La Fuerza

I'm currently sitting in Woodlake, CA, outside of La Fuerza. Based on my first attempt to get a chip, I may need some help with the language barrier. How do I say this in spanish? "hello. I would like to buy a $5 chip. I'll play poker if need be. No, I do not want your banana. (this is a pool hall & poker room, why are you offering me a mostly blackened banana?) I want a chip. Like this one. Or this one. I have money..."

Yes, the part with the banana happened. I managed a "no, gracias, no." but I do think I have to wait another 140 minutes until the poker game to try again for the chip.

hola.
Me gustaría comprar una ficha de $ 5.
Voy a jugar al poker si es necesario.
No, yo no quiero tu banana.
Quiero un chip, como este, o este otro.
Tengo dinero.

(per Google Translate)


Also, are you sure they were bananas? If they were plantains, you know they are ripe when the skin is mostly black. Of course if the guy didn't have a banana in his pocket, but was still glad to see you...

Quote: Ayecarumba

hola.
Me gustaría comprar una ficha de $ 5.
Voy a jugar al poker si es necesario.
No, yo no quiero tu banana.
Quiero un chip, como este, o este otro.
Tengo dinero.

(per Google Translate)


Also, are you sure they were bananas? If they were plantains, you know they are ripe when the skin is mostly black. Of course if the guy didn't have a banana in his pocket, but was still glad to see you...

It was kind of surreal. We were at a total linguisitic impasse, so the dude just shrugged and offered the fruit on the table between us. Maybe it was a plantain. There's a nice little hispanic grocery store in the neighborhood, so that'd be a real option. I walked through that while I waited for the casino to officially "open." I always forget how much I like pineapple soda.

When I returned to La Fuerza, the proprietor was there. He's bilingual, which was nice. I did get my chip, but it's just a plain red casino chip like you'd get at a nice gaming dealership.

Now I'm sitting in Valencia waiting for the Sundowner to open. They claim to be a private club, but one of the conditions (one of the ONLY conditions) of licensure in CA is public access to the gaming tables. I'm hoping to not have to fight them too much, since I also have to ask them to sell me something...