What the Count has lost

• The villa in Èze. A pair of nines against a pair of tens. He maintains the nines were morally superior.
• The yacht Liquidité. Mislaid during a minor misunderstanding with a roulette wheel.
• Château Balderini, the vineyard. One Tuesday.
• The 1962 Bentley. A hand of baccarat. "A gentleman's loss."
• His mother's tiara. Technically still on loan. Technically.
• The family castle. Now a Dutch fintech's office. They have a slide in it.
• One cufflink. Whereabouts unknown. The other is in Mr. Leung's file.
• His reputation. Never a strong asset.

What remains

• One HK$10 chip.
• One martini, three-quarters full.
• A borrowed watch.
• An outlook of remarkable optimism.

House rules

• Six decks, shuffled when the shoe runs low.
• Closest to 21 without going over. Aces count 1 or 11; faces count 10.
• Blackjack pays 3 to 2. A natural beats everything but another natural.
• Dealer stands on all 17s, and draws to 16.
• Double on any two cards. Split a pair once (split aces take one card each).
• Minimum HK$ 10. No insurance, no surrender.
• Keys: H hit · S stand · D double · P split · Enter deal / next · 1–4 chips.

Play money only. It is a game, not a strategy.

Imprint

This is a fictional place. Count Balderini, the Grand Fortuna, Mr. Leung, Dame Odile, Mr. Dunmore, Ambrose, the Contessa and the tab are all invented, and any resemblance to persons living, ruined or dead is a coincidence. Images and dialogue are synthetic. It is a satire and a fan tribute to the look of the film Ballad of a Small Player, and is not affiliated with it or its makers. No real money is involved.

Typeface: Rubik (SIL Open Font License). Contact: kasperroger@gmail.com

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