The Gambler — Max Brand

THIS WAS A GAME HE COULD NOT LOSE - HIS LIFE WAS AT STAKE!

Tom Corcoran, a gambler by profession and a cheat by inclination, slept with one eye open the night after that blackjack game. He was right to be wary. Into his hotel room an assassin crept, hired by the man he had embarrassed at the table. And Tom was ready.

What he was not ready for were the screams for help and the charge of attempted murder that the intruder lodged with the police.

Corcoran, the intended victim, was now Corcoran the accused --- and he was about to learn that in San Pablo a gambler can win once too often!