Preface

This book is based on the story of

James, an investment banker , who
tried his luck while being on the
verge of bankruptcy .

Those 5 hrs changed his life

entirely , but reward always comes
along with risk .

This book will take you through

the thrill ,risk & reward faced by
the james.
 Foreword

Note : This story is a work of

fiction and is not intended to hurt
any religion , cast , or race.

This story is of James , An

investment banker , A complete
family man having wife named
sara and twins stephen & joy .

James works in Lehman Brothers

as an investment banking
manager.
This story is all about the crises
James faced , how he dealt with
and how he became from rags to
richest in 5 hrs in a casino named,
Casino of las vegas .

Today is 15th sept 2008 ,

What happened before this date ,
what happened after ?

Lets see the answers to these

questions in the further story of
the book .
 Table of contents

Chapter 1

: The background of story

Chapter 2

: Rise & Fall of james

Chapter 3

: 5 pm September 15 2008

Chapter 4

: 5 hrs in casino

Chapter 5

: Not so happily after

 Chapter 1 : The
background story

James had a disturbed past ,

because his mother left him
when he was 7 years old .

He was diagnosed with ADHD

when he was 11 years old and
was a bullied child in school .
He spent time all alone in his
home , since his father was on
a job at a construction
company as a laborer .

He did his schooling and junior

college form the same
educational institute .

After this he did his Bachelors

from a small college in florida.

Later he worked in a company

for 2 years and accumulated
fees for his master’s .
James was very hardworking
from the beginning itself .

James did his MBA in

investment banking from Saint
Stephenson College Florida .

After his MBA he was

working as an analyst in the
bank of america .
He worked for a period of 3
years in his second job .

In the same company he met

his future wife , Sara .

Sara was a very privileged

child , she was from a very
wealthy family .

Sara was the senior executive

and was in the higher position
as compared to James .
They ignored the disparity and
came together after 7 months
of friendship .

They both left the company at

once and they worked for a
company named esprit fintech
for a period of 6 years .

By this time they got married

and purchased a home in their
home town Florida .
After 2 years they welcomed
twins , Stephen and James .

This was the golden time

period for both as they were
earning well and had a family .

During this , they admired

Lehman Brothers , which was
a flagship investment bank
back then.
So they both applied to
Lehman brothers and got the
job there as investment
banking executives .

After working for 10 years in

the year 2006 they both
decided to take a loan for their
new house and that too a lavish
one .

So they got loan approval from

the bank of florida for a loan of
5 million dollars .
In which their previous home
was a collateral .

Everything was running very

smoothly for them during this
time period .

Good salary , 2 homes along

with 2 children .

Until the next happened …

 Chapter 2 : Rise & fall

You can consider the past 10

years of James and Sara as
their life’s golden period .

Now James was an investment

banking manager at Lehman
Brothers along with Sara .

They lived a lavish life with

ample money and a secure job.
In June 2008 Joy got sick and
was admitted to a nearby
hospital.

Later doctors diagnosed him

with a heart condition , which
required 250,000 $ for
treatment .

They both emptied their bank

accounts for his treatment .

After 2 weeks, joy was treated

and was alright .
On 2nd July 2008 James and
Sara paid the EMI from their
salary and were left with
hardly any money for the next
month .

On 12th july James went to

the house of his cousin called
david .

They had dinner by 9pm and

spent some time playing poker.
James was very good at
playing poker since he played
it with his father and friends
for 14 years until his new
passion for football was
discovered .

In a friendly battle , James won

25 $ and was very amazed
with it .

Since for a long time he didn’t

play poker with anyone .

Not even Sara knew that James

was an expert in playing poker.
In aug 2008 they both were
informed by the company that
they will not be paid in the
month of august due to some
company crisis.

Somehow they managed by

using their credit cards .

Later in sept first week they

were again told they will not
get their salary due to some
issues .
Then on the 15th the news
broke that The company in
which they were working went
bankrupt .

