All week, Sammy Zabib was getting an earful from his girlfriend for forgetting to buy her a pair of designer jeans she spotted in a casino boutique last weekend.
They are not arguing now.
On a return trip to pick up the jeans and end the grief, the New York limousine fleet manager won nearly $800,000 (NT$25.8 million) playing a slot machine.
PHOTO: AFP
He got up at 5am and drove three hours to Atlantic City, arriving at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa before the boutique, Whim, opened at 10am.
In his pocket was a photocopy of a picture of the jeans that his girlfriend printed out for him, just to make sure there would be no confusion.
With some time to kill, he sat down at a Brazil Slingo slot machine and started playing, betting $4 (NT$130) a spin for about an hour.
"I was just trying to kill time until the store opened so I could get her those jeans," he said. "Then the machine stopped working. I didn't know why, so I called security. They came over, took a look at it, and said, 'You won the jackpot!'"
He called his girlfriend, whom he identified only as Anna, and she started screaming. "She wasn't mad anymore," he said with a laugh. "She's waiting for me at home now."
After receiving his payout from the casino, Zabib bought a pair of "7 For All Mankind" jeans - Dojo style - that Anna had wanted so badly.
"They're the hot brand right now," said Borgata spokesman Michael Facenda. "They go for $149 (NT$4,800) a pair."
Zabib does not know what else he will do with his newfound riches.
"Maybe buy her some more jeans," Zabib said. (AP)
山米.札比忘記幫女友買她上週末在賭場精品店相中的一條牛仔褲,為此,她女友在她耳邊叨唸了一整個禮拜。
但他們現在不吵了。
這位紐約大轎車車隊經理為圖耳根清靜,在專程回去買那條牛仔褲的途中,他玩吃角子老虎大賺了將近八十萬美元(相當於新台幣兩千五百八十萬元)。
他五點就起床,開了三小時的車到大西洋城的伯加塔大飯店,早在精品店「Whim」十點開門前兩小時就到了。
他的口袋裡放著一張他女友怕他買錯而印給他的牛仔褲圖片。
為了打發等待的空檔,他坐下開始玩一局四美元(約合新台幣一百三十元)的賓果吃角子老虎機,玩了大約一個小時。
「我本來只是想在商店開門殺點時間再去買那條牛仔褲,」他說:「然後那台機器忽然不動了,我不知道為什麼,就請了保全人員來看,他們過來檢查了一下就對我說:『你中大獎了!』」
他立刻打電話給他女友安娜(他並未透露姓氏),然後她開始尖叫;「她不再生我的氣了,」他笑著說:「她現在在家裡等著我回去。」
到賭場櫃檯兌現後,札比買了那條讓安娜情牽夢縈的「7 For All Mankind」牌Dojo款牛仔褲。
「這個品牌現正當紅,」飯店發言人麥可.法森達表示:「一條要價一百四十九美元(相當於新台幣四千八百元)。」
札比目前還沒決定要怎麼花這筆意外之財。
「也許我會替安娜多買幾條牛仔褲吧,」札比說。
(美聯社/翻譯:袁星塵)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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