Set your story in a casino.

Posted in Adults on Jan 6, 2023

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✍️ 34 stories

“that's just show business” by Alexa Lea

Submitted to Contest #180

tw: brief mentions of body image-1956Cindy is 14. Sometimes, when I close my eyes at night I see a woman. She drips with jewelry and burgundy silk. Gold lays on her neck softly, coiling around her wrists in dainty loops. Her hair is in pins and her teeth are the color of paper. I see her now, on the stage. She’s swaying as she sings; her voice comes from deep in her stomach. In the heart of the stage, her body doesn’t reflect the spotlights that hit her; she soaks them in. The beams wrap around her, sliding unde...

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“The pokerplayer” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #180

trigger warning: gambling. Keith was an old-school gambler. He did not believe in modern and electronic gadgets. According to him, that only served to look chic, and posh. But that was the current situation in casinos these days. He cared little for games of chance and other rigged things. He thought that was nothing but inconvenient. He could be given a good poker game at any time, and Keith was happy. He stood in the doorway of the Desert Casino, silhouetted against the gaudy lights flashing inside, and waited. Patiently. Inside, w...

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“8, 4, 10, 2” by Ksenija Rubež

Submitted to Contest #180

Entering this place, she realized it smelled of smoke. For a country where smoking was frowned upon, and you could not find a public space, indoor or outdoor, to smoke at, this came as a shock. The smell was stained, it was that smell of a room that was smoked a lot in, but no one ever vented it. She spread her nostrils in disgust upon realizing, besides the stained smell, how filthy this place actually was. Chewing gums and food crumbs were now embroidered into the carpets over which everyone was walking. It would not have been so dir...

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“A Millionaire's Lottery Guide ” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #180

A Millionaire’s Lottery Guide Games of chance can make or break you. One roll of the dice can be boxcars or snake eyes. I put so much belief into a lucky charm that I carried it everywhere. It was a nickel minted on my birthday, June 5, 1966. I dreamt I needed to go on the casino trip I had wanted to do for years but would not splurge for. Everyone dreams; some scare us, some make you chuckle, and unfortunately, we don’t remember 85% of our dreams. Of the 15% we remember, we forget 10 minutes after we wake up. It’s that “window” that our lef...

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“Cold Deck” by Ben P

Submitted to Contest #180

Bust. Shit, I’ve only been at this table thirty minutes and am down more than half my stack. And to think, I was more concerned about getting backed off when I walked in than I was losing any real money. “That’s it for me fellas, Millie will be taking over from here.” Time for a dealer change, apparently. Just as well, “Daniel” hasn’t done me any favors. “Ok guys, good luck” Millie gets situated in her seat and pats twice on the table before letting the next cards fly. The count suggests a dearth of high cards coming so I’ve only r...

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“The Worst Day of My Life” by Kathryn Minicozzi

Submitted to Contest #180

I didn’t want to go anywhere that day. But I had given in to my friend Betty’s bullying insistence and had promised to join her Armenian group on their trip to Atlantic City. They needed one more person to get a special deal from one of the casinos. According to Betty, if I didn’t go with them, I might spoil their whole lives because, who knew, one of them might win big, and it would be my fault if they missed the chance for unearned riches. I didn’t know anyone in that group other than Betty, but I was stuck traveling on...

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“A fortune in freedom” by Rodney De Jong

Submitted to Contest #180

The wheel turned, the awful lights flickered and the beeping sounds of the device were merely an afterthought at the sight of that pin. “Come on, green.. come on.” I whispered between my lips, twirling the stick of that free lollipop. I wasn’t alone but I was next, win or lose, this twirl was gonna be my last. I could see his eyes, those unnatural red eyes.. a mere cosplay that fit the scene to most but no to me, no I knew the truth and they knew that I knew that my time was either about to get bright, or very dark. The spin became slower, t...

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“Black 26” by M.D. Poe

Submitted to Contest #180

The cool wind blows through the truck window with the lights shining through like a carnival in a dark alley. The light is glistening off my 45, and my pen and note pad sitting beside me with my feelings of farewell and unhappiness. But before I say the big F-U, I say let fate ride, with a chance to gain 38 times more than me and the ex saved. One number and one number alone, will decide my fate. Apparently, ask any casino dealer, and they will tell you black 26 on the Roulette Wheel is the most common hit. Well, with my luck, I’...