They were both financially and

emotionally broken after this
incident .
Chapter 3 : 15th sept 2008

On 15th sept , They were left

with nothing , no money , no
resources .

Whole world was dealing with

the recession phase .

Many people ended their life

due to so much debt and
borrowing they couldn’t
handle .
Many small and big businesses
were shut down permanently .

Lehman brothers filed for

bankruptcy and the employees
were left jobless .

James and sara never in their

life faced such a situation .

In short they went broke. On

the same day the bank officials
came home and evacuated the
home in which they were
residing .
Since they didn’t pay the EMI,
and above that the first home
was a collateral for the second
home.

They were left broke and

homeless . forced to stay on
rent .

They somehow managed to

rent a small apartment in their
town .
They were not able to get a
job, since it was a time of
recession .

All the companies were laying

off thousands of their
employees to survive .

Many businesses went into

losses, some survived and
some closed .
To this day , they don't have
the money for their basic
needs.

2 weeks passed , and they were

left with the last $ 2,000 .

They have received a call from

the school of their children to
pay the due fees or else they
will suspend joy and stephen
from further studying .
James told sara , “ I don’t
know what to do and I think
I’m gonna end my life ”

James consumed poison at

2am that night , sara saw him
and rushed him to the nearest
hospital .

Somehow james survived and

After he opened his eyes he
saw sara in front of him and
was unable to confront her in
such a situation .
They both cried a lot and then
after 3 days returned to the
home in which they were
tenants .

By this time , the landlord

ordered him to vacant the
home or else pay the due rent .

James didn’t know what to do ,

the whole night James didn’t
sleep .
On Oct 21st At 4: 57 am in the
morning he left home with a
note , “ If I didn’t return home
with money in 48 hrs ,
consider , I am no more ” .

James took all the money he

was left with which was $ 500.

He went to the graveyard and

sat for 3 hrs , since no one
would recognize him there .
After spending time and
thinking about what to do with
his life , he decided to try his
luck.

What’s better than going to a

casino to try your luck ?? He
questioned himself .

And then he decided to go to

Las Vegas . On 21st oct night
he reached L.A and stayed at a
hotel nearby .
Sara and his children saw the
note James had written and
were left emotionally broken .

Sara tried to contact James by

every possible means , but
James left his phone at home
itself and no other person knew
where he went.

In this dilemma sara decided to

have faith in James rather than
blaming him for everything.
Sara did everything to get to a
job but during the recession
phase it was next to impossible
for her to get the desired job .

On the 22nd of Oct at 4 pm he

took a taxi to the casino .

He reached the casino and

went inside at 5pm .
In the next chapter , we will
see what happened between
5-10pm .

How 5 hrs changed the life of

James . making him from Rags
to the richest .
Chapter 4 : 5 hrs at casino

Notion 1 : The beginning

With his last $500, James

entered the casino at 5pm , full
of faith and fear as well .

Since this was the first time

James entered a casino he took
some time to understand what
to do and how to do it .
James was good with poker so
he decided to go to the poker
section .

He first encashed his money

into chips and got 10 chips of
$5 each .

In the pokers table there were

5 people , Each very distinct in
nature and profession
Jason - Rich business man of
england

David - Member of drug cartel

Marcus - Right hand man of

gangster chris cutler

El-tyson - Mexican mafia

Shinzen chang - Russian arms

handler

James had to deal with such

people who are dreaded
people .
At 5:30 They all gathered
together at the poker table .

When James got to know the

identity of the fellow players
he got scared .

He tried to get out of the table

but as per rule he was not
allowed to do that .

He got a panic attack after this,

But somehow gathered the
courage to play .At sharp 6pm
the game begins
Notion 2 : The beginners luck

Round 1 ;

Once the game started , James

played his trick and somehow
managed to win $25 in the first
round .

All others were calm and

didn’t bother because that
money was nothing for them .
But for James it was…..
So after this game went to
round 2 with the same player .

