Button's Manehatten Minute

Blackjack

Button turned his attention away from the slots, smiling to himself as his eyes glanced at the money he now had. The only reason he had even chosen the slots was because you could put so little into them, and he had no plans on losing it all, not tonight. Now that he had possibly more money than he’d had his whole life on the other hand…

He began to walk towards the blackjack table, already dividing his money into sections. Some for blackjack, some for poker, and some for anything else he felt like. When he got to a distance where he could see the cards though, he stopped.

Babs glanced over to Tommy as a deepthroated rumble came from the dangerous unicorn, but she waved the complaint away. “It’s not his fault, it’s just his talent. While he’s called Button Mash, one could say it means that in any game, he knows what button to press next. If he had continued on the slots, he could probably tell anyone which one would payout, and which would just take your money by brushing against the bar. And, knowing him, he would say he didn’t know how he knew.”

Tommy didn’t let his eyes leave the screen with the boy, watching for when he joined the game. The mob boss was an old card counter himself, and already he could see that if he wanted the best odds of winning, he would want to jump in now. “Sorry if I’m not so inclined to believe you when he is acting just like an ametuar in his field.”

And then, the decks were reshuffled, just as Button sat down at the table. Babs could hear Tommy let out a soft swear, but his eyes still didn’t budge. It was all too possible the young stallion was a professional at this, and simply had decided to move to his main game. But the colt didn’t hold himself like that.

He talked to the other patrons, often times not bothering to look at their cards, but looking to them as they hit bust. In return, they created plenty of a distraction while he would have been needing to do advanced calculations, especially this early in the deck. And yet, as more cards were played, he won more and more, until he seemed to never lose, just like an ametuar card counter.

And that’s about when Bruiser began to move towards him.

Tommy lifted two fingers to his head. “Don’t hurt him. Let him know that I would like to see him in the penthouse suite.”

Bruiser grumbled at the words. He wasn’t a complex man, but even he knew the kid was a card counter, and most card counters… disappeared from this place. But, the boss’s words were his words, and he wasn’t about to disobey them.

Button didn’t quite jump from the tap on his shoulder, having seen the hulking mass in his peripherals as he talked to one of the other men at the table who was asking him how he got so lucky. Still, he did shrink back, as the man was rather… large. “Y-yes, sir?”

He gestured for Button to raise. “My boss has asked me to take you to the Penthouse suite, to show how happy we are to have such a skilled player, and how we wish to accum- accomi…”

“Accommodate?”

Bruiser’s eyes lit up a little bit as he nodded. “Yeah, that’s it.”

Button grinned at him, his bout of initial fear fading, and a worm of curiosity boring into him. Was he being mistaken as someone, or was this a chance for him to get into the competitive gaming scene somehow? He’d never seen himself as a card player before.

The thoughts of grandeur stayed in his head all the way until they got to the top floor, where the doors opened to…

Button’s head short circuited for a moment as the mare before them smiled. She looked familiar, like the girls at the front counter, but she had obviously forgone the outfit they had wearing. They were fully clothed at least. This one, with her vibrant, red mane, and white coat, had on a black leotard that stopped just below her nipples, letting him see almost half of her areolas. It was also tight around her crotch, letting him see the deep indent there that promised… things. Even looking away from all of that didn’t help due to her tight, black stockings.

The mare extended a hand to him as he stepped out of the elevator, the guard seeming to be disinclined to follow him. Instead, he was left alone with the ill dressed mare. “Hello there, Mr. Mash. My name is Strawberry Shortcake, but you can call me Short if you’d like. As one of our VIP member, I’ve been assigned to your case, and am supposed to help in any way you desire.”

A shiver ran through Button’s spine at how she stressed her words, and he began to look around the place, thinking that it looked like a damn near house with how large it was. It was almost overwhelming. “Wow…”

“I can give you a tour of the place if you’d like. I do have to ask that you stay here for a little bit though, as my boss would like to talk to you.”

That made him frown, and begin to wonder just what in Equestria he had done to deserve all of this, especially when most casinos, to his knowledge, didn’t like you winning money. His eyes scanned the room as he thought about what to do, and lighted upon an old Plowstation 1 and a stack of games beside it.

Go on a tour

Play some games