the roulette table with each roll.

I had decided earlier that day, that I’d be playing for God. If I lost it was my “opportunity cost” of completing a bucket list goal, and if I won, the winnings would go to God. After a protracted amount of “people watching,” I sat down at a roulette table with a ten euro minimum bet, and a minimum 200 euro buy-in. I scattered around 6 or 7 chips on the various numbers that I used to play including 32 and 33 (Magic and Kareem’s jersey numbers, which tells you how long ago it was). On the first roll, nothing. On the second roll, nothing. On the third roll I covered all the same numbers, and had one chip left. I looked across the field of numbers, and then placed my last chip on the number 12, a number I’ve never played in the past, but it was my son’s birthday, and boom… 12! 360 euros ($500) !

“I’d like to cash out,“ I hurriedly informed the dealer. After only three rolls I was walking for the change cage with my original seed money, and God’s winnings.

My family spent the next two weeks sightseeing and visiting various churches around Italy including small hilltop monasteries, and huge cathedrals such as the duomo in Florence, and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, lighting candles and distributing God’s winnings.