Welcome to Las Vegas! My name is Victor H. Royer, but everyone just calls me Vegas Vic. I was named after that famous neon sign in Downtown Las Vegas, that cowboy with the hat on top of the Pioneer Club, always waving his hand and beckoning to his long love, Sassy Sally, on the other side of the street. I will be writing a few articles for AccessVegas.com, so I hope you enjoy them.
The King and I
Back in the days of grand and glorious Hollywood, there was once a famous motion picture made, based on a Broadway play, starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. It was the title of my story here -- The King and I. As much as I would have liked to be either a King, or at least Yul Brynner -- I actually always fancied myself either as Elvis, or Jerry Lewis, or perhaps Jack Benny -- I did once have a close encounter with royalty. This was many years ago, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, back in those days when Las Vegas was still considered "old Vegas". This was a time when you still could drive up and down the strip at two o�clock in the afternoon at 55 mph, and barely see three or four other cars. It was also a time when you could drive up and down the strip and still see left and right, and the beautiful expense of the Las Vegas Valley, and the great and glorious neon signs that made the strip world-famous. These days all you see are high-rise buildings, virtually no neon signs whatsoever, and everything looks pretty much like glass fa�ade buildings constructed with no architectural imagination, and certainly nothing to even approach the greatness that once was Las Vegas. However, Las Vegas is still a great place to be, and once you get inside the casinos you can still recapture some of the wonderful glory that I now remember so fondly from a time that has long since gone.
The story I am writing here is actually part of another story, which appeared in an earlier issue. The complete story is called "Lady M and the King", but I wanted to write about the second half of that story which actually deals with my encounter with the King himself. And no, unfortunately I don�t mean Elvis. I mean the actual King, and monarch, the head of a very powerful world nation. And for the purpose of setting the record straight, I do want to let everyone know that the King is now deceased, and I am therefore permitted to write this story. And so here's the story of The King and I -- :
Shortly after Lady M left, an army of security guards descended upon this little corner of the casino, and rimmed the entire enclave where all the high-stakes slot machines had been placed. Since I was already there, playing, I was assured that everything was okay, and that I would be allowed to stay. Allowed to stay? Since when did any casino "allow" its players to stay and play? Hmm? I was in a huff, but only for a short time. As quickly as the guards all came, so did one of the casino executives who quickly explained that a very important person was coming down to play the slots.
Before he had a chance to explain further, a procession of dark-skinned men in suits, dark glasses, and headgear came down framing the figure of an expensively dressed Arab in full regalia. Now there was a sight! To this day I have never seen anything like it, and I was the only person, other than the security and the private guards and senior casino executives, who would ever see it. This was the King of a very well known Arab country, situated prominently in the Middle East, and at that time, and indeed in current times, a most visible nation and its monarch.
This was real royalty�sincere, actual, real royalty from an extremely influential world power. As they came into the casino, the security guards all turned their backs but stayed framing the outside of that slot enclave where we were. The King�s guards, which were these men in the suits, dark glasses, and headgear walked in ahead of the King, surrounding him, and looked around. I had originally thought that the headgear they were wearing were turbans, but that was not correct. These were Arabian headdresses, and I later learned that the style indicated the Royal Guard. They were no-nonsense men. First they looked at the casino staff, which was there standing almost at attention. There were the change people, the cocktail girls, the food server, the high-roller area valet (actually a real butler), a slot mechanic, two porters, two floormen, and two casino executives, one of whom was the man who came up to me initially and was still standing next to me when this entire procession entered.
Victor H. Royer is the Author of 22 books on casino gaming. His newest series of 13 books -- including the new release Powerful Profits from Tournament Poker -- are now available in all major book stores, or from The Gambler's Book Shop at 1-800-522-1777, or at Amazon.Com. Visit his Web site at: http://www.GamingAuthor.com
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