"Fuck, I am late" said Ryan and quickly jumped out of his bed.
It was 830PM on a stormy friday evening and he really was late to open his business. His clients will be flowing in shortly and he needs to be ready by then.
He took a quick shower and ran towards the living area of his dorm.
Ryan was an undergrad pursuing his graduation in finance from New York University. His roots can be tracked to India, as his father Satbir Singh moved to NYC in 1970s.
Satbir was among the first lot of Indians who flocked to USA for a better life. He was a graduate in Arts from Ramjas College of respected Delhi University and was expecting a blue collar job when he initially landed to the land of dreams, but with the stroke of hard luck, all he managed to get was a job of mechanic in an Industry. He whole heartedly believed in education and had decided that his son will study in the best possible college of the country and will get a senior management position in a blue chip company, something that he always dreamt off.
Ryan started cleaning the empty beer bottles and half eaten pizzas of last night, trying to convert his small living area back to a make shift casino. There were a couple of small poker tables, which have seen better days and a few high chairs for his clients, which were mainly other students of the university.
He has started this illegal casino out of his dorm room a few months back. To avoid any issue with the authorities, he included his room mate Ted, a first generation Irish immigrant & his school mate and allow only his friends or friends of friends in his den.
"Hey Buddy, No one here yet?" asked Ted after emerging from his room.
"Naah! must be on their way, let's clean this up" said Ryan.
Ted was one of Ryan's school friend, they joined the NYU together and were pursuing the same course. It was Ted's Gambling addiction that convinced Ryan to open this make shift arrangement, as every couple of month Ted and a couple of other guys will fly down to Vegas and spend all of their savings over the weekend.
Ryan also went to a couple of such trips and did lost some money while gambling. Other guys won some and lost some, but the fact remains the house never loses.
On one such trip, Ted mentioned that they would have saved hundreds of dollars of travelling if there was a casino in NYC and could have gambled all of the savings there, pushing his chances of winning something.
Ryan considered this as an opportunity and offered Ted to start Casino out of their dorm. They tested it over couple of weekends and when the money started coming in, they arranged the tables & chairs. Their business was pretty simple, they allow others to play poker in their den acting as dealers themselves, taking a acceptable 10% rake over every hand. Whoever wins the game, they will get their commission of 10%, making this as a cash cow for them, generating over a grand every week.
"Hey Guys!" said Charles while barging in their room with a few other guys. Charles come from an affluent family, his father being a third generation businessman in the field of Textiles.
"Hey Buddy, was waiting for you guys" said an excited Ted.
"Bought some beer and snacks for tonight" said Charles showing off the grocery bag.
"Thanks Bro, Let's play some Poker" said Ryan
The poker went whole night with a few more guys joining them in wee hours, adding another grand in Ryan's saving. The money was very important for him; his father was on verge of retirement and they really needed money for his college and to sustain his family. He knew that his father would never accept the ways he is using to make this money, but damned be his principles, it's the money that matters.