Round 2 ;

This time the bet is $500 , and

James has $525 till now .
One defeat and everything will
get finished for james .

So The game began , and

James again won this round .
And now everyone starts
noticing him.
From inside James was scared
because the other fellows
around him could finish him
within a minute .

Round 3 ;

Till now James had beginner's

luck and the stake was raised
to $5,000 .

Till now James had $1,025 , if

he lost he will have to repay
anyhow .
Round three began , EL -
Tyson the mafia man asked
James , are you here to make
money or lose your life ??

James replied , “ I am here to

survive” Since I didn't have the
money for basic needs such as
food .

Everyone was astonished that a

broken man was playing with
them and asked if he lost how
he'd repay the money .
James replied , “ I will win”
and after this angry EL-tyson
pointed his gun point blank on
james.

Somehow he managed to
escape from there , but casino
guards brought him back to the
table .

The casino manager replied ,

“You cannot escape from here .
There is one way and it is to
Either win or repay the dues” .
After this brawl James
continued to play the game and
surprisingly he won round 3
and had accumulated around
$6,000 .

Now the greed increased and

he decided to put all his money
into round 4.

Will James win this time ???

Let's see it further.
Notion 3 : The Lucky got his
shot :

This was the time when round

4 began , This time the stakes
were as high as $50,000

Now James knows that if he

wins this , he will exit the
game because if he wins
further others might finish him.
Till now the patience level of
the david who was a drug lord
got over and he threatened him
that if he won this game he’ll
shoot him .

Still James played and

eventually won $50,000. David
pointed his gun towards James
and the unexpected happened .

The owner of the casino Ted

fumer came and shot David .
After seeing this James was
shocked .
Ted told him he watched James
playing and winning again and
again .

Te told james “I am impressed

with your game” and want to
shift you to the another level
called the gangster's poker

By 7 pm James had already

won more than $50,000.
From 7 the gangster poker
began , James was full of
confidence and courage as the
owner of the casino was
friendly with him .

But the rules were totally

different from the previous
game .

Here if you win , you are good

to go but if you lose you will
be imprisoned in casino
forever
This dilemma made James
forced to think twice before
entering into the game .

Still James decided to play ,

Because James knew if he
didn’t go home with the money
he would live like a broken
man forever.

So james finally made up his

mind , ‘It’s better to die trying
hard , rather than staying as a
coward”
Notion 4 : Turnaround moment

James is all set to play the

gangster’s poker .

This time his life is at stake

along with his bare $50,000.

By 8pm , he started to play his

most crucial game of his life .
This game could either make
or destroy his life forever.

Until now Sara has approached

the Florida police , since James
left a note making everyone
suspicious .

Sara and his children were left

emotionally broken since
police were unable to track
James at all .
James carried nothing from
which he could be tracked .

Now James has set himself up

for the game beginning at 8pm.

The players were still not so

ordinary , they were drug lords
, gangsters and dreaded
criminals .

But this time James was

prepared for anything and
everything .
So the game began with a
$100,00 stake , still James was
in a situation of either win all
or lose everything .

Jack , one of the players who is

a drug lord of Malaysia
initiated the game .

Syboc Dicosta , the second

player who is part of the
Russian mafia, played the
second move.
Harries Jackson , the third
player who is a businessman
from Australia wanted to
increase the stake to $500,000.

This started an argument

between the players.

one of the players named

Monty Kelly who is an
underground fighting
champion shot down harries.
The game still continued
despite harries being shot and
after this james won round 1 of
this somehow .

One of the waiter called rumen

saw james , and asked him ,
“James hi , I am rumen do you
remember me ??” .

James replied , no I don't

remember you
Then Rumen replied , We
studied Together in junior
college and we were the front
benchers of the class.

After this James recognized

him and asked him , what are
you doing here ?? !

He replied , I had lost in the

Gangster’s poker and therefore
they made me a slave here .
After hearing this James was
shocked , Meanwhile the game
was continuing .

