Monopolisto Man Hits Divonne ONE

It took me longer to get to Divonne than I thought. I finally red-eyed to Newark and grabbed a Continental business seat and made Geneva by the next evening. I never went into the city.My Cointrin buddy saw that I was high on jet fumes and Monopoly jitters and acceded to my suggestion that we drive to the Relais de Chambezy for a liesurely dinner.

Over steak pomme frites and Chateauneuf du Pape, we discussed the evening ahead. Monopoly is not the most common side game, though there are those who love it. I would not play it at all except for the fact that I win with such general ease, taking a few losses along the way of course. I felt the way I did when I first tried Oscar's Grind on a tip from Ainslee playing double deck blackjack at Sam's Town. I would confine myself to c note wins. I am never greedy. I had so many successful trips that I thought I would support myself forever with Oscar. But all good things come to an end and now I cannot win consistently with Oscar to save myself.

But Monopoly is different. It is a game of personalities, of skill, of infinite nuance. Just the challenge that a stubborn system player like me loves. For I will not divert even if loss stares me in the face. I do not care. It is just a game. Just life. We folded up our napkins after demitasses and walked to my friend's Citroen and soon were at the French border. The casino at Divonne is presentable. I used to play roulette there. Single zero. Again for small stakes. We looked about for a floor man and soon determined that he would happily seek out a Monopoly prospect. We sat at a little table and toasted Simenon with Absinthes. Within minutes, we saw a statuesque brunette, a refined latter day Rita Hayworth, striding our way with the floor man making a subtle gesture behind her to indicate that he had done his job.

Soon we were at a Monopoly board on a low table, surrounded by a small crowd. I prided myself on my capacity to suppress the natural interest one might have in distractions that mere mortals would have fallen to with considerable relish. We rolled and were off.