The blackjack table finished collapsing with a deep crack that echoed across the casino floor.

  Cards drifted down like snow.

  Every one of them an ace.

  For a long moment nothing moved.

  Then the lights changed again.

  Not dimmer.

  Sharper.

  The casino floor reorganized itself like a chessboard resetting between rounds. Blackjack tables slid away. Card dealers vanished into the crowd. The velvet carpet shifted into a perfect circle.

  In the center of that circle rose a massive roulette wheel.

  Not the small ones you see in normal casinos.

  This one was enormous—ten meters across, polished black metal and glowing gold numbers rotating slowly like a planet.

  John walked toward it.

  “Ah,” he said.

  “Classic.”

  A new dealer appeared beside the wheel.

  Not glass this time.

  This one looked like a croupier carved from marble, eyes glowing faint blue.

  “Roulette,” the dealer announced.

  John glanced at the board.

  The numbers were wrong.

  Instead of red and black, the wheel was filled with symbols.

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  Probability glyphs.

  Prime numbers.

  Fragments of equations.

  And one space that looked… strange.

  Blank.

  The dealer spoke again.

  “This wheel contains one thousand possible outcomes.”

  John whistled.

  “Big table.”

  “Your anomaly has forced the House to expand the board.”

  “Fair enough.”

  The dealer placed a stack of glowing chips in front of John.

  “These represent your remaining probability.”

  John picked one up.

  It felt warm.

  “Neat.”

  The dealer gestured toward the betting layout.

  “Place your wager.”

  John looked down.

  The betting grid stretched across the table in a web of symbols.

  Even numbers.

  Odd numbers.

  Prime sequences.

  Golden ratios.

  Dozens of bizarre statistical bets.

  Then he saw it.

  At the far corner of the board.

  One square.

  Marked with a symbol he recognized instantly.

  An ace.

  John grinned.

  “You guys put that there on purpose?”

  The dealer did not answer.

  John pushed every chip he had onto the square.

  “I’ll take ace.”

  The dealer tilted its head.

  “That outcome has a probability of one in one thousand.”

  John shrugged.

  “Good odds.”

  The dealer spun the wheel.

  The massive disk roared to life, spinning faster and faster until the symbols blurred into streaks of light.

  Then the ball dropped.

  A tiny white sphere bounced across the spinning wheel.

  Tick.

  Tick.

  Tick.

  The casino fell silent.

  Even the slot machines stopped.

  Every system in the House was watching this spin.

  The ball struck a divider.

  Jumped.

  Skipped.

  The dealer spoke quietly.

  “Probability collapse is not permitted.”

  The ball bounced again.

  John leaned against the table.

  “Looks pretty permitted from here.”

  The ball slowed.

  The wheel slowed.

  The ball rolled across three numbers.

  Two equations.

  A probability constant.

  Then it dropped into the slot.

  The one square on the wheel that should almost never exist.

  Ace.

  The entire casino froze.

  The dealer stared at the wheel.

  “That outcome… cannot occur.”

  John collected the chips.

  “Looks like it just did.”

  The scoreboard above the wheel exploded into flashing lights.

  HOUSE LOSS

  HOUSE LOSS

  HOUSE LOSS

  Roulette chips rained across the floor.

  Every single one marked with an ace.

  The marble dealer stepped backward.

  Across the casino, the massive glowing sign flickered again.

  This time the message was shorter.

  More serious.

  ESCALATING COUNTERMEASURES

  John cracked his knuckles.

  “Well,” he said.

  “That was fun.”

  Above the casino floor, something enormous shifted in the shadows.

  Because the House had just learned something important.

  It couldn’t beat John Six Aces with normal games.

  So the next table it sent wouldn’t be normal.

  And the stakes were about to get much, much worse.