Atlantic City
By: Aditya Gattoju
Tags: Atlantic City, Casino, New Jersey, Borgata, Friends

The Terrible hangover and exhaustion since three days needs to be calmed down and we laid no plans during the day. I met Sai Bhanu Yalamaddi, my buddy from Bombay who is living in Philadelphia. He drove to my place , we chatted randomly over coffee in the balcony talking about everything since time immemorial. It Was indeed different and special to meet friends at their respective places, unlike meeting them in India. The personal, not so personal, realities come to fore. We talked in depth about subtle things and more.

Satti, Bhanu and Me

Soon, Satti Reddy joined us, Bhanu and Satti were surprised to see each other and I vaguely introduced them. Apparently, Satti came over to me at Bombay for his VISA interview. He stayed at our place, we worked on his interview and I tagged Bhanu along to accompany him for the interview. It’s strange how people meet over again. All three of us had some good time talking besides my other buddies. Bhanu, lives close by and we agreed to meet the next day for dinner along with his wife.

I looked out for friends nearby, to meet them during the day. Parvez, ringed me up to come home by evening from Virginia. Sorting out stuff, by evening we were charged up with energy.

We rode by cars to Atlantic City. Satti, Pradeep and I drove together in a car, we are getting hands on everything. My curiosity to understand increased a notch higher. I was continuously posing questions in a quest to know things in detail. We stopped at Burger King to pick up some burgers and nuggets, honestly we stopped for a restroom. The combination looked crazy touching upon things. Satti was beautifully unfolding things and I was stumbled upon by his practical approach. Besides, Pradeep looks sorted and clear in his way.

Closer to the Atlantic city, the beach city in New Jersey, It looked similar to Las Vegas, as we entered the city. Drawing the similarities, the streets are high end but old, private labels on display but limited commerce. A rigorous theme of seduction, money and women fills the air. Limousines criss-cross the city with billboards messaging the party tonight. The architectural beauty of the resort city lies in its streets which take us through the resort hotel, funneling the incoming traffic to get glued to the resort. We drove across the streets through Tropicana, Harrah’s, Bally’s, to reach Borgata Casino and resorts.

Borgata, in neon lights, glitters at height for an inviting view across the city. We parked our cars at the parking bay against the parking sensors and bay numbers to spot our cars easily. Unlike Las Vegas, where finding a car is a treasure hunt. Rolling the jackets on the sleeves, we moved near the cash machines to load ourselves with cash. Phani and Shiva are very much involved in the game; they unlocked dollars in grand. We got on the floor to find Phani rushing to the Poker room with escape velocity. Shiva sat across a black jack table, Srinivas hooked onto a roulette machine, Pradeep sat across the table and everyone disappeared under a minute.

Satti and I walked along the floor checking tables and slot machines. We found a roulette table and placed our bets. Into the game, we punched in money. Alternating between wins & losses and losses outnumbering the wins, we reduced on pace to take a break and peeped in through our guys at tables. Srinivas, hooked to a machine is making some decent money and playing it small. Shiva, losing his way but undeterred, is continuously upping the game. Phani is lost with no trace of him till the last leg, Pradeep Reddy joins him at the poker room. I could barely see Phani once during our show time at Borgata for changing the poker rooms.

Narendar Reddy Joined us along with his friend at Borgata. He drove from Virginia. I’m meeting him after five years. Despite the odds, he made it to the United States and marked his presence running business here. Narendar, Satti and I hopped onto the club and we picked up a bucket to sip it through. Into the discussion ,we touched upon everything from our schooling, college and life at hyderabad. Enquiring about other friends, I talked to Suresh, Manideep and Abhilash over the video call. We discussed my sudden visit and not so convincing reason to plan it at an instant. He was skeptical of me coming all over to the US for a short trip. We talked on Asylum, Illegal stay, business visa, investments and more, persuading me to look out for options.

Narendar and I started discussing things personally. We got into the details and his personal relationship, his plans for the future and more. Apparently for the first time, we spoke on personal things and the shortcomings to make them happen. Visiting the United States, actually opened me up to a lot of realities. I started looking at people, ideas, thoughts, plans differently. At the end, everyone seems to be sorted in their own way. Indeed everyone picks up a direction to drive ahead.

Hours passed, we discussed across the floor moving places till Satti came looking for us, surprised to see us immersed in discussion. We got back to the casino floor picking up the table to bet against our luck. We placed our bets not exceeding 100 dollars for every round, Alas! We made it twice in a row. That hooked us to the table to play it further till we equaling our losses. We moved onto the black jack table and Shiva seems to have gained weight with coins stacking near him. We joined him at the table and placed bets, we made some decent money here again. I picked up a slot machine and played there for thirty minutes, I started with 100, topping it up further to make 500 Dollars in excess at the end. Undeterred, I Played at a different machine to lose 200 Dollars straight.

Some lost while some gained. Phani was out of the poker room finally. He made up a figure in his mind which he can afford to lose. That’s the takeaway, I learned from gambling. “Have a figure you can afford to lose and exit.” Upping the jackets we broke ourselves to Philadelphia grabbing some quick food for dinner.

Next day, Srinivas and Shiva drove to the airport to fly back to Columbus and Colorado, while Satti drove to Boston after an amazing time we spent together for years to cherish.