Everything was working well

for James , till now James won
$250,000 out of the total sum .

He said to increase the stake to

$1 mn and everyone got
astonished but agreed to his
decision .
James lost $ 125,000 in the
next move , but still had
substantial money required to
further play the game .

Now James was scared of

losing again , but the same
happened , he again lost in the
next move .

Rumen saw this and was

concerned for James .
He whispered “ I can help you
win” .
James thought he’s joking and
making fun of his situation .

15 mins passed , one of the

players collapsed and became
unconscious .

Everyone was shocked to see

this and he was rushed to a
nearby hospital .

Then the game still continued

With the remaining players .
After some time , Another
player got sick and was rushed
to the hospital .

No one knew what’s

happening around and the
casino owner was called .

James won in the next move

the money he had lost in
previous sessions .

Both the players collapsed due

to no other than rumen .
To help James , Rumen
drugged 2 players and made
them sick .

Now the stake of the next

round was $5mn . Before the
start of the game , the owner of
the casino arrived again at the
table .

But , With some dreaded

intentions .
The owner asked James if he
wanted to play Russian
roulette .

Winning amount in this game

will be $25mn, he said …

Now James was in a dilemma ,

should he choose his money
which he just won or the
money which comes with a
price of his life ?
Now this money is what james
came for , not to win any small
amount which wouldn't even
pay back his EMI

Now James developed

something very rational ,
which called “Greed” .

Till now fear of james was way

less as compared to the
previous sessions .
So what exactly is this game
all about ??

This game has two players ,

One gun with 6 rounds and 1
bullet .

No one knows at which point

of the barrel the bullet is which
can be fired .
Turn by turn the players will
fire the rounds , One bullet will
be fired in between which is
for the player who will lose ,
not the game but his life …

The player who will compete

with James is named
Emmanuel brock.

He is as innocent as James , He
is also an employee stuck in
financial circumstances .
But the fact is any one will
walk out of the casino with 25
million .

Now The game was about to

begin at sharp 9pm

What happened between

9-10pm ? We’ll look further
Notion 5 : The 25 Million
dollar moment

Emmanuel got the chance to

initiate the game .

He loaded a bullet and rolled

the barrel. This was the time
Emmanuel got scared and tried
to cheat by purposely adjusting
the bullet .
He put the bullet in the 3rd slot
of the barrel , Because he knew
James was going to shoot first .

James took a deep breath and

shot the first round. Nothing
happened .

Emmanuel shot the second

round and nothing happened .

James was about to fire the

third round , but the
unexpected happened .
The Trigger got jam , then it
was passed to Emmanuel .

Emmanuel pulled the trigger

and “Bullet was fired” .

He collapsed and passed away.

Now how did this happen ??

Emmanuel did make the

alterations with the gun ,
despite it what went wrong ?
When the trigger got jammed ,
James fired twice making it the
5th round for Emmanuel.

In which Emmanuel put the

bullet intentionally .

By this moment , Emmanuel

was no more and as a result
James won $25 million .

After viewing this , James was

left nauseous .
 Chapter 5 : Not so happily
ever after

For this time being James is a

millionaire , a winner and most
importantly - Alive

After winning , James

collected his money and left
the casino .
James went to his home after
taking a flight and saw Sara
and his children who were left
with nothing but hope.

After he returned, Sara and his

children were astonished and
amazed with the presence of
james.

James kept the bag full of

money at home and left home
to meet his friend jhonderson.
This is the same person who
gave $10,000 to James when
he wanted to pay the due fees
of his children .

Destiny is always unexpected.

While James was crossing the
road , A car ran over him .

He passed away on the spot

itself . So what should we call
it ??
 I would rather call it
“Rented luck”.

This luck was with him for just

5 hrs while he was in the
casino and then , Now he’s no
more.
Moral : A person lives for a
purpose and until his purpose
is finished he lives .

Here in this story , He survived

the scariest and most dreaded 5
hrs but , In 5 mins his life got
over.