Chapter 17: You Don't Know Jackpot

 “CLUNK.” You sink yet another ball on your ninth and final shot. Charlie’s mouth falls open in astonishment, and he almost loses his toothpick. You notice that others in the pool hall have been watching, particularly as your score started to rise. You aren’t sure how many times you hit that reset switch. Funny thing how that switch works – it seems to actually rewind time, so that bad things never happened. You know you failed at dozens of the trick shots you took, but to Melvin and Charlie, it looks like you did everything right the first time. Melvin was a big help during the game, shrinking into a little dot that helped you line up your shots.

“Well, I’ll be.” says Charlie. “That kind of playing deserves a trophy. I guess you really are a Player.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” says Melvin, exasperated. “Now, tell us about the baseball challenge.”

Charlie folds his arms. “Well, the idea is you play against a series of teams, each better than the last. Beat ‘em all, and you win.”

“Sounds good,” says Melvin. “When do we start?”

Charlie seems a little excited. “Ha, well, I guess we can start today. There’s a game at Home Run Stadium this afternoon.” He pauses, and looks at you again. “I like watching the locals play and all, but it’ll be good to see a Player playing again.”

“You won’t just see us play, you’ll see us WIN,” says Melvin.

Charlie laughs. “Ha, right. Maybe you will, at that.” He laughs again, “Maybe you’ll be the first players in history to beat the whole baseball challenge!” He keeps laughing.

“And if we do, WHAT will we win?” says Melvin.

Charlie stops laughing. He’s quiet, then says “You just win, that’s all.”

Melvin laughs. “What? Not even a patch? What about the ring?”

Charlie’s eyebrows raise again. He glances around nervously. “What ring? I don’t know anything about a ring.”

Melvin says, “You know perfectly well what ring. The winner of the baseball challenge wins a ring.”

Charlie looks down, “I…” he looks up again. “Look,” he says, smiling. “I don’t know anything about that. Ask anyone in here. HEY,” he shouts to the room, “anyone know anything about a baseball ring?” You see some people shrug and shake their heads. He continues. “I don’t know where you got that idea, but hey, I’m happy to enter you into the contest, if you want. If you win, you can tell everyone you beat the Atari Baseball Challenge. Easy as ABC, am I right?” he grins. “All I need from you is the $200 entry fee, and we’re all set.”

You and Melvin look at each other. “We don’t have any money,” you say. “We had some gold and diamonds, but, uh…”

“We gave them to a pirate,” finishes Melvin.

“No problem, no problem at all,” says Charlie, gesturing broadly. “Lots of Players don’t have money. Tell you what, I’ll spot you $25, and we’ll go win the rest!”

“From where?” you ask.

“Ha, follow me!” he says, and hustles up the stairs and out the door of the pool hall. You and Melvin follow him up the stairs, and see that he is heading down the street, to a large glittering building with a huge gold sign reading CASINO.

Pixelated doormen in red uniforms hold the doors open. “Good morning, Mr. Hustle,” they say. He smiles, and Charlie ushers you in. There is a huge array of gambling games of every type and description. “What do you think?” says Charlie, beaming.

“I think we’re gonna lose our shirts!” mutters Melvin.

“Right this way,” says Charlie, walking up to a row of machines. “No better way to turn $25 into $200 than the old slot machine.”

“I’m not sure about this…” you say uncertainly, looking at the one-armed bandits.

“Aw, come on,” he says. “Listen, it’s my $25. And I’ll bet right alongside you.” He sits down to your left. “And besides, if things go wrong, you’ve always got your reset button, right? So, here’s some coins – drop ‘em in, and give it a spin! You’ll have your $200 before you know it!”

Melvin shakes his head, but, you don’t see much alternative, and Charlie is right… you do have your reset button…

Put the Slot Machine cartridge into your Atari 2600. Choose Game Select 1, 3, 5, or 7. Play until you have $200 or more. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.