Institute History
Description
The Supreme Belief in Lady Luck tells the parallel stories of Danielle, a breast cancer survivor, and Rick, a blackjack dealer.
It's been two years since Danielle was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. At the time of diagnosis she was told she had a 10% chance of surviving one year—and yet now, two years later, her oncologist assures her she is NED, no evidence of disease. Danielle doesn’t quite understand how or why she has beaten the odds.
For as long as he can remember, Rick knew he was destined for a career in the gaming industry. His mother, Peggy, a cocktail waitress, has been working in the business since the opening of Resorts International on May 26, 1978. The casinos where his mother worked became a second home to Rick, and upon graduating from high school, Rick knew exactly where he was headed: the Casino Career Institute.
However, a career in the "game" came with a price Rick hadn't foreseen; 12 years of dealing blackjack has him feeling burnt out, and his ambition to advance in the industry has become harder and harder to maintain as he finds himself struggling with a spiraling gambling addiction.
Danielle has her own relationship with gambling as well. As a girl growing up in Atlantic City, Danielle would occasionally go to the casinos with friends and found she had a knack for blackjack. As she grew to adulthood, however, she didn’t gamble much; she was usually too busy with work, and her husband—now ex-husband—detested the casinos. But between battling cancer and coping with divorce, Danielle found a much needed source of escape in the unique allure of a bet laid down on green felt, and faced with the overwhelming implications of having had her life given back to her, finds herself increasingly drawn to the tables.
On an icy night in the dead of winter, Danielle sits down at Rick’s table at the Taj Mahal and loses more than just a few hands . . .
The Supreme Belief in Lady Luck is an exploration of those very human qualities that fuel the struggle between salvation and self-destruction.