human
You did all right tonight, didn't you?
gpt
Can't complain.
human
It's too bad you had that slump right at the end. If you'd quit half an hour earlier you'd be two hundred credits richer.
gpt
If you'd been born a couple of hundred years later, you'd be a lot smarter.
human
What is that supposed to mean?
gpt
Simply that I lost deliberately toward the end. They turned into the Undertube station and headed for the ticket windows.
human
It's part of a smart gambler's knowhow to drop a few credits deliberately now and then.
gpt
Why?
human
So the jerks who provide my living keep on coming back, Hawkes said bluntly.
gpt
I'm good at that game. Maybe I'm the best there is. I can feel the numbers with my hands. If I wanted to, I could win four out of five times, even at a Class A place.
human
Then why don't you? You could get rich!
gpt
I _am_ rich, Hawkes said in a tone that made Alan feel tremendously foolish.
human
If I got much richer too fast I'd wind up with a soft burn in the belly from a disgruntled customer. Look here, boy: how long would _you_ go back to that casino if one player took 80% of the pots, and a hundred people competed with you for the 20% he left over? You'd win maybe once a month, if you played full time every day. In a short time you'd be broke, unless you quit playing first. So I ease up. I let the others win about half the time. I don't want _all_ the money the mint turns out--just some of it. It's part of the economics of the game to let the other guys take a few pots.
gpt
And you don't want to make them too jealous of you. So you made sure you lost consistently for the final half hour or so, and that took the edge off your earlier winning in their minds.
human
That's the ticket!