The Casino, Episode 4: Psychic Friend

Tim and Tom, our heroes, are headed to their hearing in front of the Nevada gaming association. Tim is a nervous wreck, wondering if they’ll be grilled about possible Mafia ties. Who are Tim and Tom? Tim describes them as “made guys… self-made guys.” What’s their story? Tim fills us in.

It’s 9:22 in the morning, and Tim, clad only in a bathrobe, is eating breakfast when Tom arrives to get him ready for work. Do they live in the same apartment building? And did I really need to see that much Tim Poster flesh? Oh, well – I should be glad I’m not seeing it first thing in the morning like poor Tom is. Tim says that Tom drives so slowly that he might as well leave for work now, and he’ll still catch up to him after he finishes breakfast. Tom says nuh-uh, and Tim responds yeah-huh, so the two of them bet $5,000 on who will make it to work first. Tim says of that amount of money, “That’s chicken feed, man.” He’s confident he’ll win because Tom hasn’t won one of their bets since roughly 1986. Tom takes the bet, but says no speeding. The two of them hop into their cars and race to work. At one point, a shot of Tim’s speedometer reveals that he’s driving well over 80 miles per hour. In the end, Tim wins, screeching into the hotel seconds before Tom.

This scene succeeds mainly in making me hate Tim and Tom, which is not such a good thing since they’re the main characters on the show. When Tim called $5,000 “chicken feed,” I just wanted to slap him. What a pompous idiot. And the two of them are sickeningly irresponsible for driving recklessly down busy roads to win a juvenile bet. Someone could have been hurt or killed because these two jokers thought it would be fun to place a bet on driving fast.

The men walk into the casino, and Tim sees Tommy, the blackjack dealer who’s dreaming of working as a host. Tim apologizes to him for missing their meeting, and asks Tommy to set something up with his secretary so they can meet. Tommy is thrilled.

Friends Eulisha and Joan are headed to Vegas, ready to win some money. Eulisha is wearing a jacket made out of what appears to be Muppet fur, and she says that she wants to win enough money to pay off her Porsche. The car is her baby, but the monthly payments are killing her. They arrive at the Golden Nugget, and Eulisha makes a point of telling the valet to take very good care of her baby.

Next, Brian, his wife Feleisha, and their two sons arrive for a family vacation. Luck is on their side right away – the room they requested isn’t available, but they do have an upgrade for them. Yay! Brian explains to us in an interview that his kids wanted to go to Disney on vacation, but he and his wife decided to go to Vegas first to win money to pay for the Disney vacation. Well, that’s a solid plan. What could go wrong with that? Plus, I’m sure the kids will have an absolute blast sitting around the hotel room while their parents gamble, since they’re under 18 and thus can’t go on the casino floor. They head up to their suite, and Feleisha loves it. They check out the view, and Brian says he feels like a high roller. I’m not sure why he would, because the view, like the view the high rollers had last week, seems to be of a parking lot.

Tommy, looking good in a suit, rushes past his evil boss Monique on his way to meet with Tim. Monique wants to know why he’s so dressed up, and he says he’ll tell her later. She makes him promise he’ll be back in time to work that night. Tommy heads for the elevator, nervous about his meeting with Tim. He seems to have a little scrap of paper in his pocket with notes on what he wants to say. Aww, don’t you just want to hug him? Tommy meets Tim and tells him that he’d love to be a host someday, though he knows that at 23, he’s awfully young for the job. Tim says that his age might not matter, if he’s good at what he does. He offers Tommy the chance to intern as a host, but says that it’ll have to be on his own time, and cannot interfere with his job as a dealer. Tim says he’ll talk to Tommy’s father John, who is a host, to arrange for Tommy to shadow someone. Tommy is very excited, and as soon as he walks out of the meeting, calls his dad on his cell phone with the good news.

Monique, on the other hand, is furious, because Tommy is eight minutes late for work. Tommy apologizes and explains that he was in a meeting with Tim. He tells her that he’s going to be interning as a host. Monique is really snotty about it and implies that he’s only being considered for the position because of his dad. That might be true, but it’s awfully rude to say so in front of Tommy. Tommy insists that he’s gotten the job on his own merits, but Monique isn’t buying it, especially when Tommy admits that his dad introduced him to Tim in the first place.