Yes, we have a winner!

It was five years ago that Stan's lifetime pal, Randy, introduced his friends to the popular Texas Hold 'em poker game. This week that gang was back together a number of times for some serious holiday games at a variety of venues. In the thick of the fun as usual was St. Paul Katie. That's Randy with the big stack above and in the Minnesota sweatshirt below, here from LA for just 10 days. The joke is that the same money has been circulating around this same gang of players for five years as they takes turns winning the big pots. . . everybody pretty much has what they started out with. . . plus loads of good times and memories, of course. Cheap entertainment, indeed.
The real Christmas cash story comes from the complete non-gambler and our family friend Hai Dang. (In the photo below with an adoring Katie.)

His kin convinced this brilliant family man to go out to Mystic Lake casino for a holiday celebration. Hai initially refused, but agreed to come and just enjoy a buffet with his extended family. While there, a cousin tried to lure him to a slot machine with a house coupon good for $10. Hai still refused, preferring to watch a band perform instead.
But the persistent cousin prevailed and eventually Hai found himself reluctantly confronting a one-armed bandit for a complimentary game of chance. The enthusiastic cousin, and others, who apparently had lost some money previously to this device, insisted that the machine was hot and really ready to pay off big.
Hai just shook his head, rolled his eyes and played along. His first spin yielded some modest points, but a confused and reluctant Hai viewed this as just delaying the inevitable loss of the free credits. He soldiered on, though, and when the machine asked him to try to match five cards with five other random cards, he did just that. Five out of five. The machine groaned, then began to squeal and flash, ding and dong for what seemed like 10 continuous minutes, as a crowd gathered to see what all the din was about. Sure enough, Hai had hit a jackpot. The machine paid off the reluctant first-timer a grand total of $1,892.42. Casino officials shut down the machine temporarily, congratulated the novice, got out tax forms and took his picture.
Hai quickly handed off $900 to his persistent cousin, saved a big chunk for the IRS, gave his wife money for two new pairs of shoes, handed cash to employees, gave money to nearby relatives, and that evening, when his son Andrew sped home early with his date under a ruse that he was in trouble, Hai made the poor confused teenage couple bow. . . as he dropped a crisp $100 bill into each outstretched hand.
"I am the big winner," Hai smiles, now back to zero. "Because I got to make so many people happy." Hai will never play slots again, he vows, because now he is one of very few people who can honestly say he has beat the casino.
Stan is very proud of his immigrant "son" who during the past 15 years of their close relationship has never failed to demonstrate integrity, character and loyalty beyond all measure.