Just got back from a short trip to Atlantic City with Dad.

Dad did well - came away about $300 up, plus a nice little bonus for me.

There's just something about crapshooters... it's like watching a strange religious ritual or something. They're the most superstitious people in the world. Their subtle mastery of, and at the same time wanton disregard for, the laws of probability is just astounding. I'm very impressed that you know exactly what the odds of you making this roll are, so how do you still think that rubbing your palm on the table behind the dice before you pick them up is going to help you make it?

And then there are the high-rollers with their air-headed bimbo "escorts" less than one-third their age. But we won't get into them.

Atlantic City, for those who have never been, is like a toned-down, more serious version of Vegas. It's less kid-friendly, and in some ways more intense. Don't go if you're not planning on gambling; it's not worth it.

But "toned-down" is perhaps too extreme. There is still spectacle. Vice, you see, breeds spectacle. Just no white tigers.