I~，i IFI. Z~. 1.= ~1[- l~i ]kl. BI.<br >That certain quality of unreality pervading the Sahara Hotel ca-<br >sino seduced Jonathan Alan Roberts the moment he entered.<br >Like all the other gambling casinos in Las Vegas， this one was a<br >world to itself， and like them a combination of French baroque<br >and Miami Beach， with a hint of Hollywood and the Wild West.<br >It was furnished with thick carpets and walnut tables and ornate<br >chandeliers which broke the light into innumerable sparkles and<br >prisms.<br > Bar girls came through swinging doors with free drinks for the<br >men and women at the green felt gaming tables. There were no<br >windows or clocks to break the spell. Everything had been done，<br >at a cost of millions， to produce the illusion of opulence that<br >would give the gamblers a false sense of their own invincibility.<br >And the psychology was sound. The casino owners had discov-<br >ered long ago that the guests must be fed on fantasy if they<br >were to bet against the house advantage day and night until the<br >last dollar they could lose was gone.<br > So the operators in Las Vegas provided for their customers the<br >most surreal ambiance they could conceive. Jonathan Alan Rob-<br >erts， a scarred veteran of twenty-five years battling the casino<br >odds， still experienced a surge of excitement when he walked<br >into one of these rooms. Suddenly he was absorbed in a special，<br >eerie microcosm that instantly severed him from the actualities<br >of life. All things became possible. He felt charged， authentic， at<br >the center of the universe.<br > Jon Roberts wanted desperately to separate himself from<br >41L<br ><br >