Casinos have always been fertile ground for myths and scandals. After all, nothing fuels a good story faster than money, risk, and a little rule-bending. Take, for example, the classic tale of the MIT Blackjack Team. Starting in the late 1970s and gaining fame through the 1990s, this group of students and ex-students used mathematics, practice, and a lot of nerve to turn the tables on casinos around the world. They didn’t cheat, they counted cards. But with their teamwork, signals, and a strategy refined like a finely tuned engine, they walked away with millions. Hollywood loved it too: 21, starring Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey, brought their exploits to a wider audience. The thrill wasn’t just in the winnings, it was in the risk, the planning, and the idea that brains could beat luck.

Then you’ve got the wild characters whose exploits read like something out of a thriller. Howard “Tahoe” Hughes’ adventures in Las Vegas are legendary. A man of vision, eccentricity, and extreme risk tolerance, Hughes practically transformed Vegas with his money and taste. He built hotels, influenced deals, and lived larger than life, all while the neon city around him grew into the entertainment capital we know today. He wasn’t just a gambler, he was a game-changer.

Scandals, of course, are never far behind when you combine massive sums of cash with human temptation. In 2010, the “Phil Ivey Baccarat Scandal” shook the casino world. Ivey, one of the best professional poker players alive, used a technique called edge sorting to win $9.6 million at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Casinos were furious; they claimed he cheated. Ivey argued he played perfectly within the rules. Courts wrangled, reputations collided, and millions were tied up in legal drama. The lesson? In casinos, genius and controversy often walk hand in hand.

And who could forget the heists? Some of the most daring casino thefts have almost cinematic quality. The 2013 Bellagio robbery, less glamorous than Hollywood would have you believe, involved a man sneaking into the hotel’s casino cage, stealing chips, and making a fast getaway. While the story didn’t have the elegant teamwork of a heist movie, it reinforced the idea that casinos are high-stakes arenas where fortunes can be made, or lost, in moments.

But it’s not all crime and high drama. There’s a psychological element that fascinates me. People have been drawn to gambling for centuries. From the aristocrats of Monte Carlo to tourists in Macau, humans are wired to seek risk, thrill, and reward. Casinos amplify this with lights, sounds, and a carefully choreographed dance of wins and losses. And the legends? They become larger than life, feeding the mythology of the casino world. These stories are part of why I was so excited to explore blackjack teams in High Stakes. I wanted to capture that feeling of knowing the odds, working with a team, and feeling the pulse of the table under the glow of neon lights.

Of course, not every story ends with triumph. There’s a cautionary element too. Countless players have walked in with dreams of big wins, only to walk out with lighter pockets and heavier hearts. Vegas may sparkle, but it’s also a reminder that luck is fickle, and the house always has an edge. These highs and lows, the human drama, and the genius-planning-meets-chaos dynamic, that’s what keeps stories like High Stakes grounded and exciting.

In the end, whether it’s the MIT students perfecting card counting, the eccentric moguls shaping Las Vegas’ skyline, or the high-profile scandals that rocked Atlantic City, casinos provide more than entertainment, they offer a lens into ambition, risk, and human ingenuity. It’s this mix of thrill and tension that inspired me to write a story where the characters aren’t just playing cards—they’re navigating strategy, human emotion, and consequences that could change their lives in a single hand.

So, next time you see a neon sign flicker in Vegas or hear about a high-roller walking out with millions, remember: the stories behind the chips are often more fascinating than the chips themselves. And if you’re like me, you’ll take that fascination and turn it into fiction that lets you experience the excitement without losing your shirt.

Stay tuned for more updates on High Stakes, and I hope to bring you into this world soon, where the odds are high, the stakes are even higher, and every hand could change everything.

Leif J. Erickson is a science fiction and fantasy author from a small farming community in west central Minnesota. Using his time wisely when he was a farmer, Leif developed many ideas, characters, and storylines to create over fifty unique first drafts and outlines for stories. From his start in a small town school, to college at North Dakota State University, back to his family farm, then to the bright lights of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and back to his small farming town, Leif has always had a love of writing.

When Leif isn’t writing he can be found with his wife hiking in state parks, canoeing local lakes and rivers, exploring local and regional ghost towns, experiencing museums, or simply reading or hanging out with friends and family. Leif draws on the local nature and ecology to find inspiration for his writing while he also asks what’s possible for technology and the human race, weaving them together for amazing stories that will stay with the reader for years to come. Leif looks forward to having many novel and story releases in the years to come.

You can see all of Leif’s Books here: Leif’s Amazon Author Page