“Let it ride!” shouts Jake Johnson, leaning over a blackjack table at Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, on the south side of Los Angeles. He flashes an impish what-the-hell look at his colleague and close friend Damon Wayans Jr. and nudges a towering stack of blue and yellow chips forward while a crowd of onlookers clamour their approval. Generally, Hollywood Park’s musty casino floor is where hope goes to take an extended nap, but Johnson and Wayans are on a hot streak, and their energy has sparked the room from its slumber. Johnson downs the rest of his Jack and Coke and swivels around to slap hands with a couple of casino regulars who’ve come over to see what the ruckus is all about. “Come on,” he cries. “Let’s do this!”
The dealer flips cards around the table. Wayans has 15, Johnson has 16, and the dealer shows a two, with her hole carda mystery. A young guy to Johnson’s right takes an ill-advised hit and goes bust. Wayans looks to Johnson for advice and Johnson shakes his head slightly, telling him to hold, and then holds tight himself. “That’s right,” murmurs one of the regulars, perched close behind. Here’s the moment of truth – if the dealer turns up a couple of face cards, everyone wins; if not, Johnson and Wayans have flushed a few hundred bucks down the drain. A hush falls over the crowd as the dealer reaches for her hole card and turns up a red queen. Now at 12, she’s forced to hit, and slowly turns up the next card – another red queen – el busto! The room erupts in wild whoops of joyous celebration. Wayans trades high fives with the other winners at the table, while Johnson fist-bumps the guy behind him and turns back to sweep up his winnings.
Wayans elbows his friend, grinning. “Good call, dude.”
Johnson nods. “Life is good.”
Remarkably, as Johnson, 36, and Wayans, 31, wind their way through the casino – the poker tables, the sportsbook, the bar, the all-night diner – they’re bothered by almost no one. It may be that a casino in South Central LA, full of tourists and hard-nosed locals, is nota hotbed for fans of New Girl, the hit Fox show featuring Zooey Deschanel that helped establish Johnson and Wayans as stars. But there’s also something about the vibe they radiate – not Hollywood types preening for the camera, but just a couple of buddies out on the town, chopping it up, trying to make each other laugh – that deflects attention. If they stand out, it’s because they’re dressed like members of the Rat Pack, amid a sea of sweatpants and fanny packs. Still, they hardly drawa second glance as they steer their way back toward the blackjack tables for another go-round.
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