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“Casino Connection” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #180

I don’t tell many people this, but I work for a casino. You see, I don’t gamble. I don’t even buy lottery tickets or donate money to charities which offer an opportunity to get a car I could barely afford to have repaired. And I don’t understand why people gamble – the odds are against them – basic math. The whole thing seems somewhat Darwinian to me. My job at the casino is to repair slot machines...

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“The Casino Patient” by Henry Lansing Woodward

Submitted to Contest #180

The Casino Patient A story about casinos and casino towns This story contains vile, filthy, demeaning, and shaming verbal violence. Don’t continue reading if you are offended by this type of language. If you are, do not begin to read this story. Oh, where to begin. It was about 3:30 am on a cold Reno Friday night or early morning, depending on your viewpoint. My partner and I were staffing the downtown Paramedic unit, and the casinos were packed. As management intended, everyone was plastered on the “free drinks while you ...

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“The Jackpot” by Matthew Thomas

Submitted to Contest #180

In a dark and empty casino, perched up along a dark red wooden support pole, sat a slot machine. The machine glinted gold against the dust and darkness. And it was clear, with their white backgrounds, the dominant crimson red numbers that repeated across the three single frames. Seven. Seven. Seven. This slot machine was surrounded by a set of flashier slot machines with exorbitant names that could be seen in the darkness by the allotment of glitter and designs to draw the eye. The rows of slots would nev...

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“Bottled in Bond, James Bond” by Andrew Kaplan - Author

Submitted to Contest #180

Bottled in Bond, James Bond Adrian called. He was back from his latest trip to the Middle East and asked us to join him for an evening at the Casino in Monte Carlo. We told him we hadn’t been inside. “You’re joking,” he said. “You live a few kilometers from Monte Carlo and haven’t been inside the Casino?” “No, really.” “Well, tonight you will,” he said. It wasn’t an accident that we hadn’t been inside. Though we lived among millionaires on a daily basis and though it sometimes seemed that we lived like millionaires, we never forgot tha...

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“Luck be a Lady” by N.M. Stech

Submitted to Contest #180

TW: contains strong language, depictions of misogyny and transphobia. Elliot Brown took a long drag on her Marlboro Gold, exhaled, and watched the heavy blue smoke dance its way to the ceiling, catching the purple, gold, and green lights of the slot machines as it rose. One more odor in the pungent bouquet of the River Princess Casino. Elly liked that about these cheap casinos. It was one of the few places you could still smoke inside. No huddling apologetically by the door, giving...

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“The Cosmic Egg” by Sav Lightwood

Submitted to Contest #180

"Hey kid, you seem awful young to be here. Show me your ID." "ID? I'm afraid I don't... have one?" "Excellent, please come in." Everything, all at once, greets you like a flood. It's difficult to explain with the language you're familiar with. If I tried to do so in my own tongue, your entire being would rupture in comprehension into a billow of debris. Let us avoid that. Consider it the accumulation of all that existed since time immemorial, and all foreseeable futures to come. At first, you sense it as two things. A distinct metallic...

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“The Penny Machine” by Cheryl Good

Submitted to Contest #180

The rain dripped on her tattered sofa from the new leak in the living room. Margaret moved the sofa to the other side of the room to set the paint bucket strategically underneath the soaked ceiling. “If it’s not one thing it’s another,” she flopped on the dry section of the sofa. Massaging her temples as she listened to the constant drip of the small droplets of water hitting the empty bucket. It had been raining non-stop for the past few days. She chastised herself for not allowing her brother-in-law to patch it up last fall. The hund...

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Set your story in a casino.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 34 stories

“that's just show business” by Alexa Lea

“The pokerplayer” by F.O. Morier

“8, 4, 10, 2” by Ksenija Rubež

“A Millionaire's Lottery Guide ” by Kimberly Walker

“Cold Deck” by Ben P

“The Worst Day of My Life” by Kathryn Minicozzi

“A fortune in freedom” by Rodney De Jong

“Black 26” by M.D. Poe

“Casino Connection” by John Steckley

“The Casino Patient” by Henry Lansing Woodward

“The Jackpot” by Matthew Thomas

“Bottled in Bond, James Bond” by Andrew Kaplan - Author

“Luck be a Lady” by N.M. Stech

“The Cosmic Egg” by Sav Lightwood

“The Penny Machine” by Cheryl Good

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that hinges on the outcome of a coin flip.

Start your story with someone having a run of bad luck.

Write about someone losing their lucky charm.

Write about someone whose luck is running out.

Contest #180

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

214

Contest entries

99

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: