House Operator
By S. M. Tenneshaw
At poker, Rafferty knew he could beat any
man alive. Now, needing money badly, he walked
into the Ganymede Casino looking for a patsy....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
December 1957
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Rafferty was a gambler of the old school. He didn't believe in any of the fancy electronic gadgets that the casinos went in for these days, didn't much care for the psionic games of chance and other tricky and probably rigged affairs. Give him a good poker game any time, and he would be happy.
He stood in the door of the Ganymede Casino, outlining himself against the gaudy lights flashing within, standing there patiently. Inside, the rich and would-be rich of a dozen planets were enjoying themselves, playing the brightly-lit games and throwing money around in handfuls.
Rafferty waited for some attention. His hand slid to the bulky roll in his pocket—one hundred hundred-credit bills, 10,000 smackers in all. It was all Rafferty had. He was here to triple it, or else.