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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#180: A Roll of the Dice

Despite all our skill and effort, sometimes life simply comes down to luck. Whether you’re trying to win a game, land a job, or find a significant other, there’s no sure way to know how it’ll work out — or how good your luck will be. A twist of fate could send you catapulting into happiness, or your luck could sour in the blink of an eye. But if you can push through bad luck, you might just find you can change it.

So this week, you’ll want to get your rabbits’ feet and four leaf clovers ready. Are you feeling lucky?

This week's prompts

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

Adventure – 68 stories

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

Angst – 42 stories

Write about someone losing their lucky charm.

Mystery – 26 stories

Set your story in a casino.

Adults – 34 stories

Write about someone whose luck is running out.

Character – 44 stories

Stories

“High School Angst” by Josh Abel

Submitted to Contest #180

High School Angst By Josh Abel When I entered high school I had a full beard and a medical condition (a seizure disorder) that wasn't under control with medication. In junior high I was called Abraham Lincoln because of the beard, ho...

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“A Hotdog in the Snow” by Ashley Fartara

Submitted to Contest #180

I don't even think I walked this fast when I took Intro to Jogging my sophomore year.It's 9:01 am and my professor for my 300 level social media class still locks the classroom doors as if we're in a poorly-budgeted remake of The Breakfast Club. It also doesn't help that it's been snowing since Monday and in my hungover stupor I chose the not-yet-trending UGG slippers to drudge through the snowpocalypse in.Nevertheless, this bitch persisted.It's January of my senior year of college and the fact that I am stress sweating over a social media c...

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“A run of bad luck” by Rod Ritter

Submitted to Contest #180

Arnold winced as a mobster's boot connected with his ribs. His eyes went wide as he struggled to draw in a breath, clutching his side with one arm and desperately trying to block the next strike with the other.“This is the third time, Arnold!” a short, stubby man said. He leaned against a large garbage bin in the alley while his colleague proceeded to play soccer with Arnold's body. Arnold tried to respond in between kicks but all he could manage were a few blood-spattering grunts.“Get him up, Bugsy,” the short man said. Arnold was swiftly l...

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“The Hand You Are Dealt” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #180

She sat on the stairs, tears streaming down her face and just watched as they fell on to and soaked the front of her jeans. Her sobs were loud, the wailing that followed full of despair. As she looked down through the laundry door and the clothes dumped in a pile on the tiles, flecks of what looked like white coconut flakes scattered on the weekly wash, a fresh wave of amger and disbelief hit her. She began to feel a little sick in her stomach and the headache over her eye was getting worse. The light was dimming when she finally stood...

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“CAN’T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD ” by Amsalan Doraisingam

Submitted to Contest #180

Danny punched his thighs in frustration. “Useless piece of shit,” he said before he poked at random keys on the keyboard of his comatose laptop. He yanked the cables out, swung the screen shut and gave the base of the battered machine a few hard thumps.You need an extra hard reset, he thought. His mind then focused on a litany of curse words that his mouth was too exhausted to articulate out loud.The laptop fizzed to life. This time, the blue screen of death gained lucidity and transformed to his desktop page. He searched his pockets for a c...

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“My Insensitive Negligent Darling: Theft of lucky charms” by Marija Rozman

Submitted to Contest #180

My Insensitive Negligent Darling: Theft of lucky charms I am in the bed already awake when the alarm goes off. Today's presentation is everything I have been thinking about since my boss announced it last week. After a few minutes of contemplating my life meaning, I crawl out of bed already unsatisfied with myself. I feel make-up on my face that I was too lazy to take off last night and dirtiness of my hair I have to wash in the next two hours. However, when I come to the bathroom, the first thing I start searching for is a pendant. The pe...

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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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“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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“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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“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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“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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$250

Prize money

214

Contest entries

99

Stories

Ended on 22:59 - Jan 13, 2023 EST

Won by Marilyn Filewood 🏆

Title: Come In Spinner

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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