The story was that we were in Vegas ten years ago for an industry trade show. It was the last day and after the show, the girls wanted to party. As they donned their glad rags, Ian and I opted to go drinking at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville and were already two sheets to the wind before we met up with Amy and Beatrice at the Duelling Piano Bar in New York, New York.

This was the night for drinking and gambling. Reminiscing of my ‘Whoop, Whoop’ philosophy to win a Craps and recalling the rules of play, Ian and I rocked up to a Craps table and jumped straight in. Chips changed from red and green colours to blue and black as I won, game after game, after game as the alcohol fuelled frenzy mandated “just another go”.

Having cashed in the chips as we decided to leave, I couldn’t resist placing a $100 bill on an empty place at a Blackjack table. Two cards were dealt as two aces. Splitting the pair, two picture cards were dealt to deliver a double hand of 21. With odds of 3:2, I took away $500 and being $300 up on one hand.

Taking our spoils, we traversed The Strip in a drunken haze back to our hotel and waking the next day, I was bewildered to count forty four $100 bills on the bedroom table from an initial $100 bet.

As it was our last day, the girls had decided to go shopping and it was agreed I would meet Ian for breakfast later that morning. At that time of the business growth, we had initiated a marketing campaign based on the British disappearing gnome myth, to take photos of our gnome costume (latterly Smurf costume) throughout the country and what better picture than a gnome in Vegas? That was our plan for the day.

So with cash in hand, it was down to the hotel car rental company to rent a Corvette with said winnings. Surprising Ian, we spent the day hooning around Nevada, visiting the Hoover Dam and other sights. This photo of Ian was taken at the Red Rock Canyon.