CP Choice 2007

You Play the Red and the Black Comes Up

by Duane Swierczynski

A lot of people in this town have their knickers in a twist. The casinos are coming! The casinos are coming! they yell, like it's the goddamned Redcoats charging down High Street with a fistful of poker chips and plastic platinum club cards.

Well listen up, bub. I've got a little news for ya.

The casinos are already here.

We're a gamblin' town. Always been. Beneath that standoffish Quaker exterior is a white hot devil shaking his little fist and waiting to roll the Big One. The one that will change everything. The roll dreams are made of. No, we won't admit it to anybody. But we're all aching for it. You'd better believe it.

And since we're a gamblin' town, this burg is jammed with games of chance and skill — and sometimes, blind stupid luck. Live here long enough, you slowly learn the rules. You learn to spot the other faces in the crowd, and you can tell the winners from the losers, high rollers from the bottom feeders, early birds from the night owls. And then after a while you realize that it really doesn't matter, that we're all chasing after the same golden goose.

I see you're new at this, kid. Don't worry. We'll get it all sorted for you.

In the pages that follow, we'll take you through the streets and parlors of CasinoDelphia, the big damn glittering palace of thrill and despair. You'll hit the artsy joints and the music halls (p. 22). The chop joints and taverns (p. 36). The high-falutin' boutiques and haberdasheries (p. 46). The smoke-filled backrooms (p. 28) and the sweat-soaked sporting arenas (p. 52).

Don't be frightened. I'll spot you the two bits to get started. Come on. It's right this way.

A.D. Amorosi = ADA
Janet Anderson = JA
Shaun Brady = SB
Peter Burwasser = PB
Felicia D'Ambrosio = FD
Jesse Delaney = JD
Jim DiGiuseppe = JDG
Deesha Dyer = DD
M.J. Fine = MJF
Kaitlyn Foti = KF
Ptah Gabrie = PG
Brian Hickey = H
Matthew Hotz = MH
Brian Howard = BH
"The Insider" = TI
Carter Johns = CJ
Gary Kramer = GK
Drew Lazor = DL
Natalie Hope McDonald = NHM
Gabrielle Mosquera = GM
Tom Namako = TN
Michael Pelusi = MP
Nicole Pensiero = NP
Patrick Rapa = PR
Robin Rice = RR
James Saul = JS
Aly Marie Semigran = AMS
Amy Strauss = AS
Eileen Talone = ET
Doron Taussig = DT
Jason Tomassini = JT
Char Vandermeer = CV
John Vettese = JV
Monica Weymouth = MW