What's the best bet at Longacres today?" Local horse players used to ask.  

And the answer was invariably the same.

"The prime rib sandwich."

Longacres is long gone but there is plenty of gambling action along I-5 north of Edmonds.  And the last time I checked,  $7.50 will finance a prime rib dip sandwich at the Angel of the Winds.  They are also offering strawberry shortcake dessert for only 99 cents.

The Tulalip Resort dessert bar is recommended, as is the Friday seafood special at the Swinomish Casino and the $1.50 popcorn shrimp at the Silver Reef Casino near Ferndale.

Recently I had about come to the conclusion that the "best bet" at any casino must be the high-limit black jack tables.  I had checked out a book from the Edmonds Library to follow the exploits of a group of students from MIT who walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars from the most lavish casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, London and Amsterdam. 

They had evolved a system that consistently "beat" the house at the very simple game of 21.  The name of the book is "Busting Vegas," by Ben Mezrich.  

The secrets of the betting system were revealed to the author and if you want to know why, one of the MIT Whiz Kids will tell you.

"By our estimates, the casinos bust out over 99 per cent of the players that visit them.  The casino hosts will ply you with free liquor and tell you tall tales about how they think you are a wonderfully skilled player and about how they hope that luck will be with you tonight," recounted Russian ex-patriot Semyon Dukach, one of the MIT alums. "And what do they do in those extremely rare times when they actually encounter a real skilled player? They treat him or her like a thief. Never mind that the system is entirely legal.” 

The Whiz Kids were on several occasions beaten, imprisoned and threatened with death. They didn't mark cards or send signals or bribe dealers. Their only sin was that they won.

If you play casino games regularly you are going to lose, at craps, roulette, keno and on the slots.  

Most casino visitors know the odds and still get a thrill playing for a rare bonanza.  But they should enjoy the cheap buffets, the free drinks and the glamour of mixing with the high rollers - because they are paying for it.

And I guess gambling is not inherently evil.  If it were, would the state of Washington run ad campaigns urging you to spend part of your grocery money on Lotto tickets?

Just don't expect free drinks or cheap meals from Governor Chris.  

But she probably isn't going to break your leg, either.