It's the juice that keeps this town running. Next week, the Global Gaming Expo comes to town, brining with it the latest and greatest in the business. It's a tough market that's no place for beginners. But as News 3's Denise Rosch explains, a local car mechanic may just be the exception.
At 44 years old, Tony Ramirez knows all about second chances. In the garage of Midas Motors, it's his job to get beaten down vehicles into tip-top shape - something doctors did for him more than 15 years ago.
"I was a passenger in the backseat. We rolled on the freeway. My friend was racing and I couldn't walk for almost two years."
Tony says from there, his life was in a downward spiral where he lost his home, business, and nearly his life. Then he moved to Las Vegas and created a game based on second chances.
"It's a second chance, yes it is. And people need that nowadays."
Tony's table game is called 21 to the River. It combines black jack and poker.
"What happens if you bust - your bust card moves over to a poker hand then you get four more cards to make a five card poker hand."
For the past year, it has quietly been making it's way into major Las Vegas casinos such as Binion's Horseshoe. It's an impressive accomplishment for mega-gaming companies, and nearly unheard of for a regular guy like Tony.
"It's an amazing thing to get a new game invented and then to have it come out on the floor and get through all the approvals and everything," says Lisa Robinson, Binion's Director of Corporate Communications. "To the River was exciting and fun and we thought we'll take a chance on this one."
Tony's first experience with a Las Vegas casino wasn't exactly pleasant. He walked in to cash a paycheck and nearly gambled it all away instead, a mistake that stuck with him but lead to yet another second chance.
"(A) few weeks later I had a dream, and I dreamed of the game. I woke up my wife and she helped me draw it out. I was so excited about it. I said if I can't beat them, join them."
And that's exactly what Tony did.
"It's really simple, once you figure out if you bust, you still have a prayer," says Bill Butcher, a Las Vegas tourist visiting from Michigan.
And it's all thanks to the mechanic with a Midas touch, a Las Vegas success story that proves second chances aren't handed out - they're invented.
Tony is hoping to get 21 to the River in more Nevada casinos. He's also working on a few new games. But he says that no matter what happens, he'll always be a mechanic.
