About 21 – A Journey: Memoirs of a professional gambler:
Stephen Custer led a life of responsibility for almost 40 years, business owner, community leader, husband, and father. Then, at age 56, he sold his business and hit the road as a professional gambler. Not a swashbuckling, mid-life fling, luck be a lady tonight gambler, but a calculating, card-counting, always figure the odds gambler.
21 – A Journey chronicles his travels from the Indian casinos of New York, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and New Mexico to the corporate gambling meccas of Biloxi, Reno and finally Las Vegas.
But 21 – A Journey is more than a gambling memoir; it is the personal story of a man dealing with loss and change, a man who suddenly finds his whole world changed, some by fate and some by his own decisions. He finds everything changed, everything but himself. He goes from stable family man to nomadic gambler, but his analytical approach to life remains. He can’t help but make the same mistakes in his new life that he made in his old.
The real journey is an internal journey of a man searching for meaning and love. This journey is uncharted, oft resisted, and at longer odds and greater peril than any high stakes casino game. This is the story of a man making $100 bets at the blackjack table in order to avoid even bigger risks.
If you are a gambler, you’ll learn why so many casinos float, whether casinos cheat, why casino parking lots are dangerous places, why you can’t quit while you’re ahead, and why there is no law of averages. You’ll learn when to take insurance, how third base controls the table, and why the dealer wins a majority of hands after a fill.
You’ll meet the psychic blackjack dealer, the truck driver who won $65,000 in a single night, the man who bet every number on the roulette wheel, the dealer who couldn’t count straight, and the spy for the state of Illinois.
If you are not a gambler, you will get a realistic, intelligent insight into the multibillion-dollar casino industry. Legalized gambling is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, and affects every one of us, directly or indirectly. It is important for every informed citizen to understand the underside of this industry.
21 – A Journey will cause you to think about the role of chance and change in your own life, whether you test fate with your money or just your life. |
