Summary

The book opens with the narrator entering a gambling casino in Taipa called the Greek Mythology. He liked the cheapness of the place and the fact that the receptionists and workers knew him by sight and assumed he was a lord. It was an old fashioned place that was being invaded by modern gamblers.

As he entered, he observed some rich men betting with little care to whether they won or lost. The narrator began to sweat under the gloves he always wore to gamble. He began to play punto banco baccarat, a game based not on skill, but on luck, which he said was why the Chinese liked it. He sat at a table with a middle-aged Chinese woman who was glaring at him and began to play. At first he was winning; however he soon began to lose and eventually took...